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Being a charter school board member is no small task! You have been asked to volunteer your time in an educational environment that becomes more complex by the minute. At least that’s how it feels. Yet your commitment is crucial for students. After all, isn’t that why you agreed to serve? Board engagement is more important now than ever. We hope you continue to find the information shared here to be helpful as you pursue excellence for the students, staff, and the community you serve.
Charter School Board Playbook
Board Resources, Tools & Model Documents
Please ensure EDDIE is updated and accurate. This is the authoritative source for DPI communications. If it’s not current, you may be missing important information. Not sure if it’s updated? Check with the person designated as the EDDIE administrator to verify EDDIE is updated. Still not sure? Contact Shannon Miller at DPI. shannon.miller@ocs.nc.gov
The sections that follow are good reminders for your board. Please share this newsletter with your board to maximize the impact of this information. If you have any suggestions or feedback to improve this newsletter, please email Nicky Niewinski at nicole.niewinski@dpi.nc.gov
Section 1: The Charter Agreement
- Summer is a great time to review your charter agreement - the contract between the state and your board - to ensure it is being followed. Even though you may delegate many of the responsibilities to school leaders or other staff, the board is ultimately responsible for making sure that the charter agreement is followed.
Section 2: Fiscal Oversight
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AUDIT PROCEDURE UPDATE: Per School Business Office
Selection of Audit Firms - All PSUs
The State Treasurer’s office has advised us that they will no longer publish a list of auditors. Each LEA and Charter School is required to have an annual audit. The auditor must be in good standing with the State Board of CPA examiners; an auditor status look up tool is available on the NC State Board of CPA Examiners website. An auditor is selected by the local board, and the contract for the audit is to be signed by the school board chair, the finance officer, and the audit firm.
Once signed, the LEA audit contracts are submitted by the audit firm, to the State Treasurer’s office for approval via the State Treasurer LGC Portal. If approved, the State Treasurer will also sign the contract. Charter Schools are exempt from the LGC submittal process.
Charter School Audits should be submitted via the EPICCENTER tool (information on EPICENTER can be found on the Office of Charter Schools website).
- Please consider attending the School Business Services July 2026 conference. They usually have sessions that are charter specific which is very helpful.
SBS Summer Conference Save the Date and Hotel Group Rate
Our annual summer conference will be Thursday, July 23, 2026. Please hold that date and be aware that it will be at the Embassy Suites in Cary, NC.
The discounted Room Block is open and will be available until July 1st, so please jump on those rates and secure your room. Thank you for your continued participation in our conference! We will send out more information in the coming weeks.
Section 3: Governance Tips & Tricks
- Let’s talk board meeting minutes……. They are not the agenda.
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143-318.10. (e) Every public body shall keep full and accurate minutes of all official meetings, including any closed sessions held pursuant to G.S. 143-318.11. Such minutes may be in written form or, at the option of the public body, may be in the form of sound or video and sound recordings. When a public body meets in closed session, it shall keep a general account of the closed session so that a person not in attendance would have a reasonable understanding of what transpired. Such accounts may be a written narrative, or video or audio recordings. Such minutes and accounts shall be public records within the meaning of the Public Records Law, G.S. 132-1 et seq.; provided, however, that minutes or an account of a closed session conducted in compliance with G.S. 143-318.11 may be withheld from public inspection so long as public inspection would frustrate the purpose of a closed session. (1979, c. 655, s. 1; 1985 (Reg. Sess., 1986), c. 932, s. 4; 1991, c. 694, ss. 1, 2; 1993 (Reg. Sess., 1994), c. 570, s. 1; 1995, c. 509, s. 135.2(p); 1997-290, s. 1; 1997-456, s. 27; 2011-326, s. 8; 2020-3, s. 4.31(b); 2023-133, ss. 17(b), 20(a).)
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As a best practice, the board should consider including additional detail in its meeting minutes, such as key discussion points, rationale for decisions, motions, questions or concerns raised during deliberation and voting outcomes. This would provide stakeholders with a clearer understanding of how and why decisions are made, and further demonstrate the board's commitment to public transparency.
Section 4: Academic Monitoring
- Although the board is not directly involved in the academics of the school, you are tasked with oversight of ensuring adequate academic performance. Understanding adequate academic performance is essential when determining charter renewal terms. SBE Policy CHTR-007: Charter School Renewal Process provides guidance for renewal terms including comparability data.
- Summertime questions to ask your school leader.
- When looking at preliminary EOG/EOC data, were results congruent with benchmark data (proficiency projections) collected throughout the year? If not, why not?
- Have you disaggregated the data yet to evaluate sub-group data? If so, where were achievement gaps evident? How will they be addressed once identified?
- What will be done more of, differently, or better next school year to improve classroom instruction and student achievement?
Section 5: Operation
- Summer is a perfect time for school staff to review student files to make sure all required documents are included and accounted for. G.S. 115C-402 linked HERE outlines what the official record shall contain. Please verify student records are complete and correct with your school leader.
- Licensed Employees
- 50% of teachers must be licensed
- 100% of EC teachers must be licensed
- Before hiring an unlicensed teacher or allowing someone to volunteer, the school must check the SBE revoked license list. No person shall be hired or allowed to volunteer whose name is on this list.
Section 6: Resources & Professional Development
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