Board ‘How To’ Guide

How To...
Remove a Board Member

The board must notify the SUNY Charter Schools Institute (the “Institute”) within five (5) days of any resignation, removal, or vacancy on its board of trustees per section 2.2(f) of its Charter Agreement. Please send an email to [email protected] and include:
1. Name of Departing Trustee;
2. Date of departure; and
3. Reason (resignation, term expired, etc.)

Add a new Board Member

Step 1 – The board must vote to accept (elect or appoint per the school’s by-laws) the proposed trustee/candidate.  Please note that at this point the candidate is not yet an approved trustee and cannot vote or take any official action on behalf of the education corporation nor does the candidate count toward quorum.  The Institute must approve the candidate before they can be seated as a trustee.

 

Step 2 – The board must notify the Institute by sending an email to [email protected] with the candidates’ name.  The Institute’s operations team will then schedule tasks in Epicenter requesting the following documents:

  • Request for Information form (“RFI”) (insert link to sample form)
  • Resume or bio of the candidate
  • Board resolution or Board minutes showing election and approval by the board
  • Board Contact List updated with the candidate’s information

 

Step 3 – The Institute will review the submitted documents and reach out if there are any questions.  Within 45 days, the Institute will approve or reject the candidate in writing.  If the Institute does not respond within 45 days of receipt of all required documents, the candidate may be seated.  The board may send an email to [email protected] with any questions regarding the approval process.

How to fix / set the number of Trustees     

The Education Corporation Board of Trustees must vote on a set/fixed number of trustees.  Although the bylaws generally contain a numerical range of trustees, the board must vote to “fix/set” the number of voting trustees.

Why?

Quorum is dependent on the fixed/set number of trustees.   For example, if your board votes to fix the number of trustees at 10, then you will need 6 trustees in attendance at a board meeting in order to attain quorum.

Vacancies   Fixing or Setting a number of trustees also allows the board to monitor the number of trustee vacancies at any time.  The fixed/set number is reported to the Institute on the Board Contact List (include link to template) which must be updated whenever a trustee departs and a candidate is elected.   The fixed/set number of trustees in maintained in Epicenter.  If the board should decide to increase the fixed/set number a vote must be taken and reflected in the Board Meeting Minutes.

See the Board Governance Guide for more detailed information.