INCS Board Training

Welcome to the INCS Board Training

INCS is here to support Illinois board members to complete their required board governance training. Board members in their first term year of service must complete four hours of governance training and two hours of training in each subsequent term year. The requirement is in state statute. You can find the language of the law at Public Act 101-0291.

Here at INCS, we are committed to supporting board members to meet this requirement with the highest quality training. INCS is a certified trainer and stands ready to help Illinois’ 600 charter board members fulfill this requirement.

We have set up the following programming for 2024:

Free training (each will count towards one hour of training)

Mondays at 4:00 PM CST.

September 9th – Understanding FOIA – the Freedom of Information Act with Bob Best. Sign up here. 

Rowe Elementary School Board Member and General Counsel, Robert Best, will share an in-depth presentation on the specifics of the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).  As charter schools are frequent recipients of FOIA requests, charter school board members should have an understanding of the parameters of the law. Please come with questions. 

November 4th – Sustaining Good Governance and Succession Planning with Rena Henderson Mason. Sign up here. 

Rena Henderson Mason, a visionary and trusted advisor to nonprofit board members across the country, will guide board members through the board member succession planning process so that they are ready to lead and be comfortable in transferring their roles to other board members when it is time. How the recruiting process, committee structure, and term limits can create an ideal or challenging environment for board members’ willingness and readiness to assume officer roles will also be discussed. Board leaders will walk away with a template to help them reflect upon and/or build a solid board succession planning process.

INCS Board Training Online

INCS offers recorded trainings for purchase to watch at your convenience. The trainings are $100.00 each; each video is one hour. As with our previous online trainings, there will be a quiz linked to the video that must be completed to receive a certificate of completion. Currently, there are 5 online trainings available:

  • Fiscal Oversight
  • Growing Your Board Thoughtfully
  • Performance Management – Managing an ED, CEO, or Principal
  • Increasing School Investment to Close Opportunity Gaps and Create Life-Long Learners
  • Maximizing Board Accountability

Please reach out directly to Stephanie Sandoval to purchase the trainings.

Certificates of Completion

INCS has created Google folders for each school where they can track the completion of the trainings. Please reach out to Stephanie Sandoval with questions about certificates.

INCS-approved board trainers

INCS has identified five INCS Board Training-approved partners that schools & networks can contract with to provide customized trainings.

Please feel free to reach out to the trainers directly. INCS staff will work with the trainers to obtain proof of training.

ISBE Board Training Approved Providers

ISBE also has a list of approved quality providers of board governance training. The providers on this list offer the required trainings for Illinois district board of education members but are also approved to train charter board members. The list can be found at this link.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out to Stephanie Sandoval at INCS with any questions.