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 year of service must complete four hours of governance training and two hours of training in each subsequent 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.

April 8th – 5 things all board members need to understand about school budgets with Himali Patel from P-Squared Consultants. Sign up here

The fiduciary role of board members cannot be overstated. It is critical that all board members understand the basics of balance sheets, profit and loss statements, and cash on hand.  In this one-hour training, Himali Patel from P-Squared Consultants will address the financial topics that we have heard from authorizers that have been a challenge for board members. This will be especially helpful for board members with limited financial background.

July 15th – The Challenge of Teacher Retention: Two Perspectives on Why Teachers Stay. Sign up here.

Headlines decry teacher shortages across the nation. Charter schools often find themselves with teacher vacancies during the year. In the session, Debbie Veney of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools will share the findings from a teacher poll the Alliance commissioned to better understand why teachers persist at their schools. In the second half of the session, TNTP will discuss trends and findings from their Insight Survey which has collected over 375,000 teacher responses from 2,350 schools since 2010. The goal of the session is to share with board members what makes teachers stay so board members can check in with their school leaders to better understand the school’s strategies for keeping great teachers.

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

We have officially launched INCS Board Training, a new online board training option.  We are now recording and editing our live webinars for purchase, and board members can watch at their own convenience. The trainings cost $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 six online trainings available:

  • Fiscal Oversight
  • The Open Meetings Act (OMA): Everything you ever wanted to know!
  • Growing Your Board Thoughtfully
  • Performance Management – Managing an ED, CEO, or Principal
  • Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Training
  • The Expanding Role of Data and How Your Board Can Use It To Govern Effectively

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 Allison Jack at INCS with any questions.