Charter School Leadership: How to Build a Balanced, Effective Team

Peggy Downs
Feb 21, 2019
3 min read

Updated: Jun 29

Effective charter school leadership depends on more than just strong individuals—it requires a healthy balance of responsibilities between the board, school director, and other key decision-makers. Who holds the decision-making power at your school? And more importantly, is that power being used collaboratively to support student success?

Let’s take a closer look at how to build a balanced leadership team and assess whether your school is functioning with clarity and shared responsibility.

Why Balance Matters in Charter School Leadership

A successful charter school has a healthy balance of power. Decisions are made by individuals with the appropriate experience and authority. The school director or principal typically works in close collaboration with the board of directors, and the board president plays a key role in maintaining that balance.

When the leadership team is functioning well:

Each leader understands and fulfills their duties effectively
Meetings are organized and productive
Strategic decisions are made with minimal drama

But when the wrong person holds the decision-making power, problems follow. Maybe the director is too strong and the board rarely asks questions. Maybe the board president controls too much, leaving the director frustrated. Sometimes, board members act independently rather than as a unified governing body. And at other times, the director operates without meaningful oversight.

These dynamics can shift quickly when new administrators are hired or new board members are appointed. That’s why reviewing the balance of power regularly is essential.

Roles and Responsibilities: Who Does What?

To better understand your school’s leadership structure, consider the following questions. Reflect on your answers, then ask a colleague or two to do the same. Comparing your responses can reveal important insights.

Academics

Who decides what academic programs are implemented beyond the charter?
Who selects curriculum resources (e.g., textbooks or online tools)?
Who chooses internal assessments?
Who analyzes assessment data and sets school improvement goals?

Policies

Who writes the strategic plan?
Who monitors and reports progress toward strategic goals?
Who writes and approves school policies?
Who writes the employee and student handbooks?

Finances:

Who approves routine expenses below policy threshold?
Who approves expenses above policy threshold?
Who balances monthly financial statements?
Who sets annual budget goals?
Who signs checks?

Hiring and Staffing

Who determines hiring procedures for new leadership roles?
Who makes administrative hiring decisions?
Who decides when to create new positions?
Who writes job descriptions?
Who sets salaries and employee benefits?

Fundraising

Who sets fundraising goals?
Who is responsible for meeting those goals?
Who researches and applies for grants?

Warning Signs of Imbalance

If you or your colleagues answer these questions differently—or aren’t sure who’s responsible for what—that could be a sign of unclear roles or an imbalance of power. Confusion, inefficiency, and frustration often follow.

A Healthy Balance?

Compare notes with your leadership team. Do you all have the same understanding of who’s in charge of key decisions? Is authority distributed fairly and strategically? Are the right people leading the right areas?

Strong charter school governance doesn’t happen by accident. Share this post with your leadership team and start the conversation. When your leadership structure is clearly defined and aligned, everyone can lead with confidence.

Want to learn more about how to help your school board find a better balance?

Download my FREE PDF, How to build a better board."

The first step in helping your school find a healthy balance is to recognize the power structure you have in place today. Are major decisions being made by people who are qualified to make them? Is it their job to make those decisions? If the answer is no or you are not sure, your charter school may be at risk.

You can help

You can help your charter school find a healthy balance. I highly recommend this book, Charter School Board University, by Brian Carpenter, as a starting point. If you can get all the members of your leadership team to read this book and discuss, you have a great place to start. This can be done at a work session or spread out over several board meetings. Or you may choose to have the team trained in charter school governance and leadership by an outside consultant. You may need to have Crucial Conversations with the team and develop a system for holding each other accountable for shared agreements.

Whatever you do, don’t wait! Your students and staff are counting on you.