New Member Packet Charter School Business Officer Certification (CSBOC) Program

New Member Packet Charter School Business Officer Certification (CSBOC) Program

Table of Contents Part One: Program Overview Page 3 Part Two: Policies and Procedures Page 4 Part Three: Curriculum Page 6 Appendix I: Code of Ethics 2

Part One: Program Overview Purpose Charter School Business Officer Certification (CSBOC) Program's purpose is to provide training and certification to Texas Charter School Business Officers with the objective of all Texas Charter Schools having top quality business offices. This voluntary program ensures that charter school business officers are trained and knowledgeable in all areas of a business officer's duties. Certification and continuing education ensure that all certified charter school business officers are highly qualified and proficient in their duties. As a Certified Charter School Business Officer you will be an expert on maximizing your funds and providing for a well-funded, high quality education. Program Goal The goal of the CSBOC program is to take the diverse, complex and ever changing responsibilities of a charter business officer and create a learning environment where attendees learn the responsibility, competencies and strategic vision to ensure their charter school is viable, stable, and fiscally sound and has a foundation of continuous improvement and growth. CSBOC is based on the competencies needed by every Charter School Business Official in order to successfully run the Business of charter schools. The areas of focus include, but are not limited to, Finance, Facility, Personnel, Technology, Leadership, Marketing, and Student Services. The "Business" of Charter Schools The Business Officer role is critical to all charter schools success. Texas charter schools are managing hundreds of thousands to usually millions of dollars. They are bound by many state and federal guidelines, compliance issues, and state and federal reporting deadlines. The majority of failed charter schools are due to fiscal failure instead of academic short-comings. This was the inspiration for the CSBOC Program. Charter Schools have unique fiscal responsibilities and requirements. The CSBOC guarantees that participants will only receive information pertinent to a charter school business officer without ambiguity, saving participants both time and money. Eligibility The program is open to any person with an interest in becoming a certified business officer or wanting training related to Texas Charter School business. Appropriate candidates would include, but are not limited to, current business officers, business office staff, superintendents, board members, candidates for a business officer position. The CSBOC Program The certification program is a combination of online courses, live webinars, live training days, and documentation workshop days. The documentation workshops will provide assistance in implementing the necessary policy, procedures, plans and manuals of a charter school business office. The candidate must complete 7200 minutes (80 courses) of training in the form of online courses, live webinars or live trainings as well as 4320 minutes (16 workshops) in documentation workshops. Once certification is obtained, continuing education of 900 minutes (10 courses) in courses and 810 minutes (3 workshops) of documentation workshops are required annually. Program Training sessions (1.5 hrs.) Documentation Workshop Initial Certification 80 sessions (online, webinar or live) 16 Workshops (day- long live workshop) Annual Continuing Education 10 sessions 3 Workshops 3

Part Two: Policies and Procedures Prior Course Work If a student has taken courses in the past from the CSBOC Program and then desires to work toward certification, all courses taken in the past 12 months will be credited toward their graduation credits. Please contact support@csboc.org. Application Procedures In order to apply for CSBOC Membership, visit the website: http://www.csboc.org/csboc/membership.asp. Once there, select the desired membership (organizational or individual) and fill out the application. The application will be approved once payment has been received. Once approved, members will receive a username and password allowing them to access the member s only area and receive the member s only discount on courses. Membership Benefits & Fees There are two types of memberships for individuals going toward their CSBOC. Membership to CSBOC allows individuals to work toward their certification. It also gives reduced prices on trainings offered by CSBOC. They will also receive a weekly email entitled "Tuesday Tips" which will provide clear concise how-to guidance on upcoming deadlines and submissions. It also will contain tips, tricks, and best practices in the charter school business office. Individuals also will have a private forum on the website where they can communicate, post and answer questions and share best practices and frustrations. An individual membership is $250 annually and allows one individual to pursue their certification and enjoy other member benefits. A Charter may purchase an organization membership for $450 annually which allows an unlimited number of their employees or board members to enjoy the member benefits of ongoing communication, reduced training fees and pursing their certification. Each member may individually decide if they want to pursue certification. The current pricing schedule is as follows: Webinars and Online Courses: $90 for members and $125 for non-members Live Trainings: $190 for members and $225 for non-members Documentation Workshop: $190 for members and $225 for non-members Combination Training Day and Documentation Workshop: $260 for members and $320 for non-members CSBOC Policies: CSBOC has a no "testing out" policy. In order to earn the certification, the student must participate in all courses needed for graduation. There is also no substitutions for course work allowed. All credit hours must be earned through the CSBOC Program. All courses taken through the CSBOC Program are eligible for the annual TEA training requirements. If member is also a CPA, all CSBOC courses also count toward the required CPE hours as well. Continuing Education Requirements Once certification is obtained, continuing education of 900 minutes (15 hours) in courses and 810 minutes (13.5 hours) of documentation workshops are required annually. New courses are added annually to ensure members have a wide range of courses to choose from. 4

Revocation and Reinstatement of Certification Individuals who do not meet the required annual continuing education requirements will be notified in writing and given a 6 month grace period to complete their outstanding requirements. If the continuing education is not completed during the grace period, the certification is revoked. If an individual desires to reinstate their certificate, and it has been less than 2 years since the certificate lapsed, they will reinstate their membership and must attend the required annual continuing education requirements. Then their certification will be re-instated and the individual will return to certified member status. If it has been more than 3 years since certification lapsed, individual will need to contact support@csboc.org to discuss bringing their certification current. Violation of the Code of Ethics All members going toward certification are required to abide by a Code of Ethics, see Appendix I. If a member is reported to CSBOC for violating the code of ethics, an investigation with ensue. If it is determined that a violation has in fact occurred, the member's CSBOC will be revoked. They will be reported to the appropriate authorities as well including but not limited to; TEA, TCSA, and the charter board it appropriate. 5

Part Three: Curriculum Course Offerings Charter School Business Officer Certification (CSBOC) offers trainings in the seven areas of business officer responsibility. These include Leadership, Personnel Management, Financial Management, Marketing and Public Relations, Technology Management, Facility and Operations Management, and Student Services Management, as shown below. A comprehensive listing of all of the courses is on the website on the course offerings page. Courses are offered in three different formats, live webinars, online courses and live trainings. Upcoming courses and the format they are offered in is posted on the CSBOC website. Please visit www.csboc.org/csboc/calendar.asp to see the upcoming courses. Additional trainings include the documentation workshops. These workshops usually follow a live training date where students learned about a certain topic, for example, technology planning. The next day at the documentation workshop, attendees work on their charter's technology plan and have the opportunity to have questions answered, guidance if needed and speak with other charter business officers to find out more about their technology plan. These workshops are invaluable. Typically the workshops have a template manual to quick start the implementation of policies, procedures, and plans coupled with experts on hand to help with questions, compliance and implementation. A full listing of documentation workshops are listed in on the course offerings page as well. Graduation Procedures Once a candidate has meet the graduation requirements they may apply for graduation. An Excel worksheet is available for tracking course completion progress toward graduation and is included in this welcome packet. Once a student believes that they qualify for graduation, they will apply for graduation on the CSBOC website. CSBOC will review all of the earned credits and approve or deny the graduation request. The participant will be notified of the outcome of the request. 6

Appendix I.- Charter School Business Officer Certification Code of Ethics Code of Ethics A charter school business official is dedicated to the charter school they serve, which is a public entity. As a public servant, the official's professional behavior must conform to a code of ethics. A charter school business official knows that their charter school belongs to the public and is bound by regulations set by the state and federal government. It is the responsibility of the charter school business official to provide leadership and expertise regarding business matters while maintaining a professional and moral behavior. Their behavior is monitored by Texas Education Association, their Board of Directors, their external auditor, colleagues, superiors, families and the public as a whole. A charter school business official agrees to follow the following set of standards. 1. With the resources available to their charter school, the business officer will conduct the business office in a way that will provide the highest quality of education possible to the students. 2. Conducts oneself with honesty and integrity in all professional roles. 3. Obeys all local, state and federal laws which govern the official's activities. 4. Implements the policies of the Charter School Board and follows already established standards previously set forth. 5. Does not use the position in a charter school business office for personal gain. 6. Does not accept any gifts which will impair fair judgment or lend special advantage. 7. Continues to improve oneself and their business office through continuing education and training. 8. Honors all contracts until fulfilled or legally released. 9. Supports the goals of their charter school. 10. Assists colleagues in fulfilling their obligations to the charter school when appropriate. 11. Builds the best possible image of the charter school in the public's eye. 12. Refrains from publicly criticizing any person associated with the charter school. Including, but not limited to, the board members, colleagues, employees and students. 13. Manages all employees fairly and help them achieve their maximum potential. Code of Ethics Requirement of CSBOC Membership As a member of CSBOC, I understand and agree to adhere to the Charter School Business Office Code of Ethics. 7