2026 Governance Conference

Held on Saturday, September 19, 2026

On September 19, the Florida Charter Institute hosted the sixth annual Florida Charter School Governance Conference on the campus of Cornerstone Charter Academy in Belle Isle. This conference event focused on serving the needs of Charter School Governing Board Members throughout the state of Florida. 

Session Handouts

  • 2026 Legislative Update – Presented By Arnold Law Firm

    This session provides a practical overview of the 2026 Florida legislative and regulatory updates affecting charter schools, with a focus on what school leaders and governing boards need to know for the 2026–27 school year. Topics include student services and ESE requirements, athletics and extracurricular activities, educator certification and HR changes, facilities and property, school safety and threat management, nonprofit governance under the revised Chapter 617, religious programs and instruction, and other legislative developments. The session concludes with key compliance actions and monitoring priorities to help charter schools update policies, procedures, governing documents, and operational practices in response to the 2026 changes.

    • Conference: 2026 Governance Conference
    • Presenter(s):
      • Shawn Arnold and Kathleen Shoenberg, Arnold Law Firm

  • 5 Questions to ask for Financial Clarity for Charter School Boards

    Presented at the Florida Charter School Governance Conference by leaders from Charter Impact and Innovation Montessori Ocoee, this session highlights how charter school boards can transition from reactive financial reporting to proactive financial leadership. Emphasizing forward-looking forecasting over historical accounting, the guide outlines five critical questions board members must ask to ensure financial clarity: tracking year-to-date budget variances, monitoring cash flow and days cash on hand, evaluating enrollment and revenue trends, maintaining a 5–15% reserve policy, and proactively identifying financial risks. Ultimately, utilizing clear real-time dashboards and multi-year forecasts empowers board members to build financial literacy, streamline governance, and secure long-term organizational sustainability.

    • Conference: 2026 Governance Conference
    • Presenter(s):
      • Dana Vignale, Managing Director Charter Impact - and Heather Clay, Executive Director - Innovation Montessori, Ocoee

  • Authorizers and Governing Boards: Aligning Roles and Responsibilities

    Presented by Dr. Kia Sweeney Scott and Marianne Blair of the Florida Association of Charter School Authorizers (FACSA), the session **Authorizers and Governing Boards: Aligning Roles and Responsibilities** explores the distinct functions and collaborative relationship needed for effective charter school oversight. While governing boards focus on internal administration, leadership evaluation, and budget approvals, authorizers—including district school boards, state universities, Florida college system institutions, and the Charter School Review Commission—are responsible for evaluating applications, negotiating contracts, and monitoring overall academic, financial, and operational compliance. To build a strong partnership, both entities must maintain clear communication, establish transparent performance metrics, respect distinct operational boundaries, and address challenges like board turnover and compliance fatigue through joint planning and streamlined processes.

    • Conference: 2026 Governance Conference
    • Presenter(s):
      • Marianne Blair, Executive Director, FACSA & Dr. Kia Sweeny-Scott, President, FACSA

  • Charter Boards Working with CMOs

    This presentation by Paul O'Neill of Potomac Law Group explores the legal and operational dynamics between charter school boards and Charter Management Organizations (CMOs). It outlines essential terminology, charter expansion models, and the distinct legal contracts connecting authorizers, school boards, and management partners. While CMOs provide key advantages such as operational expertise, economies of scale, resource allocation, and facility investment, they can also present challenges regarding board control, conflicting priorities, financial entanglements, and academic oversight. Ultimately, the session highlights the terms governing contract termination and details proactive strategies for success, emphasizing clear alignment, robust management contracts with explicit performance metrics, and regular communication.

    • Conference: 2026 Governance Conference
    • Presenter(s):
      • Paul O'Neill, Potomac Law Group

  • ESE Oversight for Charter School Governing Boards

    This presentation outlines the governance and compliance responsibilities of Florida charter school governing boards regarding Exceptional Student Education (ESE). It stresses that effective board oversight requires focusing on high-level system accountability—establishing approved policies, verifying staff credentials, and monitoring performance metrics—rather than interfering in daily operational case management. The guide details federal and state legal frameworks under IDEA Part B and Florida statutes, key compliance tools such as quarterly dashboard tracking and annual Matrix of Services audits, and a structured 90-day action plan designed to ensure full compliance, protect institutional reputation and funding, and guarantee that students with disabilities receive high-quality support.

    • Conference: 2026 Governance Conference
    • Presenter(s):
      • Reagan Chalmers, Managing Director of Authorizing, Florida Charter Institute & Dr. Russell Froman, Esq. with Arnold Law Firm

  • Evaluating a Principal or Executive Director

    This training presentation by Sherard Parker, Executive Director of the Florida Consortium of Public Charter Schools (FCPCS), details the FCPCS Evaluation System for Principals and Assistant Principals. Designed to help charter school governing authorities assess leadership performance and foster continuous professional growth to drive student achievement, the system aligns with Section 1012.34, F.S., and the eight Florida Educational Leadership Standards under Rule 6A-5.080, F.A.C.. The overview highlights evaluation procedures and rubric-driven scoring across four performance tiers, combining a Leadership Practice Score (66%) with student learning and school growth data (at least 33%). Furthermore, it emphasizes best practices for collecting evidence, delivering actionable feedback, and utilizing web-based platforms such as observe4success to conduct efficient, paperless evaluations.

    • Conference: 2026 Governance Conference
    • Presenter(s):
      • Sherard Parker, Executive Director, Florida Consortium of Public Charter Schools

  • Governing Board Best Practices

    This presentation by Paul O'Neill of Potomac Law Group details essential governance best practices for Florida charter school governing boards. Highlighting the critical role boards play as financial stewards and mission guardians, the deck outlines necessary board expertise—spanning academic, financial, community, legal, HR, and fundraising domains—required to build credibility and ensure school success. It emphasizes key operational principles, including maintaining ethical responsibilities, working productively with school leaders, running effective meetings, observing bylaws and legal requirements, keeping transparent public records, and continuously keeping charter renewal in focus. Finally, the presentation uses a practical hypothetical scenario to illustrate common governance, conflict of interest, and authorizer challenges.

    • Conference: 2026 Governance Conference
    • Presenter(s):
      • Paul O'Neill, Potomac Law Group

  • Great Questions Boards Ask – An Interactive Governance Lab

    This interactive governance lab presentation from the National Charter Schools Institute (NCSI) introduces the "Governance Question Filter," a five-step discipline (Outcome, Evidence, Lane, Lever, Question) designed to help charter school boards distinguish between governing ("how well?") and managing ("how will?"). Through a simulated scenario involving the fictional Horizon Charter Academy across three board meetings (September, November, and January), participants navigate emerging challenges—such as declining proficiency, budget shortfalls, teacher turnover, and midyear staff departures—to practice asking wise, outcome-focused questions without crossing into daily school operations. Ultimately, the workshop emphasizes leveraging leadership accountability, budget alignment, and strategic monitoring to maintain effective board oversight and foster stronger school governance.

    • Conference: 2026 Governance Conference
    • Presenter(s):
      • National Charter Schools Institute

  • Learn a New Language: What School Leaders Need to Know About Real Estate Development and Finance

    This presentation, titled "Learn a New Language: What School Leaders Need to Know About Real Estate Development and Finance," provides a comprehensive overview of real estate and financial planning essentials for school leaders. Led by Richard Moreno of Building Hope Services alongside Braxton A. Padgett and Melissa Gross-Arnold of Arnold Law Firm, the session emphasizes how better understanding leads to improved planning and outcomes. Key topics covered include preparing 5-year financial models and assessing days cash on hand, evaluating purchase or lease options, understanding various financing methods such as bonds and conventional loans, navigating construction and contract terminology, and maintaining post-construction financial compliance and reserve planning.

    • Conference: 2026 Governance Conference
    • Presenter(s):
      • Richard Moreno, Building Hope / Braxton Padgett and Melissa Gross-Arnold, Arnold Law Firm

  • Public Records Requests

    This presentation provides an overview of Florida's Public Records Act (Chapter 119, F.S.) and its application to charter schools, emphasizing that all materials—including emails, text messages, social media content, and potential AI prompts—created or received in connection with official business constitute public records subject to inspection and copying. It details specific exemptions, such as FERPA-protected student education records, active personnel investigation files, and security or fire safety plans, while highlighting that non-exempt items like draft documents circulated beyond the author must be disclosed. Finally, the guide outlines a structured, five-step response process—acknowledging requests immediately, assessing permissible fees, retrieving and redacting files, providing a final cost accounting, and delivering records within a reasonable timeframe—and advises charter school boards to establish clear public records policies and designate an official records custodian.

    • Conference: 2026 Governance Conference
    • Presenter(s):
      • Braxton Padgett, Arnold Law Firm

  • Step Up For Students – Florida’s Evolving Educational Landscape

    Florida’s educational landscape emphasizes widespread choice, with over half of the state's K-12 students (1.88+ million) participating in various education options such as charter schools, magnet programs, virtual learning, and state-funded scholarships. Through Step Up For Students, programs like the Family Empowerment Scholarship (FES-EO/FES-UA), Florida Tax Credit Scholarship (FTC), and Personalized Education Program (PEP) provide families with flexible funding for private school tuition, customized learning, and public school services—including CTE, AP courses, tutoring, and extra-curriculars—without out-of-pocket costs. Looking ahead to 2027, the Step Up, Step Further Scholarship Fund will leverage a new federal tax credit to prioritize funding up to $1,700 for low-income public school students to access approved educational resources.

    • Conference: 2026 Governance Conference
    • Presenter(s):
      • Keith Jacobs, VP and Dr. Kelly Dwenger, Director - Step Up For Students

  • Student Discipline – Roles and Responsibilities of the Governing Board

    This presentation from the Florida Charter Institute Governance Conference covers the essential roles and responsibilities of charter school governing boards regarding student discipline. It outlines the board's duty to adopt clear discipline policies, ensure explicit codes of conduct, and monitor data trends, while defining specific consequences such as in-school suspension, out-of-school suspension, expulsion, and charter school withdrawal or dismissal. Furthermore, it details critical procedural safeguards and legal protections for students with disabilities under IDEA and Section 504, highlights the harmful long-term effects of exclusionary punishments, and emphasizes proactive, positive, and prosocial behavioral frameworks.

    • Conference: 2026 Governance Conference
    • Presenter(s):
      • John Leombruno, Esq. Arnold Law Firm, and Lindsey Granger, Senior Consultant, Collaborative Educational Network, INC

  • The Role of the Governing Board

    This presentation, titled "The Role of the Governing Board" and delivered by Dr. Valerie Moore Hyer at the FCI Governance Conference, provides a comprehensive overview of the core responsibilities, legal obligations, and strategic functions of charter school governing boards. It emphasizes the vital distinction between board governance—which focuses on high-level oversight, policy creation, academic accountability, and financial stewardship—and school management, which oversees daily operations and staff supervision. Grounded in the legal duties of care, loyalty, and obedience, board members are tasked with hiring and evaluating the school leader, approving budgets and key policy compliance measures, setting strategic SMART goals, and utilizing continuous improvement frameworks to ensure overall organizational and student success.

    • Conference: 2026 Governance Conference
    • Presenter(s):
      • Dr. Valerie Moore Hyer

  • The True Power of Budgeting, Forecasting & CSBM’s Fiscal Responsibility Method

    This presentation, delivered by Michelle Lopez of Charter School Business Management (CSBM) at the FL Governance Conference 2026, outlines the Fiscal Responsibility Method™ to help charter schools prevent financial mismanagement—the leading cause of school closures. It details key steps for establishing responsible budgeting and financial forecasting, including translating school vision into actionable numbers, separating operating and capital budgets, and embedding emergency contingencies. Additionally, the session highlights best practices for ongoing financial health, such as using static budgets alongside accrual-based forecasting, tracking critical stakeholder metrics, adhering to a structured fiscal calendar, and ensuring full compliance with funding requirements.

    • Conference: 2026 Governance Conference
    • Presenter(s):
      • Michelle Lopez, Director of Quality Assurance - CSBM, Charter School Business Management

  • Top Mistakes That Create BIG Liability

    This presentation, titled "Top Mistakes That Create BIG Liability" by John P. Leombruno, Esq. of Arnold Law Firm, LLC, outlines eight critical areas where charter schools face significant legal risk and offers actionable strategies to minimize liability. The key mistakes detailed include failing to document critical decisions, inconsistently enforcing school policies, mishandling employee grievances and parent complaints, conducting poor or delayed investigations, treating Exceptional Student Education (ESE) as paperwork rather than a binding legal obligation, communicating emotionally or informally, committing board overreach or governance errors, and delaying legal advice until litigation arises. To mitigate these risks, schools are advised to document actions contemporaneously, maintain consistent policy enforcement, address complaints promptly in writing, conduct neutral and documented investigations, ensure strict ESE compliance, stick to objective factual communication, maintain clear governance boundaries, and consult legal counsel early before issues escalate.

    • Conference: 2026 Governance Conference
    • Presenter(s):
      • John P. Leombruno, Esq. Attorney / Shareholder, Arnold Law Firm

  • Uncharted Waters: Navigating Insurance as a Charter School

    This presentation outlines key insurance requirements and risk management strategies tailored specifically for charter schools. It highlights how coverage mandates vary significantly by school district and addresses common roadblocks such as managing problematic coverages and determining proper policy limits. Additionally, the session offers guidance on timing coverage needs—from initial charter approval through construction and full operation—while emphasizing budgeting for growth, managing triple net leases, and implementing layered risk transfer techniques like hold harmless clauses and additional insured status.

    • Conference: 2026 Governance Conference
    • Presenter(s):
      • Egis Insurance & Risk Advisors: Brent Gimmel, SVP and Ismary Cardoso, VP

  • Who Leads Next? A Real-World Playbook for Charter School Leadership Succession

    This presentation deck by Richard Moreno and Melissa Holdaway of the FUSE School Advisory Network outlines a comprehensive playbook for charter school leadership succession to ensure long-term organizational continuity and stability. It highlights the importance of adopting a written emergency succession plan for unexpected absences alongside a structured, six-step planned transition model. To select the right successor, school boards must identify their institution's current stage—Start-Up, Growth, Sustaining, Reinvention, or Turnaround—and align it with a corresponding leader profile. Additionally, the playbook details how to conduct a thorough job duty inventory to preserve institutional knowledge, evaluate internal candidates objectively, and establish tailored transition timelines to safeguard academic, operational, and financial health.

    • Conference: 2026 Governance Conference
    • Presenter(s):
      • Richard Moreno, President- Building Hope Services, and Melissa Holdaway, CEO, FUSE School Advisory Network