Employee separation is a sensitive issue for any charter school. Whether the separation results from voluntary or involuntary reasons, preventable or cultural clashes, or any other reason, the experience may cause hardships to all involved. Regardless of the reason, the separation of employees from an organization requires a great deal of sensitivity, empathy, discretion and … Read More
Six Need-to-Know Virtual Onboarding Tips
Virtual onboarding! Do those words scare you? Some charter schools have transitioned to remote work, making virtual onboarding of new hires a necessity. Are you ready? Is this your first time planning a virtual onboarding experience? How can you make a virtual onboarding experience effective? What do you need to know? Why is the onboarding … Read More
Using Letters of Reasonable Assurance
Are your unemployment claims costs mounting? What can you do to drive these costs down? Anything? Yes! Annually, you can issue a Letter of Reasonable Assurance to employees to significantly reduce the charter’s unemployment claim costs. What is a Letter of Reasonable Assurance? A Letter of Reasonable Assurance is a written agreement from the school … Read More
Critical Conversations
What makes a conversation critical? As a school leader, you are faced with many critical conversations, and likely at least one every day. Approaching a critical conversation is a delicate matter that takes planning and thought. Have you ever considered, what are the common factors that all of these sensitive, yet necessary discussions share? First, … Read More
Best Practices for Employee Onboarding
Today’s Tip offers timely, useful guidance in the hiring process. Are you busy trying to fill positions for the 2020-2021 school year? What do you need to know? What does your new hire process look like? Not sure what you need or where to start? CSS is here to help! We can unload your plate … Read More
Onboarding to Bring Out the Best in My New Hires
Hiring the right team member is vital to the success of your organization and your students, and how you welcome and onboard your new hire is a critical component to ensuring their success and retention. Having a solid plan in place for HOW to onboard your new hire is as important as hiring them in … Read More
The Importance of a Strong Mission, Vision, and Values
What makes a charter school? Why do they exist? Why do we need them when there is an ISD where these kids could attend? Well, there is no easy answer to these questions. Each charter school is unique, born of a dream and purpose to meet an identified need not yet being met in its … Read More
What Types of Loan Forgiveness Programs Are Available for Teachers?
Did you know that many teachers in our Texas charter schools qualify for thousands of dollars of student loan debt forgiveness? This could make a HUGE difference in the lives of your teachers! Today’s Tip covers five student loan forgiveness programs available to Texas teachers, based on specific circumstances and qualifiers. Read below to find out … Read More
Misconduct Reporting Portal
The 86th Legislative Session in 2019 passed House Bill 3, which was passed to further protect the safety and welfare of Texas students in several ways, one of those being now requiring schools to report certain allegations of misconduct against non-certified employees. Under TEC §21.006 and Texas Administrative Code (TAC) §249.14, school leaders have been … Read More
Certification Requirements for Charter School Teachers
In many ways, ISDs and Charter schools share common requirements and compliance items. However, in just as many ways, requirements between the two entity types differ. The realm of teacher certifications brings one of these differences to the forefront. Are teachers at open-enrollment charter schools required to hold a certification? The short answer is, it … Read More