Compass Board Member
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Compass Charter School
NY
Summary
Board members are responsible for providing governance, fiduciary oversight, and strategic guidance to support the school's mission. They must actively participate in board meetings, maintain confidentiality, and ensure compliance with New York State Education Department requirements.
Job Description
OVERVIEW
Compass Charter School welcomes dedicated and mission-aligned individuals to serve on our Board of Trustees. We recruit two types of board members: voting members, who hold full governance authority and fiduciary responsibility, and nonvoting family/parent members, who bring the family perspective to board deliberations. All prospective board members, regardless of type, go through a structured process designed to ensure strong fit, transparency, and compliance with New York State Education Department (NYSED) requirements.
SHARED EXPECTATIONS FOR ALL BOARD MEMBERS
All board members, voting and nonvoting, are expected to:
▪ Attend and actively participate in all regularly scheduled board meetings.
▪ Uphold Compass's mission, values, and commitment to progressive, sustainability-focused education.
▪ Maintain confidentiality of executive session discussions.
▪ Disclose any conflicts of interest promptly and recuse when appropriate.
▪ Complete any required board training.
▪ Act in the best interest of Compass students and the school community as a whole.
PART I: VOTING MEMBERS
Voting members of the Board of Trustees hold full governance authority and are subject to NYSED approval prior to appointment. The process below applies to all prospective voting trustees.
Step 1: Nomination
▪ Any current member of the Board of Trustees may nominate a prospective voting member.
▪ Nominations are submitted to the Board Chair for initial review.
▪ The nominating board member is expected to have sufficient knowledge of the candidate's qualifications and be prepared to speak to their fit for the role.
▪ After reviewing applications, the Executive Committee identifies and advances candidates for further consideration, seeking to build a board that reflects a diversity of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives to strengthen the school's governance and mission.
Step 2: Application
▪ The prospective member completes an application
▪ The application includes a resume, curriculum vitae or summary of relevant professional background, and a personal statement describing their interest in and connection to Compass's mission,
▪ The Board Chair or designee reviews the completed application for completeness before advancing the candidate.
Step 3: Vetting
▪ The candidate meets with at least two current board members and the School Leader (Executive Director).
▪ These conversations are intended to assess alignment with Compass's mission and values, relevant skills and expertise, and commitment to the responsibilities of board service.
▪ The Board Development Working Group coordinates scheduling and compiles feedback from all vetting conversations.
Step 4: Board Vote
▪ The Board Development Working Group presents the candidate to the full board.
▪ The board votes to select the prospective member for a two-year term, pending NYSED approval.
▪ Per NYSED requirements, the board resolution must incorporate specific voted language as outlined in the NYSED Board of Trustees addition template. The resolution is adopted upon NYSED's approval.
Step 5: NYSED Approval
▪ Prior to appointment, the board must submit the candidate's information to NYSED for review and approval. This is required for all Regents-authorized charter schools.
▪ The candidate must complete a Background Information Form, signed Statement of Assurance, and Disclosure of Financial Interest form.
▪ The candidate must provide a resume and documentation of their highest level of education (diploma and official transcript, or a notarized letter if unavailable).
▪ The board is responsible for conducting a criminal history record check via fingerprinting and verifying the accuracy of any credentials presented.
▪ Required materials are submitted through the NYSED Application Business Portal. NYSED will review within 45 business days and issue written approval, a request for additional information, or rejection.
▪ The board resolution appointing the new member is adopted upon receipt of NYSED approval.
Note: Fingerprint clearance documents should not be uploaded to NYSED directly. See the NYSED fingerprint guidance memo for detailed instructions.
Compass is a free, public school where children learn through hands-on experiences. Our students develop critical thinking skills in innovative and flexible ways and are inspired to make a positive impact on their communities.
Compass is uniquely positioned to deliver a rich and responsive education to all of its students because every classroom has two teachers delivering instruction throughout the day. All of our classrooms include children with special needs and are designated Integrated Co-Teaching (ICT) classes. All students participate in a variety of research practices including observations, question development, interviews, artifact collection, field visits, note-taking, and hands-on experiments.
In an ever-changing world, we believe that it is crucial for our students to learn to meet the needs of the present generation while simultaneously keeping the needs of future generations in mind. To cultivate this thinking, our students will study their relationship with the world using a lens of sustainability. Our students will participate in integrated projects focused on the living world, social justice, and economic justice.
We support the use of literacy skills across subject areas by creating units of study to teach specific reading, writing, listening, speaking, and language content outlined in the New York State Standards. Using a balanced literacy framework, our students will engage in a daily reading workshop, writing workshop, word study session, and read aloud in addition to integrated literacy work.
The mathematics program emphasizes student-driven exploration, problem solving, collaborative group work, and discussion that supports the conceptual understanding of mathematics. We will draw from multiple resources to plan standards-aligned units of study including TERC Investigations and Contexts for Learning.
We view the arts as a channel for learning, communication, expression, and creativity.
Founded
2014
Company size
11-50 employees
Industry
Primary and Secondary Education
Org type
Educational
Headquarters
Brooklyn, New York
Compass is a free, public school where children learn through hands-on experiences. Our students develop critical thinking skills in innovative and flexible ways and are inspired to make a positive impact on their communities.
Compass is uniquely positioned to deliver a rich and responsive education to all of its students because every classroom has two teachers delivering instruction throughout the day. All of our classrooms include children with special needs and are designated Integrated Co-Teaching (ICT) classes. All students participate in a variety of research practices including observations, question development, interviews, artifact collection, field visits, note-taking, and hands-on experiments.
In an ever-changing world, we believe that it is crucial for our students to learn to meet the needs of the present generation while simultaneously keeping the needs of future generations in mind. To cultivate this thinking, our students will study their relationship with the world using a lens of sustainability. Our students will participate in integrated projects focused on the living world, social justice, and economic justice.
We support the use of literacy skills across subject areas by creating units of study to teach specific reading, writing, listening, speaking, and language content outlined in the New York State Standards. Using a balanced literacy framework, our students will engage in a daily reading workshop, writing workshop, word study session, and read aloud in addition to integrated literacy work.
The mathematics program emphasizes student-driven exploration, problem solving, collaborative group work, and discussion that supports the conceptual understanding of mathematics. We will draw from multiple resources to plan standards-aligned units of study including TERC Investigations and Contexts for Learning.
We view the arts as a channel for learning, communication, expression, and creativity.
Founded
2014
Company size
11-50 employees
Industry
Primary and Secondary Education
Org type
Educational
Headquarters
Brooklyn, New York
