The board welcomed Shawna Wells, of 7Gen Legacy Group. 

There was no public comment.

Sarah reviewed the board slate.  The terms of Amneris, Anne, and Ron are up and they are up for re-election. There were no proposed changes to officer roles.

Bill reviewed the proposed FY26 board meeting schedule.  He noted that the bylaws require 7 meetings plus an annual meeting (8 total meetings).  This schedule includes 9 to support increased needs during the succession planning period.

Bill recognized Bob for his nine years of dedicated service to Springfield Prep and the board, highlighting his leadership through challenging years as Chair.  Bob expressed appreciation for the board and pride in the school’s progress.

Bill introduced the succession planning discussion and outlined the school’s efforts to plan for succession.  It has engaged all current leaders in leadership and management training, launched a "Rising Leaders" leadership development program to build internal leadership capacity, and cross-trained people in leadership roles.  The leadership team is strong and stable, positioning the organization well for an executive transition.

Shawna provided context for her role supporting the board through a succession planning process.  She noted that leadership transitions are a natural and healthy part of organizational growth.  She outlined her recommended guiding principles for succession planning: that leadership transitions are a mark of organizational health and evolution; that they sustain our mission and culture; that the strategy must be transparent, thoughtful, and stewarded carefully; and that the board must think generationally.

The board discussed these principles and shared their reflections.  These included the feeling that it is critical that we protect the school's unique organizational culture; that we keep the long-term impact in mind; that the longer timeline reduces fear and gives us an opportunity to retain and build trust; that we make sure we are keeping roles and responsibilities clear through this work; and that stakeholder engagement and data-driven planning is critical.

Shawna shared research on succession in charter schools and noted that research has proved internal succession is the best practice if there are capable internal successors and if the organization has a structured leadership development program in place.  She noted that Springfield Prep meets these criteria and should feel very proud of the work it has done to position itself well for a transition.

Shawna introduced three questions for the board to consider at this stage: What leadership structure best supports the school’s next decade?  How do we maintain institutional culture and knowledge?  How does the board ensure the new leader is set up for success?

She also introduced and discussed three potential models for a future leadership structure, emphasizing that this is the first step in the strategic planning process.  She outlined three options: a Solo Executive Director (ED), which is most common; a Co-Director Model, which is less common, and a Solo ED with Deputy Director.

The board discussed these options and weighed in on which structure they believed would be best.  The board identified the Solo ED model and the ED model with a Deputy Director as the most appealing, and effectively removed the co-director model from consideration given the complicating factors and less clear accountability it presented.

The Board discussed the structure and shared input with Shawna about what it would need for it to move forward with a planning process.  Some members expressed the feeling that it would be important to consider external candidates, both to better evaluate the pool of candidates and/or to position an internal successor well if that person was chosen.  There was discussion of how this transition connects to Bill's initial vision for the school as the founder.  There was discussion about whether the school should be considering innovative ways to support and retain executive directors.   Some brought up the point that we should learn more about the universe of external candidates that might exist, while others said that we have a thriving school and that we should not seek major change given its success.  Some shared data and insights from their organizations, the charter sector broadly, and the MCPSA specifically, about how challenging, expensive, time-consuming, and risky external searches are and how it is considered best practice to use an internal succession plan if there are qualified internal candidates.

As next steps, Shawna recommended establishing a Succession Strategy Committee between now and September.  The board agreed with this step and will email Bill if they are interested in participating on this committee.  There was discussion about Shawna's role in this process, and she explained that she would support the board through this process, primarily working with the Succession Planning Committee and Bill.