Strategic Oversight Calendar Kit

After of being asked by boards for a template to keep track of the 40 to 60 recurring tasks common to most charter schools, Dr. Carpenter developed a color coded spreadsheet with handy drop-down lists and conditionally formatted cells (cell that change color depending on what you put in them). He calls this a strategic oversight calendar (SOC) for the simple reason that your board's strategy is merely the sum total of everything it does. 

This SOC kit includes a blank template, a sample completed template, a checklist of 40 recurring tasks common to most charter school boards and a video in which Dr. Carpenter walks you step-by-step through the process of creating your own SOC.

Boards that use the SOC approach to tracking recurring board tasks, can enjoy the following benefits:

• it puts the board in the driver's seat in establishing agenda items (rather than relying on management)
• it enables the board to look at its recurring tasks months in advance of critical due dates
• it helps the board ensure that nothing falls through the cracks
• it helps establish institutional memory because it documents the board's major recurring business items
• it allows the board to evaluate tasks as they occur, using a simple red, green, yellow system
• it can be used to track any recurring responsibility (e.g., monthly, quarterly, yearly, etc.) and it can be used to create reminders in advance of critical due dates
• it provides an easy tool to evaluate the performance of both your board and management on recurring tasks
• it can be used to track both outcome and parameters (Dr. Carpenter teaches that the board's responsibility is "To ensure that the school accomplishes the student outcomes for which it was chartered while operating within all required parameters.")