Board of Trustees Resources
About Public Charter School Board of Trustees
At DC PCSB, we are committed to building and sustaining a quality portfolio of public charter schools. We hold schools to rigorous standards to ensure every student is prepared for success in college, career, and life.
Transparency is a cornerstone of our work. To support informed decision-making and public trust, we make extensive data available to families, educators, and community members. We also set clear, ambitious, and achievable accountability targets for all schools.
This page is your gateway to that data—explore, analyze, and learn more about DC’s public charter schools.
View Board of Trustees Information
Mandatory Trustee Training
This law mandates yearly training for all trustees beginning in school year 2026-27
DC PCSB provides free online asynchronous training to all trustees on this platform.
This FAQ document details training requirements, timelines, support structures, and compliance requirements for school year 2026-27.
In school year 2026-27, all trustees are required to take these three courses to meet the requirements of the Board of Trustee Training Amendment Act of 2025.
Course 1: Trustee and Board Effectiveness – The course focuses on trustee and board effectiveness, outlining the legal requirements underpinning your role, your board’s composition requirements, your collaborative role with your school leader, and meeting transparency requirements.
Course 2: Academic Accountability and Oversight – This course focuses on academic accountability and oversight, outlining how charter goals are set and monitored, the ASPIRE System, and the charter review and renewal process.
Course 3: Financial Oversight – The course focuses on financial oversight and health, outlining fiscal health metrics, the board’s financial review function, DC PCSB’s measures of fiscal health, and procurement contracts.
See a list of trainers eligible to provide trustee training to meet the requirements of the Board of Trustee Training Amendment Act of 2025.
See resources related to the trustee training courses including meeting guides, question banks, and calendars:
Trustee and Board Effectiveness
Bellwether: Charter School Board Playbook – Resource with characteristics of effective boards with “do’s” and “don’ts” for each.
BoardOnTrack: Overview of Job Responsibilities – Resource with models of trustee job descriptions and trustee performance expectations.
DC PCSB Policies – DC PCSB policies on topics including addressing community complaints, approving procurement contracts, determining conflicts of interest, and membership requirements.
National Charter School Resource Center: What’s the Board Got to Do With It? – Resource with tips on how to monitor key performance metrics and create data dashboard models.
DC School Reform Act – DC law that created public charter schools. Includes information about fiduciary responsibilities, membership requirements, and budget/expenditure data reporting.
Academic Accountability and Oversight
Bellwether: Boards Must Ensure Students Are Learning – A resource with key questions, goal setting guides, and dashboards.
DC PCSB Trustee Academic Oversight and Accountability Question Bank – Questions to guide academic oversight board conversations.
EmpowerK-12 Public Data Dashboards – A resource with District-wide data related to DC CAPE, NAEP, the DC School Report Card, and more.
DC PCSB Reviews and Renewals – Website with the review/renewal schedule, review/renewal guidelines, and an FAQ.
DC PCSB ASPIRE Policy and Technical Guide – DC PCSB policy that includes ASPIRE levels, frameworks, measures, and calculation rules.
DC School Report Card – School data calculated by the Office of the State Superintendent of Education.
DC PCSB Charter Goals Policy – DC PCSB policy that includes a guide to adopting and amending charter goals, standards for individually negotiated charter goals, and goal determination process during the transition to ASPIRE.
DC PCSB Board of Trustees Charter Goals Monitoring Meeting Template – Template for boards to review charter goals, assess progress, and develop an academic accountability strategy.
National Charter School Resource Center: Charter School Governing Board Composition – A resource that includes information on the role of the board’s School Performance Committee on pages 26-28.
Financial Oversight
National Charter School Resource Center: Charter School Governing Board Composition – A resource that includes information on the role of the board’s Finance Committee on pages 24-25 and Treasurer on pages 29-30.
DC PCSB’s Financial Oversight Policy – A policy detailing how DC PCSB will conduct LEA financial oversight.
Financial Monitoring List and Citations of Fiscal Concern – Website with DC PCSB’s financial oversight public reporting. The Financial Monitoring List shows LEAs with financial instability. Citations of Fiscal Concern are given to any LEA with material weaknesses, significant deficiencies, large variances, consistently late submissions, or instances of fraud or theft.
Procurement Contract Submission Policy – DC PCSB policy that describes the types of contracts, bidding/reporting requirements, and consequences for failure to comply.
Board Meeting Minutes and Open Meetings
DC PCSB has created this guidance to support local education agency (LEA) board of trustees in recording, submitting, and posting meeting minutes. It describes what should be included in minutes, how they should be submitted, and public posting expectations. It also includes examples.
This webinar from 2025 summarizes DC PCSB’s Board Meeting Minutes Guidance and includes information from the Office of Open Government.
Recording, Submitting, and Posting Board Meeting Minutes Webinar
Website with Open Meetings Act information from the Office of Open Government.
Law that governs open meetings in the District.