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Co-Op Advice on Establishing a Board


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I am director of a co-op I started a few years ago. It began by me inviting friends I know who wanted to all try the same writing curriculum. We made most decisions all together which wasn't difficult as a smaller group. We've added families every year, and we are up to 19 families for next year and have room for a couple more. 

 

Making decisions has been much more difficult because of so many different opinions. I really think we need a board. What is the best way to go about establishing on from a group that has been truly cooperative. I've talked to several close friends in the group, and they feel it is needed, too. 

 

We have only one mom who is a member of the church we use to meet. I think she should be a definite member. 

 

I would love to hear feedback of ways to go about this fairly.

 

 

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If you have 7 people.

 

  1. Chairperson:
  2. Person partnered with church:
  3. Treasurer:
  4. Recording Secretary:
  5. Person A - 3 year term
  6. Person B - 2 year term
  7. Person C - 1 year term

Try to get a crosscut of the ages in your group.  So, have a parent with preschoolers/elementary,  one with middle school and one with high school.  That way each group is represented at the table.

 

Obviously, people can leave whenever they want.  But try to avoid having to completely rebuild the board from scratch each year.  Also, other than the "church" rep.  No one is a lifer on the board.  You can only be a voting member on the board for 4 years and then you must take one year off.  This allows for fresh blood.  Also, encourage the person who is leaving to train up a couple of different people on how to do their jobs so you don't suddenly have a new wallflower having to organize the graduation ceremonies who has never done such a thing in their lives before!

 

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You may find that the problem naturally sorts itself out because if you ask, not everyone will volunteer. I've been a member of our group for six years now. I attended one general planning meeting, just to see more about what the group's overall purpose was, and they asked me to join the board. The board has changed over the past few years, and it got down to just a few people. One was naturally suited to become the president when our former one moved, but as I was expecting my fifth child at the time, I opted to remain a member at large, rather than take on a specific board role. We advertised within our group for a secretary and then a treasurer, and I took over the secretary job when the former one needed to cut back. As needs arise, we advertise for them and see if anyone steps up.

 

One thing that we find helpful is to have a specific list of duties for each office. Things may change, but for instance, while the president, VP, treasurer, and I all have access to edit the group's webpage, updating the calendar and keeping the webpage tidy is specifically assigned to the secretary, which keeps things simple because we know that someone is handling that aspect. This also helps us make sure we don't put too much on any one person. We don't have a set policy about term lengths, partly because it hasn't been an issue so far, as people naturally drift in and out as needed.

 

I would advertise that you're holding a meeting at X time and place to discuss developing a board, and anyone interested should attend or see you. Then you can ask for specific suggestions for an assistant director, a treasurer, and a secretary, or whatever else anyone feels that the group needs. If you set up a lot of field trips, maybe you need a specific field trip coordinator, or a maybe you need a hospitality director to coordinate meals for members who might need them. Or maybe you want a few members at large to the board, so that you have a total of six or seven people making the decisions for the nineteen families. Or whatever. I'd definitely ask the member who attends that church to serve on the board.

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I established a board of 3 other ladies the 2nd year of the co-op I started. I asked them because they had already demonstrated commitment and sound judgement, yet their gifts and personalities were different from mine and each other. We've been together for 4 years now and It's been a tremendous blessing.

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I would have an exec board - chair, vice chair, treasurer - and a full board which includes the exec board, facilities rep (person connected to church), 3 age group reps (one for the preschool/nursery, one for elem, on for secondary), and a secretary. You started the group so take the chair position another year, and appoint your exec board. select or vote on the rest of the board this coming year. In the future elect all board positions. The exec board make exec decisions, while the full board makes broader decisions. Age group reps liaison for the students, parents, and teachers of their age groups. Secretary keeps minutes, does announcements, etc.

 

The first thing I would do is with your exec board flesh out areas you see need policy and procedures. Then convene full board and write the policies and procedures for the group with input from all.

 

Congrats on your co-op success thus far. Best wishes for the future!

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My concern is how to decide the members of the board. I'm not sure if I should choose, have nomonations with elections, or some other method.

 

Perhaps start by listing what the duties/hours required are for Board members and find out who wants to/is able to volunteer -- it may all work out that you have exactly the amount of volunteers you need. ;)

 

What "jobs" are required for your Board members? For example, co-ops here usually have anywhere from 20 to 60 families, and are administrated by a Board of about 4 people:

- 2 co-directors, working together as overall head/oversight/money management 

- facility liaison with the church (usually this is also one of the co-directors)

- website coordinator

- nursery and/or preschool coordinator

- perhaps 1-2 other coordinators overseeing specific areas of need, if the co-op is large enough

 

The co-op classes here do not revolve around requiring certain curricula or subjects to be taught, but rely on people volunteering or coming in and wanting to teach their special interest. Usually science, art, and a writing class or two happen naturally; if not a post is put up on the website "Hoping to find someone to lead a gr. 4-6 science class for the coming semester…"

 

If you have more people willing/able to be on the Board than Board positions, then perhaps do a modified version of AmyontheFarm's suggestion for Board positions, and for each position, put all the names of those interested in that particular Board position into a hat and draw. :) Repeat for each position where you have more than 1 volunteer.

 

If you have a LOT of volunteers, perhaps adapt AmyontheFarm's suggestion so that those last three positions are SEMESTERS of service (rather than years), so you can cycle through all your volunteers and give everyone a chance to participate on the Board. That way, your Person A serves 3 semesters (full year, plus transitional person into the next year's Board); Person B serves 2 semesters (full year); Person C serves 1 semester. That also allows for more flexibility if someone serving on the Board has sudden and unexpected life circumstances happen such that they need to step out of serving on the Board.

 

Or, go with a variation on Targhee's suggestion with the 3 age group reps each serving for one semester rather than a full year, and draw names. I'm not fond of elections for Boards just because that can cause whole whirlpools of "cliques" and hurt feelings. Random drawing of names from those who want to volunteer takes out the "popular kid factor", and focuses on getting the job done; drawing names for each new semester allows lots of people to participate, without a long wait until it's finally "your turn". JMO! :)

 

BEST of luck! Warmly, Lori D.

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My concern is how to decide the members of the board. I'm not sure if I should choose, have nomonations with elections, or some other method.

 

You choose them. Choose the ones who think the most like you. Don't mess with that whole elections thing.

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You choose them. Choose the ones who think the most like you. Don't mess with that whole elections thing.

1000% THIS.

 

Personally invite those that you feel will be level headed, committed, and that you just generally enjoy. Not everything is a democracy. These are women that you will have to depend on for sound judgement and just general hard work. Pick women that you want to spend time with.

 

Also, we do not have chair/treasurer/secretary official positions, though we seemed to fall into the roles that suited us. It doesn't have to all be super official, IMO.

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I was on the board of the homeschool group I helped to create, and have just stepped down because my family's needs have changed.   But as part of creating the board, we created bylaws and articles of incorporation which clearly stated how the board was elected (nomination by a board member, elected by the board, etc.)   Those bylaws should state how many board members are minimum (and possibly maximum).   Generally, board members should not be elected by the general membership - they should be nominated by the director or another board member (i.e., "pick the person best suited for the job, and with whom you can have a good working relationship"), then voted upon by the board to confirm.

 

You will need a director/president, secretary, and treasurer at a minimum.   It would be helpful to have additional board members for specific roles - webmaster, legal/insurance, directors for certain age groups if that fits your group.   You could just have board members who don't have a specific title other than "board member" to help make decisions.   For a group of 19 families, I would probably try to have at least 4 people on the board, with possibly no more than 7.

 

Carol Topp at www.homeschoolcpa.com has some very helpful articles, including sample bylaws (under "leader tools," then "sample documents") on her website.   I highly recommend her books as well.

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Appoint your board. Choose people not just for their gifts and commitment, but on their ability to work well with others and in particular their ability to work well with YOU as the director. You want people who share your vision for the group and who are going to support your leadership role, not those who want to revolutionize the way the group is run and upset the apple cart.

 

I think one of the most helpful things about a board is the ability to share weighty leadership decisions. When something comes up that isn't in the best interest of the group as a whole, but might upset some individual members, it is a blessing to first take it to the board and then be able to announce that, "The board has decided that this is not in the best interest of the group," rather than having to take the responsibility for making this difficult decision alone as leader. And people can know that when it's a board decision, it's something that's been discussed and prayed over by the board and not just dismissed out of hand because one person didn't like the idea.

 

I second the recommendation for Carol Topp's website.

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