National Institute for Literacy. In addition, Jay Castaño, Assistant Director of the evening
program, has been selected to represent the school and adult education programs across the
country offering Citizenship preparation classes for the committee to redesign the citizenship
test, organized by US Citizenship and Immigration Services. All of these experiences represent
the wealth of experience and external engagement the management team brings to the table.
Two loyal members of the Carlos Rosario Team enjoy camaraderie at the holiday
party.
With the Board’s support,
Ms. Gutierrez has built a highly
loyal and dedicated team that has
a long history of collaborating
enthusiastically to actualize the
school’s mission. Evidence of the
team’s loyalty, dedication, and job
satisfaction are apparent in the
extremely limited job turnover. A
review of the Carlos Rosario
Charter’s history of key leadership
positions over the past seven years
shows that personnel movement
has been characterized by
retirement, coming out of
retirement, or the creation of new
positions to keep pace with
organizational growth.
In order to monitor operations and ensure strong leadership at all levels, the Board of
Trustees request staff to be present at Board meetings to present updates on various aspects of
school operations. In addition to the Executive Director, the school’s Comptroller, Deputy
Director, IT Director and Facilities Director have been present at Board meetings to keep them
abreast on the financial, academic, technology and building operations.
The Board has been incredibly stable since the inception of the Carlos Rosario Charter.
The Board’s stability and limited turnover have led them to discuss the need to ensure that their
institutional knowledge is transmitted to new members of the Board. These conversations
contributed to the decision to have a Board retreat in August 2005, at which Board members,
along with Sonia Gutierrez and representatives from the management team, recalled and
recorded the history of the school in detail from 1970 to the present. In addition to discussing the
Board’s future, they have also engaged with Sonia Gutierrez, Executive Director, in transition
planning for all levels of leadership at the school. Such discussions are aimed to ensure that
future leadership changes will transition smoothly and guarantee the continuation of the school’s
excellent performance track record.
The Board operates within its bylaws: The Board of Trustees’ composition and operations are
in keeping within its bylaws. A Bylaws Committee was established at an August 2005 retreat.
Board members contributed examples of other organizations’ bylaws as a resource. The Board
discussed the importance of setting term limits as well as an expansion of Board membership to a
Carlos Rosario International Public Charter School, Annual Report SY 2005-2006
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