FAQs

South Valley Charter School Corporation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public benefit corporation and has Articles of Incorporation filed with the California Secretary of State. We are doing business under the name of Charter School of Morgan Hill.

As a public school, CSMH is evaluated and overseen by federal, state, county, and local authorities, a Board of Directors, and local parents who have exercised their choice in public education.

Charter schools are governed by boards, not by individual board members. While understanding their separate roles, the Board and Principal work together as a governance team. The governance team assumes collective responsibility for building unity and creating a positive organizational culture in order to govern effectively.

The Charter School Board of Directors may initiate and carry out any program or activity that is not in conflict with or inconsistent with any law, and which is not in conflict with the purposes for which charter schools are established.

The Board of Director's major roles and responsibilities include, but are not limited to, establishing and approving all major educational and operational policies, approving all major contracts, approving the School's annual budget, overseeing the School's fiscal affairs, meeting corporate requirements, and selecting and evaluating the administrative staff.

The CSMH Board of Directors has ultimate responsibility for the operation and activities of the School. Board members have a responsibility to solicit input from, and opinions of, the parents of CSMH students regarding issues of significance, and to weigh the input and opinions carefully before taking action. The primary method for executing their responsibility is the adoption of policies that offer guidance and interpretation of the charter, and procedures to assist the staff in facilitating the implementation of such policies.

The Board meets approximately once a month and additionally as needed. For recent and upcoming school board meeting dates please see our Board meeting agendas and minutes page.

CSMH Board terms are two years and are staggered. In May of each year, candidates for the open Board seats are solicited through the school's newsletter and are asked to complete a packet indicating their intent to run. An election is then held and all members of the corporation have the opportunity to vote for the parent and community representatives of the Board. The Board's composition includes:

• a minimum of two and a maximum of three parents
• one CSMH staff member
• a minimum of two or a maximum of three community representatives
• the charting granting agency, Morgan Hill Unified School District, may elect to send a district representative to CSMH board meetings in order to facilitate communication and mutual understanding between the School and the District.

The CSMH Board complies with the Brown Act. Except as otherwise permitted or required by law, its meetings are open to the public.

All public schools, including CSMH, must meet federal and state accountability requirements.

CSMH is overseen by the Morgan Hill School District's Board of Trustees, an elected body, and Morgan Hill Unified School District's central administration, based on the structure set forth the charter and memorandum of understanding.

MHUSD conducts rigorous oversight and monitoring of CSMH, including:

• monthly financial monitoring;
• regular site visits;
• independent annual financial audit; and
• detailed review of all aspects of the charter every five years during the renewal process

Morgan Hill Unified School District, with an elected board, is completely independent of the charter school administrations that it oversees. This independence ensures that their charter school oversight is rigorous and unbiased.

CSMH's Chief Financial Officer and Business Manager perform all back office activities such as payroll, vendor payment, and revenue collection.

The CSMH Budget Committee (a committee of the Board of Directors) reviews the school's financial position and budgets and makes recommendations to the CSM Board. It also completes financial studies to help the CSMH Board make decisions regarding the financial direction of the school.

CSMH undergoes an annual independent financial audit by a certified public accounting firm. The firm reviews school records on site as well as records at the back-office firm. It examines various records to ensure that CSMH's financial statements are accurate and the CSMH's processes are in compliance with the law.

Finally, CSMH provides monthly financial reports to the CSMH Board of Directors and the Morgan Hill Unified School District

In addition to being accountable to the Morgan Hill Unified School District, CSMH is accountable to its families who actively decide each year whether CSMH or another public school will best serve their child. As a public charter school, without a captive attendance area, CSMH only exists if there is a demand for it.

The CSMH Board and leadership are highly invested in obtaining constituent input, and do so through a variety of mechanisms:

• CSMH holds regular public board meetings, each with a public comments portion (Board meeting procedures for public comment)
• the CSMH Board hosts an Annual State of the School meeting
• input for the principal and Board Members can be submitted by email
• CSMH administers surveys to obtain input