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Board of Trustees: Our Charge

The Vermont Commons School Board of Trustees:

Our Charge and What We Do

The Vermont Commons School Board of Trustees and Vermont Commons School Corporation are governed by our “Amended and Restated Bylaws,” dated Sept. 17, 2018.

  • The Board typically consists of former and current parents, alums, and friends of the school. By tradition, a representative of–and elected by–the full-time teaching faculty is a Trustee with full voting rights except in matters relating to the Head of School and serves for a three-year term. This faculty representative is first nominated by vote of the teaching faculty; then that nomination is forwarded to the Board’s Governance Committee. The Head of School, ex officio, and the student body president are invited to attend all Board meetings as guests of the Board.
  • Board members serve three-year terms, with the normal option to renew those terms up to two times.
  • The Board has an elected Chair and Vice Chair, who preside at Board meetings. The VCS Corporation has the following officers: President, Chairman of the Board [these previous two officers have traditionally been the same person], Secretary, Treasurer, and the Head of School. The Board has an Executive Committee, as well as Strategic Committees on Governance, Finance, Facilities, and Development.
  • The Board meets monthly throughout the year except December and July, and its committees generally meet at least once between full Board meetings, while some committees’ work has them meeting several times a week during major projects.
  • Current Board members’ information is updated on the school’s website each year.
  • The VCS Board of Trustees is a Strategic board rather than an operational board.
    • We tend to be very active and attempt to be very disciplined.
    • Our primary functions are as follows:
      • Long term financial health of the school
      • Strategic planning based on the school’s Mission and Guiding Principles, including large
        scale campus & development projects
      • Head of School hiring, oversight, evaluation, and employment contract
      • With the administration, ensuring school safety and crisis management
      • Setting tuition, approving the annual budget, and ensuring the school uses the best
        financial practices
      • Coordinating a yearly independent audit of the school’s financial statement

Current initiatives in June 2021

  • Development of the Outdoor Education Center
  • Continued focus on social and environmental justice
  • Improved data for decision making in finance and enrollment
  • Constantly improving how the board functions to support the Head of School, Faculty and Administration so that they may provide an outstanding education
  • Constantly assessing both the Head of School and the Board of Trustees to ensure we are doing our jobs to the best of our abilities.

Scholarship. Community. Global Responsibility.

Students emerge from their time at Vermont Commons School intrinsically motivated to seek out their role for improving the world, with the skills and competencies to do so.