As the new calendar year begins, the Board of Directors of Confluence Charter Schools wants to thank all employees for your wonderful, dedicated work on behalf of our students. In the three plus years since Confluence has separated from the Edison Management Company, our network of schools has made huge progress that is visible in our buildings and in the continual improvement of student success and achievement. We look forward to a successful and productive semester ahead due in large measure to the leadership within our buildings and within the Resource Office.
As you may be aware, the Confluence Board of Directors and the Confluence leadership team are in the process of completing a comprehensive strategic plan. Part of the plan involved a team of staff and parents who identified a number of strategic focus areas to drive Confluence’s work in the years ahead. Additionally, the Board hired an accounting firm last fall to advise us on possible courses of action to maximize Confluence’s financial stability and to get the most value from the money we have to educate our students. The Board is in the process of reviewing these newly proposed strategic focus areas, as well as the recommendations from Clifton Larson Allen, the accounting firm hired to review our financial situation.
In order to effectively and efficiently move forward in evaluating and implementing the new strategic plan, the Board is in the process of reorganizing the resource office management team. The primary change will involve appointing a chief executive officer (CEO), who will be responsible for all aspects of the Confluence network of schools and will report directly to the Board. All other Confluence employees will report to the CEO, and the CEO will be the only employee reporting directly to the Board. We will be posting the CEO position over the next few weeks and will conduct a thorough search for the right individual to fill this role, which will oversee all aspects of the schools and be the public face of Confluence Charter Schools. We anticipate having a permanent CEO in place by July 1, 2016.
To help the Board and the leadership team with important decisions that need to be made this spring semester, we are in the process of hiring an interim CEO to begin as soon as possible. This individual will not be a candidate for the permanent CEO position, yet will be an experienced school leader capable of directing Confluence over the next six months.
As another step in the reorganization of the Confluence management team, the Board has asked Jeff Kuntze to serve as our chief financial officer (CFO). We are delighted that he has agreed to serve as CFO. He will be responsible for overseeing the restructuring of our current debt, for investigating and recommending processes to allow the Board to purchase some of our currently leased buildings, and for working with the CEO to prepare the budget for Confluence, including separate budgets for each school. Mr. Kuntze’s strong financial credentials are a huge asset to Confluence.
Most of the other decisions regarding the reorganization of the Confluence leadership team will be deferred until the interim CEO is in place, but some time ago, Terry Noble informed the Board he plans to retire at the end of this coming school year. The Board has asked Mr. Noble if he could remain in his position until the beginning of the next school year so he can help recruit and train his replacement, and so he can work alongside him or her over the upcoming summer. We are pleased that Mr. Noble has agreed to this arrangement and we look forward to his continued service over the next six months.
We plan to introduce the interim CEO to the staff and parents in the next couple of weeks. We will share further information about the reorganization of the leadership of the Resource Office as the semester continues.
Again, we offer all staff and parents best wishes for 2016 and we look forward to continuing to make lasting improvements for all the Confluence schools during the upcoming year.