April Set the Foundation. Now May and June Close the Governance Year.
May 3, 2027
April closed with the budget adopted, the mid-year check-in completed, the post-adoption monitoring infrastructure in place, and the community testimony loop documented and closed. Your board accomplished what most boards don’t achieve in a full calendar year — a complete governance cycle from goal adoption through budget adoption, with community engagement embedded at every stage.
Now comes the sprint. May and June close the governance year. The board that finishes strong enters the summer with documented results, evaluated performance, and a clear plan for the next cycle. The board that coasts through May and June enters the summer with unfinished governance business and a fall calendar that starts with catch-up.
The four things May requires
The May-through-June arc has four main governance events. Each one builds on work the board completed between January and April.
The second full data review. February’s first data review established the cadence — student outcome data, trajectory comparison, recorded decisions. May’s data review is different because the board now has five months of trajectory data and, for the first time, budget-to-actual data in the goal-alignment format the board set up in April. The question shifts from “are we on track?” to “are the resources producing the results we committed to?” That’s a more demanding question. It requires reviewing outcome data and resource data together and making recorded decisions about both.
The superintendent evaluation check-in. The evaluation process began with the February 90-day check-in. The board identified areas for growth and support. The superintendent has been working on those areas for three months. May is the midpoint between that check-in and June’s formal evaluation. The board should schedule a structured check-in — less formal than the February session, more focused than a general conversation — that evaluates progress on the specific areas the board identified and documents what remains for the June evaluation to address.
The fiscal year governance closeout. The board has been governing since January on a governance calendar that runs through June. The fiscal year closeout is not about accounting — that’s the superintendent’s operational work. The governance closeout is about the board’s own work: verifying that every governance event on the January-through-June calendar was completed, documenting the board’s decisions and their outcomes, preparing the governance records that inform the next cycle’s planning, and evaluating the governance model itself.
The second community progress report and summer planning. The first progress report, published in March, covered the board’s goals and budget alignment. The May-June progress report covers the full governance cycle — what the board set out to accomplish in January, what it achieved through April, and what trajectory the district is on heading into the summer. The June board meeting should also include a summer planning discussion: what the board will read, what training it will complete, what policy development it will pursue, and what preparatory work will set up the next governance year.
Why the order matters
These four events are not independent. They’re connected. The data review evaluates whether the board’s resource allocation decisions are producing outcomes. The superintendent evaluation check-in evaluates whether the board’s direction to the superintendent is producing leadership results. The governance closeout evaluates whether the board’s own processes are producing effective governance. The progress report communicates all of this to the community.
A board that completes the data review and the superintendent check-in before the governance closeout walks into the closeout with the information it needs to evaluate its own effectiveness. A board that tries to close out the governance year without completing the data review and the check-in is closing out without having done the work.
What this arc looks like in practice
Wednesday’s piece walks through the second data review in detail — what’s different from February, what data the board needs, and what format produces the clearest picture. The May arc builds from data review through superintendent evaluation check-in through governance closeout through community reporting through summer planning. Each piece adds a layer.
The April arc was about setting infrastructure: budget adopted, mid-year check-in completed, monitoring set up. The May arc is about using that infrastructure to close the governance year with evidence, not assumptions. The board that completes the May arc walks into June knowing exactly where it stands and what remains.
Your free CTA: Reply to this email with the keyword SpringSprint and I’ll send you the May–June Governance Sprint Roadmap — a complete calendar covering the second data review preparation checklist, the superintendent evaluation check-in framework, the fiscal year governance closeout template, and the summer planning meeting agenda.
Your paid CTA: I offer a Spring Governance Cycle Completion Coaching Package — three sessions covering the May data review facilitation, the June superintendent evaluation support, and the summer governance planning session design. Reply to this email for pricing and availability.
This opens the May Governance to Impact arc: Spring execution and fiscal year close. This arc flows from April’s budget adoption, mid-year check-in, post-adoption monitoring setup, and community testimony response. Wednesday’s piece covers the second data review — what’s different from February and how the combined review format works. Subscribe at effectiveschoolboards.com to continue the series.
Backlinks: This piece is the May arc opener, building on the Apr 26 Spring arc closer which previewed the May-through-June calendar. The four May events were previewed in the Apr 26 piece and the Jan 27 governance roadmap. The second data review connects to the Feb 3 first data review piece and the May data review preview in the Apr 26 piece. The superintendent evaluation check-in connects to the Feb 8 superintendent evaluation 90-day check-in piece. The fiscal year closeout connects to the Dec governance reset. The summer planning framework connects to the Jan 6 governance calendar piece.