Advancement · School Operations

Minutes that end
in names and dates.

Record the agenda, the decisions and the action items while the meeting runs. Every action gets one owner and one date, overdue ones follow you into the next meeting, and the minutes print on a page people will actually read.

Take minutesWhat you get
$12one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $12

Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the School operations toolkit, $49 for 32 items.

Meeting minutes

The worked example is two made-up meetings: a whole-staff meeting and a grade-level team meeting a week later. Minutes stay in this browser.

Loading the meeting form. If nothing appears, turn on JavaScript.

What you get

Advancement · School Operations$12 · included with Classroom and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
Minutes per meeting with the kind, date, length, facilitator, note-taker and attendance; agenda items with owner, minutes and outcome; decisions and how they were made; action items with owner, due date and status; the next meeting and carry-overs; a three-point sharing check; flags for an agenda longer than the meeting, actions with no owner or date and overdue actions; open and done actions across meetings with the overdue list.
Who it is for
Principals, assistant principals, team leads, department chairs and the staff who take notes at school meetings.
Format
Browser organizer with saved minutes per meeting. Prints one meeting’s minutes, all meetings or a blank template; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
$12 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Also in the School operations toolkit ($49) and the Advancement Suite pass ($99), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The School Operations space in Caveat Advancement.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Before the meeting, enter the agenda with owners and minutes; check it fits the time.
  2. During it, mark each item’s outcome and write decisions as they happen.
  3. Close by reading back the action items: one owner and one date each.
  4. Send the minutes within two school days and tell anyone absent about decisions that affect them.
  5. Open the next meeting with the overdue list from the side panel.

Take minutes

Minutes worth reading

What good minutes keep, and what they leave outKeepWho came, and who ran itEach decision, and how it was madeEvery action: one owner, one dateWhat moves to next timeLeave outWho said what, word for wordStudent names and private detailsSide conversationsOpinions about colleaguesWhat good minutes keep, and what they leave outKeepWho came, and who ran itEach decision, and how it was madeEvery action: one owner, one dateWhat moves to next timeLeave outWho said what, word for wordStudent names and private detailsSide conversationsOpinions about colleagues
Minutes are a record of what was decided and who will do what, not a transcript. Short minutes get read.

Students in the minutes

Notes that name a student can become part of that student’s education record under FERPA, with the rights that come with it. Keep student discussion in the systems built for it, and in minutes use initials or codes, or leave students out.

Decisions and actions

Staff remember the conversation and forget the decision. Writing each decision in a sentence someone absent could act on, with how it was made, and giving every action one owner and one date, is most of what makes meetings lead to change.

Sources

  1. Robert, H. M., III, et al. (2020). Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised (12th ed.). PublicAffairs: what minutes contain.
  2. DuFour, R., DuFour, R., Eaker, R., Many, T. W., & Mattos, M. (2016). Learning by Doing: A Handbook for Professional Learning Communities at Work (3rd ed.). Solution Tree.
  3. Rogelberg, S. G. (2019). The Surprising Science of Meetings. Oxford University Press.
  4. U.S. Department of Education. Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, 34 CFR Part 99: definition of education records (studentprivacy.ed.gov).

The worked example is made up. Public bodies such as school boards follow open-meeting laws; this organizer is for internal staff meetings. Minutes stay on this device until you print or export them. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.