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Episode #16 - Mythbusters… Self-Funding Edition with DSST & HUB
SHOW NOTES
3 min read
SHOW NOTES
GUEST INFO
Episode Guest:
Richard Royal, Executive Director of Denver Language School
Website:
https://www.denverlanguageschool.org/
EPISODE SUMMARY
What happens when your mission requires more staff, but your budget says less spending?
In this insightful episode of The Charter School Insider Podcast, host Daniel Casselli sits down with Richard Royal, Executive Director of Denver Language School (DLS) — a top-performing K–8 immersion charter in Colorado — to explore how to build a sustainable staffing and budgeting model from first principles.
Richard shares how DLS achieves exceptional outcomes in both Mandarin and Spanish immersion programs while facing lower per-pupil funding than district peers. He walks us through his strategic shift in staff compensation, the challenges of realigning pay scales, and the importance of leading with transparency and mission alignment.
From tough board conversations to courageous leadership decisions, this episode is a masterclass in strategic budgeting for charter school executives — balancing people, purpose, and performance.
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EPISODE TAKEAWAYS
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Mission must drive the model. Every budget decision at DLS starts with one question: Does this align with our mission of academic excellence and intercultural competence?
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Build budgets around values, not leftovers. Instead of allocating “what’s left” to instruction, DLS intentionally invests in a two-adults-per-classroom model, ensuring every student benefits from direct interaction and immersion support.
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Rethink compensation from first principles. Richard redesigned staff pay frameworks to prioritize long-term sustainability and reward high-performing educators, introducing a “Senior Teacher Track” that celebrates excellence.
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Transparency builds trust — even in hard conversations. Open dialogue with staff and board members helped navigate pay scale transitions with integrity, ensuring fairness while maintaining organizational solvency.
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Culture and belonging matter as much as pay. Teachers often stay not just for compensation, but for the community, mission alignment, and joy of impact — proving that culture can be a key retention driver.
RESOURCES
- Book: Thinking in Bets by Annie Duke
- Book: Nudge by Richard Thaler & Cass Sunstein
- Book: A Theory of Justice by John Rawls
CHAPTERS
00:00 Meet Richard Royal: Executive Director of Denver Language School
01:21 Celebrating Academic Achievements and Unique School Model
04:10 Mission-Driven Approach to Education
07:05 Operational Challenges of a Dual Language Model
10:01 Budgeting for a Bilingual Education
12:36 Staffing Implications and Recruitment Challenges
15:45 Rethinking Staff Compensation Models
18:26 Building a Sustainable Future for Educators
21:22 Navigating Change and Board Conversations
25:55 Navigating Communication Challenges in Leadership
33:35 Cultural Shifts and Strategic Changes
42:39 Reflections on Leadership Decisions and Future Directions
ABOUT OUR GUEST
Richard Royal is a committed educator and leader with a great appreciation for the merits of evidence-informed approaches to learning and teaching. He values personalised communication and the power of appropriate feedback, and has thus leant heavily on the writings of Kurt Hahn, Alec Peterson, and Carol Ann Tomlinson in constructing his educational philosophy. Additionally, his instructional focus is guided by John Hattie’s work on teacher efficacy.
He is very familiar with the International Baccalaureate MYP and DP, the UK education system, and traditional four-year high schools in the USA. Since 2015, Richard has focused on actively championing multilingual education for young people in North America and believes that language learning is a pathway to empathy and tolerance to improve our world.
In the spring of 2019, he completed his MA in Educational Leadership & Management through the University of Bath in the UK; the focus of his degree was upon faculty turnover and morale, particularly in light of innovation and change. This builds upon his BA and MA in History from the University of Cambridge (2008, 2014), his achievement of Qualified Teacher Status through the University of Reading (2010), and an MA in Contemporary History & Politics from the University of London (2011).
US Permanent Resident, UK Citizen.
ABOUT OUR HOST
Daniel Casselli is a life-long learner whose passion for education has driven his professional endeavors. He is a former classroom teacher and youth ministry director whose entrepreneurial spirit landed him in the world of education technology. At EVERFI Inc., Daniel helped run the business development efforts for EVERFI’s Financial Education Program and the company was eventually sold to Blackbaud for $750M in 2021. Shortly before EVERFI’s acquisition, Daniel joined Class Technologies as one of the earliest sales hires and went on to lead K12 Enterprise Sales and helped the company land its first 100+ K12 customers across public, charter, and private schools. Daniel brings his unique experiences to BuyQ where he is focused on growth, operational excellence, business strategy, and client satisfaction. He is a graduate of Grove City College where he studied Religion and History.
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