recorded...executive seession...metnion

time keeper:  Dwayne

No public comment was requested.

No further discussion required.

Liana McLaren added a vote to the agenda, but the auditors confirmed that the Finance Committee vote was the only vote required.

See attached Audit Report:

Liana provided a top level review.

Independent auditors report:  Clean report with no audit findings.

Management Analysis: Summary Financial Year.

Balance Sheet: 

46M Total Assets

Construction and mortgage to bank are biggest liabilities.

Profit and Loss:

Total Operating Cost: 20M

Surplus: 1,077,000.

Footnotes: highlights areas of status for fiscal year with no significant changes.

Most of our money was in uninsured accounts but we are now in a good position.

AMSA's funds are now fully insured and invested in Treasury Bills.

Clean Report with no findings!

Marcy Eckel provided the Capital Campaign update.

She reported that we have 5 business partners: Workers Credit Union, Sudbury/Southborough Orthodontics, St. Mary's Credit Union, Lakeside il,and Avidia Bank.

The Fun Run is next wednesday and has raised $11,241 to date.

STEM board met two weeks ago and have new officers.

They are changing the name to the Advanced Math and Science Academy Soaring Eagles Foundation. They had a brief meeting, with a quick conversation about recruitment since they currently have only 5 members. There next meeting is December 9 and hopefully they will have some potential leads on candidates.

The Bourbon Raffle closes next week on October 30 and the drawing is on October 31. They have sold 95 to date.

Marcy has been working on several grants: she has applied to the Mass Cultural Council in Marlborough, Hudson, Maynard, and Clinton. 

Also grants with Northern Bank, Middlesex Bank, and RF Wood Foundation.

These grants will help fund what AMSA spends to cover student sports, transportation, uniforms, activities.

Thank sto Mark Vital who has recruited Andrew Wienen from Moderna, who is now helping us with finding new business partnership prospects.

AMSA's 20th Anniversary Planning has kicked off and Committee members are coming up with ideas and how to harness those. The goal is to plan something every month that will tie in with the opening of the new building in January. Please send any ideas to Marcy.

November is giving Tuesday month and she is working on getting that message out to the community.

Greg reported there has not been much feedback this month, but it has been relatively smooth sailing so far.

Dwayne reported that he had no update, but he plans to reach out to the PTO to see what is happening.

Maura mentioned that if parents want to submit a dedication for the yearbook, now is the time. 

See attached ED Report:

Highlights:

Lisa reported that AMSA held its First Pot Luck Dinner. 70 family members came, and she was happy that Mike Nawrocki, some staff, faculty, and board members attended. 

She provided an overview of the 2024 MCAS scores.

AMSA has done a lot of work with outreach that has changed our demographics.

AMSA has continued to perform well on MCAS, with our mission at the forefront.

The MCAS ballot question would only affect the lowest performing.

Students can complete graduation by satisfying the requirements of an EPP in English and Math.

Lisa is proud to say that we received the AP Platinum Award and AP Access Award!

The safe school zone was approved by the state in 2011, but AMSA agreed that the school would be responsible for the sign.

Lisa wrote to the mayor who did not know.

DPW put up all the signs. Thank to Mayor Christian and DPW

New building is powered up and moving forward.

College partnerships...assumption undergraduate programs.

Middlesex Community College.

Expansion...we need support. Lots of mis information out there.

Maureen Sullivan...to correct some of the misinformation recently published.

Historical data about charter school attendance.

Send letter of support to:

Bela asked if there is a way to do another article that will focus on the truth.

Maureen Sullivan did interview for another article.

Christine asked what do they want to hear in our support letter?

What has AMSA done for your child?

Staff too...why teach at AMSA?

Kids seem to be thriving or making it through a challenge.

Marci and Lisa met with Maddy and she said she would share it with the alumni.

Maura asked if members could let her know if they can make the meetings that are on the schedule so she can adjust the schedule ahead of time.

Maura likes in person meetings but she knows that remote meetings have their advantages.

There will be call in options for those who are unable to attend in person.

Lisa suggested that the Board should consider meeting remote during the winter months due to bad weather conditions.

Evan reported that the Development Committee is light on committee members. Marci and Evan want to recruit new members.

They plan to review and solidify policies around donations, gifts, and behaviors reviewing at their next meeting.

Development plan will be presented at the November BOT meeting.

They are chatting now about their next meeting date.

Bela reported that Finance met this week. They discussed the budget and the audit. 

They will continue to review their policies, as some need to be updated. For example the cash disbursement policy.

The final item was the quote for electric buse, which is astronomical. They put this on hold for now. 2 buses would cost 600K and we received a 300K grant for 2. Also, the driving radius is only 60 miles and they need special chargers, which is not practical. You have to buy two, AND you have to give back your current gas buses.

Quotes were received from several companies.

Sheila reported that Governance met in October. The Committee discussed the ED Succession, as we are required to have one. Also discussed, was the need to recruit new Governance Committee Members.  Sheila has pulled together a summary of her policy review and we will go over this at a board meeting. 

Christine reported that the Education Committee met at end of September and is meeting again next Monday.

The bright spot of the faculty survey is that AMSA does well. 

Positive feedback about work load, relationship between students and teachers, and general satisfaction. We are doing better with special needs and facilities. They are happy with the new and the new DEAN. Teacher retention over the summer was good. Some things are going well.

No so bright areas:

Student achievement concerns: meeting the needs for advanced and disengaged students.

What was concerning is that morale was low.

Teachers see the administration and Board as alienated. Consistency of policy enforcement is a continuing concern. And that AMSA not headed in the right direction.

With another survey in April or May, they will be able to see if there is progress.

Board could help in three areas:

1. Board presence: maybe a round table or a structure for staff to connect. Trustees Day?

2. Teacher consistency: inconsistency on policy enforcement.

3. Address the overall direction of AMSA, which may be the hardest to address. Is AMSA turning into just a regular public school? How are we differentiating ourselves from other schools?

How do we continue to differentiate?

Lisa said maybe we should be more pointed in our request for feedback from teachers. We have worked on upgrading the facilities (HVAC), made a shift in administration, and believes we are going in the right direction. 

No previous action items.

Homework is to consider Greg's two questions:

How are we differentiating ourselves from other schools?

How do we continue to differentiate?

Do research on enforcing policy consistency issues.

Discuss agenda for the Strategic Planning meeting in January.

Maura will post the Sign up for Board presence document, which is not yet on BoardONTRack.  

Bela started the list with upcoming events through September. The Board will leave it up to Maura and Lisa who meet every two weeks. Maura will update the list and put it on BoardOnTrack.

At 7:30pm, the Board went into executive session to discuss strategies regarding negotiations with represented personnel, as doing so in open session would be detrimental to the process. The Board will not reconvene in open session.

Invited guests are LIsa, Mike, and Liana.