Ms. Rios introduced herself, thanked the public, and provided an overview of the
public comment process and guidelines.  Ms. Rios then invited public comment; no
comment was made.

Ms. Rios presented the Consent Agenda and asked the Board if any member
wanted to remove any item from the Consent Agenda in order to further discuss and/or
solely vote on that item; no member did.

Dr. Miles introduced Ms. Chambers (Director of Student Services) to lead the Board in an opening activity.  

The Board engaged with the activity around the themes of "Protect vs Steward vs Build" and then further discussed the tensions and implication for Board leadership.

Dr. Miles confirmed that the Charter Renewal is on the State Board of Education's June 23rd Agenda.  DESE has notified Dr. Hile that our renewal was removed from the Consent Agenda.  Dr. Hile believes that DESE would like to discuss details of the school's APR scores.

Dr. Miles, Dr. Hile, and DESE are meeting this upcoming week to discuss further and prepare for a smooth renewal vote.

Mrs. DeWilde reported that she is on track for compiling the Executive Director evaluation.  The survey response rate has been consistent with past years'.  Dr. Miles has submitted her quantitative self-evaluation and is working on compiling the quantitative measures.  

Mrs. DeWilde will then consolidate those results and will share them in Closed Session at the July Board Meeting, then will meet with Dr. Miles to share and discuss.

Ms. Moore asked how the group of parents and staff members were identified; Mrs. DeWilde gave context and the Board had a discussion on refining the process for future years.  Additionally, Mrs. DeWilde noted that she would like to revise (and distinguish) the surveys between the stakeholder groups.

Dr. Miles provided context to the Board that the school partners with a vendor, TherapyLog, to submit Medicaid reimbursement.  TherapyLog updated the school that the state has now said that charter school board members must provide their social security numbers in order for the school to be eligible for a portion of reimbursement.

Hon. Bland gave a report to the Board on his research and discussion on the issue.  He shared his belief that the current request and interpretation was incorrect and discriminatory.  He suggested the idea of 1) talking to our counsel, 2) talking to other charter boards, and 3) collectively challenge this gentleman's interpretation via Temporary Restraining Order.  

Mrs. DeWilde asked how many schools this affects.  Hon. Bland said that TherapyLog shared at least three other schools have already complied.  Mrs. DeWilde asked if MCPSA could lead this effort.  Dr. Miles will reach out to Mr. Devine at MCPSA.

Rios notified Board of her intention to serve in the Chair only one additional year, and therefore opened the Chair-Elect position.  The Board requested a month for personal consideration and reflection on that position.

All other officers (DeWilde as Vice-Chair, Bland as Secretary, and Butler as Treasurer) were open to continuing through FY27.

Dr. Miles led a scheduling discussion with the Board, noting that her Superintendent certification class continues through September.  

The Board agreed to keep the cadence of monthly meetings on the 3rd Thursday, but adjust August and September to a Tuesday night.  The Board also targeted Saturday, June 12, 2027 for the annual retreat.

The Board discussed continuing the following committees:

1. Executive.  Chaired by the Board Chair (Ms. Rios) and comprised of the Board Officers (Mrs. DeWilde, Hon. Bland, Mrs. Butler, and the Chair-Elect).  Committee will meet the Monday of the week prior to the Board meeting (est. 10 days prior) at 12p.
2. Finance.  Chaired by the Board Treasurer (Mrs. Butler).  Ms. Finocchario volunteered to also serve.  Committee will meet the Tuesday prior to the Board meeting (est. 2 days prior) at 4p. 
3. Audit.  Ms. Bond volunteered to Chair and Mrs. DeWilde volunteered to also serve.  Will meet before the December Board Meeting, after the audit is finalized.  
4. Academic Excellence.  Ms. Finocchario volunteered to Chair and Mrs. Herman volunteered to also serve.  Committee will determine a meeting cadence and targeted scheduling during the lunch hour.
5. Education Collaboration Task Force.  Ms. Rios, Mrs. Moore, and Mrs. Herman volunteered to serve; dates and cadence are being set.

Mr. Brennan presented the May 2026 financials. He shared that the school continues to maintain a strong financial position, with a projected year-end position of $2.0m of cash (equivalent to 83 days of cash on hand).  The school's cash outlook increased by $191k this month.
 

Turning to the monthly financials, Mr. Brennan presented Page 13’s Balance Sheet, showing a current Cash Balance of $2.47m, and a projected year-end balance of $2.3m.  He presented Page 11’s Income Statement, highlighting:
 

• Year-to-date revenue of $8.07m, against a budget of $7.72m.
• Year-to-date expenses of $7.69m, against a budget of $7.78m.
• Net Income of $384k, against a budget of (-$55k).
• Forecasted year-end revenue of $8.96m, against a budget of $8.58m.
• Forecasted year-end expenses of $8.73m, against a budget of $8.49m.
• Forecasted year-end Net Income of $232k against a budget of $92k.
• A projected 83 days of cash on hand position, increasing by 8 days from last month.

Lastly, Mr. Brennan stated that the Finance Committee did not note anything as out of order on the Check Register or Accounts Payable.

Dr. Miles & Mr. Brennan presented the proposed 2026-2027 Budget.

Mr. Brennan highlighted and explained Debt Service Coverage Ratio (DSCR) as a new metric that will be on the financial dashboard; according to the bank covenants, the school must start and end the year with a DSCR above 1.15x.  

Hon. Bland asked about how competitive the school is with staff salaries; Dr. Miles replied that the school was "even/competitive with peers" 1-2 years ago, but others have increased this past year while we held steady.  She would like the Board to evaluate teacher pay this next year; she also flagged building leadership and Director-level are behind.  She plans to evaluate the financial impact of proposed increases this year.

Dr. Miles shared another support she is building is supporting and subsidizing teacher certification.  Hon. Bond supported, but would like a multi-year commitment from staff built into that agreement.

Hon. Bland asked what are other schools are doing to get salaries above ours; where are they "taking" from?  Dr. Miles replied that, in comparison, other peer schools have lower/no building or financing payments.  

Dr. Miles briefly discussed uses, if any, for remaining project contingency funds.

The Board recessed for lunch at 12:05pm and reconvened at 12:36pm.

Dr. Miles opened by saying that, instead of a Strategic Plan that she inherited, she would like the Board to set 3-5 annual goals, work toward those, and monitor progress.  

She led the Board through a related goal-setting exercise, starting with "What is one hope you have for a student who graduates from Midtown Community School?"

Dr. Miles then led the Board through a 2-part working session:

Part 1:  Foundation
 

• The Board split up into 4 groups:  1) Mission & Vision, 2) Core Values, 3) Holistic Learning, and 4) Restorative Community & Leadership Development.
• The Board answered questions (via visual/diagram):
  a) Why does this matter?
  b) What would students experience if this were done well?
  c) What would be missing if this didn't exist?

The Board participated in small group and large group discussions and presentations.

Part 2:  The Student Journey Walk 

• The Board split up into 3 groups, focusing on different grades;  1) K-2nd, 2) 3rd-5th, 3) 6th-8th. 
• The Board again answered questions (via visual/diagram):

a) What is unique about this stage?

b) What skills are being intentionally developed?
c) How does leadership expand?

d) Complete:  "A student at this stage should be able to _______ "

e) As a Board, what can we do to support the staff in each stage, and what outcomes should we be looking for?

The Board again participated in small group and large group discussions and presentations.

Mrs. Herman suggested Dr. Miles do this same exercise with staff; Hon. Bland suggested doing so with incoming families as well.  

Dr. Miles reflected that she always felt the Citizens direction was ambiguous and the feedback she received during the rebranding process was "we don't want this [mission] to just be words - we want it to be real."  

Mrs. DeWilde asked how this is will then shared with the students?  Dr. Miles replied that she will need to discover this answer - incorporate it into prospective family tours, post it on the wall, etc.   She would like to create what the visual looks like, then roll it out.  

Dr. Miles then led a focused discussion on Board goals, starting with "In [Five] years, Midtown Community School is fully living its mission and vision.  What measurable evidence would we see?"  She asked for answers within the buckets of Heart-Mind-Soul-Body.

She collected goal suggestions.

Mrs. DeWilde suggested incorporating these into the annual Superintendent evaluation as well.