Read in review for the board

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• HR Support
  • The current HR organization, Hilb Group, which was recommended, is great for finance but not for HR so not meeting current needs - no HR person in-house
  • Goal to find an HR company that can come into the school as needed as well as do a climate assessment 
  • Blue Lion is top recommendation based on current needs of the school
    • Can fill the HR role but not the culture/climate assessment
    • $175/hour; 2 hours per month
  • Potential company to provide culture/climate identified by legal support - still in discussions
• Grounds
  • In process of laying out the pathway - question of when to pour the stone dust
  • Asheville playground has been building playground at their facility and will ship on 10/13 with delivery on 10/15, install will take 6 weeks on the short end
  • Once complete, next step is to focus on funding of phase 2 
• SPED
  • Physical therapist position open
  • SPED audit in February - pre-audit work on-going focused on English learners
    • No one on staff currently trained to do English learner testing - Jane plans to get trained
    • Working to put policies and procedures in place to support students

1. We will use a combination of meetings and educational opportunities, such as workshops or forums, to increase caregiver participation in and awareness of our school community. 
   • Good alignment to strategic plan
2. We will create an evaluation rubric for teachers that will include an opportunity for coaching and professional development. 
   • Question of whether this should be a single vs two separate goals
3. We will create and publish an organization structure and chart in order to enhance efficiency and reduce conflicts. 
   • On-going work on this with planned completion within 60 days

• All goals will benefit from the hiring of an HR company

• Expenses in line with where they should be for current year
• Focus on year-end finance audit - will come to board after Finance Committee review
• Planned to be at $265k profitability with final number of $135k after approval of bonus and other additional expenditures and actually came in at $205k ($70k higher than planned)
  • Funds will roll into retained earnings
• Working with Central Source on a budget tracking tool for the grounds redesign - plan to present at next meeting

• Request to committee chairs to send goals to Tanya within the next few weeks
• Role as trustees is governance - In our role as board members, we should direct parent concerns to teacher and then to Karen rather than taking it on personally
• Pencil in date for retreat as March 28th
• If you go to an event, please wear a badge
• Trustees should be ambassadors to the school and should have an "elevator speech" to tell their story
  • Exec committee members to present their elevator speeches next meeting 

• Focus on how do we make the board more fun and support one another in the future

• Have a development plan in place with support from many individuals
  • Layout is very user friendly
  • Specific people aligned to specific tasks - drives engagement
  • Acknowledges participation from administration
• Main goal is to drive community and connectiveness
  • Can't ask people for money until you've moved and inspired them
• Party tomorrow at Birdhouse in Amesbury
  • Dozens of companies participating to keep the cost of the event low
  • Lots of support from the Birdhouse ownership
• Annual Fund Raising appeal kicking off in a few weeks
  • Goal of $50K - big enough but achievable

• Discussed goals of accountability while building institutional memory to build off prior years (continuous improvement)
• MCAS results from last Spring to be presented out in October 
• Accountability has draft of Montessori review 

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