F.W. Parker Charter Essential School

Minutes

Board Meeting

Date and Time

Tuesday December 13, 2016 at 6:45 PM

Location

Room 27 at the Parker School, 49 Antietam Street, Devens MA 01434

Trustees Present

C. Beasley, C. Lower, C. Regan-Davi, C. Stack-Haan, J. Adams, J. Bartsch, J. Howard, K. Reeves, L. Warner, M. VanderWilden, P. MacDonald, S. Roach, T. Espinola, T. Sumner

Trustees Absent

J. Wood

Guests Present

K. Tedstone, M. McKenna, N. Dudensing, S. McNamara

I. Opening Items

A.

Record Attendance and Guests

B.

Call the Meeting to Order

N. Dudensing called a meeting of the board of trustees of F.W. Parker Charter Essential School to order on Tuesday Dec 13, 2016 at 6:50 PM.

C.

Approve Minutes

C. Lower made a motion to approve minutes Board Meeting on 11-09-16.
K. Reeves seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

II. Topics for Discussion

A.

Bank Financing Update

T. Sumner updated the board members regarding bank financing options.  The Finance committee unanimously recommended to the Board of Trustees to pursue the TD swap option.  The Board will vote to accept Fincom's recommendation.  

B.

Fall Forum + Coalition Update

L. Warner and C. Beasley updated the board on the Fall Forum which took place in Providence.  Seven students from Parker accompanied the teachers to the forum.  The students themselves facilitated the workshops.  This was the last forum after 20 plus years.  

III. Principal’s Report

A.

Principal's Report

K. Drew's update regarding the third decade fund included many donations which has slightly exceeded the school's expectations for this timeframe.  Moving forward will be some focus on the Deven's business list.  A list of families that we would like to reconnect with has been generated. 

T. Sumner then presented the group with an activity that dealt with using reserves, borrowing, reducing expenses and non-tuition revenue growth.  Todd had four purposes with this exercise: advance the group's thinking about how to meet this challenge, provide input on whether to borrow more as part of refinancing, obtain opinions about expense reduction and build community through collaboration.

IV. Committee Reports

A.

Development Committee

C. Stack -Haan and J. Bartsch updated the Board about the Development Committee's goals.  

B.

Governance Committee

L. Warner and C. Regan-Davi had all board members open up Board on Track for an explanation of the assessment cycle.  

V. Public Comments

A.

New item

There were no comments from the public.

VI. New Business

A.

New item

There was no new business to consider.

VII. Closing Items

A.

Adjourn Meeting

P. MacDonald made a motion to adjourn the meeting.
M. VanderWilden seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 9:00 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
C. Lower