Michelle McKenna described the budget process and presented the FY 20 budget proposal.

• Process overview and budget proposal are included in the Board Meeting Packet.
• Michelle said if the Board is comfortable with the budget, she and Todd would like to put contracts in the mail by the end of March.
• Theresa Espinola reported that the Finance Committee is pleased with the budget and she recommended that the Board approve.

Todd Sumner presented on the Entrepreneurial Initiative.

Todd addressed questions raised at the last Board meeting about the initiative.

In regard to fiduciary responsibility as stewards of the charter, Todd spoke with  Alison Bagg, Director of the Charter Schools and School Redesign division of the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) to inquire.  

She had seven recommendations based on current schools doing similar work.  
1.  Governance should be separate from school
2.  Clear Service Agreements with all parties
3.  Clear Resource Agreements
4.  Clear Staff Agreements
5.  Treat Entity as a Component Unit
6. 
7. Proactively seek legal advice



 

Todd Sumner presented the Principal's Report.
Todd said that the Annual Campaign may fall short of the $150K goal.

Katrina Drew delivered the Development report.

• Parker received praise for how they prepared and hosted Senator Tran last month.
• Representative Harrington will be visiting at the end of the month.
• The Annual Fund is at $95K
• Participation is a big part of this year's push
• Participation will be key in next year's campaign to raise money to cover the upcoming heating project.
• Common Principles event is coming up.  State Senator, Jamie Eldridge, will be attending the event.

Jennifer Saxe said that a group of families has organized a challenge donation of $12,000 if the goal participation rate of 40% is met.  
The current participation rate is 29.3% 

 

Christine Regan-Davi delivered the Governance Report.

Christine reported on the Board Assessment completed by Board members through Board on Track and led discussion.  

• The overall score for the Board was "advanced"
• The Board discussed its role in Academic Oversight and how it should be more strategic than operational, how Academic Oversight might be defined and what it might look like.
• The full report and recommendations can be accessed in Board on Track under the Assessments tab.

Christine said that new board members will be recruited soon and the Board will discuss strategies for recruiting at a future date.


 

Martin Turnbull delivered the the Facilities report with input from Michelle McKenna.
By Thanksgiving 2019, there should be a clear plan for the heating project.
Development will be involved in fundraising for the project.

Mary Reid Munford delivered the Diversity and Enrollment Report.
The Diversity and Enrollment Committee will have a table set up and host a chalk talk for students and families on PLP day - March 15.

Theresa Espinola delivered the Finance report with input from Michelle McKenna.
Michelle said there is resolution material in the Board packet in regard to IRS changes to 403B regulations.  The Board will need to vote to approve/disapprove the resolutions. This vote will be deferred to the next meeting.  

Christine Regan-Davi said the CEO Evaluation and Support Committee met in the fall to review Todd Sumner's goals for the year.   The evaluation process began in February.

Christine outlined the evaluation process:

• Assess: self assessment by Todd, Board assessment (invitation to participate will be sent before end of March), and assessment by direct reports
• Align:  review results, access feedback, and collaborate on forward looking goal-setting and/or adjustments
• Accelerate:  report out to board (May-June)

There was no other business.
There were no comments from the public.