Steve Roach reviewed the Board of Trustees' Norms and invited thoughts and comments.

Steve Roach presented a proposed revision to Trustee bylaws that would allow for remote meeting participation. Draft language is in the meeting packet.  Steve said the first read allows for questions and discussion with time in between for thoughts and processing and the Board will vote on the revision next month.  

Todd Sumner said the proposal originated from the Governance Committee.  Christine Regan Davi said Trustee bylaws are currently more restrictive about remote participation than what is permitted under Massachusetts Open Meeting Law.  Christine said the revision would align the bylaws with MA OML and allow for more flexibility to expand the circle of involvement with remote participation.

 

Todd Sumner presented the Principal’s Report.  
Todd said it is week three of full in-person learning and the participation rate is high.  He said Senior Exhibitions start tomorrow and MCAS is coming up.  

Todd said a student who had been on campus tested positive last week.  Todd said that this is the first positive case since returning to school and it was handled well.  Todd said the school nurse is continuing to innovate around health and risk management in an agile and thoughtful way.

Todd said that the sports season would be abbreviated with fewer games  and less travel.

Todd said that Graduation is planned for June 9 and will be consistent with current DESE guidance.

The Board debriefed the December resignation of a Board member and discussed how to communicate departures to the Board in the future.

Michelle McKenna said the Facilities Committee had nothing to report.  She said the next Facilities Committee meeting will be May 24.

Michelle McKenna proposed creating a technology stabilization fund to distribute the cost of technology expenses over multiple years.  Michelle said many computers were purchased this year to accommodate remote learning and less money will be needed in this budget category next year.  
Michelle proposed that in years when less is needed for technology, funds could be added to a Board designated reserve fund for technology stabilization to build a reserve to cover future needs.  Glenn Penna suggested that this discussion serve as a first read and that the Board vote on creating the fund next month.

Glenn Penna said that the Finance Committee met and reviewed FY21 finances and there will be a surplus this year.  Glenn said that after the capital reserve fund is funded, the Committee would like to distribute the remaining funds to staff as year-end bonuses. There was discussion about whether Board approval is required for this action.  Todd Sumner said he will work with Glenn to prepare for a Board vote in June to release the operating funds and will present the Board with a process for distribution of the funds.

Katrina Tedstone presented highlights from development work.  These highlights are included in the meeting packet.
Katrina said there is still time to register for the Panther Prowl virtual 5k and the registration link is in the meeting notes.

Zayna Basma said the Alumni Council has collected and updated email addresses for all past classes and this will enable the group to do outreach and reconnect.
 

Tiffany Testa presented the  Anti-Racism Task Force's progress toward Spring 2021 goals that were described in the roadmap for Parker that was issued in February.  The goals and progress are detailed in the meeting packet.

Tiff said that the group is committed to keeping up with the goals and there will be effort towards faculty professional development in the summer.

Tiff said the group is planning for a Board experience in June to demonstrate how the work has developed and to provide an experience of the what the work is like.
 

Christine Regan-Davi said the Governance Committee will give the Board an extended presentation of new Trustee nominations at the June meeting.

Christine Regan-Davi said that Board on Track School Leader evaluations are one of the ways the Board provides support for Todd’s work.  Christine said she would like to close out the evaluations by Friday and asked Board members to please submit their feedback by then.

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