F.W. Parker Charter Essential School
Minutes
Board of Trustees Meeting
Date and Time
Tuesday January 10, 2023 at 2:00 PM
Location
Parker School
Trustees Present
A. Jolly, B. Harrigan, C. Soderman, G. Penna, J. Saxe, M. Edgar, M. Lindsey, M. Silva-Rosa, M. Turnbull, N. Odekirk Hatlevig, P. Gordon, S. Razzetti, S. Reinhorn, T. Testa
Trustees Absent
None
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance and Guests
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
C.
Approve Minutes
II. Student Perspectives
A.
Student Perspectives – how have you grown as learners?
III. Finance 101 & Break
A.
Finance 101 – how are charter schools funded?
Michelle McKenna presented to the Board on how Parker is funded and highlighted key metrics and figures related to Parker's current funding and finances. Michelle also answered clarifying questions related to Chapter 70 and foundation funding.
B.
Break
IV. Board on Track
A.
Board on Track - how do we leverage BOT to meet our goals?
A representative of Board on Track met with trustees virtually to discuss the platform functionality and provided an overview of the Board's annual assessment results. Paired with the results to the assessment, the representative noted links to resources on Board on Track to assist the Board as it works to improve. An overview of new functionality related to committees was also shared with the trustees.
V. The Students are Watching
A.
The Students are Watching – how do we best support our students?
The trustees engaged in small group discussions about the book, The Students are Watching, sharing key takeaways and personal connections with the text.
VI. Head of School Report
A.
Head of School Report
Brian shared the Head of School report, noting the success of the Midyear Lottery. He also noted the successful launch of Parker's partnership with the Boys and Girls Club of Leominster, including the staffing of an informational table about Parker and the recruitment of Parker students for a co-op robotics team.
VII. Update on Board recruiting and other committee updates
A.
Update on Board recruiting and other committee updates
Matt Lindsey shared an update on the Governance Committee's progress in developing a clear recruitment process for new trustees and committee members. Governance will continue fine-tuning the process and share it at upcoming board meetings.
The Board continues to make progress toward 100 percent participation among trustees to the Annual Fund.
VIII. Comments, next steps, reflections on our January BOT retreat
A.
Comments, next steps, reflections on our January BOT retreat
The trustees generated a list of positives about the day's retreat and identified some areas for improvement in the future.
Trustees held small group conversations with current Parker students. Students shared and discussed a piece of work, as well as about their experiences as students at Parker.