Jennifer Gibson, parent of SPCS student Malachi Clemons attended the meeting.

Ms. Gibson raised 3 concerns to the board:
1. Ms. Gibson asked that the school "pay more attention to half days".  She stated that "this is the 3rd time in a row on a half day that [her] child's bus was late".
2. Ms Gibson stated that she caught teachers outside on the playground with her son without his EpiPen.
3. Ms. Gibson expressed concern that she was not notified that SPCS classrooms are being recorded.

Ms. Williams thanked Ms. Gibson for her input and her time.

Bill reviewed the DESE Site visit final report and shared key highlights with the board.  Overall it was a very strong report, and both the board and the school received strong marks.

Important areas to highlight include:

• The report found that the school met expectations in all areas, except in instruction, in which the school exceeded expectations.
• The report found SPCS to be demographically comparable to its sending district.
• The report noted the low attrition rate at SPCS.
• The report found the SPCS board to be active and engaged in the leadership of the school.

The school submitted a minor technical amendment to its charter to clarify that a quorum should be defined as a simple majority, not half of the board as previously written.  Once approved by the Commissioner, this change would be reflected in Article 4, section 3 of the bylaws.

The board discussed highlights of the school's April financials:
1. The school's overall position remains stable. The Q3 tuition is in line with budget projections.
2. There are no major changes or updates from the March financials.
3. Some additional savings have allowed the school to increase its overall change in net position.

Note: In terms of cash flow, higher projected expenditures were budgeted in May and June in order to remain conservative in our budgeting and also to allow for end of year events, testing needs and piloting programs.  In May, the school purchased an additional set of chromebooks to support end of year testing across all 3 grades and a pilot program for reading in Kindergarten and 1st grade.  
 

The board reviewed vendor contracts for new approvals and renewals.

The board discussed the e-rate contract with Comcast.  Currently, the school uses Windstream for VoIP services, but it has not been satisfied with customer service.  Comcast and Windstream offer similar pricing.  Meghan explained that the purpose of approving this contract at this point is because this contract is part of the E-rate program and that funding is on an 18 month cycle, so this cycle will carry into needs for new building in FY19.

Management recommended increasing the employer contribution percentage to 67% in order to cover the increase in plan cost.  Projected cost with the increase is still under the original budgeted amount.  School management also recommended adding vision coverage, also through BCBS.  The policy will cost a rate of $8.89/month for the employee and there will be no cost to the school.  Previously, the school had been too small to offer this.

The board reviewed the status of hiring for open positions.  Currently the school has made 11/12 hires; and has 33/34 staff members hired.  Bill shared a preview of academic results from end of year testing. Final testing results are not in yet.

Bill reviewed preliminary STEP results, which show that the school will not meet the school's targets.  Bill explained some of the school's beliefs about why this was the case (primarily a schoolwide increase on rigor in scoring STEP and a slow start that was hard to recover from.)  Bill noted that he and Wendy have made a number of changes to ensure that strategic reading instruction occurs immediately at the start of the next school year and that coaching will be even more intensely focused on literacy instruction at the beginning of the school year. Students are taking ANet and MAP tests this week and full results will be shared at the July board meeting as part of the Annual Report.

 

Bill reviewed the succession plan, and shared a responsibility matrix to demonstrate how he is preparing other members of the team to take over aspects of his role should the need arise.  For example, Megan is now heavily involved in governance of the school and could take a lead on governance in Bill's absence.
 

The board discussed proposed changes to the meeting calendar. Board Meetings are currently held the 2nd Wednesday of the month, but board members discussed moving them to the last Wednesday of the month instead.  Academic Achievement Committee meetings will be held the 1st Thursday of the month. Finance Committee meetings will be held the 3rd Tuesday of the month.