Springfield Prep
Minutes
Board Meeting
Date and Time
Wednesday October 25, 2017 at 5:45 PM
Location
370 Pine Street, Springfield, MA 01105
This meeting of the Springfield Prep Charter School Board will be held at 370 Pine St. on 9/27/17 at 5:45 pm. Meeting notice was posted on the school's website (www.springfieldprep.org) on 10/20/17 at 4 pm.
Trustees Present
A. Grant, J. Brown, K. Molina, R. Leonard, R. Olejarz, S. Balogun, T. Walker
Trustees Absent
D. Williams
Ex Officio Members Present
B. Spirer
Non Voting Members Present
B. Spirer
Guests Present
A. Marshall, M. Wagner
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance and Guests
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
K. Molina called a meeting of the board of trustees of Springfield Prep to order on Wednesday Oct 25, 2017 at 5:46 PM.
C.
Approve September 27 Meeting Minutes
T. Walker made a motion to approve minutes from the Board Meeting on 09-27-17 Board Meeting on 09-27-17.
R. Leonard seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
D.
Public Comment, If Any
E.
Updates and Recognitions
Bill recognized T.Walker or getting donations from MIT. Bill noted that Doug Morrin, a prospective board member, will be sitting in for the second half of meeting.
II. Development
A.
Fundraising Training
Matt Blumenfeld, from Financial Development Agency, presented on the draft fundraising strategic plan. Below are key points:
- A campaign approach will be used to highlight Springfield Prep's Facility Fund. The goal will be to obtain 123 gifts over next 4 years to totaling $550,000. In order to reach this goal SPCS will need to identify and solicit approximately 294 prospects.
- The role of board during the campaign will be to make connections, act as ambassadors and bring information back to the school/staff for review.
- The campaign will last 4 years, but the goal of the first year is to introduce people to what makes SPCS unique and valuable.
- The donor process should be as follows: Identification and Evaluation > Cultivation > Solicitation > Stewardship / Next Gift.
- Ashley will serve as the "Moves Manager".
- SPCS should prioritize leveraging multi-year pledges and “naming” opportunities for a new school, once identified.
- Board members noted that it can be difficult to discuss charter schools in the current climate, and asked for Bill to provide some talking points to share with potential "friends" of the school. Bill will draft an elevator pitch for board members to reference as well as a series of FAQs regarding SPCS and charter schools as a whole.
- The Development Committee will start next year, for now all development items will be managed by the full board.
III. Prospective Board Member Introduction
A.
Introduce Prospective Board Member Doug Morrin
Bill introduced Doug Morrin, a candidate to join the board.
IV. Finance Items
A.
Review September Financials
The committee reviewed the financials. The school's financial health is strong and the school is on track to meet its budget projections.
K. Molina made a motion to approve the September financials to file for audit.
R. Leonard seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
B.
Executive Coaching Proposal
Alex explained the request for additional funds for executive coaching. Robin noted that the finance committee was supportive of this change.
A. Grant made a motion to approve a $5,900 executive coaching proposal (a $1,900 increase to the original plan).
K. Molina seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
V. Facility
A.
Enter Executive Session
K. Molina made a motion to enter Executive Session to discuss real estate negotiations.
R. Olejarz seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| K. Molina |
Aye
|
| D. Williams |
Absent
|
| R. Olejarz |
Aye
|
| A. Grant |
Aye
|
| J. Brown |
Aye
|
| T. Walker |
Aye
|
| S. Balogun |
Aye
|
| R. Leonard |
Aye
|
VI. Governance Items
A.
Open Meeting Law Updates and Compliance
Alex reviewed revisions to the Open Meeting Law. The board discussed the benefits of changing board policy to allow for limited remote participation, which the regulations allow.
B.
Remote Participation Update
R. Olejarz made a motion to be allowed to participate if physical attendance would be unreasonably difficult.
R. Leonard seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
C.
Paid Time Off Update (Employee Handbook Revision)
The board discussed proposed revisions to the paid time off policy for full-time, non-instructional staff. Tricia suggested modifying the revision to not allow the payment of accrued vacation time as a way of encouraging employees to use their vacations. School leadership was in agreement with this change.
T. Walker made a motion to approve the revised policy as presented with one change: not allowing payment for unused vacation.
R. Olejarz seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
D.
Board meeting schedule
The board discuss the upcoming meeting schedule. All members were in favor of having a meeting in November 29th and cancelling December meetings due to holiday scheduling challenges.
VII. Academic Achievement
A.
September-October Academic Dashboard
The Board reviewed the Academic Dashboard. Bill provided a brief overview of initial STEP results.
- According to STEP, some students are performing significantly below grade level.
- This could be due to the fact that STEP is a very rigorous tool and because the school has worked hard over the past year to maintain a high bar in how it scores STEP tests.
- Comprehension in first and second grade is a big hurdle. School leadership has considered switching from a shared reading group to a guided reading group to address the issue.
- Once full STEP data is in and ANet data is available, school leadership will have a much clearer picture of whether the low results are a cause of concern or reflect the manner in which we are scoring the tests.
- Doug asked about attrition data and it was not present in the highlight view. Meghan will add attrition data to dashboard for the next meeting.
VIII. Closing Items
A.
Adjourn Meeting
K. Molina made a motion to adjourn the meeting.
R. Leonard 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 7:30 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
M. Wagner