No attendees were present at this meeting for public comment.

Bill thanked Board members Sherriff, Kelvin and Bob for their participation in the Board focus group as part of the school's site visit by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Bill reviewed details of the school's upcoming MCAS testing with the members of the Board. The testing will take place on May 1st & 2nd as well as the 15th & 16th and will be computer based. Preliminary test results will be available to the school in June.

Danielle reported to the Board that she sent a letter to the parent in question and received no response.  Bill reviewed the details of the complaint regarding an incident that occurred in 2015, and the Board was presented with the incident report from the most recent incident. The incident  in 2015 occurred at recess, and all school safety protocols were followed after the incident. In addition, Bill provided a reminder about school safety procedures to all staff at the school-wide professional development meeting later that week.  The Board expressed concern about the delay in the parent bringing the complaint to the Board; the parent's email suggested that the incidents of concern were closer together in the timeline of events, when in fact the events occurred more than 2 years apart..

Bob moved to have the Board report back to the parent that the Board found that the school acted in an appropriate manner, and will do so in the form of a letter which Bob will draft. 
Alex seconded this motion.
All members voted in favor of this motion and the motion carried unanimously.

Ashley presented a Valley Gives tutorial to the Board.  Valley Gives Day will take place on May 1st, and the school's goals are to acquire 40 new donors and raise $4,500.  Board members will participate as "peer fundraisers" this year by creating a giving profile through the GiveGab platform and sharing that page with their networks.
 

Bill reported to the Board that after meeting with the developer for the Longhill site last week, he was told that the cost of occupying that space would be triple the original estimate. It also became clear that the developer would be unable to deliver the necessary finished space by Aug 15th. Due to these changes the school will no longer be pursuing the Longhill site for next school year. 

Bill then presented two new space options to the Board for their consideration:

 1. Former school on Longmeadow/Springfield border

1. This site is located on the Longmeadow/Springfield line with its main entrance in Longmeadow
2. Bill met with the property broker and confirmed that they would be interested in leasing the space to Springfield Prep short term
3. The school is speaking to SPS about providing busing to this site
4. The plan would still be to have a split campus, with K-2 staying at its current location and 3rd and 4th grade at this site

The Board expressed concern about the optics of moving the school to the proposed location.  Bill stressed that this would be temporary, is literally on the Springfield city line, and would allow the school to continue its operations with minimal disruption.

2. East Columbus Ave

1. This space is 15,000 sq ft in an open building, and an additional 18,000 sq ft in a 2nd building with current tenants
2. The broker for this site is not yet interested in leasing to Springfield Prep short term, but is interested in selling or leasing to the school as a long term solution
3. Bill proposed that he take a week to do some due diligence on the space

The Board reviewed the March Academic Dashboard. Bill noted that the enrollment process for the 2018-19 school year is moving along well.  He also noted that attendance has improved to 95%.  The Board noted the low amount of discipline incidents (school suspensions). Bill stated that last year's data showed a disproportionate number of suspensions for students with IEPs, and this is something the school has worked to improve this year.  The Board also reviewed the updated ANet data, noting that the school met many of its goals and saw even stronger performance in Math this round.

Bill reported that the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) found no issues in their report. DESE's only question came up in their Board interview about the level of detail in the Board's minutes regarding their Head of School evaluation. DESE provided Bill with a checklist of governance best practices which he will bring to next Governance Committee meeting. 
 

This agenda item will be tabled until the next Board meeting. The Governance Committee will review survey results at their next meeting and prepare a report.

Meghan reviewed the highlights of the March financials for the Board.

Bill noted that he and Meghan originally planned to have a budget to present at this month's Board meeting, but due to the lack of certainty about a building lease, they will present the budget at the May meeting.