Springfield Prep
Minutes
Governance Committee Meeting
Date and Time
Monday January 14, 2019 at 5:00 PM
Location
594 Converse St, Longmeadow, MA 01106
This meeting of the Springfield Prep Charter School Governance Committee will be held at 594 Converse St., Longmeadow, MA 01106, on 1/14/19 at 5 pm. Meeting notice was posted on the school's website (www.springfieldprep.org).
Committee Members Present
A. Grant, B. Spirer, R. Leonard, S. Fuller (remote)
Committee Members Absent
None
Committee Members who arrived after the meeting opened
S. Fuller
Guests Present
Anne Malone
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance and Guests
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
A. Grant called a meeting of the Governance Committee of Springfield Prep to order on Monday Jan 14, 2019 at 5:03 PM.
The committee welcomed Anne Malone. Anne introduced herself and gave a brief summary of her work at Apple Tree, a charter Pre-K provider, where she was initially a principal, and then helped the organization to develop more schools.
C.
Approve Minutes
R. Leonard made a motion to approve minutes from the Governance Committee Meeting on 12-12-18 Governance Committee Meeting on 12-12-18.
A. Grant seconded the motion.
The committee VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
II. Governance
A.
Briefing on Webinar on Executive Director Compensation, Support, and Evaluation
The committee discussed the Executive Director compensation, evaluation, and support webinar hosted by the MCPSA. Those who attended the webinar shared the main points: that it is the board's role to understand and oversee the Executive Director's work; that Executive Director evaluation is one of the primary functions of the board; and that board members should not hesitate to ask tough questions to hold the Executive Director accountable. The committee believed that the board is doing a good job of Executive Director oversight and evaluation, and that it already uses the suggested resources and processes to establish fair compensation. However, it decided that it should better document this process in board materials to ensure transparency.
B.
Executive Director Goals Dashboard - Draft
The committee discussed the Executive Director Goals Dashboard document and how it could be integrated into the board's ongoing work and annual ED evaluation process. The committee agreed that the goals are reasonable and comprehensive and suggested that Bill report out on these goals on a quarterly basis to highlight progress and challenges and use the language of these goals when providing monthly updates to the board.
C.
Board Retreat Takeaways and Action Steps
Bill provided the committee with a brief status update on the goals it established after the board retreat. The board is aready making good progress on these goals.
S. Fuller arrived.
Fuller called in at 5:30pm.
D.
Review the Complaint Procedure
The committee discussed the current complaint policy. It was decided that it would be preferrable to take a complaint in writing but that it could be taken verbally if necessary. The committee decided to do a review of this policy and update it if necessray to provide more clarity around the board's specific obligations regarding the hearing of complaints.
III. Other Business
A.
Next Governance Committee Meeting
All committee members confirmed they would be able to attend the next meeting.
B.
Governance Committee Board Report
The committee will report out on the MPCSA webinar, the Executive Director goals dashboard, and board recruitment.
IV. Closing Items
A.
Adjourn Meeting
R. Leonard made a motion to adjourn the meeting.
A. Grant seconded the motion.
The committee 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 6:16 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
A. Grant