There was no public comment.

Bill provided updates on highlights from the past month, including Kindergarten orientation and an all-staff Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion professional development workshop.  He also invited board members to the upcoming End-of-Year Celebration. 

Tricia provided an overview of the monthly financials, noting that there were no significant changes from the previous month. The board discussed the status of fundraising efforts and it was emphasized that each board member should make a financial contribution before year end, because 100% board giving is an important way to show organizational strength to funders.   

Meghan provided an update of the FY20 Budget.  The one major change from the previous month's budget is that tuition revenues were increased slightly based on DESE's April projections.  Aside from that, there were no major changes from the previous version shared at last month's meeting.  Tricia explained that the Finance Committee went through the budget in detail at its meeting, that the committee feels confident that this budget is a good one for the school, and recommends that the budget be approved. 

Bill shared a high-level overview of the Compensation and Benefits Report.  He explained that he was presenting this to keep the board informed about the school's current compensation structures and that school leadership will do more work to evaluate whether this is the right structure as the school grows, and will report back out to the board in the fall.  The board discussed salary comparisons and the investments the school makes to keep job satisfaction high, as well as the impact the extended year could have on staff satisfaction.  It was noted that benefits costs and coverage are comparable with other Massachusetts charter schools. 

Meghan provided a brief update about the Employee Guidelines, and noted that the only material change was to reduce the number of hours required to receive benefits from 30 to 25 to provide the school with more flexibility in its staffing options.

Bill provided an overview of the Academic Dashboard.  He noted that the school is closely tracking chronic absenteeism and working to keep attendance high; that discipline data is low; and that the Kindergarten class is fully enrolled for next year and that engagement with incoming families at Kindergarten Orientation has been high. 

Bill provided a report to the board on how the Middle School model will differ, starting in the fifth grade. He noted that the largest change is that there will be a departmentalized teaching model where teachers focus on specific content areas.  For core instructional blocks, the school will retain its two-teacher model to ensure individualized instruction. There wil be new efforts to support the social emotional needs of older students and the fifth grade will be piloting an advisory structure called "Circles".  This is a program used by many other schools and helps to teach positive identity development, interpersonal skills, and conflict resolution.  The board discussed framing fifth grade as a transitional year from elementary to middle school given how often parents are concerned about the changes that Middle School can bring.  Bill explained that the school would be sending a version of the Middle School Overview to families and that he would emphasize this "transition" language.

Bill provided a brief update on the Charter Renewal process. The 5-year charter term is up for renewal and Bill will share the renewal application with the board for approval at its July meeting.  DESE will conduct a site visit in the fall.  Bill noted that DESE site visits have been very positive, that he believes the school is in a strong position for a renewal without conditions.

The board discussed the summer meeting schedule and decided that it would be important to meet monthly given the amount of significant work taking place.  Meghan will create a Doodle Poll to decide the meeting date and times for the June and July meeting.