Bill shared the school's reopening plans, including a proposal to bring a small group of students on-site who could most benefit from on-site support.
It was proposed that parents sign a document that we have the discretion to stop providing this opportunity for any reason (e.g., staffing or health situation escalates). It was felt that this is the right thing to do for students as long as teachers are seeking this and supportive of this and as long as the school follows all COVID-19 safety protocols.  Bill assured the committee that this would be the case.
 

Evaluation:  Staff member feedback showed that there is some tension between those who want to hear more voices and have more transparency and those who think that decision-making needs to take place more quickly and decisively.  This is clearly not an easy tension to address and one that reflects the challenge of the role. Overall, the Board was very pleased with the ED's performance. The Board also felt that the evaluation process was effective and that Alex did a great job coordinating this process.

Goals:  The committee discussed the goals as they were proposed. There was some discussion about including fewer numerical terms and adding some less quantitative metrics, i.e., Community connectedness. The committee would support less-numerical goals if presented.
The committee appreciated that these were ambitious goals, but there was some feeling that they are too ambitious given that, for example, just a few survey answers could mean that they aren’t met.
 

The committee discussed the request from Justin to take a leave or step down from the Board. Bill agreed to follow up with Justin to see what best suited his needs. To rebalance the committees in either case, Kelvin will join the governance committee and Sally will join the academic achievement committee.

The committee agreed to cancel the 11/9 meeting. They will schedule an early December meeting with a focus on board make-up, recruitment, and consideration of whether families should be on the board.

Bill left the meeting at this point.  [Minutes for this discussion provided by Alex Grant.] There was a discussion of the appropriate amount of compensation for the Executive Director for 2020-21.  Members discussed the ED's very positive performance evaluation for the previous year.  Alex favored a 3% increase in salary to be consistent with the rest of the staff and suggested that it could create dissension within the organization since many staff members also have performed at a high level.  Bob and Sally felt that a 4% increase was more appropriate due to the ED's outstanding performance in 2019-20.  Sally moved to recommend a 4% increase to the full board, and Bob seconded the motion.  The motion passed 2-1 with Sally and Bob voting in favor, and Alex voting against.