Springfield Prep
Minutes
Board Meeting
Date and Time
Wednesday December 1, 2021 at 5:45 PM
Location
Zoom Meeting
This meeting of the Springfield Prep Charter School Board will be held via Zoom video conference on 12/1/2021 at 5:45 pm. Meeting notice was posted on the school's website (www.springfieldprep.org) on 11/29/21 at 3:05pm.
Trustees Present
A. Grant (remote), A. Malone (remote), A. Piela (remote), D. Morrin (remote), J. Rosewell (remote), K. Molina (remote), R. Leonard (remote), S. Balogun (remote), S. Fuller (remote), S. Monson (remote), T. Walker (remote)
Trustees Absent
None
Trustees who arrived after the meeting opened
S. Balogun
Trustees who left before the meeting adjourned
T. Walker
Ex Officio Members Present
B. Spirer (remote)
Non Voting Members Present
B. Spirer (remote)
Guests Present
M. Wagner (remote), N. Abramowitz (remote)
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance and Guests
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
R. Leonard called a meeting of the board of trustees of Springfield Prep to order on Wednesday Dec 1, 2021 at 5:47 PM.
C.
Public Comment, If Any
II. Consent Agenda
A.
Approve October 27 Board Meeting Minutes
T. Walker made a motion to approve the minutes from Board Meeting on 10-27-21.
J. Rosewell seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| D. Morrin |
Aye
|
| A. Grant |
Aye
|
| A. Piela |
Aye
|
| S. Balogun |
Absent
|
| K. Molina |
Aye
|
| S. Fuller |
Aye
|
| A. Malone |
Aye
|
| S. Monson |
Aye
|
| T. Walker |
Aye
|
| R. Leonard |
Aye
|
| J. Rosewell |
Aye
|
B.
November Financials
C.
Fire protection service contract
D.
Vote to approve consent agenda items
T. Walker made a motion to approve the consent agenda.
J. Rosewell seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| A. Malone |
Aye
|
| A. Piela |
Aye
|
| K. Molina |
Aye
|
| D. Morrin |
Aye
|
| T. Walker |
Aye
|
| S. Fuller |
Abstain
|
| J. Rosewell |
Aye
|
| R. Leonard |
Aye
|
| S. Monson |
Aye
|
| S. Balogun |
Absent
|
| A. Grant |
Aye
|
III. Executive Director's Report
A.
Executive Director Report
Bill discussed the Executive Director’s report. He highlighted a recent news story about a second grade project at the school. He also provided an updates on staff bonuses, which the school recently gave to all staff members. The board asked about the decision to give the same bonus to everyone, versus tying it to their salary, and the management team explained that it felt like this was the most equitable and acknowledged the shared contribution of staff members this fall most effectively. The board asked about staff member mental health and morale, given the impacts the pandemic. The management team acknowledged that there is fatigue among the school's leaders and staff members, but that overall, morale is still good. The board discussed ways it could provide support, such as by providing an appreciation breakfast for staff.
S. Balogun arrived at 6:04 PM.
The board discussed the possibility that the school might need to go remote again. The management team discussed how staff absences would be the major cause of this, but that it was hopeful this would not need to occur.
IV. COVID-19 Update
A.
COVID-19 Report
Bill provided a COVID-19 report. Board members asked about how the school was managing potential spread on buses, and the management team explained that data does not indicate this being an issue. The board ask about how the school was encouraging vaccines among students, and engaged in a discussion about the difficulties of this in a city that generally has low vaccination rates. The board encouraged the management team to do all it could to encourage vaccinations.
V. Academics
A.
Academic Dashboard
Bill discussed the Academic Dashboard. He noted that attendance is understandly lower given absences required due to COVID protocols but that averages are comparable to prior years. He noted that there have been very few disciplinary measures this year. He reviewed data from the ANet Window 1 assessment, noting that while below prior years, as expected, particularly in ELA, student performance is relatively strong. In some cases, grade levels are already meeting internal goals for the next assessment window.
VI. Executive Director Evaluation
A.
Executive Director Evaluation
T. Walker left at 7:02 PM.
Bill, Meghan, and Nancy left at 7:02 pm.
Alex provided a brief background of the process that led to the presentation of the revised Executive Director evaluation approved at the November 26, 2021 Governance Committee meeting.
Bob explained the revised evaluation and said that he had made some inadvertent errors in the revision. He indicated that he had intended to delete more of the original draft. Bob discussed Bill’s recommendation to go full remote and suggested that the Board not act on the revised evaluation as presented. He suggested that the matter be sent back to the Governance Committee for further revision.
Kelvin said that the full remote recommendation should not be part of the evaluation and agreed that the matter should be sent back to the Governance Committee. Kelvin said even today, he would agree with the full remote decision.
Doug said it was problematic to evaluate the ED on different facts. He said academic achievement went down and that could be looked at.
Sheriff said the school put health and safety first by going full remote. He noted that that hindsight is 20-20. He said that the school landed in a good spot and that the decision to go remote followed a good process.
Jason noted that nobody knows whether a different decision on remote learning would have led to different results. He noted the issues with staff retention and said that Bill did well.
Anne said there was no guarantee that in-person learning would have been better.
Sally stated that the full remote decision was a Board decision and that it was not appropriate to go back and look at it.
Amy said the school needed to focus on going forward and noted that there will be unevenness in student performance.
Alex summarized the issues with the full remote recommendation articulated in the original draft of the ED evaluation which indicated that the recommendation to go full remote was an error in judgment, albeit one made in good faith. This included the fact that most school districts in Massachusetts did not go full remote and that the state was encouraging school districts to engage in in-person learning. Alex said that decision of SPCS to go full remote would have consequences for students for a long time, as evidenced by the declines in student achievement at SPCS in 2020-21.
R. Leonard made a motion to postpone a decision on the ED evaluation to allow the Governance Committee to address the issues discussed at the meeting, by having a future meeting, as soon as possible.
A. Grant seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| K. Molina |
Aye
|
| A. Malone |
Aye
|
| S. Fuller |
Aye
|
| A. Piela |
Aye
|
| S. Monson |
Aye
|
| J. Rosewell |
Aye
|
| R. Leonard |
Aye
|
| T. Walker |
Absent
|
| S. Balogun |
Aye
|
| A. Grant |
Aye
|
| D. Morrin |
Aye
|
VII. Closing Items
A.
Next Board Meeting
B.
Adjourn Meeting
K. Molina made a motion to adjourn the meeting.
S. Monson seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| A. Grant |
Aye
|
| S. Balogun |
Aye
|
| R. Leonard |
Aye
|
| D. Morrin |
Aye
|
| J. Rosewell |
Aye
|
| K. Molina |
Aye
|
| S. Fuller |
Aye
|
| T. Walker |
Absent
|
| S. Monson |
Aye
|
| A. Piela |
Aye
|
| A. Malone |
Aye
|
There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 7:37 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
N. Abramowitz
Documents used during the meeting
- 2. SPCS FY22 October Summary.pdf
- 3. SP Friends FY22 October Summary.pdf
- 5. SPCS FY22 October Cash Flow.pdf
- 4. SPCS FY22 October SNP.pdf
- II 082521 SPRINGFIELD PREP CHARTER SCHOOL FIRE SERVICE AGREEMENT (2).pdf
- ED Report - 11.29.21.pdf
- COVID Report - 11.29.21.pdf
- Academic Dashboard 12.1.21.pdf