Wendy Soref, the Director of Talent, joined the meeting.  She presented overall hiring data and trends, recruitment strategies, retention results and strategies, as well as teacher diversification. She shared that nearly all positions for next year are filled and staff retention is very strong. She also noted meaningful progress in the number of BIPOC teachers and staff members over the past 3 years. 

Wendy shared about partnerships with several local organizations, including Generation Teach where Amneris works, Teach Western Mass, Teach for America, as well as local universities. Wendy shared that dissemination is part of our charter and that it will be even more of a focus now that the school is fully grown.

The Board discussed the breakdown of teacher and staff identities and if it mirrors the district, and how that compares across the district and state.

Bill reviewed the ED memo as presented. He highlighted a number of end of year events the school held.  Bill discussed the upcoming Board Retreat and that the school has brought on a consultant, Julia Bowen, to facilitate the retreat. She will speak with a few board members over the next few weeks to get their input.  The board talked about scheduling and logistics for this event.  

Bill provided an update about the changes to the COVID testing recommendations and support from the state and that, at this time, the school plans to do symptomatic testing only.  He briefly reviewed the attendance and discipline data.  

As this is the final meeting for some board members, Bill and other board members expressed gratitude for everyone's contributions.  They halso acknowledged Nancy’s work over the past three years.

The board decided to table this item until year-end inancials are available.

Anne, as incoming Secretary will be leading the executive Director evaluation process.  Anne shared an overview of the process, including keeping the schedule and process the same for this year.  She shared plans to review the evaluation process this year to determine if using additional tools, such as additional functions in Board on Track or moving to another tool to make the process more efficient and effective.  

Bill shared that he believed the report to be very strong overall with no major areas of concern.  The one area of noncompliance that was stated in the report was related to all teachers having the appropriate MTELs passed for their role, an issue which other districts have faced.  He explained that the HR and Talent teams are working to create more effective tracking processes for this to support teachers in passing these exams in the appropriate time frame.
Bill shared that the areas related to the board were particularly strong.   Amy asked about the comment related to classroom culture and climate and the board discussed this. 

The School health team has worked with our school physician and attorney to draft a policy using the standard policy language provided by the state.  Alex raised a concern about what would happen in the event Naloxone was needed but when the nurse was temporarily not being available to provide authorization in the moment.  Nancy shared that state law requires that Naloxone (or any controlled substance) purchased by the school can only be authorized by the nurse.  Bill agreed to research this topic to see how school districts address this.  The Board suggested that the school list all safety measures in the family handbook, or other messaging.