Blackstone Valley Prep Mayoral Academy

Minutes

BVP Board Meeting

Date and Time

Monday August 28, 2023 at 5:30 PM

Location

BVP High School

65 Macondray St., Cumberland

The Board reserves the right to take a vote on any item listed on this agenda.

Directors Present

B. Collins, D. Garcia, J. Almond, J. Morton, J. Souza, J. Waters, L. Kizekai, L. Stack, M. Rivera

Directors Absent

J. Mutter

Directors who arrived after the meeting opened

L. Kizekai

Guests Present

B. Dowd, C. Losea, J. Giraldo, M. Emet, R. Boswell, S. Anderson, S. Bennetts, V. Morales

I. Opening Items

A.

Record Attendance

B.

Call the Meeting to Order

M. Rivera called a meeting of the board of directors of Blackstone Valley Prep Mayoral Academy to order on Monday Aug 28, 2023 at 5:32 PM.

C.

Approve Minutes from 6/28/23

B. Collins made a motion to approve the minutes from BVP Board Meeting on 06-28-23.
D. Garcia seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

D.

Public Comment

Talia Steele addressed the Board about a situation with her ES2 scholar last year. She discussed concerns about her scholar's safety plan that was not implemented with fidelity. The Board thanked Ms. Steele for bringing the matter to their attention, and will consider implications of the situation going forward as BVP and implements policies now and in the future.

II. Recurring Items

A.

CEO Report

S. Anderson discussed the highlights of the Board packet, including BVP's strategic plan and updates on the first day of school and the year ahead.

 

D. Garcia inquired about staffing levels and staff qualifications. S. Anderson will follow up with more precise data at the next meeting. 

 

M. Rivera asked about whether BVP will have any new initiatives or focus on attendance.  S. Anderson noted that BVP is pivoting away from COVID level absenteeism, but that families' patterns have changed. The school is working on a more proactive and positive approaches to give positive feedback to families of scholars with a track record of absenteeism. 

J. Morton made a motion to accept the CEO report as included in the Board Packet.
D. Garcia seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

B.

CFO Report

C. Losea presented the highlights of the CFO report, including updates on the conclusion of FY23 and the audits in progress.  BVP will meet all financial benchmarks for the end of the year.

 

She also noted that she will need to convene a meeting of the finance committee to determine how to proceed with a matter related to electric bills. 

 

 

L. Kizekai arrived at 5:55 PM.
B. Collins made a motion to accept the CEO report as included in the Board Packet.
J. Morton seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

III. Previous Items

A.

2022-2023 Data Review

S. Anderson called the Board's attention to the Board packet, which contains data from the 2022-23 school year.  S. Bennetts offered to discuss the information further with Board members if they had any quesitons. 

IV. New Items

A.

Organizational Goals for 2023-2024

S. Anderson provided context and details of the proposed organizaitonal goals for the 2023-24 school year, per the presentation included in the Board Packet. The board discussed data sources and progress monitoring, and initiatives around staffing and diversity goals. 

 

 

 

J. Souza made a motion to approve organizational goals for the 2023-24 school year, as presented in the Board Packet.
B. Collins seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

B.

Family and Scholar Handbook

S. Anderson described the open process used to make some significant changes to policies in the Family & Scholar handbook, including the creation of working groups that did work over the summer to make sure we had policies that aligned with strategic plan.  S. Bennets provided an overview of changes. 

 

Board members provided specific recommendations, particularly around wording as it relates to scholar safety concerns, suspensions, and the creation of a supplement to be more explicit about disciplinary policies and responses.  They also suggested naming social media explicitly in the section regarding bullying.

 

D. Garcia made a motion to approve the new scholar and family handbook, with explicit naming of social media in the bullying section and with the understanding that a supplement will be made to more explicitly address scholar safety plans and discipline.
J. Souza seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

C.

Staff Handbook

J. Giraldo provided an overview of updates made to the Staff Handbook included in the Board Packet.

J. Morton made a motion to approve the Staff Handbook as included in the Board Packet.
D. Garcia seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

D.

Nightly Custodial Contract

B. Dowd provided an overview of the RFP and selection process used to identify Imperial Building Maintenance as a proposed new contractor for nightly cleaning services, and requested that the Board authorize BVP to move forward with a contract process. 

B. Collins made a motion to authorize BVP to move forward with the process to enter into a contract with Imperial Building Maintenance.
J. Waters seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

V. Executive Session

A.

Vote to enter Executive Session

J. Morton made a motion to table the Executive Session discussion until the next meeting.
B. Collins seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

B.

CEO Evalulation

C.

Vote to return to open session

D.

Vote to seal the minutes of Executive Session

E.

Report on votes taken in Executive Session

VI. Closing Items

A.

Adjourn Meeting

J. Souza made a motion to adjourn.
B. Collins seconded the motion.
The board 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 7:13 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
M. Rivera