City on a Hill Charter Public School
Minutes
October 2018 Board Meeting
Date and Time
Tuesday October 30, 2018 at 9:30 AM
Location
City Year, 287 Columbus Ave, Room 515, Boston, MA 02116
Trustees Present
Alex Valdez (remote), Cara Stillings-Candal (remote), Greg Vasey, Jeff Jablow, Lori Stevens, Melisa Lemire, Mike Rosen
Trustees Absent
Karin Wall, Matt Shaw
Ex Officio Members Present
Kevin Taylor
Non Voting Members Present
Kevin Taylor
Guests Present
Amber Donell, Callie Slocum, Elizabeth Dignan, Jackie Hayes, Jordan Lopez, Nadine Abraham
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance and Guests
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
Jeff Jablow called a meeting of the board of trustees of City on a Hill Charter Public School to order on Tuesday Oct 30, 2018 at 9:37 AM.
II. Consent Agenda
A.
Approve January 2018 Meeting Minutes
Mike Rosen made a motion to approve minutes from the New Bedford Strategic Direction on 01-26-18 New Bedford Strategic Direction on 01-26-18.
Melisa Lemire seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
B.
Approve September 2018 Meeting Minutes
Greg Vasey made a motion to approve minutes from the September 2018 Board Meeting on 09-17-18 September 2018 Board Meeting on 09-17-18.
Melisa Lemire seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
III. The COAH Effect & Big Rocks Revisited
A.
The COAH Effect
Kevin Taylor, Chief Executive Officer, reintroduced the purpose of The COAH Effect to the Board and guests as a progress monitoring tool. Taylor walked through the dashboard and provided explanation of the status of each goal, which included an overview of the Finance Committee's approval of the FY19 Audit by Greg Vasey, Finance Committee member.
B.
Big Rocks Revisited
Taylor next returned to his "Big Rocks," which are his identified priorities as Chief Executive Officer as identified at the August 2018 Board Retreat. These "Big Rocks" include Academic Performance, the New Bedford Charter Renewal Process, Facilities Constraints, Ideal Student Count, Long-Term Strategic Planning, and City on a Hill's 25 Anniversary. Taylor reminded the Board that he hopes to report out progress on these priorities at each meeting going forward.
IV. Committee Updates
A.
Governance Committee Update
Melisa Lemire, Governance Committee Chair, gave an update from the last Committee meeting, which included engagement and compliance goals as well as Board growth. Lemire also announced the Governance Committee's decision to reduce the number of meetings from the initially proposed monthly cadence.
B.
Academic Excellence Committee Update
Jeff Jablow, Vice Chair and Academic Excellence Committee member, gave an overview of the SY18 MCAS data for all three schools. Taylor gave his understanding of the scores, spoke about the Family Meetings where COAH community members were invited in to speak with him directly about the results, and named Amber Donell, Chief Academic Officer, as a key change to staffing to improve results.
V. New Bedford Charter Renewal Update
A.
New Bedford Charter Renewal Update
Jackie Hayes, Chief of Staff & General Counsel, gave an update on the New Bedford Charter Renewal Visit earlier in the month.
VI. Closing Items
A.
Feedback and Next Steps
Taylor asked for each Board member to provide both affirming and adjusting feedback for the meeting.
B.
Adjourn Meeting
There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 11:00 AM.
Respectfully Submitted,
Jeff Jablow