City on a Hill Charter Public School

Minutes

February 2019 Board Retreat

Date and Time

Wednesday February 27, 2019 at 9:00 AM

Location

City Year, 287 Columbus Ave, Boston, MA 02116, USA

Trustees Present

Cara Stillings-Candal, Greg Vasey, Jeff Jablow, Karin Wall, Lori Stevens, Matt Shaw, Mike Rosen

Trustees Absent

Alex Valdez, Callie Slocum, Melisa Lemire

Trustees who arrived after the meeting opened

Greg Vasey, Karin Wall

Ex Officio Members Present

Kevin Taylor

Non Voting Members Present

Kevin Taylor

Guests Present

Amber Donell, Elizabeth Dignan, Jackie Hayes, Jordan Lopez, Nadine Abraham, Sonya Pratt

I. Opening Items

A.

Record Attendance and Guests

B.

Call the Meeting to Order

Cara Stillings-Candal called a meeting of the board of trustees of City on a Hill Charter Public School to order on Wednesday Feb 27, 2019 at 9:11 AM.

II. Consent Agenda

A.

Approve January 2019 Meeting Minutes

Cara Stillings-Candal made a motion to approve minutes from the January 2019 Board Meeting on 01-16-19 January 2019 Board Meeting on 01-16-19.
Mike Rosen seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

B.

Vote to Reaffirm Policy on Remote Participation

Jackie Hayes, Chief of Staff & General Counsel, gave an extensive overview of remote participation as it relates to Massachusetts Open Meeting Law (OML) and explained its effect on the Board's policy. The Board asked clarifying questions, and Cara Stillings-Candal, Chair, named the Board's responsibility to the communities of Boston and New Bedford to continue adhere to this policy.
Cara Stillings-Candal made a motion to reaffirm the Board of Trustees' policy on remote participation.
Lori Stevens seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

C.

Vote to Renew the Terms of Greg Vasey and Karin Wall

Cara Stillings-Candal made a motion to renew the terms of Greg Vasey and Karin Wall as Board members.
Jeff Jablow seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

D.

Vote to Approve Physical Restraint Policy

Cara Stillings-Candal made a motion to to approve the City on a Hill Physical Restraint Policy.
Mike Rosen seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

III. Updates

A.

The COAH Effect

Kevin Taylor, Chief Executive Officer, reintroduced the purpose of The COAH Effect to the Board as a progress monitoring tool. Taylor walked through the dashboard and provided explanation of the status of each goal. After each goal, the Board discussed results and posed questions to staff to gain context.
Karin Wall arrived.

B.

New Bedford Renewal Reflection and Circuit Street Renewal Preview

Jackie Hayes, Chief of Staff & General Counsel, shared lessons learned from the New Bedford charter renewal, which included reviewing probation conditions and the school's progress to meeting the expressed conditions. Jordan Pina, Executive Assistant, then walked through the timeline for drafting the Circuit Street charter renewal application due on August 1, and collected feedback from members of the Board.
Greg Vasey arrived.

IV. Lever 1: Strengthening the Organization

A.

Enrollment Challenges

Kevin Taylor, Chief Executive Officer, and Elizabeth Dignan, Senior Director of Finance, presented projected enrollment numbers for FY20 and discussed the connection to the FY20 Budget. The Board discussed theses numbers in the context of historical enrollment, and the need to make tradeoffs during the upcoming budget process.

B.

Lever 1 Discussion

Kevin Taylor, Chief Executive Officer, asked the Board to discuss how to maximize the effectiveness of this lever, which focused on the need to improve academic results in addition to increased enrollment pushes.

V. Lever 2: Fundraising

A.

Circuit Street Facilities Opportunity

Kevin Taylor, Chief Executive Officer, introduced Jonathan Garland of J. Garland Enterprises to present a feasibility study for renovating the Circuit Street campus. Garland walked through possible uses of space and Board members asked questions related to the proposed changes, as well as the timeline for evaluating and voting whether to approving the project.

B.

Philanthropy Priorities and Investment Needs

Liz Dignan, Senior Director of Finance, presented a ranking of proposed prioritized based on a force-ranking exercise performed by the Executive Leadership Team, and connected it to a need for more deep development capacity. 

C.

City on a Hill Gala Update

Cara Stillings-Candal, Board Chair, and Nadine Abraham, Chief of Strategy & Operations, provide an update on the status of the City on a Hill Gala as well as updates to the Development Committee.

D.

Lever 2 Discussion

Kevin Taylor, Chief Executive Officer, asked the Board to discuss how to maximize the effectiveness of this lever, which focused on getting additional contacts to come to the City on a Hill Gala and make that event more successful. 

VI. Lever 3: Improving Academic Results

A.

MCAS Strategy Update

Due to time constraints, this section was not covered.

B.

SY20 Recommitment and Hiring Processes

Due to time constraints, this section was not covered.

C.

Lever 3 Discussion

Due to time constraints, this section was not covered.

VII. Closing Items

A.

Adjourn Meeting

There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 1:59 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
Cara Stillings-Candal