The Board asked what changes were made to the student handbook. Sonya Pratt, Chief Schools Officer, discussed the changes that were made. The changes included an overall simplification and streamlining of the handbook to remove extraneous policies or procedures that are no longer relevant. 

Jackie Hayes, Chief of Staff & General Counsel, presents the updated SY20 City on a Hill Staff Handbook, and highlights changes from the SY19 Handbook including updating policies to comply with current law, in particular, policies related to FMLA and parental leave. Changes were also made to reflect the unionization of our staff in previous years. 

Estelle Archibold, Partner of Archibold Consulting Group, introduced herself as facilitator of the Board initial conversation of the work City on a Hill Charter Public Schools is embarking on to operate as an anti-racist, multi-cultural organization. Archibold led the Board through discussion of why City on a Hill and other schools are beginning equity and inclusion work. Board members probed on operationalizing the work, including what programs are going to be rolled out. In response, Jordan Pina, Deputy Chief of Staff, then described the SY20 Diversity, Inclusion, Citizenship, and Equity (DICE) Vision for kicking off City on a Hill Charter Public Schools commitment to the work as proposed by Network Leadership, including professional development, an Equity Task Force, and affinity groups.

The Board reviewed the draft SY20 Committee Structure, as proposed by City on a Hill Staff. Board members indicated their interest for specific Committees, which remain unchanged from SY19. Melisa Lemire, Chair of the Governance Committee, stated that the Committee assignments would be finalized at the upcoming Governance Committee Meeting, and Jordan Pina, Deputy Chief of Staff, would message them to members of the Board.

Kevin Taylor, Chief Executive Officer, presented The COAH Effect, which is a staff-created dashboard designed to update the Board on the Network's results - academic and operational. Taylor highlighted trends, including City on a Hill's continued enrollment challenges, recruitment, and academic results. Board members probed on enrollment efforts, including strategy and projections for the rest of the summer, as well as discussing challenges in attracting new staff and timeline for MCAS scores to be released.

Jordan Pina, Deputy Chief of Staff, led the Board through an overview of the updated COAH Effect template for SY20. Pina noted changes to goals were made in an effort to make them more aligned with the school's accountability plans, and retain ambitious, yet achievable goals. The Board discussed the updates, focusing on the update of including additional Diversity, Inclusion, Citizenship, and Equity (DICE) goals. Pina then invited members of the Board to provide any additional feedback on structure before the October 2019 Board of Trustees meeting. 

Kevin Taylor, Chief Executive Officer, reviewed City on a Hill's Ten-Year Turnaround Plan, which included projected enrollment, philanthropy needs, and milestones to completion. The Board probed on philanthropy strategy and discussed the goal of operating exclusively on the public dollar by school year 2027-28. Additionally, the Board discussed other potential milestones, including consideration of an addition to the Circuit Street building as part of a potential move to combine the two Boston charters and applying to become a regional charter in the greater New Bedford area. Potential changes to the structure of the charters will continue to be explored throughout the coming year for further consideration by the Board.  

Kevin Taylor, Chief Executive Officer, then requested one piece of affirming and once piece of adjusting feedback from all participants in the Retreat, in an effort to continuously improve Board Meetings.