Melisa Lemire, Governance Chair and Clerk, presented Ted Gildea as a candidate for joining the Board. She shared that Gildea has a strong background in real estate, and Gildea spoke about his background and the opportunity to serve on the Board of Trustees.

Kevin Taylor, Chief Executive Officer, provided an overview of the purpose of the original Forbearance Agreement with Boston Private Bank ("the Bank" or "the Lender") as an agreement resulting from the existing default resulting from the failure of the City on a Hill Foundation ("the Foundation") to satisfy the debt covenants on the City on a Hill Circuit Street building. Taylor and Cara Stillings-Candal, Chair, shared that both Foundation and School Board Leadership have been included on calls with the Bank and agree that the Forbearance Agreement and the subsequent amendments to address the dates of forbareance should be ratified by the Board.

Next, Taylor reminded the Board of the ongoing negotiations with the landlord of the Washington Street (Dudley Square) to terminate City on a Hill's lease following our consolidation to a single school housed at the Circuit Street campus. He shared that while the landlord is not currently interested in terminating the lease, negotiations will continue and City on a Hill is currently seeking to find a sublesse. Taylor also shared that Foundation and School Board Leadership and management have drafted a letter requesting in writing to terminate the lease. 

Jordan Pina, Deputy Chief of Staff, presented the draft City on a Hill Enrollment Plan. Pina shared that the plan included minimal changes from the Enrollment Plan approved by the Board at the March 20, 2019 Board of Trustees Meeting, and was primarily being sought as part of the consolidation of City on a Hill Circuit Street and City on a Hill Dudley Square into a single school ("City on a Hill Charter Public School").

Jordan Pina, Deputy Chief of Staff, then presented the updated City on a Hill Charter Public School bylaws. Pina shared that, similarly to the Enrollment Plan Amendment, this amendment was being sought primarily to address City on a Hill's restructuring from a three-charter network of schools to a single, standalone high school. She confirmed that changes included removing references to a network and multiple schools, but all other operating principles of the Board were identical to the previous version.

Next, Cara Stillings-Candal, Chair, directed the attention of the Board to the School's COVID-19 Response, Distance Learning, and End of Year Update. Sonya Pratt, Chief Schools Officer, shared that while Boston Public Schools (BPS) hasn't announced what their school year 2020-2021 reopening plans are, they have a lot of influence as the largest district on a variety of factors that affect charter schools like City on a Hill, including transportation for many of our students. Pratt shared that City on a Hill's guiding principle for reopening is what is in the best interest of CoaH students rather than just following the district.

Board members inquired as to current feelings towards returning to school in-person in the fall. Pratt shared that anecdotally, school leaders have heard all options (remote learning, hybrid learning, and in-person learning) requested from parents and will need to seek additional feedback. Taylor also reiterated that City on a Hill will be negotiating with the Boston Teachers Union (BTU) on the model for instruction, and further teacher perspective will be sought there.

Then, Stillings-Candal directed the attention of the Board to the school year 2019-2020 Academic Results discussion. Pratt reviewed quarterly data, including passing rates and interim scores for the 2019-2020 school year, and discussed trends. As noted in previous iterations of The CoaH Effect throughout the year, 

Pratt also noted all of the considerations that school leaders kept in mind when reviewing academic results, including the rapid shift to virtual learning during the COVID-19 Global Pandemic, the merging of City on a Hill Circuit Street and City on a Hill Dudley Square, the closure of City on a Hill New Bedford, and having a high percentage of early career teachers. She also shared that the Principal Team (Chief Schools Officer, Lower School Principal, and Upper School Principal) held individual great checkout meetings with teachers where every students performance was evaluated to ensure that students were being best supported as they enter school year 2020-2021.

Board members probed as to how many students did not meet City on a Hill's mastery target of 70% passing rate. Pratt shared that roughly 100 students did not, but City on a Hill is offering both credit recovery and summer school, and planning both with the considerations of virtual learning in mind. Trustees also asked how this number compared to previous years' passing rates. Pratt reiterated that this year's extenuating circumstances make it hard to compare to previous years, but the Board would be updated on credit recovery and summer school at upcoming Board meetings.

Due to the earlier discussion, there was no additional update from the Academic Excellence Committee.

Melisa Lemire, Committee Chair, provided an update on continued Board growth, including three new possible candidates for Trustees. She also confirmed that the Board will have their annual retreat virtually on August 14, with a majority of the time being dedicated to Governance Training as required by City on a Hill Circuit Street's probationary renewal conditions.

Due to the earlier discussion, there was no additional update from the Finance Committee.

Cara Stillings-Candal, Chair, shared that Development Committee will be evaluating how to safely pursue a City on Hill Annual Gala in school year 2020-2021, among other fundraising initiatives. She also encouraged all Board of Trustees members to donate if they are able to at this time.

Cara Stillings-Candal, Chair, announced that the CEO Support Committee completed the school year 2019-2020 Chief Executive Officer Evaluation, and were pleased with the results of their review of results of the CEO self-evaluation, direct report feedback, and Committee discussion on progress to individual goals.

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 final dashboard of school year 2019-2020 and provided explanation of the result of each goal, including additional context for goals that were not able to be met due to the COVID-19 Global Pandemic, including executing annual Family and Student Surveys and some non-essential College Counseling goals in order to prioritize rapid response to current needs of families.