Jaqueline Bennett, Committee Chair, directed the attention of the Committee to the Executive Director General Updates. Sonya Pratt, Executive Director, noted that she would first provide general school updates before transitioning to her individual goals. Pratt shared that the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) has already begun meeting with focus group members as part of the School’s Year 28 Targeted Site Visit Review. Pratt provided an overview of the schedule for the day of the visit, which will be coordinated by a team of three from DESE. She also reminded the Committee that while most charter schools are reviewed throughout their charter term, this is also an opportunity to showcase the School’s progress to meeting its probationary conditions and related action plans. Pratt affirmed that the team is well prepared for the visit and asked if the Committee had any questions. The Committee, which included Trustees who were part of the School’s focus group, shared they did not, but wished the staff luck.

Pratt also confirmed that the work of creating a strategic plan with the School’s consultant (Prospect Leadership Group) has continued, and after calls for volunteers, multiple teachers and Board members have asked to join the Strategic Planning Committee. She also reminded the Committee that the team from Prospect Leadership Group performed a mock site visit and was able to share results from that visit with staff as they had done with the Board during January 2023. The Committee inquired as to who from the Board volunteered to be involved, and she confirmed that it would be a member from the Finance Committee, a member from the Academic Excellence Committee, and a Trustee who is an alumni of the School.
 

In addition to the strategic planning, Pratt also reminded the Committee that given the School’s lower enrollment, it is currently overstaffed for its number of students. Given this, Pratt hopes to rightsize the organization for the number of students it can reasonably expect. She affirmed, however, that this would be done by adjusting department structure and natural attrition rather than elimination of roles or layoffs. She also confirmed that the Strategic Plan would help to guide this process of deciding the best standalone-school structure for the District.
 

Pratt also noted that part of this work would be re-evaluating compensation for staff members who are currently performing the work of open roles in addition to their own. Pratt shared that Jordan Pina, Chief of Staff,  has assumed multiple Human Resources roles for the entirety of the current year and she believes administrators who are currently doing so should be compensated accordingly. In order to do so, Pratt reached out to the School’s contract Business Manager to determine best practices for coverage compensation within charter schools. Based on their recommendation, the School plans to do so by calculating the Full-Time Equivalency (FTE) of the covered work and the rate that the role would usually receive. Pratt noted that while she does have  authority related to the day-to-day management of staff, she wanted to ensure this topic was raised to the Committee for any feedback on the process. The Committee shared that they agreed with the philosophy and process, and thanked Pratt for including them in her thought process.
 

Next, Pratt updated the Committee members on enrollment and attrition rates. In comparison to years prior, CoaH doing considerably better with attrition, which is in turn helping CoaH maintain its enrollment rate. In order to meet enrollment goals, CoaH will need to maintain an average of five applications per day and the Enrollment and Attrition Committee is consistently meeting to discuss the data. By June 2023, the Enrollment and Attrition Committee should have a detailed plan for a long-term enrollment strategy. 
 

Pratt then gave updates on Board Engagement and strengthening the relationship between the Board and Executive Director. Pratt cited her engagement of  board members to join the strategic planning committee and take an active role in identifying new candidates for the Board as recent examples of her efforts on this goal, and shared that she hoped to continue additional opportunities.
 

Finally, Pratt reminded the Committee of the various professional development opportunities she currently participates in for charter school leaders and one-on-one executive coaching from The Management Center, a non-profit that specializes in best practices for managers in the education sector. Pratt also noted that while executive coaching funds were available to her in the previous School year and included in the budget, she was not able to utilize them due to time constraints in her first year as Executive Director. Given this, she requested that the Board consider allowing her to roll-over the funds to this school year. Committee members affirmed their excitement for Pratt’s continued drive for growth, and inquired if she had a specific plan for use of the funds if they were to allow her to do so. Pratt confirmed that while her executive coach was able to provide a discount given that the School is a past training client of The Management Center, she does not currently have enough professional development funds to complete the year with the coach, who she feels has had a strong impact on her leadership. She noted that if possible, she would also want to continue on with the coaching throughout summer to be have additional support in launching the Strategic Plan. The Committee thanked Pratt for providing them with the additional information, and all agreed that the funds would be well spent.