Foxborough Regional Charter School
Minutes
Board Meeting
Date and Time
Thursday October 22, 2020 at 6:15 PM
Location
MS/HS Cafetorium
For access to the meeting please enter through Door G
Daily Screening
Foxborough Board of Health department requires all students, staff and visitors entering the building complete a COVID 19 screening form daily. The Screening form can be located HERE and must be completed to attend this meeting.
Foxborough Board of Health department requires all students, staff and visitors entering the building complete a COVID 19 screening form daily. The Screening form can be located HERE and must be completed to attend this meeting.
Board meetings are open to the public. Members of the audience who wish to address the board may do so during the “Privilege of the Floor” portion of the monthly Board meeting. Forms for Privilege of Floor, for items other than those on the agenda, must be submitted by noon the day before the Board meeting in order to be heard during the meeting. Forms may be obtained from and submitted to the school’s central office.
Trustees Present
Badawi Dweik, Kathleen Crawford, Matthew Yezukevich, Reem Ozone, Sergio Martin, Susanna Girard
Trustees Absent
None
Guests Present
Annie Azarloza, Ben Dyer, Cathy Alix, Heidi Berkowitz, Karen Calvert, Krisan Pope, Mark Logan
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
Kathleen Crawford called a meeting of the board of trustees of Foxborough Regional Charter School to order on Thursday Oct 22, 2020 at 6:17 PM.
II. Leadership Report
A.
Re-Opening Planning
- The Centers of Disease Control (CDC) and the Department of Education direction from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts do not always match 100%.
- The Board of Trustees are classified as unpaid state workers. This is a different reporting structure than many local school boards. As state workers we are obligated to follow the direction from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts even when it may not agree with the CDC’s guidance about changing the school model from virtual to hybrid and if needed back again. This is also an obligation regardless of our personal opinions.
- More red (40%) districts, yet lower (94% vs. 87% of combined red/yellow) compared to last week. The combined Yellow/Red is the metric we are monitoring the most closely and would need to see two more weeks of decreasing rates in order to switch to a hybrid model.
- Results of the recent survey to families has remained steady at 40% of the community wanting to remain remote only.
- The facility is ready for reopening with Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in all the classrooms and offices. We have also upgraded our air handling system to include a UV light sanitization system to all areas of the elementary, middle, and high schools.
- The Board of Trustees will hold a meeting on 05NOV2020 to evaluate the data and decide on reopening on 09NOV2020.
- It should be noted that the challenges for opening are not only the direction from the Commonwealth on interpreting data but also staffing. The administration will be working with staff to prepare them for reopening on 09NOV2020.
- The administration and Board of Trustees agree that not all families will be able to adjust their home schedules with only one business days’ notice. Thus, it is ok to have students stay virtual for an additional week or two if the family chooses to make appropriate plans for their home lives.
- Sergio Martin asked for a statement to be captured in the meeting minutes. We have had several discussions about re-opening over the past few months. He has appreciated that we can have passionate debates and all points of view have been heard and it is an environment to share even dissenting opinions. The hope is that we are setting a good example to be shared throughout the FRCS community.
Matthew Yezukevich made a motion to delay the transition to the hybrid model to begin no earlier than 09NOV2020 with a phased approach to return students to school.
Badawi Dweik seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| Susanna Girard |
Aye
|
| Kathleen Crawford |
Aye
|
| Reem Ozone |
Aye
|
| Sergio Martin |
No
|
| Badawi Dweik |
Aye
|
| Matthew Yezukevich |
Aye
|
III. Committees
A.
Enrollment
Our current enrollment is 1706. Six students above our cap. Going above the cap means that these students are not reimbursed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
B.
Facility
- The technical team has been testing the capacity of using more Wi-Fi connections in all of the schools and found damage had been done to a fiber cable impacting the elementary school’s capacity. The repairs are out to bid.
- The Chrome books that were ordered last May and put on back order by the supplier to us and many schools should arrive next week. They will be imaged and ready for students so the turn around to distribute them to the middle/high school students should be quick.
C.
Finance
- Discussion on proposed budget revisions by leadership. The finance committee had previously voted to recommend the revisions at their October 8th meeting. Changes are outlined in the board packet. The proposed net revenue increase is $822k including increases to tuition revenue (based on state guidance), increase in grant revenue and decreases to various revenues that are tied to the school being open. The proposed expense increase is $434k. Major expense changes include decreases to expenses that are tied to the school being open (partially offsetting the related revenue decrease), increase in grant expense (offset by grant revenue) as well as increases to workers comp and our contribution to the Massachusetts Charter School Association. After these changes, we have a budgeted surplus of $1.078 million (size of surplus is to ensure we can meet our bond covenants and to have a cushion for unanticipated COVID related expenditures)
- The school will need to renegotiate the transportation contract due to the delayed reopening. The finance committee will update the Board of Trustees when there is more information.
Matthew Yezukevich made a motion to revise the budget as presented.
Sergio Martin seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| Sergio Martin |
Aye
|
| Matthew Yezukevich |
Aye
|
| Kathleen Crawford |
Aye
|
| Badawi Dweik |
Aye
|
| Reem Ozone |
Aye
|
| Susanna Girard |
Aye
|
D.
FRCS Foundation Inc
The foundation held the annual meeting in September where Susanna Girard joined the team. Kathleen Crawford, Heidi Berkowitz, Susanna Girard and Nancy Sepe will meet over the next few weeks to discuss options for raising money to support the students on FRCS and return to the board with an update.
E.
Governance
The finance committee was ready with the Request for Proposal (RFP) to find a recruiting firm to locate a new executive director. The web site that the commonwealth uses was down and made it not possible for posting. This has impacted our timeline to push out the process by an entire month.
F.
Race & Social Justice
- Dr. DT Henry will be mentoring our HS brown and black boys once a week this year (virtually to start and in person once we begin our hybrid phase) on topics such as what it’s like to be a brown/black boy in America. It will focus on black excellence learning and development.
- Dr. DT Henry will be holding training sessions with staff in the upcoming months
- We should have a mentoring group for our boys and girls in the 8th grade as they transition to high school.
- Keonna Geer, Director of School Climate and Culture presenting a Restorative Justice series of workshops for all staff.
IV. Policy Review
A.
New Policies
Nothing at this time
B.
Old Policies
Nothing at this time
V. Special Reports
A.
Partners In Education (PIE) Report
Nothing at this time
B.
English Learner Parent Advisory Committee (ELPAC) Report
Nothing at this time
C.
Special Education Parent Advisory Committee (SEPAC) Report
Nothing at this time
VI. New/Old Business
A.
New Business
Nothing at this time
B.
Old Business
Nothing at this time
VII. Closing Items
A.
Approval of Minutes: 08OCT2020
Matthew Yezukevich made a motion to approve the minutes as amended from Board Meeting on 10-08-20.
Sergio Martin seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| Susanna Girard |
Aye
|
| Kathleen Crawford |
Aye
|
| Badawi Dweik |
Aye
|
| Matthew Yezukevich |
Aye
|
| Sergio Martin |
Aye
|
| Reem Ozone |
Aye
|
B.
Adjourn Meeting
Matthew Yezukevich made a motion to to adjourn from public session to executive session without returning to public session for the purposes of contract negotiations.
Badawi Dweik seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| Sergio Martin |
Aye
|
| Kathleen Crawford |
Aye
|
| Reem Ozone |
Aye
|
| Matthew Yezukevich |
Aye
|
| Susanna Girard |
Aye
|
| Badawi Dweik |
Aye
|
There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 8:00 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
Susanna Girard