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Foxborough Regional Charter School

Minutes

Board Meeting

Date and Time

Tuesday March 9, 2021 at 6:15 PM

Meeting Format
Whether in person or online, the public is welcome to attend Board Meetings and have access to meeting minutes. Meetings are held once a month and additionally, as determined by the Board Chair. All meeting Agendas are posted to the school website at least 48 hours in advance of each public meeting.

During the meeting, the Board follows the published agenda and works through business. Audience members are not part of the formal discussion or deliberations, but may raise their hand to add brief comment or ask clarifying questions. Meetings start promptly on time as noted on the agenda.

Trustees Present

Badawi Dweik (remote), Kathleen Crawford (remote), Matthew Yezukevich (remote), Reem Ozone (remote), Sergio Martin (remote), Susanna Girard (remote)

Trustees Absent

None

Guests Present

Annie Azarloza (remote), Heidi Berkowitz (remote), Karen Calvert (remote), Keonna Geer (remote), Krisan Pope (remote), Matt Harrington (remote)

I. Opening Items

A.

Roll Call 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 Tuesday Mar 9, 2021 at 6:20 PM.

II. Leadership Report

A.

Awards, Honors, and Recognition

  • Summary of the annual celebration of Black History Month
  • Elementary school celebrated 100 days of school

B.

Equity & Inclusion

The sub committees are this week and the Committee meeting will be the follow week.  The update will be provided at the April Board meeting.

C.

Personnel Update

See the finance section

D.

Special Topic

Strategic Goals: School Culture and Climate
Keonna Geer, Director of School Culture and Climate, presented her goals for this school year.  They include the following in the school's program.
  • MTSS/RTI Systems
  • PBIS Interventions
  • Social-Emotional Learning
  • Research-Based Practices--EVIDENCE-DRIVEN
The board reviewed the presentation and asked a number of questions about the program.  

 

Strategic Goals: Finance
Due to the number of questions asked during the School Culture and Climate portion of the meeting Karen Calvert graciously agreed to present her goals next month.

III. Committees

A.

Enrollment

School Year 2020/2021
  • Current enrolment 1688
  • Mid year withdrawals are lower this year than previous years.
School Year 2021/2022
  • Annual lottery was held last week.  There was a human error that occurred during the presentation. The procedure was stopped until the error could be corrected.  It was determined that the order of students selection was not impacted.  It was then verified by the disinterested party that there was no impact to the lottery that would impact the order in which each student's number were selected.
  • 130 prospective students have signed up for a registration appointment.
  • Kindergarten acceptance night is next week
  • Applications are down this year by 25% but charter schools are experiencing this across the state at a rate of 40%
  • The 2021/2022 enrollment recommendation was reviewed
Matthew Yezukevich made a motion to approve the 2021/2022 enrollment recommendation as presented via a roll call vote.
Susanna Girard seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
Roll Call
Sergio Martin
Aye
Kathleen Crawford
Aye
Matthew Yezukevich
Aye
Badawi Dweik
Aye
Susanna Girard
Aye
Reem Ozone
Aye

B.

Facility

UV Lights installed in the air handling system 
  • Has been installed in all three sections of the district.  Project CLOSED!
2021/ 2022 Technology needs 
  • Chromebooks have been budgeted for FY21 and will be billed after the start of FY22 
  • K-1 iPads have been ordered 
Food Services 
  • Interviewing consultants to review our food services and assist in the bidding process to prepare for next school year. Focus will be on nutrition and their ability to adhere to the state guidelines. 
Devices for Staff 
  • We are waiting on the demo units to come in for evaluation
Recent tech issues
  • This week the internet was interrupted due to an issue on Verizon’s end.  It has been repaired and we are back up and running
  • Last week the service was interrupted after a heavy wind storm caused a power outage. The Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) failed and our power was lost until it was restored locally.  The UPS has been replaced.

C.

Finance

2020/2021 Budget
  • We are tracking well to budget as the administration is watching what we spend.
  • We do not know what the per pupil revenue will be but it is expected to be lowered
  • Revenue is down from last year
  • The teachers have an excess of PTO (~698 days) remaining for this school year.  Many people during the pandemic are taking days off at a lower rate across many industries.  This is not unique to FRCS or schools.  The administration is considering paying the staff for a PTO day at the substitute teacher rate ($125 for a day).  Should a large number of teachers take a well deserved day off all on the same day it would be difficult to cover their absence given the number of substitute teachers we have.  This would not require a vote from the board as this would be a transfer of money from one line item to another.
2021/2022 Budget
  • There is a meeting this Friday for the Senior Leadership Team to review next year's budget.
  • Karen Cavert and Krisan Pope met with Tufts to provide coverage to staff for medical insurance.  Our current utilization of insurance has projected a lowering of our rate by 1%.
Matthew Yezukevich made a motion to authorize Karen Calvert to negotiate the 2021/2022 contract with Tufts for our insurance coverage.
Reem Ozone seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
Roll Call
Susanna Girard
Aye
Badawi Dweik
Aye
Sergio Martin
Aye
Reem Ozone
Aye
Matthew Yezukevich
Aye
Kathleen Crawford
Aye

D.

FRCS Foundation Inc

Nothing to report

E.

Governance

The Search Committee interviewed five candidates and has narrowed the candidates down to two for the position of Executive Director.  We will hold a interview session for the two candidates where they will interview with Parents, Teachers, Students, Administration and the Board of Trustees all on the 16MAR2021.  The Board will review their evaluations during executive session on 23MAR2021 and make an offer to a candidate if appropriate.  

IV. Policy Review

A.

New /Old Policies

None at this time

V. Special Reports

A.

English Learner Parent Advisory Committee (ELPAC) Report

Meeting will be held next month

B.

Partners In Education (PIE) Report

Nothing to report

C.

Special Education Parent Advisory Committee (SEPAC) Report

Meeting will be held next month

VI. New/Old Business

A.

2021/2022 School Calendar

The school calendar is based on last year's calendar with one exception. The kindergarten class will start one day earlier than the rest of the school in an effort to reduce confusion as new kindergarten  parents drop off their child.
Susanna Girard made a motion to approve the 2021/2022 school calendar as presented via a roll call vote.
Sergio Martin seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
Roll Call
Susanna Girard
Aye
Kathleen Crawford
Aye
Reem Ozone
Aye
Sergio Martin
Aye
Matthew Yezukevich
Aye
Badawi Dweik
Aye

B.

New State Guidance for In-Person Learning

  • The new guidance is to have all K-5 students be on campus 5 days a week starting April 5th and grades 6-8 by April 28th.  There is no current guidance for HS.
  • The space between desks has been reduced to 3 feet
  • Masks and social distancing must still be in place
  • Parents can still opt to keep their children virtual for this school year, 2020/21.
  • The school needs to evaluate if they can meet the space requirements and will return to the Board of Trustees on 23MAR2021 with and update
  • The board was asked if they felt it was still necessary to update the health metric charts for review on a weekly basis when they come out.  Given the state is guiding us to open regardless of the Red, Yellow & Green indicators the board agreed it a not needed any longer.
  • The board reviewed the current guidelines for in person indoor meetings and given we would be above the current 10 person max we will remain holding board meetings virtually

VII. Items for the Next Meeting

A.

Items for the Next Meeting

New State Guidance for In-Person Learning

VIII. Closing Items

A.

Reem Ozone, Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees

After 12 year of serving as a member of the Board of Trustees Reem announced she will be stepping down as a board member.  The board and administrations thanked her for her very long dedication to supporting the school as a Board Member holding numerous roles over the years. 

B.

Approval of Minutes: 12JAN2021

Matthew Yezukevich made a motion to approve the minutes as amended via roll call vote from Board Meeting on 01-12-21.
Badawi Dweik seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
Roll Call
Kathleen Crawford
Aye
Badawi Dweik
Aye
Reem Ozone
Aye
Sergio Martin
Aye
Matthew Yezukevich
Aye
Susanna Girard
Aye

C.

Approval of Minutes: 09FEB2021

Tabled

D.

Adjourn Meeting

Susanna Girard made a motion to Adjourn the meeting via roll call vote.
Reem Ozone seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
Roll Call
Matthew Yezukevich
Aye
Badawi Dweik
Aye
Reem Ozone
Aye
Susanna Girard
Aye
Sergio Martin
Aye
Kathleen Crawford
Aye
There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 8:25 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
Susanna Girard
The listed matters are those reasonably anticipated by the Chair to be discussed at the meeting. Not all items listed may in fact be discussed and other items not listed may be brought up for discussion to the extent permitted by law.