Note: The meeting started late due to a technical issue with the electrical system in the meeting room.

Michael Collins of Ray & Associates explained the process that they would use to search for a new Executive Director.

• Focus Groups
• Interviews
• Online surveys
• Advertisement
• Setting expectations on the calendar

Tabled

Kathleen Foley walked the board through the plan for Orientation week for the staff. There are also a few days for new hires the week prior. They are working hard to ensure there is no repeat information in the schedules to maximize people's time.  Kathleen also shared the current agenda items for staff development days through the school year.

Julia Garcia updated the board on the current staffing levels going into the new school year:

• The new Talent Ed platform is allowing us to post to multiple websites including www.indeed.com all at the same time with a single post.  We see more applications come from that site than others.  This is not a site we have previously used.
• Kathleen Crawford discussed the organizational structure for FRCS and confirmed for everyone that both Human Resources and Finance have a dotted reporting line to the Board of Trustees.
• Salaries are still an issue with people leaving despite the attempt to stabilize them for the educational staff last school year.  This did not include all of the support staff. All teachers are in high demand these days, but Special Education teachers are particularly difficult to retain and get offers accepted.  
  • Karen Calvert reminded everyone that the Finance Department is working with an actuary to review all salaries across the school district to see what can be done to be more competitive and fair.  This is happening in the next few weeks.
  • The discussion reviewed the change that Dr. Soria made last year in switching from a Merit-Based system to a scaled system.  Many teachers were not happy with the switch from an evaluation to a feedback communication that was not linked to a merit base.  The administration would like to survey the staff to see what system they would like to use this year.
• The school district has thirty-eight open positions equally distributed across all three schools.
  • Fourteen offers have been extended.  Eleven were accepted, and one was a transfer from another role.
  • Eighteen resignations have been submitted since school ended. Eight this past week (7 days.)
  • Eleven of these positions were newly created since school ended.
  • Special Education offers have been rejected at a higher rate than other positions across the country, and we are feeling it. 
  • Signing bonuses were considered, but the administration and board both feel this is unfair to exist staff.
    
    
     

Tabled

• Dress Code
  • The copy attached to the agenda did not have all the changes included.  The board read the copy provided and requested that "scholars" be changed to "students".
• Governance Committee Scope Document
  • The title should have the word "excellence" removed
  • The Board requested it be reorganized so there is an "out of scope section" to add clarity to the document.
• Student Recruitment & Retention Committee Scope Document
  • The header has the wrong title on it
  • Term of office should match the Governance committee wording.
• Facilities Committee Scope Document
  • Change the meeting time from Monday to Thursday

• Board Committee Documents
  • Eligibility Policy
    • Correct Typos
  • Participation Policy
    • Correct Typos
  • Selection Policy
    • Correct Typos
  • Appeals Committee Scope Document
    • No comments
  • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee Scope Document
    • Tabled
• Code of Conduct
  • Tabled

Discussed in the Policy Section.

Discussed in the Policy Section.

Thomas Philbin has begun working without a contract on the Solar Project.  The board is working with Mr. Philbin to make changes to it but also happy with the work he has accomplished thus far.

Discussed in the Policy Section.

• Discussed in the Policy Section.
• Susie Girard reminded the board to complete the Board Assessment in Board on Track in the next two weeks.

Discussed in the Policy Section.

No requests this evening.