Rachel presented the annual calendar. She explained the first day of school is August 23rd for students with teachers returning three weeks prior for professional development. There are 190 days which includes 5 snow days making the last day of school June 24. 

Denise asked about the need for intervention around COVID related learning loss and Rachel explained that there may be additional opportunities for some students outside of the regular school day. This annual calendar though does not reflect any of those supplemental programs and reflects the regular school year calendar for all students. The start date, end date, PD days and school closures are aligned as closely as possible with SPS to help with their transportation costs and to provide convenience for our families with siblings at district schools.

Rachel walked the Board through an overview of the charter renewal process and pointed everyone to the overview of key dates and actions on page 40 of the packet. She presented the charter renewal application and explained that she and the leadership team are working on the application and hope to have a full draft completed by the June meeting for trustees to approve prior to submitting in July. She shared the performance criteria for charter schools and asked new trustees to review carefully and all trustee to review as a refresher. Each committee will have more experience with some criteria over others and that is okay, this is why we have committees to dig in and work more closely on specific program areas. Rachel and team will bring sections of the application to committees and the board for their review and discussion over the next several months. Rebecca Sela offered for new trustees who are less familiar with the criteria to reach out to her with questions. 

Rachel explained that the MOU between Holyoke Public Schools and Friends of VPCS is being finalized. She sent it to Elka Sachs, attorney, earlier this week to review before we execute. The contract is largely the same with revisions to the enrollment section based on lessons learned in our first three years. 

The search for a new principal at VPH is going well and we have honed in on a candidate for the role. We are making some changes to the leadership team there, moving some people to different roles and promoting someone to Assistant Principal so that we have a succession plan. We all feel really excited about the next three years and the impact we can make in Holyoke.

The Tiered Focus Monitoring process has been completed. The report is included here in the board packet for your review. We are pleased to report that there are no findings in the special education or civil rights programs. All indicators have been fully implemented and there are no areas where we are out of compliance. No corrective action is needed in either special education or civil rights. This is terrific news, hard work from Jonathan Swan and the team. We did have one finding and need for corrective action in our English Language Education program. We have not been consistently providing teachers with the certificates for their own records and for future license renewals. We are providing the professional development and we are able to produce certificates for current and former teachers but we do not have a system in place for tracking and providing them on an ongoing basis. This is a great way to support our teachers and we will be taking corrective action to create a system and produce the certificates for teachers moving forward.

Denise explained that increases to enrollment and tuition revenue as well as stimulus grants for COVID relief have resulted in a larger than anticipated surplus as you can see in the projection column on the monthly financial statement. This is great as it enables us to move forward some of the projects in our capital plan. 

Denise gave an update on the process. She explained that She, Rachel, Lynne and Matt each scored the proposals against a set of criteria then met to debrief and select the three finalist. They will be conducting interviews next week and hope to choose one of the three to send to Dale and Rachel for final selection. 

Finance committee has reviewed the proposed FY22 operating budget presented here. We ask the board to review and bring any questions to the May meeting when we will have time to discuss and vote to approve the FY22 annual budget.

Aaron Mendelson asked about grants and fundraising for the new high school.Rachel shared some news about grants to support the high school planning and development. She explained that there is a federal Charter School Program grant which we expect to be awarded and that the Barr Foundation has invited us to apply for funding to support our needs in FY22. The assumptions around grants and private funding are based on these two sources and we are looking forward to engaging other foundations and supporters in the high school launch as well. 

Dale asked about ESSER and other COVID relief monies and the expectations for how they are spent. Rachel explained that there are strict guidelines requiring for monies to be spent on things like facility upgrades, learning loss and mental health supports. This is not an inclusive list but some of the general categories. As with all grants administered by the state, we will submit a budget and be reimbursed as we expend the funds. Rachel shared that she is hopeful that the timelines may become more flexible with these funds so we can sustain staffing and expenses for a longer period of time.

As we experience a surplus this fiscal year and plan for how those funds will be used, we will update the capital plan accordingly, but for now it is being presented to the Board for review and a recommended vote in May if no significant changes.

The team at the school is preparing for the window project which we expect to do during Spring/Summer 2022 and is expected to be funded by the ESSER grant (stimulus money).

David Fuller provided a followup report on the review of Board Survey results.  The Committee discussed further the results of the Board survey presented to the Full Board at its March meeting and the particular areas for growth as identified at that time.  The Committee views this survey as useful from Board members but also felt that some of the responses which lack consensus may have been due to the wording of the questionnaire categories.  The Committee also noted the response relative to unfamiliarity with legislative representatives and discussed scheduling a session to familiarize elected representatives with the School, its mission and its student achievements, as part of community outreach.

David reported that the committee is preparing for the annual meeting and conducting conversations with trustees to determine the slate of trustees, officers and committees for FY22. There are four Trustees whose terms of office expire in 2021:

Lisa Doherty (4th term) ; Annmarie Errichetti (1st term); David Fuller (2nd term) and Greg Moody (2nd term). Lisa , Ann and David have agreed to serve an additional term. Greg has indicated that he step down after two terms, but wishes to remain involved with school, and is most interested in the roll out of the High School.  The Committee’s calculations are that, if re-elected in 2021, Lisa will be serving a fifth term, and under the By Laws may not serve an additional consecutive term.  By stepping down Greg would leave the school with 13 active Trustees.  The By Laws limit the School to a total of 15 Trustees.

 

 

1. Finance: Ford (Chair); Landon; Maxey; Fuller; Gabinetti; Martin
2. Academic Achievement: Sela (Chair); Janes; Errichetti; Moody; Doherty; Delobato; Crowell
3. Governance: Fuller (Chair): Mendelson; Moran (Trustee Emeritus).