Happy new year and welcome to our new board members, Nick and Azanda. Laurie unfortunately was unable to attend our new meeting time.

No public in attendance

Reviewed current year goals:

Self Assessment of the board - will be happening in the Spring
Board Meeting materials posted 48 hs - done
Exceeded increasing board size with 4 new members
Still working on 3 year targeted recruitment plan
Attendance by trustees above goal
Board training - working on details on charter renewal training
Engagement with touch point with School - given the challenges this year hard to do but will find a way to engage in the virtual school
Board Giving - at 50% so far
Stakeholder event - not easy this year.  Possibly what we have with board engagement. Will discuss in Development Committee.
ED evaluation process - in the works
Succession Plan - has not been discussed yet, but need this for the charter renewal
Financial Policies and Controls - Finance committee to work on, does it need updating?
Multi-year development plan - had a draft but this year derailed a bit. Review at next meeting

L. Davis: Overall doing well on this, especially given the challenges this year.

Modesto's Report:

Reopening Plans: SPS is remaining virtual through April 8. We don't have to do what they do but there are some serious considerations for us to not be in line with them.  Including: nutrition and transportation logistics (not financial).  This is not the reason but does impact it.  The number of cases in our community is still higher than we are ok with.  Committed to stay virtual through February.  This is the first week of high needs students back in person (5).  Easing into this.

Goals for 2nd half of the school year: 3 goals (Attendance, Student Servicing, Rigor). Attendance falling behind. not unique to Libertas but still a focus. Goal is 90% is higher (threshold of what is attendance is higher than most schools).  Saw dip over the last few months in 8th grade in particular. January has increased attendance.  Very focused on this.  Created a Attendance Task Force who meets weekly to strategize students who are struggling and daily to follow up students who are not logging in.  Includes going to kids homes as needed.  Student Servicing: Students who are being impacted the most (ESL or disabled) brought in extra staff to support them even further.  Specifics like: guided reading programs, IEP support.  Rigor: focus on increase the rigor in virtual setting.  Helping with teacher professional development to meet these.  Collected data in surveys for continued feedback.

Tony: question about liability of going to student's homes. Own cars, etc.? Only leadership who go. Thoughtful about who does this. Parents are notified and it is a contactless drop off.  And reimbursements are available for mileage.

High School Planning: 2nd Floor construction to start in February and on schedule to be ready for next year. Also requested price to buy out the building by Feb 1. Talent: hired 7 people so far. Many more in process so expect to have much more to report next meeting.  In a good place so far.

Student Recruitment and Enrollment: 65 applications in right now.  Working to get in front of more families: radio ad, PVTA ad, etc. Focused on the North End of Springfield.

Azanda: question about open positions being posted?  Zip Recruiter, Colleges, Teach for America, etc.

Lauren: When is the survey to current families plans for next year?  Have sent in December. Principal will be meeting with every 8th grader in the next few weeks. 1/5 said no - in some cases the student said no and parent said no. Also had more questions about why decisions, what would you want to know, etc.  Informing the conversations with them and gave us more direction on what to focus on in general.

Tony: What are the expectations for sports with the high school? Likely basketball will be the first as it's the lowest cost and most popular with students. Will likely have to wait for more options.  Will probably partner with a community center for a gym.  Also unsure about the COVID impact for this next year.

Nick: Is marketing focused on 9th grade and is there a different approach this year given the high school?  Usually focus on the entry level for 6th graders. Currently over enrolled but expect to lose a few so looking to have a waiting list. 

Josh Update:

Talent has been a focus. Tiffani shared what Holyoke PS is doing with attendance and COVID.

Azanda and Nick will be joining this committee.

Tony Update:

Focused on the usual reports: dashboard.  Consistently hitting 5 out of 7 marks.  No red. Doing well. 6 months through FY21 and in good shape.

Discussed costs of the 9th grade class and building.

990 tax form (FY20) reviewed and approved by committee, needs to be approved by the board.

Finance committee has a great process in place and doing very well. 

Dana's Report:

Calendar year end solicitation sent in December.  Nearing $30k raised. Committee to follow up personally with those who gave before but not yet.

Did receive $100K so far from Jennison Foundation. Will be getting $300k from them this year.

Reminder for 100% board participation as it encourages others to donate.  Any amount.

Focusing on 4 areas of fundraising: Jennison Foundation, Local foundations/grants, a local company to commit to supporting us, a local institution/college of supporting us.  Asking board to think about an institution or company you have a relationship with that could help us connect and bring this to reality.  If you have ideas, please send to Dana or Lauren. 

Modesto created a great development plan prior to starting the school so we will focus on updating this for the next 3 years. 

Tony: question about any restrictions on what the business that may want to support this does? No restrictions on type of company but would want something local, some companies even have their own foundation they support, smaller companies sometimes do it less formally. Company who may want to encourage volunteerism.  Likely expect a $20k gift from company as part of this.

Lauren's Update:

Meeting Wednesday to discuss board training around charter re-wnewal.  More info in February.

Hit trustee recruitment goal this year but always interested in more candidates.  Looking at the next 3 years as well.

Lauren's Update:

Voted last meeting on goals.  Adding competencies to this in conjunction with Modesto. Will bring this to the board for approval. Will ultimately be a template for future evaluations.

Dana: question about process. Is this interactive and collaborative with Modesto and the committee - want it to be meaningful for both parties?  Doing a lot of collaboration. Modesto was very involved with selecting the goals and continues to participate with this.  Much more in line with what is important and relevant. Modesto added that Lauren has been doing a great job connecting with him.  Lauren wants to continue to stay in touch throughout the year on goals in the future once we get it finalized.  Setting us up for great success next year for sure.

Goal to finalize at the end of this month and present at the February board meeting.

Tony added that evaluations are difficult for every organization. The person we hired didn't offer as much as we hoped but it's hard with an outsider to understand but making a great template.

Modesto: 
Law that was passed in 2019 that says that state funding to increase over 7 years toward schools. Schools required to make a SOA plan for this funding.  Supposed to be submitted last spring but too much unknown so it was delayed until now.  Expecting an increase in funding starting next fall. 

Libertas SOA plan focused on students who are falling behind the most, mostly Special Education.  Guidance to keep short right now but expecting to have to report more specifically on how the funds are being used.

Requires board approval.  Specifics are not yet finalized - this going to the state but will likely need to be updated.

February 23 at 5:00 PM via Zoom