Technical difficulties were experienced with the on-line platform and had to be disconnected and then restarted.  The meeting re-commenced at 6:08pm.

Azizah Yasin read the full mission.

No public comment.

No staff present.

No student report.  Auditions taking place tonight.

This is a busy time of year! The schedule for next year is in the process of being finalized.  Auditions have started as they are needed for scheduling.  During the week after vacation live scheduling with students will start for next year.  All students in grades 9-12 will have schedules for next year before they leave for the summer.  Tomorrow fist welcome day for new students! They will be seeing performances and receiving information about arts programming as well as moving through an abbreviated daily schedule.  We are really aiming for student satisfaction, it has improved greatly in last 5 years and we hope to continue this trend.

Events:

Catalyst production this past weekend.  The show is our Catalyst Dance Companies annual production and it also featured some middle school students.  A couple of pieces were taught by our artist in residence this year featuring hip hop and  bomba dance.  

30th Anniversary Gala.  Education landscape is showing budget constraints that are leading schools to cut the arts.  This demonstrates the need and why it is important to have a school like PVPA for students to turn to.  Cuts in municipal funding also means less funding for PVPA thus the need to fundraising.  Silent auction, Amherst Jazz Orchestra, made good connections and received media coverage.

The remaining weekends of the school year are full of production activity.  Plays, musical and grad show...Thursday night is Headgear.

Lottery & enrollment - applications are open, current enrollment is full.  There does tend to be attrition over the summer; especially entering 9th graders who intentionally leave for another high school experience.  Wait lists are full in 9th and 10th grades with some room in 11th and 7th grades.  Currently have over 400 students committed for the 2026-2027 school year.

Substance use at school - vaping and other substances.  Unhealthy and dangerous activity. Creates issues when students over occupy the bathrooms.  Policy follows state law.  Vapes are cannot be used on school property.  If we suspect the use of these substance then we need to have a policy that allows searching the students.  Most school have this type of policy; allows us to address the issue and promote health activity.

The Board commends the staff for all of the work that took place to put on the Gala.   It was a lovely evening and very well put together event.

Finance Committee met on April 7th and discussed the following:

1. Request for proposal for auditing services - seeking a new auditing firm for the year ended June 30, 2026 and beyond.

2.  FY26 3rd Quarter Budget vs Actual - expect to finish the year within budget but with a smaller reserve than has been experienced in the past few years

3.  FY26 3rd Quarter Tuition - DESE released tuition projections a little later than usual.  There remain some downward trends in Above Foundation Funds.  PVPA will not meet the required benchmarks to give staff the contingency bonus outlined in the collectively bargained agreement.

4.  Financial Transparency. Financial transparency document reviewed.  Highlights included how PVPA is funded, the importance of our mission and how it leads spending.  During FY26 there were 89.88 FTEs (full time equivalent positions) that accounted for 53% of the budget.  Due to the arts related mission, PVPA has 12 arts teacher positions that other district do not have.  72.26% of the salary budget is for teachers and educational staff.  52.51% of the budget as a whole is spent on Education.  PVPA also has priorities that other school do not:  Restorative Practices (+2 FTE $160,698 and $22,000 in grant funding), Production budget that is mission related but not required (1 FTE $58,896, $70,815 in stipends and $47,585 in program expenses = $177,296).  The 2025-2026 school year saw a substantial increase in busing services; $1.1 million.  This qualified us for regional transportation funds from the state where for 2025-2026 we will be reimbursed 84% of the cost.  Facilities expenses of $1.1 million or 11.07% of the overall budget - rising utility costs and the cost of supplies and services that PVPA has no control over.  Employee benefits; PVPA has a robust employee benefits package but did see a 29.9% increase in health insurance this past year.  The increase for 2026-2027 has yet to be determined but will most likely be in the double digits again.  the remaining pages of the report include graphs and charts from DESE and other sources showing that PVPA is financial strong and has experienced favorable trends over the past five years.  

FY27 is the final year of the implementation of the Student Opportunity Act.  School across our region are facing critical decisions about budget and budget cuts.  In fact, South Hadley is seeking and proposition 2 1/2 override as we speak.  These decision will have a direct impact on PVPA funding.  The feeling being shared across the state is that FY28 and FY29 will see modest if any increases to tuition.

Can you explain the contingency payments?  The Collectively Bargained Agreement has benchmarks for tuition that lead to one time payments based on a % of salary.  When we are budgeting we don't always know how much tuition we will receive so this creates a safety net for the school.  The salary structure promises modest increases however PVPA is able to  provide as much as possible to staff through this contingency feature. 

We hear the flat FY28 projection.  Grateful that the Finance team is ensuring we enter into a difficult financial situation in a positive way.  Concerns around salaries and benefits.

There was also an Executive Session meeting on April 7th to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining.

Emily Whitebrear, as the liason, reported that the Friends are reviewing studies from Hvac, roof, lighting scope, building envelope,  weatherization, water heater provided by two vendors. Eversource is working with Environ.  They are still reviewing documents - Environ looks good.  FOPVPA have not made a decision but are continuing to moving forward.

Are the Friends actively recruiting? Yes, they need replacement for Treasurer for next year.

Would the FOPVPA be interesting in a meeting with the BOT?  Yes, there is great interest - need time.  Please seek an evening time to hold a meeting before July retreat if possible.

The Governance Committee is focused on recruiting Board members - applications remaining open until Governance meeting on April 28th.  Someone who attended the Gala submitted an application.  Some people may not be interested in being on the Board but in fundraising with the FOPVPA - intersectionality.  Fundraising is a critical part of our sustainability.  Azizah was finally able to speak with DESE concerning our bylaws.  DESE has experienced some staffing issues themselves and were not able to respond.  Some of the bylaw revisions were DESE recommendations, they are scutinizing to ensure language meets the targets.  Azizah will be meeting with them soon to push this forward.  Need to understand to be in compliance.  Hopeful to have approval by Board retreat.

Selection of additional training dates:  Same day of week and time seems to work best (Tuesdays at 6:00pm).  Reached out to Board on Track to see if they can provide and will be reaching out to  Mike Mazoni to see about further training.  

Board membership feedback.  Please respond to notices on Board on Track.  We are actively looking for items where we can improve.  Board on Track has evaluative questions about process and understanding our roles plus options for additional training.  We need to be goal setting and think about strategic planning.  

Head of School evaluation to be coming as well.

Please be sure to accept any meeting notices on Board on Track or respond to other communications.

Open meeting law training - a few dates left to attend 4/16 & 4/28.  No one has received there certificates of attendance.  

Please try to attend some of the upcoming performances.

Alot of committee work being done - May meeting will be the budget.