Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter Public School
Minutes
December Board Meeting
Date and Time
Tuesday December 11, 2018 at 6:00 PM
Location
PVPA, Laddenheim Library, 15 Mulligan Dr S. Hadley MA
Trustees Present
Deborah Jacobson, Donovan Arthen, Gary Huggett, Mindi Winter, Sean Moore, Shubhada Rella-Brooks
Trustees Absent
Jorge Rodriguez, Keith Black, Marcus McLaurin, Stephen Therrien
Ex Officio Members Present
Ian Baird, Marc Kenen, Marcy Conner
Non Voting Members Present
Ian Baird, Marc Kenen, Marcy Conner
Guests Present
Drew Wherry, Isaac Weigand-Whittier, Mary Ahlstrom
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance and Guests
Andrea and David also present.
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
Mindi Winter called a meeting of the board of trustees of Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter Public School to order on Tuesday Dec 11, 2018 at 6:05 PM.
C.
Reading of the PVPA Mission Statement
Read by Sean Moore
D.
Public Comment
E.
Approve Minutes from Previous
Gary Huggett made a motion to approve minutes from the RESCHEDULED - Board of Trustees Meeting on 11-20-18 RESCHEDULED - Board of Trustees Meeting on 11-20-18.
Donovan Arthen seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
II. Governance
A.
Governance Report
- Strategic Action Plan
- Second in the modern set of "SAPs" that started officially two years ago.
- Taking stock about where things are. People are doing the best to move forward.
- Trying to rebuild momentum to get us back on track to moving forward.
- Establishment of an alumni association.
- Difficult process of bringing in restorative justice to school.
- Interviewing administrators/providing them with restorative justice plans.
- Should we talk to others in the school/community about restorative justice
- April 2020, start forming a new SAP committee.
- Need 2-3 people who can act as co-chairs
- Final assessment of previous SAP
- Establish a framework for the upcoming process
- Completed by June 2021
- Marc mentioned that the charter renewal application is due on Aug 1, 2020.
- We will need to adjust the timeline to meet the charter renewal deadline.
- Should we move up the timeline a year?
- Governance will need to speak with Marc and get his thoughts.
- Board will need to approve the SAP.
- Accountability plan is 5 years, we are currently at 2.5
- Board recruitment
- How do we reach further out from the immediate school community?
- Place notice in Friday Notes.
- Governance will vet and chose some to interview.
- Focus more on recruitment come January.
- Would like to have new members by spring.
III. Finance
A.
Treasurer Report
- Lights
- Received neighbor complaint from an individual on Cedar Ridge Road about parking lot lights and lights on the theater were too bright.
- PVPA to explore a new timer for the parking lot lights.
- Met with Michael Sullivan, Town Administrator for the Town of South Hadley.
- Assured PVPA is within all the bylaws of the town regarding the lights.
- The town doesn't have any concerns.
- Fiscal Year Plan
- Budget $103,000
- To date: $28,000 raised.
- Need to build our donation base and reach out to new donors
- Currently testing the sales force for reporting and acknowledging donations
- January hoping to have updated tuition numbers from DESE
IV. PVPA Leadership
A.
ED Report
- Today was the first day of coordinated program review.
- Happen every 6 years.
- State comes and reviews special education program
- Interview students, parents, staff, etc. to see if PVPA is coming
- Exit interviews were very positive and glowing
- Next week, ELA program will be reviewed.
- Will be more difficult, there are not many ELA students.
- David: Replacement for a Math teacher?
- Numerous candidates
- pleased with the pool.
- Hiring for Jan 2 for a long-term sub.
- Have willing parents and students to sit on a hiring committee.
- Numerous candidates
B.
ED Evaluation Next Steps
- Remember to fill out the evaluation.
- Reminder emails have been sent.
- A neutral answer results in a negative rating.
- Next step:
- Send out to the larger community.
- External stakeholders
- Teachers and Students
- What questions should we ask?
- Better off paring the questions down to just the ones we really want to see.
- Send out to the larger community.
- Everyone should look at the questions and take a look at which questions should be used on the parent questionnaire.
- Mindi will send questions and community group via email
- Approve the list of questions via email.
- Reminder: Do not reply all to an email from the board to ensure we are adhering to Open Meeting Laws.
V. PVPA Staff Reps
A.
Staff Report Out to Board
Gary spoke on behalf of the staff.
Reminder: board members get two comp tickets to any show!
- Fuente Ovejuna was a great show which had a lot of new cast members.
- This weekend is the Winter Music Showcase. Two different shows one on Friday, one on Saturday.
- Getting ready for the holiday break then come back for three days, then jump into Paideia
Reminder: board members get two comp tickets to any show!
VI. PVPA Student Reps
A.
Student Report Out to Board
- Restorative justice and how to implement.
- Students can now choose to lead harm and repair circles.
- Some members from student council are hosting a panel/workshop where they will talk about restorative justice to staff.
- Lee-Ellen, spending a lot of time with restorative justice
- Students are pretty well trained now
- Students are now better equipped with
- How restorative justice is being used at other schools
- Big project: concent week
- The week hasn't been sent yet.
- Lunch workshops regarding concent.
- What it the? What is the age of concent, etc.
- Hoping to expand into middle school advisory.
- Food drive in the Spring semester.
VII. Infrastructure/Facilities Committee
A.
LTPR Report
- Meeting twice a month.
- Still at brainstorming stage.
- If you have anything you'd like to suggest, please send ideas/comments to a member of the committee.
- School security would be addressed within this committee.
- New position of an evening security
- Part-time position starts at 3pm. Helps with dismissal and monitors the building until about 7:30p; later when there is a production.
VIII. Community Outreach
A.
Alumni Spotlight - Sakina Ibrahim, Class of 2007
- We'll put something from community outreach every month for board members to see.
IX. Other Business
A.
Public Comment
Marc:
Reminder: We want 100% board participation for donations. Can contribute any amount. Checks payable to "Friends of PVPA" or can donate online at PVPA.org as well.
- George David foundation in Springfield,
- Provided us $10,000 toward rebranding and marketing effort for the school.
- Will work with TSM Design.
- A new logo, color scheme, image for school, website, & marketing plan.
- Will start in January.
- Hopefully by spring process will be completed.
- Hoping this new marketing effort will help with admissions to the school.
- Provided us $10,000 toward rebranding and marketing effort for the school.
Reminder: We want 100% board participation for donations. Can contribute any amount. Checks payable to "Friends of PVPA" or can donate online at PVPA.org as well.
X. Union Negotiating Committee
A.
Executive Session to Discuss Union Bargaining
Mindi Winter made a motion to Go into executive session pursuant to Chapter 30A, section 21(a)(3) to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining with respect to Units A and B if an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining or litigating position of the public body, and the chair so declares.
Deborah Jacobson seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| Keith Black |
Absent
|
| Deborah Jacobson |
Aye
|
| Sean Moore |
Aye
|
| Donovan Arthen |
Aye
|
| Mindi Winter |
Aye
|
| Stephen Therrien |
Absent
|
| Gary Huggett |
Abstain
|
| Shubhada Rella-Brooks |
Aye
|
| Jorge Rodriguez |
Absent
|
| Marcus McLaurin |
Absent
|
David, Andrea, Marcy, and Marc invited to stay.
XI. Closing Items
A.
Adjourn Meeting
Donovan Arthen made a motion to adjourn the meeting.
Sean Moore seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 8:00 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
Shubhada Rella-Brooks