David Potter

Mike Mizzoni from BoardOnTrack joins the Board to review the Board self-assessment that was recently completed by the Board.

The assessment includes three data sets—participants, report, and recommendations. The participants are the individuals who filled out the survey, the report is the raw data itself, and the recommendations are computer-generated based on the results.

Mike encourages the Board to review the data individually and pull personally significant takeaways as well as important takeaways for the full Board.

Mike explores membership reports, shares out about expanded Committee work, and discusses priorities for composition and bylaws.

Things are going smoothly this year, due in large part to the fact that the admin team has been working over the summer and no positions are interim for the first time in a long time.

PVPA is currently mask optional, and face coverings are only required when a person has been exposed or is experiencing symptoms. So far, there have been 9 student cases and 2 staff cases. PVPA will likely have a vaccine clinic on site this year.

The third-floor storage space work started today, and the community is looking forward to having the new space to use.

The admin team plans to introduce policies at Board meetings throughout the remainder of this year, which will make up a book of policies separate from the handbook.

All bathrooms in the building are now single-use and gender neutral.

(Our Restorative Practices coordinator has sent out a survey to staff to question whether there have been issues with this new policy.)

The Board approved a calendar last year without paideia, agreeing to consider a paideia proposal later. The administration is proposing a two-week paideia starting immediately following MLK day.

Diversifying the workforce is a priority using SOA funds. The administration is working on ramping up meaningful diversification efforts. The hope is that more staff will be sent to UMASS for interpreter trainings, as these skills have been useful in the past.

One of Brent's priorities has been projecting PVPA's name into the community, which has been valuable for recruitment. This upcoming weekend is the Springfield Puerto Rican day parade. Our Latin Student Union has been working on a float that will be part of the parade, including dancers and a live band.

On September 30th, at Pulaski Park, a PVPA jazz ensemble is kicking off the Northampton Jazz fest.

Our production schedule generally kicks off in November. The administration will update the Board

Public Comment:

This member of the public has heard great things about increased public engagement. Are the drivers for community engagement and diversity student-driven?
 

Response from Brent:

The Puerto Rican Day Parade was my idea, but I passed it on to the LSU.

Public Comment:

Is any of the community engagement/diversity valuable for fundraising efforts at PVPA?

Response from Brent:

This is something we need to start working on more in the community. Recruitment is an important part of this because our revenue is dependent on enrollment.

Public Comment:

I think the trajectory of the school in terms of diversity and community engagement is something that is great. Including fundraising as an aspect of this effort would be great.

The first meeting of the Finance Committee is scheduled for October 4th. Following Rick's departure, Neil requests at least one more member of the Committee who will be able to break a tied vote if necessary.

Governance is joined by EJ and Latrina. We have already begun the discussion of goals and revision of bylaws. The Committee looks forward to developing succession plans for officers and putting energy into recruitment and composition.

Governance met last week and is hoping to set a standard monthly meeting. This is likely to be the first Wednesday of the month.

The remote participation rule will be reevaluated in March again. If the policy is not reinstated, it could pose a challenge for the current membership of the Board.

The Committee has been meeting on Wednesdays and will likely increase meetings prior to rollout of evaluation plan and decrease following the rollout.

The LRPC will be working closely with Finance, among other committees, on all things related to capital improvements at PVPA.

The next project will be reassessing student support offices on the second floor. Future projects will likely be challenging because projects need to be planned far in advance.

The administration plans to redo 5 classrooms, replacing all furniture, every summer for the foreseeable future.

Shannon - 

The new schedule (with everybody being in the building all day) has worked out well according to the people with whom Shannon has discussed the change. New teachers seem to be content. The high school academic teachers are in favor of shorter classes meeting more often rather than long, spread out periods.

The middle school schedule is still being worked out. There are problems with class sizes and homework support periods, but things are in progress.

Fiona -

We had grade meetings recently. Students seemed excited to get into the new year and discuss new ideas. For many, this feels like a return to normalcy.

Kamali -

The Seniors would really like to have a senior trip, which will require fundraising. Students raised concern about community time limiting students who are members of multiple student groups at PVPA.

As was indicated earlier, there was a micro-meeting during the retreat to approve a budget increase in support of the third-floor renovation project.

The Board discussed bylaws, anti-racism, strategic action planning, and how we can go about considering potential changes moving forward. It was a great learning opportunity, and the Board feels that we are on the same page as the school.