Read by Latrina Denson

No public comment.

Brent Nielsen reported a current enrollment 398.  A supplemental lottery will be held for 7th, 9th and 11th grades on October 17th with anticipated start date fro new students on the 1st  day of second semester.

Applications open for 2025-2026 lottery on November 1st.  The lottery has historically been in mid Feb but will be later this year due to the possible changes to the charter region.

There have been several events since our last meeting: Sr. Sunrise, Open House, WOFA at Big E and the 10/3 Sr Capstone.

Upcoming events include: 10/24 Sr Capstone Dance Thesis, 10/25 Holyoke District & Juvenile Court Collaboration with LSU & WOFA, Octoberfest, 11/1 Latin Heritage Showcase, 11/1 mid semester grades close, and11/2 Parking Space Fundraiser.

Charter Amendment was submitted on September 25, 2204.  Public comment will be sought by DESE and Brent will distribute information to the community on how to participate.  The Office of Charter Schools and School Redesign will reach out to the Administration with any follow up questions.  At the January meeting of ESE the Commissioner will make a recommendation and then a vote will follow.  Our lottery will be later based on this timeline as we will need to know the region to accept students.

Whole community will receive email with info on how to give feedback.  BOT please encourage participation.

Marcy Conner reported that the Finance Committee met on October 3, 2024.  During that meeting Frank Serreti of Marcum LLP present the FY24 audit.  An unmodified opinion was given with no audit findings - this the is best possible outcome for an audit.  The audit report will show that the conservative approach to budgeting has proven successful for PVPA as the school is in good financial health.  There was mention of the funds that are owed to PVPA by the Friends and both entities were encouraged to make a plan to settle the debt.  The Finance Committee voted unanimously to accept the Audit report for the year ending June 30, 2024 and recommend that the Board of Trustees vote to approve as well.

Also discussed were the reserves and the need to increase the three months of funds set aside for operating expenditures.  Currently there is $1.5 million earmarked.  A review of the quarterly expenses show that the school really needs $2.2 million to ensure that there are enough funds to completely cover expenses for three months.  The Committee approved the increase.

The final topic for the meeting was the FOPVPA Lease Agreement.  The agreement states that the school will pay 130% of the bond payment on the building.  In June 2024, as outlined in the bond, the interest rate increased - which in turn means the rent increases.  PVPA has not budgeted for the increase in FY25.  A proposal was presented that would give PVPA five years to absorb/budget for the increased lease while also allowing the Friends to pay down some of the debt owed to PVPA.  The Committee approved the proposal and recommended that we present it to the Friends of PVPA.

The Chair of the Governance Committee is Azizah Yasin and she is not present.  The Goveranance Committee will be starting their work for the year and will hold meetings every 4th Tuesday at 6:00pm.

The Board Chair will be looking to solidify committee work/assignments.

The Diversity Committee will be run by Latrina and Azizah; more information to come.

The Board is seeking a liaison to the FOPVPA.  Vanessa was attending meetings but is not longer available.  The Friends meet every other Thursday monring @ 8:30am - meetings at PVPA but there is a hybrid option.

Lead by Latrina Denson, Board Chair - need members.  Craig Santos joining.

David Cavallin reporting that during Octoberfest, Gig Band will be doing Halloween mashup and is excited for the  11/21 & 22 - Music Tour.  The Tour will be visiting Hilltown Cooperative Charter School, Mountain View in Easthampton for a full day and currently only has one slot left on Friday morning.

No student report - none present.  Student Council Reps will be here for the next meeting.

Thank you to members who attended Open House - parents seemed to really appreciate our presence.  

Production calendar has been shared.  

Latrina will be sending additional information for sign ups to school events.

New link being sent to schedule check-ins with Board Chair.

Training on Board on Track - need to solidify the time for BOT training.

This meeting is on October 25th in Marlborough.  Open to any Board member that may interested - registration due Oct 11th - free - good networking opportunity.  Let Latrina know if you are registering.

Need to have Administrators come to Board so we can get a glimpse of the day in the life of a PVPA Administrator.  Alyson Miller, Director of Curriculum & Instruction, will visit in November to review MCAS results.  It is important for the Board to build community and bridges between the Board and the Administration.