Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter Public School
Minutes
Board of Trustee Meeting May 2025
Date and Time
Tuesday May 13, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Trustees Present
Azizah Yasin, Kiara Badillo (remote), LATRINA DENSON, Neil Hede, Sasha Viands (remote)
Trustees Absent
Craig Santos, David Cavallin, Grace Bannasch, Tim Cable, Vanessa Ford
I. Opening Items
A.
Call the Meeting to Order
B.
Azizah Yasin recording minutes in the absence of Vanessa Ford.
C.
Record Attendance
D.
Read the Mission Statement
E.
D. Approve Minutes
F.
Approve minutes
II. Executive Session
A.
Negotiation strategies regarding Head Of School Brent Nielson contract.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| Kiara Badillo |
Aye
|
| Tim Cable |
Absent
|
| Craig Santos |
Absent
|
| LATRINA DENSON |
Aye
|
| Azizah Yasin |
Aye
|
| Vanessa Ford |
Absent
|
| David Cavallin |
Absent
|
| Sasha Viands |
No
|
| Neil Hede |
Aye
|
| Grace Bannasch |
Absent
|
B.
Executive Session
6:07pm Latrina Denson called the Executive Session meeting to order. Trustees Present: Azizah Yasin(in-person), Kiara Badillo (remote, alone), Latrina Denson (in-person) Neil Hede (in-person), Sasha Viands (Remote) Latrina Denson reinstated the purpose Purpose: Executive Session under G.L.c.30, section21(a)(2) Executive session under G.L. c. 30, section 21(a)(2) to conduct strategy sessions in preparation for negotiations with nonunion personnel or to conduct collective bargaining sessions or contract negotiations with nonunion personnel (Head of School Brent Nielsen).
The Board of Trustees invited legal counsel Marc Terry to the meeting to discuss negotiation strategies and the renewal of Brent Nielsen’s contract. The discussion included terms, the length of the contract, and clarification of the job description. Based on the discussion between the board and legal counsel and the decision regarding the content to be included and/or modified in the contract, the board voted as follows to give legal counsel authority to draft a proposed employment contract for head of school Brent Nielsen:
It was moved to adjourn the meeting at 6:53pm and return to the Public board meeting. Rollcall Azizah Yasin(in-person, yes), Kiara Badillo (remote, alone, yes), Latrina Denson (in-person, yes) Neil Hede (in-person, yes), Sasha Viands (Remote, abstain) Legal Counsel Marc Terry left and the board prepared to return to the Public board meeting
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| Kiara Badillo |
Aye
|
| Craig Santos |
Absent
|
| Tim Cable |
Absent
|
| Sasha Viands |
Abstain
|
| Azizah Yasin |
Aye
|
| Grace Bannasch |
Absent
|
| David Cavallin |
Absent
|
| Neil Hede |
Aye
|
| LATRINA DENSON |
Aye
|
| Vanessa Ford |
Absent
|
C.
Adjourn
It was moved to adjourn the meeting at 6:53pm and return to the Public board meeting.
Rollcall
Azizah Yasin(in-person, yes), Kiara Badillo (remote, alone, yes), Latrina Denson (in-person, yes)
Neil Hede (in-person, yes), Sasha Viands (Remote, abstain)
Legal Counsel Marc Terry left and the board prepared to return to the Public board meeting.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| Neil Hede |
Aye
|
| Sasha Viands |
Abstain
|
| Azizah Yasin |
Aye
|
| David Cavallin |
Absent
|
| Grace Bannasch |
Absent
|
| Craig Santos |
Absent
|
| Tim Cable |
Absent
|
| LATRINA DENSON |
Aye
|
| Kiara Badillo |
Aye
|
| Vanessa Ford |
Absent
|
III. Public Comments
A.
Public Comment
- Presiding officer, president Latrina Denson opened the meeting with public comments.
- There were 15 minutes for public comments.
- There were adults and 1 student who contributed to the public comment session, who expressed they did not want Brent N. to continue as a head of school, so they disagreed with a contract renewal.
IV. Internal Stakeholders
A.
Staff Report
No report
B.
Student Reports
No report
V. Agenda Items for Board Approval
A.
Competency Determination (CD) Policy and Updated Graduation Requirements
Sasha Viands asked if this was to determine seniors can graduate using the new graduation requires.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| Neil Hede |
Aye
|
| David Cavallin |
Absent
|
| Tim Cable |
Absent
|
| Grace Bannasch |
Absent
|
| Azizah Yasin |
Aye
|
| Craig Santos |
Absent
|
| Kiara Badillo |
Aye
|
| Vanessa Ford |
Absent
|
| LATRINA DENSON |
Aye
|
| Sasha Viands |
Abstain
|
B.
District Curriculum Accommodation Plan (DCAP)
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| Craig Santos |
Absent
|
| Sasha Viands |
No
|
| Vanessa Ford |
Absent
|
| David Cavallin |
Absent
|
| Azizah Yasin |
Aye
|
| Grace Bannasch |
Absent
|
| Neil Hede |
Aye
|
| LATRINA DENSON |
Aye
|
| Tim Cable |
Absent
|
| Kiara Badillo |
Aye
|
C.
Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter Public School Discipline for Students Identified as Having Special Needs
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| Craig Santos |
Absent
|
| David Cavallin |
Absent
|
| Neil Hede |
Aye
|
| Sasha Viands |
Abstain
|
| Azizah Yasin |
Aye
|
| Grace Bannasch |
Absent
|
| Vanessa Ford |
Absent
|
| Kiara Badillo |
Aye
|
| Tim Cable |
Absent
|
| LATRINA DENSON |
Aye
|
D.
Board On Track Contract Renewal
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| Azizah Yasin |
Aye
|
| Grace Bannasch |
Absent
|
| Tim Cable |
Absent
|
| Neil Hede |
Aye
|
| David Cavallin |
Absent
|
| Craig Santos |
Absent
|
| Sasha Viands |
Abstain
|
| LATRINA DENSON |
Aye
|
| Kiara Badillo |
Aye
|
| Vanessa Ford |
Absent
|
VI. Governance Committee
A.
Ann Dargie, Esq.,
Azizah Yasin, VP and governance committee chair, explained the process of interviewing and presenting the candidates for full vote of the board without a vote of the committee since a panelist from the interview panel had a question on whether deliberation and vote should happen publicly or in executive session of the governance committee meeting.
Azizah reached out to counsel to confirm the process, and the vote was tabled until confirmation was given.
Kiara confirmed that the process was legally compliant and that Azizah did not need a vote, but was doing this in good faith as a best practice, but it is fine for Azizah as governance committee chair to present to the full board for a vote.
Azizah presented a profile of the first candidate based on the resume attached.
There was discussion and questions raised about thrfee of the four candidates being lawyers and if there were relationships and/ or were conflicts of interest from board member Sasha V, Neile H, and Kiara B.
Azizah responded discussing recruitment efforts over the past few years, difficulty of people making commitments to volunteer.
Met with the candidates individually, conducted panel interviews with two other panelists, all of whom at the end of the interviews supported them being presented.
There was a suggestion by Sasha V who said she would agree to take one or two candidates.
Latrina said we have been transparent and some candidates attended the board meetings and are aware of the issues in the PVPA community. And although they are lawyers they have other qualities such as passion for arts and finance.
Neile Hede they made a motion to vote on all candidates together as one slate.
Azizah second the motion.
When Latrina asked for discussion, Azizah went through the profile of the other three candidates. There was a vote on the following in one slate:
- Ann Dargie, Esq.,
- Thomas Roy, Esq.,
- Matthew Schmidt, Esq
- Emily Whitebear
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| Vanessa Ford |
Absent
|
| Azizah Yasin |
Aye
|
| David Cavallin |
Absent
|
| Kiara Badillo |
Aye
|
| Tim Cable |
Absent
|
| Sasha Viands |
No
|
| LATRINA DENSON |
Aye
|
| Grace Bannasch |
Absent
|
| Neil Hede |
Aye
|
| Craig Santos |
Absent
|
B.
Thomas Roy, Esq.,
C.
Matthew Schmidt, Esq
D.
Emily Whitebear
VII. Head of School Report
A.
General Report and Updates
Brent N. began his head of school report. Moments later, Kiara B. mentioned that Sasha V. left the meeting.
As a result there was no longer quorum to continue the meeting and the meeting ended at this time.
VIII. Closing Items
A.
Adjourn Meeting
Meeting adjourned due to lack of quorum
Azizah Yasin read the mission statement