John Steinberg reviewed the findings from the Board on Track, Val_Ed and UofKanasas Teacher Evaluation of the HoS.  John framed the presentation with a brief summary of the HoS goals before a deep dive into the three surveys. 

Board On Track

• This was completed by the MCCPS Board and Teacher Community and covered 13 topics and 52 questions. John provided some brief context on the pros / cons of the structure of the evaluation. Some slight decrease in "strongly agreed" sentiments were observed from the staff around integrity and leadership performance.  Increases in financial performance and community engagement were, however, observed. 

Val_Ed 

• This was completed by teachers and board members. John explained this is an excellent tool and was pleased to see ~99% completion rate by teachers and 8 out 11 non-teacher MCCPS Board members. John flagged that board and teacher rankings were significantly different in a number of categories, with large changes in teacher sentiments compared to the previous HoS survey. John reviewed each of these.  Notable areas flagged by teachers included rigorous curriculum, performance accountability and quality instruction. The board discussed teacher monitoring as a key process that was flagged. Noteworthy, the rankings were consistently high. 

Kansas Teacher Sentiment Survey

• John reviewed teacher survey findings from the UofKansas survey. Key areas of focus — teacher empowerment, HoS relationships, teacher relationships, etc. John reviewed findings from over 30 questions that staff had responded to. John contrasted the findings from previous results. Notable was an observable drop in teacher empowerment. John extrapolated this to the challenges of adopting a new curriculum by the school. Additionally, John shared teacher concerns around workload(s). High scoring areas included trust and integrity and general school culture. This is a major positive trend compared to previous years. 

John closed out the presentation with a brief summary of the overarching trends and challenges highlighted by the 3 surveys. Overall,  while some decrease in teacher rankings is clearly evident, the overall results are still relatively positive. These changes should be taken in the context of the DESE mandated requests the HoS / Leadership Team have been asked to implement to increase state testing standards and improve enrollment numbers from sending districts.  

HoS subsequently shared reflections on the data,  and  acknowledgment of some of the challenges the staff faced in adopting new curriculum(s) in math and science.  HoS also flagged the positive impact of the Director of Academics & Accountability on mentoring, feedback and quality instructional development and how this might be impacting teacher feedback. 

Enrollment 

• MCCPS is currently at 228. Waitlists are strong in a number of grades. School has a number of options to return to 230 by end of term. Enrollment projections for 2026 - 2027 academic year are strong with 224 confirmed for next year. HoS is confident of reaching 230 targets. Notable is strong retention of existing pupils.

StaffEmployment Contract Discussions (for 2026 - 2027)

• HoS is currently conducting contract discussions with some departures expected. Additionally, HoS shared plans to reassign upper school senior staff members to help support lower grades and continue to support curriculum development.  Overall, high retention of current staff members is expected. Salem State relationship is continuing to develop, with 1–2 fellows transitioning to full-time staff positions. This relationship has become a critical talent pipeline tool for the MCCPS. 

Teacher & Learning

• MCAS testing is beginning soon for some students. Teacher evaluation is also ongoing for end of year summaries. 

Anniversary Gala

• Strong interest in the event by staff and community members.

Compliance 

• The school has been asked to participate in an integrated Civil Rights assignment by the state. Other compliance reports pending also include retention strategies for students with disabilities. 

The board discussed ideas to strengthen fundraising opportunities. The board asked  Karen Kagan,  Ian Hunt, Katie Holt and Ellen Lodgen to explore further. Additionally, the board also discussed how the board could fund a Community Service Learning program, including hiring a staff member to support overarching fundraising. 

Chris Re shared an update on next steps for HoS evaluation by the board, including HoS end of cycle self assessment and subsequent board evaluation. These will be done at a special meeting on May 13 and May 26.

Emily Promise provided an update on the proposed 26/27 budget. The budget is broadly inline with previous years. Some increases are expected in healthcare, building infrastructure and IT costs. FINCOM is exploring cost mitigation in these areas. Leveraging the Board Restricted Fund to better support student needs was also discussed.  

The board discussed the upcoming anniversary gala celebration and the goal of leveraging the event to raise funds for the school. Kim encouraged everyone to participate — either by attending and / or contributing financially to support the event. A silent auction and fund a need will be planned. 50 tickets remain unsold. 

• July - Adopt Annual Report, by July 31, Adopt Annual Board Goals
• August – Board Officer Vote,  Adopt HOS Goals, Open Annual Board Self Assessment
• Sept – Review Annual Board Self Assessment, Approve Committee Memberships and
  Vice-Chairs
• Oct – Adoption of the Annual Audit (must be done by Oct 31), MCAS
  Presentation, Presentation on HOS Evaluation Process by the Personnel Committee
• Nov –  HOS Contract Renewal Notice
• Jan – HOS Mid-year review
• Feb - Adopt School Calander
• March – Set up Satisfaction Survey, Set Annual Board Retreat Date, Presentation of
  HOS Annual Evaluation Form
• April – Presentation by HOS of Annual Goals, Budget Adoption
• May – HOS Annual Evaluation
• June – Annual Board Retreat

Did not discuss.

The board reminded to support new board recruitment. 

The board discussed the agenda for the board retreat on June 6 (9.00am - 1.00pm). Key topics identified included fund raising, board handbook, committee member elections and team building activities. 

See earlier notes. 

Did not meet.

Board agreed to hear update from academic excellence at next board meeting. 

See notes relating to gala meeting. 

No update.

See notes elsewhere around HoS evaluation 

No public comment 

• Fund-raising core team to meet offline to develop an action plan — possibility of leveraging Board Retreat to finalize. 
• The board encouraged them to participate in HoS end of year evaluation.