The 6th grader senators, Padrig and Dylan, spoke to the board and presented their impressions of the different aspects of the curriculum at Charter, what activities they are currently involved in, and what they are looking forward to doing as they move through 7th and 8th grade.  The board expressed their appreciation for the boys' candor as well as their participation and involvement in student government.

When the Chair opened the floor to public comment, former trustee and former Charter parent, Paul McCarthy asked to be recognized.  Paul wished to speak on behalf of Bill Sullivan and express his support for all that Bill has contributed to the school over the years.  He expressed his opinion that he did not believe that Bill was being treated fairly.  Dr. Peter Cohen responded and offered his thoughts on the topic and Artie Sullivan as Chair requested the topic be taken offline as the meeting needed to remain on track. 
 

The Chair reviewed the items listed from the previous meeting including, but not limited to the following:
 - Development fundraising and training for board - looking at February as a potential date for training
 - Board member attrition - with two current openings
 - Search for alumni, parents, and family of former students
 - Sub-committee membership
 - Updates to the handbooks and documents
 - Head of School Mid year review
 - Final Charter renewal report
 

The Chair covered some of the upcoming meeting agenda items, including:
 - March - satisfaction survey
 - ValEd survey- end of April
 - John Steinberg, Personnel Committee and his annual evaluation of the results of the survey
 - HOS Evaluations
 - Budget creation and approval
 

Next the board goals for school year 2019 / 20202 were reviewed.
The board continues to move through these topics:
 - Development
 - Communications
 - Bylaws review

 

Dr. Peter Cohen presented his HOS report and reviewed all of the items listed out.  Please refer to that document for details.

Some of the main discussion points included the following:
 - The Strategic plan - mapping out available physical space, gathering information, and carefully considering the next steps to be taken.
 - Leadership team update
 - Development Director
 - Staffing updates
 - Enrollment numbers 
 - Commencement of the Budget formation for the next school year
 - Review of the bylaws 

The Head of School mid-cycle evaluation presents an opportunity for the board to perform an evaluation of Peter's performance approximately half-way through the school year.

Dr. Cohen reviewed all of his goals and progress made to date.  The conversation was a very frank and open discussion about what he has been able to accomplish, as well as what he is looking forward to achieving.
Board members were instructed to complete their evaluations within approximately one week's time - the due date set for Super Bowl Sunday.

There was some conversation regarding the "Teaching Force" concept and how it clearly aligns with Peter's goals.  The group was anxious to learn more about this exciting concept.

Ellen Lodgen noted that with regards to faculty evaluations, Peter has done more than they are used to in recent times.
Additional feedback was provided by various board members.

The following committees were presented by the respective chairs:
Governance:
 - Chair: Karl Smith, board member, former parent
 - Paul Baker, board member, former parent
 - Cindy Canavan, community member, former board member
 - Kay O'Dwyer, community member, former teacher
 - Pam Ferris, former parent
 - Jeanne Smith, former parent
 - Chris Riegle, former parent
 - Elizabeth Burns, parent
 - Artie Sullivan, board member, parent
 - Peter Cohen, Head of School

Personnel:
 - Chair: Artie Sullivan
 - Peter Cheney, Board member
 - Katie Sullivan, Community member, Clerk (former parent, former faculty, former board)
 - James Rogers, Faculty
 - John Steinberg, Community member and former parent

Finance:
 - Chair: Rudi Herve
 - Vice Chair: Richard Doran
 - Jeff Barry, Financial Manager
 - Karl Smith - board member/former parent
 - Julie Santosus, parent
 - Richard Doran, parent
 - David Hausler, community member, former parent
 - Jeremy Bumagin, parent
 - N'dack Toure, parent (new member)
 - Peter Cohen, Head of School

Development:
 - Chair: Ellen Lodgen
 - Vice Chair: (was Nick Santoro- need to replace)
 - Jeff Barry- staff
 - Fred Ferris- board member/former parent
 - Xhazzie Kindle- parent
 - Stephen Veiga- staff
 - Susan Hauck- staff
 - Amy Leveroni- parent
 - Connie DeBoever- parent/PTO rep
 - Peter Cohen - Head of School

Academic Excellence:
 - Chair: Jessica Xiarhos
 - Peter Cohen - Head of School
 - Ellen Lodgen - Faculty, Board
 - Emily Westhoven - Community Member, Former Parent
 - Kimberly Sullivan - Parent
 - Matt Cronin - Faculty
 - Michael Condon - Faculty
 - Bill Sullivan - Faculty
 - Meg Upton - Parent (To be voted on next committee meeting)

Strategic Planning:
 - Co-Chair: Becca Whidden
 - Co-Chair: Fred Ferris
 - Peter Cohen, Head of School
 - Jenn Stoddard, Faculty
 - Michael Condon, Faculty
 - Jen Jewell, Parent (and former Board Member)
 - Eric Larsen, Parent  

Communications and Community Relations:
 - Chair: Ian Hunt, former parent
 - Susan Hauk, staff
 - Katherine Koch, staff
 - Peter Cohen, Head of School

Chair Artie Sullivan reviewed the board of trustee goals.

The board members discussed their impressions of the State of the School presentation.
In addition, Ellen Lodgen requested that all board members attend the April 4th gala.  Sponsorship opportunities, donations, and solicitations were also covered.
Rudi Herve noted that he wants to ensure there is positive community outreach to help smooth transition and address some of the uneasiness felt given the leadership changes.

 

This topic was previously covered within the HOS updates - no additional comments at this time.

Karl Smith reviewed the ongoing primary topics:
 - Board composition
 - Bylaws review and update - and proposed general approach
 

FinCom Chair, Rudi Herve explained the financial statements for December 2019 and noted the following items:
 - Enrollment activity is causing some fluctuations
 - Efforts to curtail expenses have been considered successful
 - Next adjustment from state will happen in March
 - The long-standing dispute with state with regards to long-term contribution for retirement plan
(Going back to 2013) appears to be close to resolution
 - The Finance Committee has suggested the board consider designating a board restricted fund to begin the process for reserving funds for specially designated expenditures.  More research with the outside auditors to determine the specific wording to be used, is pending.
 

Chair, Artie Sullivan indicated the personnel committee is working on updating their policies and they hope to have some proposals for the board in February.
 

Chair, Jessica Xiarhos indicated the group is energized and is in the process of developing the criteria for success, and is soliciting feedback from the different departments.

The development activity was previously discussed during the meeting, with the important 'save the date' of April 4th.

Again, all of the key points were previously discussed.

Chair, Ian Hunt explained to the group that he has been in discussions with Chris Stevens from Marblehead Reporter and is hoping to engage and share more with community about MCCPS.
The plan could be to create something similar to "Highlights" where 7th and 8th grade students would be able to contribute to a page of the newspaper,  There is potential for a possible mentoring aspect. Ian believed this would be a great opportunity to promote the school leading up to the big 25th anniversary. 

The information and detail surround the charter renewal was previously covered.

This topic was also previously discussed in detail.

There were no additional public comments.

Artie Sullivan noted that the Charter TV programs were being aired on Marblehead TV.
He believed there were some dedicated times on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays
Additionally the board members were urged to attend the Essex County Foundation workshops and presentation in March.

The following items were noted: 
 - Policies coming out of personnel
 - Board restricted fund
 - Susan Hauk - fundraising training
 - Charter renewal 
 - Mid-cycle review to be completed by Sunday

 

On time / on-target