There were no public comments.

Artie Sullivan informed the group that feedback from DESE on bylaws update has been provided.
Karl, Peter, and Artie have scheduled a call with DESE representative.
An updated will be provided to the board after that discussion - hopefully at November meeting.
Artie briefly reviewed the other action items.

 

Artie Sullivan reviewed the intended topics and key points for discussion for the upcoming, future meetings.

The board briefly reviewed the current year's goals and progress made towards reaching those goals.

Dr. Cohen provided his monthly HOS report, highlighting the following items:

• School year - re-opening and the phased approach and the weekly schedule
• Technology - noting bandwidth has been the biggest obstacle.  The team has been working with the service provider and will hopefully have an upgrade within a week or so.  While Peter is sure that there will be an increase in the ongoing connection fee, but will need to research if there will be a charge for running the new cable into the building.
• HVAC - upgrade has helped MCCPS meet the new standards with enhanced filtering capabilities.

Katie Sullivan from the Personnel sub-committee provided the annual training for the HOS evaluation process.  Katie has been involved in the schools since its inception (originally as a teacher) and her presentation was very well received.
She explained the process for evaluation along with the anticipated timing of the various deliverables.
 

Based on the relationship between Matt Cronin and Megan Hale, and Mr. Cronin's new title, the board is re-submitting the disclosure to the state to remain in compliance.
 

Treasurer Rudi Herve shared the external auditor's report with the board, noting the 'clean' opinion with no current management comments.  Rudi noted there was a special Finance Committee meeting to approve the audit report for presentation to the full board.
With an unmodified opinion, it indicates the financial statement are considered accurate, with no material weaknesses or any other items requiring comment on the effectiveness of the internal controls.  He commended Jeff Barry on a job well done.

Chair Artie Sullivan noted there will be no action taken during tonight's meeting.  Instead he explained the different options available to the group and indicated the Finance Committee will review the approach and formulation of the nature of the 'restriction' wording initially, and then will present options to the board at a later meeting.
 

The committee members were presented by the Chairs from the respective groups:

Personnel:
Dr. Peter Cohen, James Rogers, John Steinberg, Katie Sullivan (Clerk), Peter Chaney, and Artie Sullivan (Chair) 

Governance:
Jeanne Smith (Clerk) Paul Baker, Kay O'Dwyer, Cynthia Canavan, Elizabeth Burns, and Karl Smith (Chair)

Finance Committee:
Ndack Toure, Karl Smith, Rudi Herve (Chair), Peter Cohen, Richard Doran, Julie Santosus, Jeremy Bumagin - (note that he no longer on PTO, and Melissa Hanson - PTO Treasurer will be contacted by Peter to have her invited to the meetings going forward), and Jeff Barry (Clerk)

Academic Excellence - Jessica Xiarhos (Chair), Matt Cronin, Dr. Peter Cohen, Ellen, Meg Upton, Sarah Plymate Ragozin, Molly Wright, and Kim Sullivan.

Development - Paul Baker (Chair), Susan Hauck, Ellen Lodgen, Connie Bang (PTO representative), Amy Leveroni, Xazzie Kindle, Katherine Koch, Dr. Peter Cohen, Beth Taranto.

Strategic planning - not ready - this group will be tabled for now

Facilities - Becca Whidden (Chair), Dr, Peter Cohen, Jim Gaudette, Amy Leveroni, Nathan Dye, Ariane Purdy, Marisa Fava, Brad Rogers, and Christian Strom

Communications - Susan Hauck, Katherine Koch, Dr. Peter Cohen, James Rogers, and Ian Hunt (Chair).

Note that based on the discussion at the end of this section, it was agreed that Dr. Cohen is considered an ex-officio, non-voting member of all of the sub-committees and that he will continue to participate in the meetings as his schedule allows.

Artie Sullivan reminded the board members to make sure they provide proper notification regarding meetings and to e-mail meeting notices to Melissa Andre and REGS at the state.  And that Artie, Peter, and Karl should also be listed on all notices.
Also he stressed the notices must have: date, time, location, committee, and attach an agenda (if you have one).  This applies to the Board of Trustees and any sub-committee or task force, however it does not apply to SPAC, PTO, and non-board related groups.
Lastly, Artie reminded everyone to properly update meeting minutes once approved.  Many times the minutes are not made public, and he urged everyone involved to go the extra step and finalize / make public the minutes after they have been approved.
Karl Smith provided a brief update as to the latest Governance meeting.

Treasurer Rudi Herve provided the update for the Finance Committee reviewing Jeff Barry's update memo.
Overall the financial status of the school is considered healthy and trending on budget for both revenues and expenses.

Artie Sullivan provided the update noting the committee is currently looking at the student and faculty handbooks in more detail.

 

Jess Xiarhos updated the board on this sub-committee.  She believes the group will be on track to provide a presentation to the board during the December meeting regarding the criteria and how progress will be tracked.

Paul Baker and Susan Hauk updated the Board regarding Development's status.
The following items were noted:

• Web-site - wrapping up the new site, adding additional functionality.
• Recruitment mailing updates are progressing well -completion anticipated before calendar year-end (Database loaded into Salesforce).
• Annual fund appeal updates are underway

There were no significant updates at this time.

The work being performed has been covered in previous areas and no additional items were presented.

Becca Whidden noted there is a walk through scheduled for this coming Sunday to help members become more familiar with site and context of all 'facility' aspects.

Susan Hauk expressed her appreciation of the PTO and their amazing efforts and community connections.  The latest event - Little Store night was a great success.
The board hope to see someone from the PTO provide updates similar to what occurred in the past.
Additionally the group determined that student presentations should also return with a tentative plan for every other month to have updates from the student leaders.

Artie Sullivan noted as a parent his observation for the first week back to hybrid is very positive and that he believes it has been well received by all involved. Dr. Cohen also noted the feedback has been positive, noting it appears the kids are having fun, socializing, and that everyone is happy to see each other in person again.
 

• Send letter for audit - approved.
• Board restricted funds to finance for their review
• Committee Chairs to send Karl their listing of all committee members.
• Develop a board and committee grid to identify gaps or missing spaces.

Looking to schedule next meeting - looking like November 17th, but will confirm.
Finance - work with Jeff Barry to see if FinCom meeting can be held before Board meeting, or alternatively have preliminary numbers and provide full update in December (has happened like this in past years).