In light of the ongoing COVID-19 Coronavirus outbreak, Governor Baker issued an emergency Order on March 12, 2020, allowing public bodies greater flexibility in utilizing technology in the conduct of meetings under the Open Meeting Law. This committee makes a motion to accept this Executive Order for this meeting of the Governance Committee, on November 23rd, 2020

Paul Baker, Dr. Peter Cohen, and Karl Smith provided a brief update of the most recent Board meeting.
Peter discussed hybrid learning approach and noted the plans surrounding the holidays and how additional full remote periods will help mitigate some of the travel concerns raised.  He noted that at least 75% of the parents and staff surveyed, approved of this plan.

 

The group discussed memo on board composition and membership.

There was discussion regarding a newly proposed process to have board members interested in serving additional terms.  The basic premise is for trustees to indicate to the Governance Committee their desire to renew their term, Governance would consider and deliberate the potential renewal, and then Governance would present that member to the full board for their consideration and vote.

 

MCCPS has received feedback from DESE with regards to the updated bylaws, and they had specific comments and suggestions regarding the available terms of the trustees, along with the term lengths for the officers.  There was some extended conversation regarding these specific areas.
Cindy Canavan wanted to ensure that the members of the board fully understand the updated indemnity provisions, and expressed her concern  / reservation regarding extending officers' term lengths. 
Ultimately the group agreed that the updates were acceptable and that the final version with the DESE's updates was OK to be re-submitted.
 

With the comments received back from the State regarding the enrollment and potential updates to the stated communities served by the school, we have a chance to revisit and potentially update the Charter document.  A few members had read through the current charter and discussion ensued.
This 'guiding document' is designed to be a bit more descriptive and promotional, however several members noted some areas that appeared to be outdated or no longer relevant.
As the updates need to be submitted in August, there is additional time to consider updates or revisions.
This will be included as a standing item on the agenda.

 

Proposed Monday, December 14th - 7 PM.

There are a few open meeting law trainings offered by Maura Healy's office - a few board members have already attended.  The board members will remind all of the trustees at the next meeting about the additional session available.