MCCPS Board of Trustees

Minutes

MCCPS Monthly Board of Trustees Meeting

Date and Time

Tuesday December 20, 2022 at 7:00 PM

Location

17 Lime Street

Marblehead, MA 

Trustees Present

Jessica Gelb (remote), Jessica Xiarhos, Katie Holt (remote), Lindsay Smith, Nick Santoro, Paul Baker (remote), Peter Cohen, Rodolphe Herve, Tim Wadlow, William Rockwell

Trustees Absent

Ian Hunt

Guests Present

An, Andrea Barlow (remote), Carol McEnaney (remote), Stephanie Brant (remote)

I. Opening Items

A.

Record Attendance and Guests

B.

Call the Meeting to Order

Tim Wadlow called a meeting of the board of trustees of MCCPS Board of Trustees to order on Tuesday Dec 20, 2022 at 7:02 PM.

C.

Approve Minutes

Jessica Xiarhos made a motion to approve the minutes from MCCPS Monthly Board of Trustees Meeting on 11-29-22.
Rodolphe Herve seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
Roll Call
William Rockwell
Aye
Peter Cohen
Aye
Ian Hunt
Absent
Jessica Gelb
Aye
Jessica Xiarhos
Aye
Paul Baker
Abstain
Rodolphe Herve
Aye
Tim Wadlow
Aye
Katie Holt
Absent
Lindsay Smith
Aye
Nick Santoro
Absent

II. Public Comment

A.

Public Comment

  • N/A

III. Opening Comments From Chair

A.

Tim's Opening Comments

  • Tim thanked Artie Sullivan for his service to MCCPS as a Board of Trustees member
  • Tim acknowledged that the school, and the Board, is at an interesting point now post-COVID
    • Parents coming back into the school
    • Improvement of the MCCPS facility will be a primary focus given the school's favorable financial position 
  • MCCPS Board will discuss whether to continue doing its three surveys during the January meeting

IV. Board Annual Items

A.

Upcoming Meeting Agenda Items

  • Dec– Adopt School Calendar, Committee Memberships and Vice-Chairs 
  • Jan – HOS Mid-year review 
  • Feb - Adopt School Calendar 
  • 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 
  • July - Adopt Annual Report, by July 31, Adopt Annual Board Goals 
  • August – Adopt HOS Goals, Open Annual Board Self Assessment 
  • Sept – Review Annual Board Self Assessment 
  • Oct – ◦ Approve the Head of School Goals ◦ Adoption of the Annual Audit ◦ Presentation on HOS Evaluation Process by the Personnel Committee 
  • Nov - MCAS Presentation

V. HOS Report

A.

Monthly Report

B.

Approve the MCCPS 23-24 Calendar

Tim Wadlow made a motion to Approve Dr. Cohen's proposed calendar for the 2023-2024 School Year.
Paul Baker seconded the motion.
  • Questions
    • Jess X- would like to flesh out the idea of 2 night Exhibition... can the faculty meet to discuss the pros/cons of this? 
      • Some teachers involved in multiple grade levels- would they be expected to attend both nights?
        • Dr. Cohen- teachers in this position could choose to attend Upper for one Exhibition and Lower for the other
      • Dr. Cohen- we can still make future revision (back to 1 Exhibition night) even after approving schedule for tonight's vote... faculty could still have opportunity to meet and talk this through
    • Nick- can we meet as a faculty to hash out whether to do 2 night vs. 1 night Exhibition?
      • Dr. Cohen- would welcome discussion re: elevating Exhibition but as for 1 v. 2 nights, don't necessarily feel this will be productive- likely to "kick the can" should we open this up to large group
      • Nick- 
    • Jess X- how do Board members with children at MCCPS feel about 1 v. 2 nights
      • Katie- as a parent, you do what you have to do... I see a lot of value in students' seeing each other's projects as they do the day after Exhibition and think that separating nights could help ease congestion
      • Lindsay- doing two nights could make an already hectic/stressful week more hectic and as a parent, attending both Upper and Lower schools' Exhibition could be more difficult 
    • Jess G- in years' past, Exhibition felt a little overwhelming and new structure has helped 
      • As a parent, you do what you have to do but I think there's continued room to grow with Exhibition... this last Exhibition felt good... it was well organized 
    • Nick- once the school expansion is complete, this could be revisited given that the additional space will help remedy the congestion issue
    • Tim- would like to approve this schedule given that families plan their summers in advance and the sooner we can publish first/last day of school, the sooner parents can plan for this
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
Roll Call
William Rockwell
Aye
Paul Baker
Aye
Katie Holt
Abstain
Lindsay Smith
Abstain
Peter Cohen
Aye
Ian Hunt
Absent
Tim Wadlow
Aye
Jessica Gelb
Aye
Nick Santoro
Aye
Rodolphe Herve
Aye
Jessica Xiarhos
Aye

VI. Other Business

A.

Committee Memberships

  • Given Artie's departure, we have a hole in Personnel Committee that we'll need to fill
  • Currently have not received member lists from all committees so this item will be moved to January

B.

Elect new Vice-chairman

Tim Wadlow made a motion to Approve the appointment of Ian Hunt as the Marblehead Community Charter School's interim Vice Chair for the remainder of the 2022-2023 school year.
Nick Santoro seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
Roll Call
Tim Wadlow
Aye
Lindsay Smith
Abstain
Nick Santoro
Aye
Rodolphe Herve
Aye
Peter Cohen
Aye
William Rockwell
Aye
Paul Baker
Aye
Jessica Xiarhos
Aye
Katie Holt
Abstain
Jessica Gelb
Aye
Ian Hunt
Absent

VII. Committee Updates

A.

Governance Committee

  • Didn't have quorum in Dec. but am planning meet and greet for two new committee members joining the group

B.

Finance Committee

  • "It's a circle of life"
    •  Artie's position on Finance is now vacant but we have recently added a new member
  • After 5 months, our situation is the same
    • Check from the state is the same as previous months, though current value accounts for 230 students so we will see this number drop 
    • Every month this FY has been in the black
    • Teacher stipend was paid in Nov.
  • Committee has discussed opening capital reserve account for expenses such as architect payments and voted to approve this
Rodolphe Herve made a motion to Authorize Jeff Barry to create a new Capital Expense account for the Marblehead Charter School to be used for the school's Capital Expenditures moving forward.
William Rockwell seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
Roll Call
Rodolphe Herve
Aye
Paul Baker
Aye
Jessica Gelb
Aye
William Rockwell
Aye
Peter Cohen
Aye
Tim Wadlow
Aye
Ian Hunt
Absent
Nick Santoro
Aye
Jessica Xiarhos
Aye

C.

Personnel Committee

  • Currently without a chair since Artie's departure... didn't meet this month
  • Will meet in January and continue their evaluation of school procedures 
  • Committee will need Board member to join moving forward

D.

Academic Excellence

  • Met this month, primarily focused on goals for the next Strategic Plan 
    • Goals include grading criteria, development of portfolios, predictable reviews of curriculum, among others

E.

Development & Communications

F.

Strategic Plan Committee

G.

Facilities Task Force

  • Facilities Task Force members met with Ebbrell Architecture team on 12/14
  • Will shared update on next steps for Ebbrell Architect project (see below)
    • Predesign (Task 1)
      • Site visit and field measure
        • Week of 1/9
          • Wednesday 1/11 at 1pm? 
            • Note: This works for Conrad
          • Existing conditions model development
          • Compile questions as they arise 
        • Code review (Task 2)
          • Code engineer visit and evaluation of existing facility with particular attention to restrooms and fixture counts
          • Code report development
            • Should be done by end of Jan.
        • Test fit (Task 3)
          • Convert FTF colored block plan to architectural floor plan
          • Incorporate code findings from code report
          • Initial bullet points outlining MEP/FP needs
            • Test fit plan complete by 2/10
              • In person presentation week of 2/13

VIII. Public Comment

A.

Public Comment

  • N/A

IX. Board Member Comments and Resolutions

A.

Board Member Comments and Resolutions

  • N/A

X. Closing Items

A.

Adjourn Meeting

Tim Wadlow made a motion to Adjourn December 20th, 2022 meeting of the MCCPS Board of Trustees.
Nick Santoro seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
Roll Call
Jessica Xiarhos
Aye
Tim Wadlow
Aye
Rodolphe Herve
Aye
Peter Cohen
Aye
Katie Holt
Abstain
Ian Hunt
Absent
Jessica Gelb
Aye
William Rockwell
Aye
Nick Santoro
Aye
Paul Baker
Aye
Lindsay Smith
Abstain
There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 8:24 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
William Rockwell