MCCPS Board of Trustees
Minutes
MCCPS Monthly Board of Trustees Meeting
Date and Time
Tuesday February 28, 2023 at 7:00 PM
Location
17 Lime Street
Marblehead, MA
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Trustees Present
Ian Hunt (remote), Jessica Xiarhos (remote), Katie Holt (remote), Nick Santoro (remote), Paul Baker (remote), Peter Cohen (remote), Rodolphe Herve (remote), Tim Wadlow (remote), William Rockwell (remote)
Trustees Absent
Jessica Gelb, Lindsay Smith
Trustees who arrived after the meeting opened
Ian Hunt
Guests Present
Andrea Barlow (remote), Carol McEnaney (remote)
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance and Guests
Ian Hunt arrived at 7:15 PM.
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 Feb 28, 2023 at 7:04 PM.
C.
Approve Minutes
Paul Baker made a motion to approve the minutes from MCCPS Monthly Board of Trustees Meeting on 01-31-23.
Nick Santoro seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| Jessica Xiarhos |
Aye
|
| Peter Cohen |
Aye
|
| Ian Hunt |
Absent
|
| Katie Holt |
Aye
|
| Lindsay Smith |
Absent
|
| Nick Santoro |
Aye
|
| Rodolphe Herve |
Abstain
|
| Jessica Gelb |
Absent
|
| Tim Wadlow |
Aye
|
| Paul Baker |
Aye
|
| William Rockwell |
Aye
|
II. Public Comment
A.
Public Comment
- Katie had a question regarding parent email received 2/27- has it been answered and what's the procedure for Board responses to parent emails
- Peter Cohen answered- MCCPS has the lot plowed and Washington clears as well... procedurally, Board Chair responds individually
III. Opening Comments From Chair
A.
Tim's Comments
- Tim thanked the Board and audience for their commitment to the school
IV. Board Annual Items
A.
Upcoming Meeting Agenda Items
- Upcoming items
- Mar: Satisfaction Survey & Presentation of HOS Annual Evaluation Form by Katie Sullivan
- Apr: Budget Adoption and HOS presentation that will inform HOS eval.
- May: HOS Annual Evaluation
- Jun: Annual Board Retreat
V. Other Business
A.
Carol McEananey Board Membership
Peter Cohen made a motion to Move agenda item 6A to follow Agenda Item 4A.
Paul Baker seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| Ian Hunt |
Aye
|
| William Rockwell |
Aye
|
| Rodolphe Herve |
Aye
|
| Jessica Gelb |
Absent
|
| Lindsay Smith |
Absent
|
| Tim Wadlow |
Aye
|
Tim Wadlow made a motion to move that the Board appoint Carol McEnaney as a member of the MCCPS Board of Trustees to fill a term commencing immediately upon approval by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and expiring three (3) years from the date of DESE Approval.
William Rockwell seconded the motion.
- Nick introduced Carol as potential member
- Carol spoke
- Fully believes in MCCPS' mission and would love to help move the school forward and help preserve its commitment to its charter
- Dr. Cohen spoke to Carol's value to the school both in her role as Reading Specialist and as a leader to other teachers
- Jess X reiterated her support for Carol's candidacy and thanked her for her involvement
- Nick & Paul also spoke to Carol's experience, dedication and tenure at MCCPS
- Carol's favorite aspects of MCCPS
- Project-based learning, community service
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| Paul Baker |
Aye
|
| Peter Cohen |
Aye
|
| Rodolphe Herve |
Aye
|
| Katie Holt |
Aye
|
| Jessica Xiarhos |
Aye
|
| William Rockwell |
Aye
|
| Jessica Gelb |
Absent
|
| Tim Wadlow |
Aye
|
| Ian Hunt |
Aye
|
| Nick Santoro |
Aye
|
| Lindsay Smith |
Absent
|
Paul Baker made a motion to move that the Board invite the newly appointed Trustee, Carol McEnaney, to all Board Meetings and activities while her approval is pending with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Carol McEnaney will be entitled to participate as provisional Trustee and will be able to participate in all activities and discussions, except voting, until the formal approval from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, and will not be counted when determining a quorum.
Jessica Xiarhos seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| Tim Wadlow |
Aye
|
| Ian Hunt |
Aye
|
| Nick Santoro |
Aye
|
| Jessica Gelb |
Absent
|
| Lindsay Smith |
Absent
|
| William Rockwell |
Aye
|
| Paul Baker |
Aye
|
| Peter Cohen |
Aye
|
| Katie Holt |
Aye
|
| Rodolphe Herve |
Aye
|
| Jessica Xiarhos |
Aye
|
B.
Jess X's Term Renewal
Tim Wadlow made a motion to move agenda item 6B up the agenda to follow Agenda Item 4A.
Paul Baker seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| Paul Baker |
Aye
|
| Peter Cohen |
Aye
|
| Jessica Xiarhos |
Aye
|
| Rodolphe Herve |
Aye
|
| Jessica Gelb |
Absent
|
| Ian Hunt |
Aye
|
| Nick Santoro |
Aye
|
| Lindsay Smith |
Absent
|
| Tim Wadlow |
Aye
|
| William Rockwell |
Aye
|
| Katie Holt |
Aye
|
- From DESE: "If she never left the board, then there is no need to submit for a second approval... If you’re simply adding a term to her stay on the board, you need only update her term end date (while ensuring that is it within your school’s bylaws)."
VI. HOS Report
A.
Monthly Report
- Please see HOS Report for further details
- February Update Summary
- Matt Cronin departure
- Summary
- Matt will be leaving MCCPS next week
- During prior meeting with Peter, Matt discussed interest in technology integration position and one fitting this description came up in Lynn
- Dr. Cohen spoke to Matt's value to MCCPS and acknowledged that while the school will be sad to see him go, he's confident that Matt is well suited for this new role
- Stephanie Brandt will serve as Assistant Head of School and MCCPS will begin looking for both IT supervisor position and Instructional Coach position
- New Roles
- IT- Dr. Cohen exploring various options on this including part-time resources and outsourcing some of these functions to a third party
- Instructional Chair- in our current Dept. Chair system, our chairs are unable to consistently sit in on other teachers' classes and dedicate extensive time to program improvement (as they're full time teachers)... having someone full time in this position would help advance project-based learning and provide feedback to faculty
- Questions
- Paul- with MCAS coming up, are we prepared to handle this and gather appropriate data?
- Dr. Cohen- Matt's gotten the school ready for this before his departure and we'll be offering a stipend to teachers who volunteer to help comb through and organize testing data
- Rudi- in regard to school continuance plan, who takes over in event Peter is unable to?
- Dr. Cohen- we updated the language in 2020 when we moved to current admin setup and will be changing language to clarify that Asst. Head of School would take over in the event HOS is unable to lead
- Paul- with MCAS coming up, are we prepared to handle this and gather appropriate data?
- Summary
- Architects update
- Dr. Cohen shared latest rendering done by Ebbrell Architects
- Next steps
- Ebbrell will do 3D renderings (performance and STEM space) that Marketing hire (still TBD) will use to help with fundraising
- Questions
- Rudi- how are we planning on approaching this project in regard to phasing? Are we planning on doing this all at once or phasing?
- Dr. Cohen- ideally we'd do windows & furnishing then do this all at once though we understand cost will affect whether it's plausible to do so... Jeff Barry and I met with a bank this week so that when we come up on 10 year on our current mortgage, we can have multiple options for fundraising this project
- Katie- will this performance space be tiered and elevated?
- Dr. Cohen- this is something we've considered and we will be doing as much sound proofing as possible to keep sound from affecting other classes... having this abutting the gym is one way we'll help limit sound
- Rudi- how are we planning on approaching this project in regard to phasing? Are we planning on doing this all at once or phasing?
- Bathrooms
- Summary
- Needed emergency bathroom repairs/upgrades (approx. $30k cost that is currently slated to come out of operating budget)
- New basin is 2x size of former one
- Upgraded from one to two pumps
- Hopefully those bathrooms will be back online tomorrow
- Needed emergency bathroom repairs/upgrades (approx. $30k cost that is currently slated to come out of operating budget)
- Summary
- Presentations at AMLE Hawaii Education Summit
- Summary
- Dr. Cohen presented in Hawaii on the Teaching Force program and will be doing another at Holy Cross in Worcester, MA (Nick and World Language teachers will join) on the same topic with the hope of expanding the network of schools involved
- Questions
- Paul- I'd love to get Dr. Cohen's perspective on how these presentations went and potentially review deck during next BOT meeting?
- Dr. Cohen agreed that this would be valuable
- Paul- I'd love to get Dr. Cohen's perspective on how these presentations went and potentially review deck during next BOT meeting?
- Summary
- Enrollment
- 140 applicants for SY23-24 (down YOY- approx. 190 last year) and only 53 for 4th grade (with another 10 from Lynn/Salem)
- Questions
- Ian- are YOY numbers down in Marblehead, Swampscott, Nahant?
- Marblehead, Swampscott, Nahant applications are down YOY
- Katie- what are the MA state rules for charter school attendance?
- Dr. Cohen- Salem/Lynn have maxed out % of students that can attend Charter schools (these districts are considered "at cap")
- Ian- are the class sizes for local districts shrinking? How competitive is enrollment?
- Dr. Cohen- local districts, especially MHD and SMPCT, have invested in their facilities, overall population is down, enrollment in Charter schools across the state is down... the marketing piece may be important for us as we need to get the word out
- Ian- are YOY numbers down in Marblehead, Swampscott, Nahant?
- Updates on HOS goals
- Teacher Feedback
- Over 50 peer-to-peer lesson visits
- Student feedback elevated
- Student reward system using beads- one sixth grader got to switch advisory groups for a day
- Community Engagement
- Coffee scheduled for March 1
- 5th and 6th grade events (Cosmic Cafe & Night at Museum)
- Facilities Oversight
- Architect plans
- Bathroom updates
- Teacher Feedback
- Matt Cronin departure
Tim Wadlow made a motion to authorize spending of $30,000 needed to finance bathroom upgrades.
Paul Baker seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| Nick Santoro |
Aye
|
| Peter Cohen |
Aye
|
| William Rockwell |
Aye
|
| Jessica Gelb |
Absent
|
| Katie Holt |
Aye
|
| Rodolphe Herve |
Aye
|
| Jessica Xiarhos |
Aye
|
| Lindsay Smith |
Absent
|
| Paul Baker |
Aye
|
| Ian Hunt |
Aye
|
| Tim Wadlow |
Aye
|
B.
HOS Mid-year Review
- Everyone's review is done, Tim and Ian will pull these together and present data during March meeting
C.
HOS Discussion on Board on Track Usage
- Dr. Cohen walked through Board on Track features for the Board
VII. Committee Updates
A.
Governance Committee
- Committee met this week and has focused on developing standard operating procedures for new Board members
- Has drafted these and hope to have something prepared to share with the Board next month
- Nick spoke to the value of providing structure to onboarding process
B.
Finance Committee
- Rudi shared his screen with the Board and shared last month's financial results
- This month's meeting
- Finance Committee voted to approve $30,000 allocation to repair and upgrade bathrooms
- State will be taking back $5,000 that was given to MCCPS in error
C.
Personnel Committee
- This month's meeting
- Committee is reviewing school policies 4-5 at a time over coming months
D.
Academic Excellence
- This month's meeting
- Committee is working on plans for next Strategic Plan
E.
Development & Communications
- Jess G absent
F.
Strategic Plan Committee
- This month's meeting
- Reviewed goals received to date
- Hope to develop skeleton for plan during next month's meeting
G.
Facilities Task Force
- Submitted goals for Strategic Plan
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 tonight's meeting.
Nick Santoro seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| Tim Wadlow |
Aye
|
| Jessica Xiarhos |
Aye
|
| Katie Holt |
Aye
|
| Lindsay Smith |
Absent
|
| Ian Hunt |
Aye
|
| Rodolphe Herve |
Aye
|
| Nick Santoro |
Aye
|
| William Rockwell |
Aye
|
| Paul Baker |
Aye
|
| Peter Cohen |
Aye
|
| Jessica Gelb |
Absent
|
There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 8:39 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
William Rockwell
Documents used during the meeting
- 2023_01_31_board_meeting_minutes.pdf
- HOS Report to Board of Trustees 2_28_23.pdf
- FinCom_notes_January_2023.pdf
- MCCPS-Jan-2023-Financial_Statements_v1.pdf