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MCCPS Board of Trustees

Minutes

MCCPS Board of Trustees Meeting

February 2024 Meeting

Date and Time

Tuesday February 27, 2024 at 7:00 PM

Location

In Person: MCCPS, 17 Lime Street, Marblehead, 01945

Trustees Present

Carol McEnaney, James Lewis (remote), Jessica Xiarhos, Katie Holt (remote), Kimberly Nothnagel, Lindsay Smith, Nick Santoro, Paul Baker, Polly Titcomb (remote), Rodolphe Herve, Stephanie Brant, William Rockwell (remote)

Trustees Absent

Ian Hunt

I. Opening Items

A.

Record Attendance and Guests

B.

Call the Meeting to Order

Lindsay Smith called a meeting of the board of trustees of MCCPS Board of Trustees to order on Tuesday Feb 27, 2024 at 7:04 PM.

C.

Public Comment

  • N/A

D.

HoS Monthly Report

  • Please 
  • Summary
    • Enrollment
      • Up one since last meeting
      • Enrollment now at 175
    • Admissions
      • 110 applications for 4th and other grades from towns from which we can accept students
        • 71 applications for 4th grade, 61 of which are from tuition-paying towns and 49 were from MCCPS' sending districts (up from 51 applications from tuition-paying towns last year, 43 of which are from sending districts)
          • Notable increase from MHD, Nahant
          • Down from Swampscott (likely cause- opening of new school)
        • New school
          • Carol noted that there will be lots of students in the new building
          • Stephanie noted that the new school is K-4 so questions abound regarding what these students will do for 5th grade
      • Stephanie's goal was 10% increase in admissions- currently tracking towards this 
      • Currently basing budget on 190
      • The Board returned to the discussion regarding what the right number of students for MCCPS
        • Issue: 230 target "comes on the backs of" grades 4-6- typically smaller grades 7-8
        • Leadership team's enrollment targets for next year 
          • Grade 4: 46 
          • Grade 5: 46 
          • Grade 6: 48 
          • Grade 7: 48
          • Grade 8: 48
        • Plan to return to 4 teachers/grade, deciding whether to cap size of 8th grade 
        • Current 6th grade class has 12 MHD students 
      • Polly asked whether we are currently doing entry/exit surveys and if so, what we're seeing
        • Stephanie confirmed MCCPS is doing this and consistently considers feedback from parents who reply 
      • Will asked for clarification regarding cap for 8th grade
        • Jess and Stephanie explained, including discussion re: 1 versus 2 advisories, rotation of staff for teaching blocks, etc.
      • Rudi asked whether MCCPS would hire additional FTEs if student numbers reach 200-205
        • Stephanie confirmed she's considered positions she'd look to add in this case but currently working based on more conservative number (190 students)
      • Offers of admission go out tomorrow
    • Staffing
      • Stephanie holding contract discussions soon and has begun informal discussions with staff about their plans/intents, which has provided fairly good sense of staffing needs for next SY
        • Noted that those who aren't returning are doing so for personal (not MCCPS-related) reasons 
      • Stephanie also aiming to have at least one experienced Charter teacher at each grade level to help newer teachers get up to speed about project based learning, teaching at a Charter school, etc.
    • Community events
      • Stephanie discussed plans for parent night, mentor night, development of prospective families program with Meg Upton (who has covered several of these initiatives)
      • Stephanie also mentioned that Meg is coordinating carpooling networking for parents
    • Event at Endicott College
      • Stephanie and Jess spent time at Endicott and several students expressed interest in getting involved at MCCPS 
        • Carol mentioned that the investment in college student interns is worthwhile 
          • Stephanie mentioned that MCCPS has done does exceptionally well as a teaching school, helping future teachers get experience 
    • After School Programming
      • Stephanie has continued gathering information on after school programming options with Island Roots and the YMCA
        • Noted that YMCA has high demand for their services and has mentioned they have concerns about being able to meet it
          • Said that a survey to the community would be a good start towards figuring out exactly how many students will want/need this service, which will help dictate next steps 
      • YMCA still has interest in renting space at MCCPS for the Summer regardless of whether YMCA/MCCPS partner for after-school service
    • Emergency Response Programming
      • Stephanie has reached out to Masonic Temple in MHD about serving as landing spot for students in the event of a school emergency that forces students to leave the premises 
    • Leadership Team
      • Now working on priorities for next SY for professional dev., supporting project based learning, and other topics 
    • Upcoming Community Events
      • Events include Magic Show, Music Extravaganza, Project Adventure, 7/8th grade trip to Washington D.C., and more 

E.

MCCPS 2024/25 School Calendar

Lindsay Smith made a motion to Approve the proposed calendar for the MCCPS 2024-2025 School Year.
Nick Santoro seconded the motion.
  • School Calendar
    • Stephanie walked through draft for SY24-25 calendar
      • Back to 3:20pm dismissal on Mondays
      • Rolling out parent dinners for each grade at beginning of school year
      • Noted that section in MCCPS charter states that the school year and school day will be longer than that of district (183 school days for SY24-25)
      • Will include one student-led conference and one parent/teacher conference 
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
Roll Call
Paul Baker
Aye
Rodolphe Herve
Aye
James Lewis
Aye
Carol McEnaney
Aye
Nick Santoro
Aye
Jessica Xiarhos
Aye
Polly Titcomb
Aye
Ian Hunt
Absent
Katie Holt
Aye
William Rockwell
Aye
Lindsay Smith
Aye
Stephanie Brant
Aye
Kimberly Nothnagel
Aye

F.

Board of Trustee Training/Onboarding

  • Paul proposed to allocate funds ($450) for a three hour presentation led by Kathy Egmont discussing training, history of charter schools, and new Board member onboarding
    • From this discussion, the question was raised as to where each Board member is at in terms of his/her tenure with the Board
      • Will to send each member's term end dates before next meeting
      • Polly mentioned that Governance Committee is working to establish more staggered terms for Board members 
    • The Board also discussed the possibility of changing training schedule and retreat dates moving forward
    • The Board suggested to target some time around the last week of June

II. Committee Updates

A.

Finance Committee

  • Rudi reviewed latest budget update 
    • Reiterated that MCCPS will continue to operate at a loss this year (approx. $200k for the year)
    • If enrollment recovers as Stephanie expects, this will be a one-off
    • Budget hasn't been finalized yet but details include 10% increase for health care insurance, 3% increase for payroll
  • Mortgage interest rate
    • Interest rate on mortgage locks on 7/28, has been trending downwards from a high of 8% earlier this year

B.

Governance Committee

  • Polly provided update since last Governance meeting 
    • Elizabeth Burns has resigned from the committee
    • Goal is for 6 committee members 
    • The committee discussed development of a Board/Committee handbook and will be developing ideas during their next meeting 
    • Plan to include agenda item for next Board meeting to vote on changing Bylaw language to establish staggered terms

C.

Personnel Committee

  • No updates at this time

D.

Academic Excellence

  • Jess mentioned that the committee is meeting quarterly and therefore has not met since last Board meeting

E.

Development & Communications

  • Kim discussed upcoming fundraiser that will include silent auction and dinner (to be held on 4/27)
    • Flatbread Pizza has offered to donate pizza and bowling with a teacher, other items include AirBnB, Dungeons & Dragons with a teacher
    • Tickets will go on sale soon

F.

DEI Committee

  • Lindsey provided an update on the DEI committee
    • Now meeting monthly
    • Next meeting will include presentation by Chris Doyon on representative justice (scheduled for week third week of March)

III. Public Comment

A.

Public Comment

  • N/A

IV. Closing Items

A.

Recap Action Items

  • Will to send Board members info on their current term, term ends, etc.

B.

Board Comments

  • Jeff mentioned that Pioneer Charter School is running on the MBTA and provided pricing for ad on a bus, suggesting that this may be valuable for next year's lottery
  • Board then discussed potential advertising opportunities for MCCPS 
Lindsay Smith made a motion to adjourn tonight's meeting.
Paul Baker seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
Roll Call
Carol McEnaney
Aye
James Lewis
Aye
William Rockwell
Aye
Ian Hunt
Absent
Jessica Xiarhos
Aye
Kimberly Nothnagel
Aye
Nick Santoro
Aye
Paul Baker
Aye
Rodolphe Herve
Aye
Lindsay Smith
Aye
Katie Holt
Aye
Polly Titcomb
Aye
Stephanie Brant
Aye

C.

Adjourn Meeting

There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 8:58 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
William Rockwell
Documents used during the meeting
  • Head of School Report.pdf
  • 2024-2025 School Calendar draft copy .pdf
  • MCCPS-Jan-2024-Financial Statements v1.xlsx