Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes

July 30, 2024, 7:00-9:00 PM

Minutes Approved

MCCPS Board of Trustees

Minutes

Board of Trustees Meeting

Date and Time

Tuesday July 30, 2024 at 7:00 PM

Location

Hybrid Format:

in person at MCCPS
via Zoom at https://us06web.zoom.us/j/98355446062?pwd=bVg2VzE4bEZUVXJqY0R4UlJnVmZ1dz09

Trustees Present

Carol McEnaney, Emily Promise (remote), Ian Hunt, Jessica Xiarhos, Katie Holt, Kimberly Nothnagel, Lindsay Smith (remote), Stephanie Brant

Trustees Absent

James Lewis, Nick Santoro, Polly Titcomb, William Rockwell

I. Opening Items

A. Record Attendance and Guests

B. Call the Meeting to Order

Katie Holt called a meeting of the board of trustees of MCCPS Board of Trustees to order on Tuesday Jul 30, 2024 at 7:08 PM.

C. Public Comment

No public comment.

II. Minutes

A. Minutes Approval

Katie Holt made a motion to approve past minutes from 2012-2018 as our best approximation of the meeting date, time and decisions made by those involved. However, we understand that there may be inaccuracies in those minutes and will not make further decisions based on them as precedent. We will view them as informative and helpful reaching our own decisions moving forward rather than as precedent for future decisions.

Kimberly Nothnagel seconded the motion.

Motion proposed by Board Legal Council to cover outstanding MCCPS committee meetings.

The board VOTED to approve the motion.

Roll Call
Jessica Xiarhos	Aye
Stephanie Brant	Aye
Nick Santoro	Absent
Ian Hunt	Aye
Katie Holt	Aye
Lindsay Smith	Aye
Polly Titcomb	Absent
William Rockwell	Absent
Carol McEnaney	Aye
James Lewis	Absent
Kimberly Nothnagel	Aye

III. Head of School Report

A. June Report

Enrollment

HoS shared updates on recruitment for the new school year. Encouraging progress in reaching desired goals / budget. Moving forward, school is placing articular focus on key sending districts continues (e.g Nahant, Swampscott, Marblehead etc). The board thanked HoS for all the hard work put into enrollment over the summer. Terrific progress is being made.

Staffing Hiring

HoS shared changes to Leadership Team responsibilities in light of Meghan Hale's departure over the summer. These changes were previously shared with MCCPS over the summer. New LT structure has greatly expedited collation and finalization of the Charter Renewal Document.
HIring to English Learning and other key priorities / positions are ongoing (e.g special education expertise, 8th Grade Science). School is expected to be fully resourced by start of school.

Misc

Parents Square | In an effort to foster greater, equity in communications school is exploring new platforms which include opportunities for language translation and broader / agile engagement capabilities for parents. Platform can also carry web-pages and other key comms tools. The platform is widely used by other local school districts.
New MCCPS School Signage - due to compete by start of school.
YMCA Afterschool seats have been filled.YMCA are also using school facilities as part of agreement. Board acknowledged this could be a valuable source of income for the school.

B. Annual Report

Katie Holt made a motion to approve for the MCCPS Annual Report pending suggested edits.

Kimberly Nothnagel seconded the motion.

MCCPS Board expressed gratitude for the work the MCCPS HoS and LT have put into the preparation of the draft report. A couple of suggested edits include updating links to key web-pages and documents before submission.

The board VOTED to approve the motion.

Roll Call
Jessica Xiarhos	Aye
William Rockwell	Absent
Stephanie Brant	Aye
Polly Titcomb	Absent
Ian Hunt	Aye
Nick Santoro	Absent
Katie Holt	Aye
Kimberly Nothnagel	Aye
Carol McEnaney	Aye
James Lewis	Absent
Lindsay Smith	Aye

C. Charter Renewal

Katie Holt made a motion to approve the draft Charter Renewal pending suggested edits.

Carol McEnaney seconded the motion.

Board suggested Student Discipline Tables for Charter Renewal to be rechecked for consistency before submitting.

The board VOTED to approve the motion.

Roll Call
Ian Hunt	Aye
Lindsay Smith	Aye
Katie Holt	Aye
James Lewis	Absent
Carol McEnaney	Aye
William Rockwell	Absent
Stephanie Brant	Aye
Jessica Xiarhos	Aye
Nick Santoro	Absent
Kimberly Nothnagel	Aye
Polly Titcomb	Absent

D. MCCPS Student Opportunity Act

HoS shared background information of SOA for MCCPS. This has been a key discussion among the MCCPS LT. Board shared excitement in how the document highlights some of the key concepts and initiatives that differentiate MCCPS from other local schools (e.g stronger connections to Salem State & Merrimack Valley for talent recruitment, enrichment, accelerated learning programs and social / emotional programming). Board congratulated the MCCPS HoS and her Leadership Team.

Jessica Xiarhos made a motion to approve the MCCPS Student Opportunity Act draft document.

Katie Holt seconded the motion.

The board recommended that the document should be shared to the broader school community.

The board VOTED to approve the motion.

Roll Call
Jessica Xiarhos	Aye
Kimberly Nothnagel	Aye
James Lewis	Absent
Stephanie Brant	Aye
William Rockwell	Absent
Carol McEnaney	Aye
Katie Holt	Aye
Ian Hunt	Aye
Nick Santoro	Absent
Lindsay Smith	Aye
Polly Titcomb	Absent

IV. Miscellaneous Board Items

A. Retreat Action Items

Katie Holt made a motion to We vote to name Emily Promise as the MCCPS treasurer of the MCCPS Board of Trustees to serve a 2-year term pending DESE approval.

Ian Hunt seconded the motion.

The board VOTED to approve the motion.

Roll Call
Ian Hunt	Aye
James Lewis	Absent
Stephanie Brant	Aye
Nick Santoro	Absent
Kimberly Nothnagel	Aye
Katie Holt	Aye
William Rockwell	Absent
Jessica Xiarhos	Aye
Polly Titcomb	Absent
Carol McEnaney	Aye
Lindsay Smith	Aye

Board discussed MCCPS board goals and agreed to share a final set of goals to vote at the next meeting.

B. School Beautification/Fall Prep

Jeff will lead team to explore opportunities to beautify school in advance of the start of the school.

V. Committee Updates

A. Finance Committee

Emily and Rudi transitioned responsibilities and has been working with Jeff.

General Budget
- Shortfall in budget - 195K loss was expected and managed. School on track
MCCPS Foundation
- Exploring options to better leverage the Foundation (to replace the Student Success Fund)
School Loan
- Existing building loan (3.2%) will be locked into 4.72%.

B. Governance Committee

No update provided.

C. Personnel Committee

Did not meet

D. Academic Excellence

Did not meet

E. Development & Communications

Did not meet

F. DEI Committee

Dicussions on meeting effectivenes being explored to advance diverse perspectives.

VI. Public Comment

A. Public Comment

No public comment.

VII. Closing Items

A. Recap Action Items

B. Board Comments

Board explored options to advance participation in committees and recruiting new board members. This including asking the Governance Committee to map key skills gaps to support board goals / priorities.
Start of School BBQ and Meet the Teachers as key activities were also discussed.
Board on Track Self Evaluation - MCCPS Chair to send email asking for participation.

C. Adjourn Meeting

Kimberly Nothnagel made a motion to aagjourn the meeting.

Ian Hunt seconded the motion.

The board VOTED to approve the motion.

Roll Call
James Lewis	Absent
Kimberly Nothnagel	Aye
Carol McEnaney	Aye
Jessica Xiarhos	Aye
Ian Hunt	Aye
Lindsay Smith	Aye
Stephanie Brant	Aye
Polly Titcomb	Absent
Nick Santoro	Absent
Katie Holt	Aye
William Rockwell	Absent

There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 9:00 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,

Ian Hunt

Documents used during the meeting

Head of School Report 7_30_24.pdf
Draft of MCCPS 2023-2024 Annual Report .pdf
Draft of MCCPS Renewal .pdf
Draft of MCCPS Student Opportunity Act Plan .pdf
Draft Board Goals.txt