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Nuasin Next Generation Charter School

Minutes

Governance Committee Meeting

Date and Time

Wednesday October 20, 2021 at 5:15 PM

Location

jessica.boulet@nngcs.org is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Governance Committee Meeting
Time: Oct 20, 2021 05:15 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
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        Oct 20, 2021 05:15 PM
        Nov 17, 2021 05:15 PM
        Dec 15, 2021 05:15 PM
        Jan 19, 2022 05:15 PM
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Mission
We prepare our students for college through a rigorous arts-infused program.
Vision
All students will be taught by a highly effective teacher in a nurturing environment and will achieve at high levels. Each student will develop the knowledge, skills and values necessary for responsible citizenship and life-long learning. The impact of our collective efforts will fundamentally change public education.

Committee Members Present

A. Bothner (remote), E. Chen (remote), J. Boulet (remote), K. Brisseau (remote)

Committee Members Absent

C. Barnes-Watson, K. Shabazz, S. Pressley

Committee Members who arrived after the meeting opened

K. Brisseau

Guests Present

M. Russell (remote)

I. Opening Items

A.

Record Attendance

B.

Call the Meeting to Order

J. Boulet called a meeting of the Governance Committee of Nuasin Next Generation Charter School to order on Wednesday Oct 20, 2021 at 5:24 PM.
J. Boulet called a meeting of the Governance Committee of Nuasin Next Generation Charter School to order on Wednesday Oct 20, 2021 at 5:23 PM.

C.

Approve September Minutes

J. Boulet made a motion to approve the minutes from Governance Committee Meeting on 09-15-21.
E. Chen seconded the motion.
The committee VOTED to approve the motion.

II. Head of School Review Process

A.

Evaluation Process Updates

  • Aaron gave an overview of the GC approach to the review process:
    • This process is just the first iteration and we should expect to continue to reflect and improve it over the course of this year
    • People should expect to hear regular updates and developments on the process, and to review and reflect at the end of the year on what worked and what should be tweaked
    • This should enable us to lay the foundation for the next 5 to 10 years
  • Past month developments: 
    • Rubric has been laid out (as seen in August board meeting) and 3 formal touchpoints have now been set for the year: State of School (fall), mid-year (winter), end of year (spring)
    • Consulted with Susan to understand how to handle the process re: best practices, Open Meeting Law, and personnel confidentiality considerations 
    • This State of the School was first vetted with Aaron and Anuj, now with the Gov Comm, and tomorrow followed by full Board meeting to get all parties aligned
  • While the formal components of the review process are important from a governance perspective, the end goal is to have an ongoing healthy exchange, such that formal touchpoints just bring together, analyze and crystallize information that is shared regularly throughout the year
K. Brisseau arrived.

B.

State of the School Preview

  • Committee members reviewed the State of the School document shared from Malik
  • Malik walked us through the table he created, highlighting strengths, focus areas, and related commitments for the school year
  • Malik shared that this document was "Part 1," and "Part 2" (with concrete metrics and data) would be shared following first quarter academic outcomes at the Nov meeting next month
  • Committee reflected on process timing, with an eye toward future timing: next year, with a year of back-data, this State of School process can be moved back to Sept/Oct

III. Update on Accountability Practices

A.

Individual Accountability Goals

  • Jessica shared the strategic priority goal setting document for this meeting, and will email to Gov Comm members two documents for their input: (1) this table; (2) a blank document for resources on how to identify and reach out to other charter school boards with whom we may wish to connect
  • The Committee can finalize our approach at next month's meeting and then present to the full Board in November
  • The idea is that Trustees can start to use these tools to set their own personal development goals as members of the Board, and to have enough experience with them to be able to fully reflect and engage on it at the annual Professional Development session
  • Aaron shared that he felt it was a solid start and seemed fairly ready to put in front of the full board. He felt it was a good framework for ongoing reflection, so that Board members can keep getting better, and that this document could serve as a useful reference throughout the year and over time. He suggested allowing Trustees to add their own ideas to a living document throughout the year.
  • Aaron asked: How can we keep discussing and informally circling back to it throughout the year? He highlighted that mutual accountability is important.
  • Aaron also felt that this process was a good opporutnity for a young person on the school Operations team to oversee and engage with the Board: e.g., Ops team can bring forward informal touch point opportunities and check-ins to Trustees on a regular basis, for example by re-circulating this doc monthly, collecting monthly inputs and success stories from Trustees to share at each Board meeting, and keeping it updated 
  • Aaron felt that this document posed a good opportunity to reaffirm the practice of self-accountability, initiative and ongoing improvement as a culture that should be modeled and implemented from leadership

IV. Closing Items

A.

Look Ahead

  • Aaron shared a quick update on succession planning for school leadership: this should be approached as ongoing work to develop of talent, create effective systems and regularly memorialize good practices and systems. This will be an ongoing discussion within board governance conversations generally.
  • Reminders for Trustees at the general board meeting tomorrow:
    • Committees need to elect chairs, and it is very important that we coordinate properly at the committee level to ensure regular attendance and quorum at committee meetings 
    • Chairs should check on Committee mtg schedule for Nov due to earlier tha usual general board meeting (before Thanksgiving)
    • With Renewal upcoming, this will be a busy month for Trustees so plan accordingly
  • Jessica gave a quick overview of upcoming cadence calendar items
  • Jessica previewed that the OML audit process with Susan is going to be implemented this year in advance of the PD day in Jan/Feb. So, now is the time for Committee chairs to review their regular practices with public postings, voting, and minutes to make sure they feel comfortable with it

B.

Adjourn Meeting

There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 6:33 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
J. Boulet
Documents used during the meeting
  • State of the School Oct 2021.pdf
  • Nuasin_ED_Evaluation_Tool_2021-2022_-_TEMPLATE.pdf
  • Individual growth planning chart.docx