Regular Meeting of the Board of Trustees
September 6, 2007
In attendance:
Kay O’Dwyer, Cynthia Canavan, Cathy Vaucher, Jack Buba, Robert Erbetta, John McEnaney, Emil Ronchi, Pam Wheaton Shorr, Dr. John Sullivan. Not Present: Nina Cullen-Hamzeh,
Also in attendance, Dr. Albert F. Argenziano, Interim Managing Director and Mr. Jeff Wulfson, Associate Commissioner of Education, Massachusetts Department of Education
Location: Community Room at the
Ms O’Dwyer introduced Mr. Jeff Wulfson, Associate Commissioner of Education and invited him to make some opening remarks.
Mr. Wulfson spent significant time addressing the Trustees and answering stake holder questions submitted via the Board Chair. Attached is a summary of Mr. Wulfson’s comments.
Decision: Ms. Vaucher moved and Ms. Shorr seconded a motion to appoint John T. McEnaney as Clerk of the Board of Trustees effective immediately and serving until the Jun 30, 2008, or until his successor is named, whichever is later.
Yeas: 8 Nays: 0 Abstain 1 Mr. McEnaney Abstained. Motion Passes
Decision: Ms. Shorr moved and Mr. Erbetta seconded a motion to approve the minutes of the July 23 Special Meeting of the Board of Trustees.
Yeas: 8 Nays: 0 Abstain 1 Ms. O'Dwyer Abstained Motion Passes
Decision: Ms. Vaucher moved and Ms. Shorr seconded a motion to approve the minutes of the August 16 Special Meeting of the Board of Trustees.
Yeas: 8 Nays: 0 Abstain 1 Ms. O'Dwyer Abstained Motion Passes
Decision: Mr. Shorr moved and Ms. Vaucher seconded a motion to approve the minutes of the August 22 Special Meeting of the Board of Trustees.
Yeas: 9 Nays: 0 Abstain 0 Motion Passes
Ms O’Dwyer acknowledged that Ms Cullen Hamzeh, Interim Academic Director was not present, and Ms O’Dwyer read for the record the report submitted by Ms Cullen Hamzeh, a copy of which is attached.
Ms O’Dwyer recognized Dr. Argenziano, Interim Managing Director for his report. Dr. Argenziano shared his report as well, which is attached.
The Chair recognized Catherine Hier to provide this month’s Classroom Commentaries, a summary of the activities at each grade level. Ms. Hier commented on the positive experience her first week at the School has been. Ms Hier shared her report which is attached.
The Chair recognized Ms Vaucher, Chair of the Governance Committee for her report. Ms Vaucher reported that she has two Trustee candidates that the Committee is interviewing next Monday evening. She also said that with the school year back in session, the Governance Committee will begin meeting weekly to look at the outstanding 50 policy changes as a result of the By Law Updates, continue to recruit Trustees, address the taskings of the Chair, and begin addressing the need to update the Charter. Mr. Ronchi questioned Ms. Vaucher as to whether there were any faculty members included as Trustee candidates, as he “dearly missed their counsel”. Ms. Vaucher replied that one of the candidates is a faculty member.
Ms O’Dwyer is in receipt of a letter resignation from the Board of Trustees from Ms. Katie Sullivan, which is attached.
The Chair recognized Mr. Buba, Treasurer, to provide a Financial Committee update. Mr. Buba reported that there are no budget vs. actual expenses to report at this point. He then gave an overview of the financial state of the school vis a vis the current enrollment situation. A copy of Mr. Buba’s report is attached. Mr. Ronchi reminded Mr. Buba that he had previously asked Mr. Buba to provide a balance sheet, to which Mr. Buba replied that he believed he had already done so.
The Chair recognized Ms Wheaton Shorr, Chair of the Personnel Committee for her report. Ms Shorr reported that she worked with Dr. Argenziano and Ms Cullen Hamzeh to ensure they were properly in place in their roles for a successful start of the year. She informed the Board that she completed the necessary paperwork he reported that she is working with the school on the Parent Handbook.
The next highest priority from the agenda is to search for a new Head of School.
Decision: Mr. McEnaney moved and Ms Canavan seconded a motion to extend the time the Personnel Committee has to secure approval of the Board of Trustees for the full job description of the Interim Academic Director and the Interim Managing Director until the regularly scheduled October Board Meeting.
Yeas: 9 Nays: 0 Abstain 0 Motion Passes
The Chair recognized Mr. Emil Ronchi to talk about the Educational Foundation, where he asked for a spot on future agendas for Educational Foundation updates. Ms O’Dwyer acknowledged that there would be space at future meetings for that.
The Chair provided a brief update on the status of finalizing the contracts with the Interim Managing Director and the Interim Academic Director. She asked for a Personnel Task Force to help assist in the drafting of the job descriptions. Ms Canavan said that it was more appropriate for the Chair to ask specific individuals to assist her in finalizing the language of the contract and the job description.
Decision: Mr. Buba moved and Mr. McEnaney seconded a motion that Dr. Argenziano would be paid at the rate of $50 per hour for of a maximum of 20 hours per week for services performed on behalf of the school until such time as mutually agreeable contract has been executed.
Yeas: 9 Nays: 0 Abstain: Motion Passes
Decision: Mr. McEnaney moved and Ms Canavan seconded a motion to extend the time the Chair has to secure approval of the Board of Trustees for the negotiated contracts with the Interim Academic Director and the Interim Managing Director until the regularly scheduled October Board Meeting.
Yeas: 9 Nays: 0 Abstain: Motion Passes
The Chair provided an update as well about the status of her contract discussions with Ms Cullen Hamzeh, as the Interim Academic Director. Ms O’Dwyer reported that Ms Cullen Hamzeh commenced duties as Interim Academic Director on Aug 20th, while at the same time she continues to perform duties of Assistant Head of School (nobody has/ will be hired to this position). Ms O’Dwyer noted that the most recent salary for this position was $ 65+change (2%increase all staff received would bring it to$67 thousand). She also noted that if you consider that the Interim Managing Director position will be paid approximately $30,000 that seemed equitable to propose for the Interim Academic Director. Ms. O’Dwyer reminded the Board that they had voted to pay Ms Cullen Hamzeh $7,500 as the Acting HOS for 90 days and taking that for duration of a year (4 quarters) that would also total $30,000. However, adding existing salary and $30,000 seemed rather high at $95K or$97K so it was the Chair’s Proposal to offer $90,000.
On a further note, Ms O’Dwyer informed the Board that Ms Cullen Hamzeh is owed 10 days vacation from this past summer and requested to take them this year, and also that we write in contract that the 20 days that tend to go with new position she be allowed to take some over the academic year (even a summer without bumps makes it very difficult to take full 20 days of vacation: obviously Board would have to approve days and not at critical times.)
Action Item: The Finance Committee and Personnel Committee review proposed salaries and provide input on the ongoing negotiations with Ms Cullen Hamzeh prior to finalizing the contracts of both positions and report by the next Board Meeting.
The Chair opened a discussion with the Board regarding scheduling a retreat of the Board of Trustees for the purposes of reviewing the Schools vision, mission, and Charter, and establishing Board level goals for the 2007 – 2008 academic year.
Action Item: Trustees to report to the Chair for the availability to hold a Retreat on September 29, 2007 and to report back to the Chair by September 8. If the entire Board of Trustees is available on September 29, then the Chair will schedule a retreat. If not, then she will plan for a Saturday in October.
Ms O’Dwyer recognized Ms Pam Miller to provide a summary of the exit interview of students that left the school since July 3, 2007. The Summary is attached. Ms O’Dwyer asked for the status of requested oral exit interviews. Four people have requested them, and they are in the process of being scheduled with two board members.
Ms O’Dwyer called for New Business and she recognized Mr. McEnaney who had several pieces of Clerk’s planning he needed to do with the Board.
Mr. McEnaney read the dates of the Regularly Scheduled Board Meetings between November and June 2008. However, he noted there were conflicts with the dates in January (a School/Parent function) and March (the March Exhibition). The Board agreed to hold the January meeting on January 3, and the March meeting on March 11.
Ms O’Dwyer reminded all Trustees to check school calendar and/or check with Ms Deb Galiel before posting a meeting to check for availability of space and/or conflicting events. She also reminded Trustees to direct all requests from Board members to faculty/staff through Ms Cullen Hamzeh, who will forward them to appropriate people and so avoid overlapping in requests or inundating faculty
The duties of the Community Relations Committee shall include but not be limited to the following:
(a) Act as liaison between Board, faculty and staff, parents, volunteers, Towns served, and community at large to ensure smooth operation of the school within a democratic framework;
(b) Provide stakeholder, community, and public outreach avenues for the Board of Trustees including but not limited to Stakeholder forums, community meetings, and other public events and forums that promote the exchange of information and ideas and enhances the image of MCCPS;
(c) Develop, foster, and oversee community and public/private partnerships on behalf of the Board of Trustee, including identifying potential partners, introducing them to our School, and identifying mutually beneficial ways to create a partnership;
(d) Work with the School administration and the Parent Teacher Organization to create, deliver, and distribute a variety of public relations material designed to enhance the public image of MCCPS;
(e) Periodically review and recommend changed to the process for addressing grievances by any party;
(f) Annually submit objectives as part of the planning process;
(g) Annually evaluate its work as a committee and the objectives it has committed itself to and report on same to the Board;
(h) Report to the Board at each regular meeting in a manner determined by the Board; and
(i) Develop necessary policies and procedures, which shall be approved by the Board, to accomplish these duties.
Action Item: Motion is tabled by rule with the Board’s Thirty Day rule for the review of motions creating committees and changing policy and by laws. Trustees are to read the motion and be prepared to discuss and vote on it at the October 4, trustees meeting.
Ms Vaucher moved and Ms Shorr seconded a motion to adjourn.
Yeas: 9 Nays: 0 Motion Passes
Respectfully Submitted
John T. McEnaney
Clerk
Summary of Mr. Wulfson’s Comments, and answers to questions.
Note: This is not meant to represent a verbatim transcript of his comments, but a summary.
Mr. Wulfson said that he was not here to give the School a clean bill of health, nor was he going to fire the whole Board and start over. He said the key challenge is our ability to attract students and maintain a full enrollment. He was heartened by progress, such as new Trustees, moving away from a number of conflicted Trustees, putting Head of School on Administrative Leave, and the involvement of Dr. Argenziano. He commented on the positive academic environment, committed teaching staff, and regularly scoring well on state testing.
He spoke to the role of the Department of Education in governance of Charter Schools. He said that is not the Department’s role to be involved in the day to day governance of the school. Local trustees are in place to foster an entrepreneurial spirit and to use their judgment to run the school to the best of its ability. Local Trustees are not in place to do the State’s bidding. The model involves risk, where local Trustees can make bad decisions that can lead to a school’s failure.
Mr. Wulfson is regularly questioned about where the accountability is for schools and Trustees. He said the accountability is at Charter renewal time. It is not often that Charter’s are revoked in the middle of a Charter period, unless the children’s wellbeing is at risk, which is not the case here. He said that the Department tries to maintain an objective stance over the term of a Charter so that they can be an ‘independent arbiter’ at Charter renewal time. For MCCPS, that will be in two years, where they will look at the accumulation of successes and failures over the five year period and sense general trends and directions.
As a part of his remarks, Mr. Wulfson answered one of the questions that was posed to him via email prior to the meeting. The essence of the question was that given all the governance issues with MCCPS -- so many investigations pending, and so many complaints filed, -- has the DOE changed the way it plans to oversee charter schools going forward and how is the DOE reconsidering its role? In response, Mr. Wulfson responded by noted that several years ago, they learned that they lacked the capacity for offering grassroots technical assistance to Charter Schools, and are working with the Mass Charter School Association to create a Resource Center to assist schools. He also noted that with the new administration, Commissioner, and Board of Education it was likely there will be a top to bottom review of the entire Charter program, and no single school would shape the decisions, but could inform the discussions. He noted that
Mr. Wulfson went on to reference another question he had received -- What are the three things Mr. Wulfson would recommend to the Board to do today to move forward towards the future? He responded by offering several thoughts. First, the School should focus on permanent Head of School selection. He advised that we start the process early because it is a process that always takes longer than you think. Secondly, he offered that the School needs to take a close hard look at its financial situation – cash flow, budget, enrollments, etc. Finally, he noted that there needs to be a realization on the part of everybody on the Board that a considerable amount of trust has been lost in the past year, and it needs to be regained, including a willingness to acknowledge there had been missteps. He reminded Trustees that not all criticism is bad – if offered in the right spirit it can be constructive.
Mr. Ronchi asked Mr. Wulfson of his view of the role of faculty members on the Board of Trustees. Mr. Wulfson said that it was appropriate and that he supported it, and that in fact it was provided for in the law establishing Charter Schools. He said that including faculty in the governing structure help create a collegial and collaborative environment. He said that the problem arises when there are matters of conflict of interest He said that the issue here was that there were too many people on the Board here that had conflicted Trustees, but it needs to be in moderation moving forward.
Ms Shorr asked how do you as the Department of Education define stakeholders? Is it only parents, faculty, etc? Or do you include people who don’t have children at the school? What is the definition? Mr. Wulfson said that the word stakeholder doesn’t appear in any state statutes or regulations, and they would raise an eye if the board tried to define it in their by laws. He said there were lots of different ways to define stakeholders, and it was up to each School to define that for its self. He said that there was no legal obligation to grant any particular class of folks involvement in the School. The important thing is to include a range of background, range of skills, and range of experience.
Mr. Buba asked what if any role does the Board have in the hiring and firing of teachers. Mr. Wulfson said that the Board should not be involved in the hiring and firing of teachers. The board’s key employee is the Head of School, which the Board should hold accountable.
Ms O’Dwyer mentioned that the change in the By Laws was a move from elected Trustees to an all appointed Board, which caused significant concern in the community. Mr. Wulfson said that it was in fact a directive of the Department that we change our By Laws to that effect. The Dept is clear that if the Board is going to be responsible for the School, it needs to be responsible for selecting its own members.
Ms O’Dwyer invited Mr. Wulfson to our first Exhibition of the year this fall, and said that written invitation would be forthcoming. Mr. Wulfson said that he would be happy to attend, and would try to get the new acting commissioner to join him.
Ms O’Dwyer read several questions she had received from School stakeholders. She noted that many of the questions were long and as such she would paraphrased for Mr. Wulfson. She began with the question “Given all the governance issues with MCCPS -- so many investigations pending, and so many complaints filed, -- has the DOE changed the way it plans to oversee charter schools going forward and how is the DOE reconsidering its role?”
Mr. Wulfson acknowledged that he had already addressed this question in his opening remarks. He went on to say that the Department tries to learn from every experience, but we do not try to make changes on any one situation.
Ms. O’Dwyer moved onto the next question, “You probably consider it the purview of the MCCPS Board of Trustees to make whatever decisions it likes about the Head of School. That said, do you support its decisions to pay the Head of School, who is accused of felony assault on a student and with an already troubled record , for the duration of his two year contract?”
Mr. Wulfson said that he would be frank – he doesn’t know Mr. Commeret, and he does not have an opinion about his ability as an educator, nor about his guilt or innocence in his current legal matter. However it was clear that it was increasingly untenable to expect Mr. Commeret could come back and offer effective leadership. Mr. Wulfson expressed his reservations about the decision this Board made to permit Mr. Commeret to work from home saying it “…was not one I would have made.” He also expressed concerns about rehiring Mr. Commeret last spring. The decision to place him on administrative leave was a step in the right direction, but he did not have an opinion about the choice to continue to pay Mr. Commeret. He said that there are a variety of legal and employment related issues that Boards need to take into account when making such decisions. He reminded the audience that he did not have all the same information the MCCPS Board did when making its decision, so he could not offer an opinion about the decision.
Ms O’Dwyer continued with the next question, “Charter schools are supposed to be held to higher level of accountability in exchange for greater freedom. What has the Department of Education done to ensure accountability at MCCPS?”
Mr. Wulfson said the ultimate accountability is the success or failure of the school. He went on to say that the Department will take all the events and outcomes at MCCPS into account when the Charter is up for renewal in several years, since Charter renewal is the Departments primary means of holding schools accountable.
Ms O’Dwyer read another question that had been submitted, “How will the DOE enforce compliance with their own Annual Report guidelines when it is obvious that MCCPS did not follow the format nor give the required information?"
Mr. Wulfson said that there is generally a lot of back and forth with Charter Schools to look at annual reports to ensure they are the best they can be, and that the meet the needs of the Department of Education. He also said, however, that it is unrealistic to expect that all reports will always be perfect. He committed to looking into any issues with the MCCPS Annual Report when he returned to his office. He went on to say that ensuring strict adherence to following a set format is not in the top twenty issues the Department addresses.
Moving on to the next question, Ms O’Dwyer read “Which state body is responsible for ensuring that the Trustees are following the bylaws?”
Mr. Wulfson said that the Department of Education is one oversight agency, and that there are other state agencies that may have an interest. He said that in his opinion, in the long run it depends on the seriousness of the charge in question, and it is a tough question to answer in a generality. Mr. Wulfson said that ultimately, it is the Commissioner of Education’s judgment on where push harder and where to focus efforts.
Ms O’Dwyer thanked Mr. Wulfson for his time and candor. . She again invited him to attend the next Exhibition and he indicated acceptance of the invitation. Mr. Wulfson thanked the Board and the community for the opportunity to address them and to share important ideas about the future of the School and the Charter school program in general. He wished us success in our future.
Report of the Interim Academic Director, September 6, 2007
Hi All,
State of the School
The beginning of the year has been extraordinary! Students, parents,
and faculty/staff have made many, many positive comments about their
experiences and observations. For example, a 5th grade parent told me
yesterday that her son wrote a paragraph for homework last night. She
was so pleased and proud that she called all of her friends. The boy
had been unable to write anything on his own since 1st grade, and he
told his teacher that the assignment was the first thing he had
written that was not in anger. This mother is so happy that her son
is flourishing at MCCPS, and she credits our school climate and the
teaching staff for helping her son to achieve what she had thought was
impossible.
- The Classroom Commentary will be read by Pam Haley & Catherine Hier.
A copy will be available for you to read.
We are at 194 students. The latest enrollment report is attached.
Another ad will be placed in area papers.
Copies of the site visit protocol & last year's site visit report will
be available at the meeting tonight. Please study them in preparation
for the site visit on 9-18.
Please also study the annual report & the new accountability plans
They are attached. I have 2 printed copies of the annual report.
Please let me know if you'd like to borrow one.
5 mics are set up.
Video camera is ready.
I hope you have a great meeting. I'll see you all soon.
Sincerely,
Nina Cullen-Hamzeh
Interim Academic Director
MCCPS
17
781-631-0777 ext. 11
ENROLLMENT REPORT
ANNUAL REPORT
ACCOUNTABILITY PLAN HERE
REPORT OF THE INTERIM MANAGING DIRECTOR SEPTEMBER 2007
To: Board of Trustees
From: Dr. Albert F. Argenziano
Date: August 2007
I want to take this opportunity to thank you for allowing me to opportunity to serve your fine school. Since my arrival, I have found everyone to be professional, focused, and thoroughly dedicated to this fine school. My initial reflections and action involve the following points of interest..
1- met with Nina and staff members and highlighted the importance of a smooth opening for the 2007-2008 school year. Focus on the positives and the negatives will slowly disappear.
2- will meet with Dr. Paul Dulac in the days ahead to discuss items of mutual interest , i.e. enrollment and finances.
3- will begin to gather data on births in our communities since 2004. Town clerks office in Marblehead has recorded the following data on births. 2004 (225) 3 yr. olds, 2005 (213) 2 yr. olds, 2006 (193) 1 yr. olds and for 2007 through 5/31/07 (84) prorated should be 210+ new births. This information provides sufficient students to begin studying the feasibility of opening a kindergarten for 25-35 students.
4- will present a summary of possible recommendations for consideration on the aspects of regionalization.
5- would like to discuss future consideration the aspect of expansion, i.e., Grades K,1,2,and 3.
6- looking forward to receiving a packet of financial data from Jeff Barry to peruse, study, and provide a list of questions for discussion. .
Thank you.
Classroom Commentaries, September 6, 2007
Presented to the MCCPS Board of Trustees by Ms Catherine Hier
Mrs. Cindie Boccia
Grade 6 Advisory Teacher
====================
The graduating class 0f 2008 is terrific. Everyone seems eager to
learn and happy to be here for their final year at MCCPS. We are so
happy to have Mr. Redmond on our team and we are looking forward to the best year yet!
Katie Sullivan
Grade 8 Advisory Teacher
====================
I am very impressed with MCCPS and I am grateful to be a staff member and a parent of a MCCPS student! I feel privileged and excited to be among such an energetic, innovative, and practical group of staff members. As an educator I am very aware of the gap that frequently occurs between theory and practice in our field. Unfortunately, the execution and implementation of these ideas often do not happen for a variety of reasons. Contrastingly, the staff at MCCPS is very skilled at applying theory and practice. The curriculum at MCCPS is creative, and finds meaning in the context of worldly themes. I am certain my fourth grader is getting a more well rounded education here than at a private school he previously attended for two years.
Thanks & Regards,
Patti Kane
5th Grade TA/Parent
===================
Band starts Thursday morning- there will be many new instrumentalists. Wish me luck.
A music fundraiser needs to start next week in order to provide more headphones, adapters, and another keyboard. (The fifth grade has 25 students and we have 24 keyboards.)
I love the new CUE! The classes and students are great so far.
Adria Smith
Music Director
===================
This is a truly unique and wonderful school. It provides a well-rounded education. I think it is wonderful that the students receive so much art and music. Art and music are so fundamental to being human that these subjects deserve the time they are given here. MCCPS also has many other classes not often seen in schools. Students graduating from here will truly be prepared to succeed in life.
Grade 5
Advisory Teacher
==================
Dear Board Members,
I have the perfect job! How many people can say that? I can’t wait to get up in the morning and come to work. I love being and working in such a positive environment. I listen to parents everyday who can’t believe that their children feel the same way I do. Who feel so accepted and safe.
We really are a community.
Eileen Perry
Assistant to the principal
Former board member
Former parent
==================
Dear Board Members,
I am thrilled to be here at MCCPS. I have found the staff to be extremely helpful and amicable as I "stride" through the first few weeks of routines, rules, and regulations!. The students are exceptionally well mannered, respectful and show an encouraging desire to learn in what I see as a creative, rich and challenging learning environment.
As I immerse myself in the curriculum and community environment, I am finding many connections and am truly excited to discover, teach and learn math and science along with my students. I love the thematic/integrated approach to curriculum and find the educators here engaged and enthusiastic in all aspects of the learning and growing process, including mine!
Thank you for the opportunity to work with all of you. I look forward to an outstanding year!
Maria McAuliffe
Grade 7
Advisory Teacher
===================
Fourth Grade
The Fourth Grade is off to a wonderful start. Students are learning the routines, where things are (like Art and Music), all about community meetings and lunch, and changing classrooms for different subjects! They are excited about taking on classroom jobs and have completed their “job applications.”
Language Arts
Students have started writing stories in their writing journals as well as learning about “reading as thinking.” They are beginning to search for books in our classroom libraries and enjoying D.I.R.T. (Daily Independent Reading Time) during Advisory.
Global Studies
Fourth graders have just begun our unit on “Many Dreams, One Nation,” which begins with understanding the lives and contributions of Native Americans – who are they? Where did they come from? How did they get to
Jeanne Dowdell
Grade 4 Advisory Teacher
=====================
4th grade students are learning the basic building blocks for geometry…points, line segments, lines, rays, angles, triangles, quadrangles, parallelograms, polygons, and will practice drawing circles with a compass, create circle contractions, as well as hexagon and triangle constructions. We will also be reviewing addition and subtraction facts.
In Science students will explore various forms of energy by traveling through eight different science stations and experimenting with hands-on science. Students will complete lab sheets for each experiment. During a teacher directed discussions of the science behind the stations, students will highlight teacher provided science notes and generate questions about energy.
Pam Miller
4th grade teacher
Students have signed up for 5 days of "enriching activities"
A total of 72 enrichments are being offered this term.
Enrichments begin next week.
New partnerships have been created - There are too many to mention by name, but here are a few: Julie Hahnke, author of Through the Eyes of a Raptor, will be running a Writing Fantasy Enrichment. James Carrigan, former State Rep & State Senator, joins us again to offer Government by the People. Three Cooking classes, a Robotics class, DARE with Retired Officer Cabot Dodge, a new partnership with Wicked Cool Kids, who are offering four educational enrichments for all ages, and of course the ever popular Wood Shop classes with Peter Haddock. Board members are invited to come and observe the many other enrichments that are not mentioned here.
Deb Galiel
Community Partnership Coordinator
Ms Katie Sullivan Resignation Letter
August 26, 2007
Dear Kay,
I am writing to submit my letter of resignation from the Marblehead Community Charter Public School Board of Trustees, effective immediately. For the past ten years, I have committed my time and energy as a member of this board because of my passion for the success of our
I am very optimistic about the current constitution of the board and grateful for the opportunity to have worked so closely over these past several months with you and our board colleagues, who have demonstrated a group professionalism and productivity unmatched during my decade of service. Further, I wish to express my profound belief in the importance of faculty voices for the MCCPS Board of Trustees, as underscored in our charter and in the practice of similar schools across the country. I am hopeful that current and/or future teachers will be considered for appointment and confident that they will welcome the opportunity to offer their vitally important perspective on our school to help it continue to flourish for many years to come.
Lastly, I extend my heartfelt appreciation to the MCCPS community for entrusting me with the role of Trustee for all of these years and to my fellow board colleagues for their tireless energy and dedication to serve.
Very sincerely,
Katie M. Sullivan
J. Buba
9/05/07
FINCOM Summary
- Just began the year
- No planned vs. actual data to report
- What about Enrollment and the Budget?
- Began the school year with approx. $500K in the bank
- Staffing and budget for year anticipates 230 students
- Recruiting is an ongoing process
- Each student below 230 reduces surplus by approximately $10K
- Surplus more than adequate to cover the under enrollment
- What about next year?
- We expect to continue to recruit to our maximum allocation of 230
- What if we don’t get all 230 students
- MCCPS can and has run very well as a smaller school
-
.
Summary of Results
Survey Email Invites-70
Completed Surveys-29
Grade Four – 5
Grade Five – 10
Grade Six – 8
Grade Seven – 6
Grade Eight – 0
Leaving for “friends”
Gr. 4 - 1
Gr. 5 – 1
Gr. 6 – 0
Gr. 7 – 0
Gr. 8 - 0
Governance
Gr. 4 – 1
Gr. 5 – 3
Gr. 6 – 1
Gr. 7 – 1
Gr. 8 - 0
Board’s handling of HOS contract renewal
Gr. 4 – 2
Gr. 5 – 1
Gr. 6 – 1
Gr. 7 – 0
Gr. 8 - 0
Academics
Gr. 4 – 0
Gr. 5 – 2
Gr. 6 – 4
Gr. 7 – 5
Gr. 8 – 0
Generally Unhappy
Gr. 4 – 1
Gr. 5 – 3
Gr. 6 – 1
Gr. 7 – 0
Gr. 8 – 0
Positive Comments
Gr. 4 – 0
Gr. 5 – 1
Gr. 6 – 1
Gr. 7 – 1
Gr. 8 - 0
Board of Trustees Web Page Content Proposal
Submitted by John McEnaney, September 6, 2007
Foundational Documents
Charter
By Laws
Links to Mass Law and DoE Regs
Board Works
Board Schedule and Agendas
Board and Committee minutes (from July 23 forward)
Trustees and email addresses
School Reports
Annual Report(s)
Budget
Volunteer Opportunities
Committee openings
Projects of the School and Board that need volunteers
Community Partnership and Fundraising links
