January 7, 2010 Regular Meeting
Regular Meeting of the Board of Trustees
January 7, 2010
Minutes
In attendance: Emil Ronchi, Cathy Vaucher, John McEnaney, Dr John Sullivan, Cynthia Canavan, Bob Sousa, Matt Cronin, Dr. Alice de Koning, William Sullivan, Nina Cullen Hamzeh. Ms Canavan and Ms Vaucher arrived at 7:20 Dr. Sullivan departed at 8:34. Not Present: Bob Sousa.
Location: Community Room at the Marblehead Community Charter Public School, 17 Lime St, Marblehead MA 01945
The Board of Trustee Chair, Mr. Emil Ronchi opened the meeting at 7:15P.M. He began by reciting the mission of MCCPS.
He went on to call for public comment. Noting there was no public comment, he continued.
Decision: Mr. McEnaney moved and Dr. Sullivan seconded a motion to approve the minutes of the December 3, 2009 Regular Meeting of the Board of Trustees.
Yeas: 6 Nays: 0 Abstain 0 Motion Passes. Mr. William Sullivan did not vote.
Mr. Ronchi recognized Dr. Argenziano for the Managing Director’s report, a copy of which is attached. Dr. Argenziano also briefly summarized the recent actions by the State Legislature relative to education bills and their impact on Charter Schools.
Mr. Ronchi recognized Ms Cullen-Hamzeh for a summary of the Site Visit report the school received. A copy of the report is attached.
Mr. Ronchi informed Trustees that Mr. Sousa has resigned from the Board and the Personnel Committee effective immediately. The Chair will secure a written resignation from Mr. Sousa, and will appoint a new chair to the Personnel Committee over the coming days.
Mr. Ronchi then went on to say that he has had limited response to interest in the Development Task Force, and as such he has not formally appointed members to the Task Force at this time. He has asked each Trustee to provide him the name of an individual that may be willing to participate as a member of the Task Force.
Mr. Ronchi then led the Trustees through a brief discussion to ensure that there was a common understanding of Board of Trustees Priorities for the 1 to 3 year and 3 to 5 year period, based on the goals outlined in the MCCPS Strategic plan. A summary of the priority rankings and relative weighting is below. Weighting was based on each Trustee assigning a weighting value to goals between 1 and 100, so that the total value of all four goals was 100, and then responses from all Trustees were totaled. Goals for 1 – 3 years and for 3 – 5 years were evaluated and weighted separately.
1 – 3 Years 3 – 5 Years
Maintain Surplus – 265 Offer Competitive Salaries – 325
Bifurcated Model – 245 Equip Space – 270
Attract/Retain Superior Educators – 243 Acquire Space – 205
Expand Programs – 142 Expand Offerings – 110
Mr. Ronchi called on Dr Sullivan to provide the Treasurer’s Report, a copy of which is attached.
Dr. Sullivan also provided Trustees a copy of the School’s audit report, titled Report on Examination of Financial Statements, Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2009, provided by Powers & Sullivan, CPA’s. A copy of the report is attached.
Decision: Dr Sullivan moved and Mr. McEnaney seconded a motion that the Board of Trustees accept and approve the Report of the School’s Auditors for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009.
Yeas: 8 Nays: 0 Abstain 0 Motion Passes. Mr. William Sullivan did not vote.
Decision: Dr. Sullivan moved and Dr. de Koning seconded a motion that the Board of Trustees increase the Personnel: Salaries line item on the FY 2010 budget by $5,500.00 effective immediately.
Yeas: 6 Nays: 0 Abstain 2 Motion Passes. Mr. McEnaney and Mr. Cronin abstained. Mr. William Sullivan did not vote.
The Chair called a recess at: 8:08 PM and called the meeting back to order at 8:19 PM
Mr. Ronchi then recognized Ms Laura Jalbert, Chair of the Expansion Task Force. Ms Jalbert provided an update on the recent Task Force Meeting including a list of key activities to be included in the overall timeline. She shared that the Task Force would be refining the timeline at its upcoming meeting.
The Chair then led Trustees through a detailed process of self evaluation of the Board’s performance, year to date. There was much discussion among Trustees about progress to date on annual goals, areas of strength for the Board, and potential areas for improvement.
Mr. Ronchi asked Trustees if there were any new business. Ms Canavan asked that the School Community identify to the Board individuals that may be interested in moving the ball forward in the area of school public relations.
Decision: Mr. McEnaney moved and Mr. Cronin seconded that the Board adjourn
Yeas: 8 Nays: 0 Abstain 0 Motion Passes. Mr. William Sullivan did not vote.
The meeting adjourned at 9:15
Respectfully Submitted
John T. McEnaney
Clerk
To: Board of Trustees
From: Dr. Albert F. Argenziano
Re: December Monthly Report
I am writing to provide highlights of the month of December 2009 at the charter school. The information is as follows:
- Quality report received from our charter renewal visit. The work completed, since 2007, was a quality turn around and recognized by the site visitors. This should be a tremendous boost to our future fundraising efforts.
- Foundation work has let to the distribution of letters to faculty, families, alumni and friends. This is our first attempt at soliciting for funds, and will be followed by reaching out to other foundations.
- When we return from winter break, the Personnel, Finance and Foundation will be meeting the 5th, 6th and on the 7th. We will have our monthly meeting, at that meeting, we should establish a date for our annual Stakeholders meeting.
As the 2009 year comes to a close, I would be remiss if I didn’t thank the Trustees, staff, students and parents for a wonderful year of support, harmony and good will.
Thank you.
To: The MCCPS Board of Trustees
From: John Sullivan, Ph.D., Treasurer
Date: January 6, 2010
Re: Finance Report
The Finance Committee met on January 6, 2010 to discuss two issues: First, the Marblehead Charter School budget and second; the issue of whether or not the school could afford an increase in the salary line item on the budget. After a lengthy discussion, the committee unanimously approved both the audit and a $5,500 recommendation to the board for an increase to our line item for Personnel and Staff salaries.
Fin Com expects to receive the Charter renewal in February. Once this is received, the refinancing will be our primary focus.
Dr. Argenziano informed the committee that he believed that revenue this year would be neutral but we need to expect a cut of at least 3% for fiscal 2011/2011. This is obviously nothing that is set in stone as of this meeting, but something that we need to keep in mind for February.
At the next meeting, we will have our six month financial performance to review.
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