EEC Board Committee on Planning and Evaluation
Thursday, February 5, 2009
2:00-3:30pm
Department of Early Education and Care
51 Sleeper Street, 4th Floor
Boston, MA 02210
MINUTES
Members of the Committee Present
Julie Culhane, Ph.D., Chairperson
Lynson Moore Beaulieu
Orlando Isaza
Sharon Scott-Chandler (Ex-Officio)
Sherri Killins, EEC Commissioner (Ex-Officio)
EEC Staff Present
Corey Zimmerman, EEC Director for Strategic Planning and Analysis, Staff to Committee
Amy Kershaw, EEC Deputy Commissioner for Programs
Dena Papanikolaou, EEC General Counsel
Phil Baimas, EEC Associate Commissioner for Workforce Development
Katie Devita, EEC Professional Development Specialist
Talia Gursky, EEC Consultant
Erika Werner, Readiness Project Consultant
The meeting was called to order at: 2:10 p.m.
Welcome and Introductions
Committee members were welcomed and introductions were made.
Planning and Evaluation Committee Charge / Meeting Logistics
Meeting Logistics
Discussion:
Dena Papanikolaou, EEC General Counsel, informed the Committee that it was subject to open meeting law requiring that the meetingbe announced, the public may attend, and that brief minutes would be taken that reflect the discussions had and decisions made. By-laws indicate that members may join the Committee meetings via conference call as long as any two members of the Committee were present at the meeting location. Agendas will be sent to all Board members within 3 days of the Committee meeting and any Board member may attend.
Decisions Made:
It was also discussed that if the Committee were to provide a recommendation to the Board and there was not general consensus, a member may call for a vote and the majority would be used to indicate support for a recommendation; highlights of the discussion and diverging views would also be represented at the full Board for its consideration. Any changes discussed in the committee will go to the full board for approval.
Committee Charge
Discussion:
The Committee reviewed and provided feedback on a draft Charge document. Dena Papanikolaou advised that Board Committees should be charged with task(s) at a meeting of the full Board; agenda items may be recommended to the Chair within three days of the Committee meeting. There was discussion about precisely how the various Board Committees will integrate their work; topics can circulate from one committee to the next, and full Board Meetings function to ensure integration as well.
Decisions Made:
At the February 10, 2009 meeting of the full Board the standing Committee meetings will be announced and the Board will vote on each Committee’s standing meeting and charge; Board members will also be released from their duties as liaison to EEC initiatives at the Board meeting due to the new Committee structure (if they would like to be released). The section of the charge calling for review and evaluation of the Commissioner will be assigned to an ad hoc executive committee, possibly composed of the Board Chair and Chairs of the Committees. Details will be figured out at a later date. Otherwise, the Committee Members suggested minor changes to the charge and it was approved.
It was decided that the standing meeting of the Planning and Evaluation Committee will be held at the second Thursday of each month from 10am to 12pm at EEC’s Worcester office.
Task(s) Assigned:
- EEC staff should update draft charge with 2/5 discussion and send toSharon/Julie for review. Draft charge and standing meeting date/times should be ready for Board review on 2/10.
EEC Legislative Reports and Strategic Plan
Discussion:
Amy Kershaw suggested that EEC Legislative Reports and the Strategic Plan be discussed together, and the committee agreed. She said that after looking at various reporting regulations and the timeline of various reporting requirements, she proposed rolling the following requirements together into one report: Workforce Development Report, Five-Year Master Plan, Annual Legislative Report, and the line item reporting requirements. Additionally, there is a current one-time requirement for a Capacity Report.
Strategic Plan
A letter for the Board Chair has been added to the Strategic Plan, as well as new indicators and successes, and some wording changes. The Work of Success has been made into an accompanying response to the Board’s Strategic Plan to make the document more dynamic and give it a longer shelf life. The Board will vote on the Strategic Plan at the February 10 meeting, and the Work of Success will be brought back at a future Board meeting.
System Capacity Report language
Committee discussed that the system capacity language requests an outline of the future and current capacity of the State’s local and regional entities, and the roles and functions of the CPCs and R&Rs. Members of the committee discussed earlier report done by PCG reviewing roles and functions of CPCs and CCR&Rs. Committee further discussed intent of language and timing of request.
Decisions Made:
The committee members expect the Board to adopt a motion to send the Strategic Plan to the Secretary of Education. It will also be posted on the website, included in a blurb in the newsletter, and otherwise publicly disseminated.
Organize the System Capacity Report around the agency’s priorities and outcomes, and describe how we are achieving these now and what is missing in the current system. Staff will regularly update the Policy and Evaluation Committee, and bring it to the Advisory Team for feedback.
The Annual Report, Workforce Report, and Strategic Plan will be sent to the Legislature in March, and the Capacity Report will be sent in June.
Task(s) Assigned:
- Staff will add in a focus on Board’s actions, major policy changes that have been made, as well as what the report does not address that the agency was asked to do.
- Dena will write a motion for the Strategic Plan to be sent to the Secretary of Education, acknowledging the new paragraph, and that staff will create a plan to address to missing information.
- The Committee will have a meeting at the end of February to review the edits to the Consolidated Legislative Annual report, prior to it coming to the full Board for a vote.
- Update System Capacity report to include findings from PCG.
The meeting adjourned at 4:30 p.m.