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Dear Gardner Community,
Our first Board meeting of the year took place on Tuesday, September 21st, and while it could be a bummer to be in a virtual space, our Trustees and Admin team more than make up for it in the their joy, engagement, and commitment to Gardner. You can feel the energy emanate through the screen.
We begin every Board meeting with our mission so we can stay anchored around what best serves the needs of our community. Then, we heard Head of School, Emily Davis, share updates about the proposed DSHS facility down the road. Currently, we are connecting with neighborhood groups and local schools/districts to provide specific requests for a good neighbor agreement. We will continue to keep you informed about the plans as they evolve.
While Covid-19 has taken a greater hold in Clark County, Gardner continues to demonstrate the power of the collective in ensuring the health and safety of its community members. Emily gave an update on the school's successful Covid-19 policies and procedures. We also reviewed the Charge to the Head of School, a document that outlines Emily’s priorities for this school year. While Emily will continue to lead the Gardner School through Covid-19 and ensure that it is a thriving school, she also will focus on the strategic work that will improve Gardner’s facilities, support enrollment, and provide strong professional learning structures for Gardner School's staff and faculty. The Board of Trustees reviewed the 2021-2022 budget for this school year., and we marveled at how amazing of a place Gardner is.
We also did our fair share of voting in our first meeting of the year. Our meeting minutes reflect the details of each vote, and for this session, we approved our Charge to the Head of School and our budget, and ratified our already existing practice of vesting authority with Head of School. We also discussed and voted on conflict of interest disclosures. We approved committee charters for our Governance and DEI committees, and voted in three new committee chairs for the PTO, Governance, and the Facilities Committee. We are already delivering on our promise to strengthen committee structures, and we will continue this process throughout the school year.
Importantly, the Board of Trustees revisited last year’s decision regarding the middle school and whether to reopen it for next school year. Every decision is made with our mission, vision, and core values in mind. We do this work with deliberation and great care, even when decisions are hard to make. Through analyzing a range of data sources and engaging in discussions over several meetings, the Board voted to keep the 7th and 8th grade closed for next school year. This decision was not easy, and we don’t take our roles in this conversation lightly.
In the coming months, we’ll continue to examine our strategic priorities and take into account what it means for the Gardner School in these next 3-5 years. We will continue to keep you apprised of our decision-making process and communicate intentionally about next steps. You are welcome to check out our meeting minutes on the Gardner School website. Thank you for being part of our community.
In service and with gratitude,
Lori Cohen
Chair, Board of Trustees
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