Global Leadership Academy

Minutes

Emergency Board Meeting

Date and Time

Monday June 29, 2020 at 1:00 PM

Location

Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/95199841981?pwd=UW0yVXdGRm9GejlRVlphQjVEYkc2Zz09

Meeting ID: 951 9984 1981
Password: GOCA
The Mission of Global Outreach Charter Academy is to deliver a first-class academic program that offers a unique foreign language and multicultural curriculum, empowering students to have a competitive edge in the global vision.

Directors Present

C. Hearn (remote), V. Budnik (remote), V. Kushnar (remote), Y. Brychka (remote)

Directors Absent

V. Stepanchuk

Directors who arrived after the meeting opened

Y. Brychka

Ex Officio Members Present

S. Soroka (remote)

Non Voting Members Present

S. Soroka (remote)

Guests Present

A. Korchuk (remote), D. Goncharov (remote), David Soroka, I. Savich (remote), J. Chisholm (remote), Liliya Soroka, V. Chizh (remote)

I. Opening Items

A.

Record Attendance and Guests

B.

Call the Meeting to Order

V. Budnik called a meeting of the board of directors of Global Leadership Academy to order on Monday Jun 29, 2020 at 1:15 PM.

II. Consent Items

A.

Monthly Expenses - May 2020

V. Budnik made a motion to approve.
C. Hearn seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.

III. Discussion Items

A.

ESSR Grant

Anna:
-Purpose of maknig sure the schools have enough funds to prepare for the cost of funding the school during CODID-19
-Vital to us because the allocation is $200 per student and gives a substantial amount of money to spend on reopening

Sergey:
-After visiting Atlanta I saw their school models and they were able to set up classrooms for $5,000 completely virtual

 

B.

CSP K-8 Grant

Anna speaking:
-Usually created for new schools but this one is focused on purchasing technology for the transition of schools going hybrid
-Similar to the one that we got for High School but they are prioritizing Title 1 schools for this grant and it is likely we will receive this

Hearn speaking:
-Certain dollar amount for the grant or is it purely per student?

Anna speaking:
-The limit was not given, we are unsure and if anyone has anymore information please forward it to me

Victoria:
-Are you ready if they ask if there will be online school next year? Are we ready to take that route if need be?

Anna:
-If we are going completely online, since we have been doing that for the past couple of months we already have a good idea of what it will be like, we will make sure that we are fully prepared for online classes and getting the proper equipment
-Basically, we are ready for any route that might be taken, whether it's online or hybrid

Joe:
-We must be aware that there are deadlines

Dmitry:
-The funds are elligible for the same thing as Title 1 and 11 other categories, and those who have 5 or fewer schools will be handled as a priority

 

Anna:
- If we do not receive the grant, the school will need to purchase at least $60,000 worth of Chromebooks (250 Chromebooks) to make sure that online students have something to work on at home.
- The school has been purchasing Chromebooks from Howard Tech Solutions and it seems they they have the best deals according to the quotes provided. 
-If we have to purchase Chromebooks any time in the future, the suggestion is to make Howard Technology Solutions a preferred vendor.

C.

School Reopening Plan : 2020-2021

Presentation will be made by David Soroka
-We got a great response from the survey we sent out to the parents and staff
-The teachers that are on salary would rather be at home and teach classes from there, however teachers who are being paid hourly would rather be at school because their livelihoods depend on it
-Students have been struggling in their academics now that classes are online, especially those who already had almost no motivation in school and the teachers were working extremely hard 

Hearn:
-There is a program called "Fill in the Gap" for the students who are falling short in their academics and I think that would be a good thing to look into
-Can we have the support staff be tutors for the students?

David:
-We had to deny that program because our school building is under construction
-We want the staff to come back on campus because we have noticed a lot of slack 
-So we are trying to offer as much individualized tutoring as we can and are going to implement these things once we reopen
-The survey we sent out was in 3 different languages and I will go through the survey we sent out
-Getting systems in FOCUS that will be able to email all the students/new students/potential students and a system that will be able to text and call a multitude of numbers
-35.5% Option 2
 30.5% Option 3
 34% Option 1
-We already have a plan we are working on to prepare for the outcome of the school year due to COVID-19, trying to learn from our mistakes when first setting up the program
-The best plan we have to offer the Board is to provide for the parents, we want to provide the option for the students to be able to come to school so the parents can go to work and provide for the family
-We will put in place the proper distancing rules, protection, masks, sanitizing stations, deep cleaning, teaching everyone how to properly clean, have a company come in every day to sanitize the school
-We are trying to find out the legality of distance learning so if anyone has anymore information 
-Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday will be attendance at school an Wednesday is off
-Want to get the teachers the most updated laptops since many have older versions currently

Hearn:
-When we are talking about the teachers and the upcoming school year you need to make sure there is professional development for online/hybrid teaching
-The parents that opt to have their kids stay at home we need to prepare for the possibility that they can't bring their kids in at the designated time

David:
-We are definitely getting the proper training in for all the teachers 
Y. Brychka arrived.

D.

Security System Quotes

Anna:
-Radio frequency system that we have to install and is a requirement it measures radio frequency the way sound travels from room to room and we failed that test and we have to make sure that the sound travels evenly throughout the entire building
-The cost is about $45,000 and this was not included in our budget, we were able to work with Ilya where 70% will be covered by Taylor and we pay 30%

E.

Financial Control Policies

Dmitry:
-As of today we are closing about 300-400 positive and to close this year with 0 was very difficult, we are working really hard for these grants
-Ammendment loan agreement is not convenient for us because it doesn't match any normal academic or fiscal year, so I asked for an adjustment from June
-We will have Mrs. Budnik and Mr. Kushnar who will be helping us get the documentation together and signed, this process ended up looking more complicated than originally thought

F.

Amendment to Loan Agreement with Sunflower Bank

-Ammendment loan agreement is not convenient for us because it doesn't match any normal academic or fiscal year, so I asked for an adjustment from June
-We will have Mrs. Budnik and Mr. Kushnar who will be helping us get the documentation together and signed, this process ended up looking more complicated than originally thought

G.

Trump Visit

Mr. Soroka:
-There is a big chance that President Trump will come to visit our school
-Since he is coming to Jacksonville for the rally there is a 50/50 shot of him coming since he discusses school choice a lot
-But the update to the board is that it is a small chance but there is a chance

Joe:
-It would be a great learning experience for our community and school
-I do have some experience with a CEO who aquired schools called Excel Charter Academies 
-The line up we have which is the mayor and governor and other officials who will be able to recognize our school

H.

Permission to Amend School Salary Contract

Anna:
-I'd like to revise or change our employment contract whether it's academic or not
-Last week when I was about to send out the 12 month employee contract and I noticed some important items that we do have included in our handbook is not in the contract 
-I reached out to the attorney and he sent a few good drafts of employment contracts they have been using for other charter schools and able to combine them all int one
-The attorney received it this morning and has not approved it yet but a few details are safety of students and the responsibility, staff meetings have been added, evening events, email communication, notice of absence, social media policy
-We go through the terms of the contract with the employees and if something does get updated we provide training to update the ones that are not new

Hearn:
-Consequences for violation?

Anna:
-It all depends, severity of the situation, but there are some that cause termination 

I.

Copier Quotes

Mrs. Korchuk
- The High School Campus needs 2 additional color copiers to be purchased for Teacher and Admin usage. 
- 3 quotes were submitted by the following Companies:
1. Duval Copier: $5125 per copier, Installation included in total. 
2. Sissine's: $11,200.00 for 2 copiers + $295 for installation.
3. RJYoung: 2 Refurbished Copiers, $3998.00 + $42 Monthly Service Fee.
- The board reviewed all 3 quotes, and agreed that the best service and quality is provided from Duval Copier and to purchase the copiers from this company. 

IV. Action Items

A.

ESSR Grant

V. Budnik made a motion to In favor of the ESSR Grant.
V. Kushnar seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.

B.

CSP K-8 Grant

V. Budnik made a motion to In favor.
C. Hearn seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.

C.

School Reopening Plan : 2020-2021

V. Budnik made a motion to Go ahead.
V. Kushnar seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.

D.

Security System Quotes

V. Budnik made a motion to Approval of FCS Security System.
V. Kushnar seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.

E.

Financial Control Policies

V. Kushnar made a motion to Approve.
V. Budnik seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.

F.

Approve CERTIFICATE OF AUTHORITY FOR AMENDMENT TO LOAN AGREEMENT of Sunflower Working Capital Loan

V. Budnik made a motion to Approve CERTIFICATE OF AUTHORITY FOR AMENDMENT TO LOAN AGREEMENT of Sunflower Working Capital Loan.
C. Hearn seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.

G.

Permission to Amend School Salary Contract

V. Budnik made a motion to approve.
C. Hearn seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.

H.

Copier Quotes

V. Budnik made a motion to Approve Purchase of Color Copier from Duval Copier.
Y. Brychka seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.

I.

CSP Technology Grant

J.

Preferred Vendor: Howard Technology Solutions

V. Budnik made a motion to Approved Preferred Vendor: Howard Technology Solutions.
V. Kushnar seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.

V. Board Comments

A.

Adjourn Meeting

There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 2:40 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
V. Budnik