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Chuck Meadows shared his Executive Director's Report. See Board Packet for full report. 

• Overview of work during the summer
• Parent Feedback Survey Results
  • Majority of parents are satisfied, somewhat satisfied, or very satisfied.
  • As expected, most parents neither agreed or disagreed on whether their student grew academically through online learning during school closure. Virtual learning is especially difficult for ANCS because of our hands-on way of teaching. 
  • Board members asked for more detail from the parent survey and for any insights from narrative responses. Growth area: streamline avenues of communication between teachers and parents. Working on a unified platform at the EC in the fall. 
• Back to School Planning
  • Taking into consideration that students don't perform as well with remote learning
  • In conversations with APS, GCSA, charter schools network, and public health experts to form plans
  • APS indicated they will announce their plan in mid-July. They are still considering 100 percent remote learning. If that happens, ANCS will likely stay 100 percent remote as well. 
  • Still a dynamic environment, # of COVID cases shifting. 
  • Plan to meet virtually with Faculty on June 29 and introduce plan to parents via email on July 6 with a platform for parent feedback. 
  • A suggestion was made that the FY21 Board consider taking a vote to ratify the decision once it is made. 
• Business Office Staff Reorganization
  • Plan is to create a team of three Business Manager positions, dividing the business office and fund development roles between the three. Looking at a significant reduction to the budget from a personnel perspective with an uptick in hours worked on a weekly basis. 
  • Having conversations with personnel now, writing job descriptions, and looking to fill the positions.  

Chuck Meadows and Elisa Falco from GCSA shared the Charter Renewal Timeline. See Board Packet. We are ahead of schedule by 6-7 weeks. Elisa shared that it is about 80% complete and she is scheduled to finalize the petition and send to Chuck by August 7 or sooner. Final petition is due to APS August 26-27. APS to review charter petition in August. APS would make a decision about our renewal by February 2021. Board members will be identified for interviews in the next couple of weeks. GCSA has professional writer who will proof the petition. Board members are welcome to do so as well. The Board will have continual access to the working document and Chuck will notify the Board once the document has been finalized. A vote is being proposed today to allow Chuck and others to finalize the petition without calling another meeting before August. 

Eric Teusink called for a vote to adopt the Charter Renewal Resolution as presented to the Board. The charter renewal application was shared with the board and new FY21 board members prior to the meeting. This will allow Chuck and GCSA to finish the petition and make minor changes as needed without calling a separate meeting before August. 

Charter Renewal Resolution: 
"The governing board approves the Charter Renewal Application, which reflects the mission, vision and future plans for next charter term. The application is approved with forthcoming edits, provided that such edits do not materially change substantive aspects of the application such as, mission, vision, analysis of past performance or future plans that were reviewed and agreed upon as part of this resolution."

Governance committee work will be reported on during executive session. 

Chuck Meadows gave an overview of our financials and PPP loan. He reported that we are on track to meet budgeted expenses for this fiscal year.  

The PPP funds need to be spent on payroll, rent, and/or utilities in order to be reimbursed. We've exceeded $1.85 million in salaries as well as an additional amount for rent and utilities, so we have more than enough to apply for loan forgiveness. 

Update on CREATE's financial situation. They have received about $500K in new grant money and are awaiting a decision about their seed grant in the next month or so. 

Jordache Avery reported that the intercom system is installed at the middle campus. It should be installed at the elementary campus by August 4. The roof project is on schedule to be completed by July 20.  School needs to be open by July 27. 

See report in board packet. Meeghan Fortson reported that we are about $20,000 short due to the pandemic and recession. Fund Development Committee and staff are reaching out to donors who gave last year but haven't given this year to remind them to give by June 30. Email blasts and social media posts will remind ANCS community to give by June 30. Will likely end up at about $130K; budgeted goal is $140K; external goal is $150K. Meeghan will send final financial report to the board after June 30. 

Board reached 100 percent participation in the Gather and Grow Fund. Plans for 2021 Auction are on hold for now; committee will reassess once school starts. 

No report this month. 

Howard Franklin gave a public affairs update including:

• Atlanta Board of Education passed FY 20-21 budget with no furloughs or layoffs, tapping into rainy day fund.
• New superintendent Lisa Herring starts July 1.
• Legislative Session update including passage of HB 426 (Hate Crimes bill) and HB 957, which allows certain charter school employees access to the state health insurance fund.
• Due to a push by some charter schools advocating for additional federal Cares Act funds to be passed down to schools, APS reversed decision and will now allocate money on a per school per student basis. ANCS is set to receive a significant amount - multiple six figures. 

Board thanked board members who are rolling off at the end of the year: Nakia Echols, Howard Franklin, Laura Melton, Meeghan Fortson, and Eric Teusink. 

The board moved into Executive Session at 7:59 pm to discuss personnel related matters. Board members called in on a private teleconferencing number. The board came out of Executive Session at 8:54 pm and called back into the regular meeting teleconferencing number at 8:56 pm.