American Dream Charter School

Minutes

ADCS Board of Trustees Monthly Meeting

SY23-24

Date and Time

Monday September 18, 2023 at 5:30 PM

Location

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3880187236

 

403 Concord Avenue
Bronx, NY 10454

Trustees Present

A. Cabrera (remote), L. Rojas (remote), P. Simon (remote), R. Espinal (remote), Z. Martinez (remote)

Trustees Absent

None

Guests Present

BoardOnTrack, M. Melkonian, N. Gallagher (remote), S. Espinal

I. Opening Items

A.

Record Attendance

B.

Call the Meeting to Order

L. Rojas called a meeting of the board of trustees of American Dream Charter School to order on Monday Sep 18, 2023 at 5:41 AM.

C.

Approve Minutes

L. Rojas made a motion to approve the minutes from August Board Meeting on 08-14-23.
R. Espinal seconded the motion.

at 5:43 PM

The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

II. Educational Success

A.

BENCHMARK 1: Student Performance

  • Algebra I, Living Environment, Earth Science, English, and Global U.S. History regents have improved.
  • Algebra II and geometry scores can improve
  • The Math department has a new chair in search of improving scores

B.

BENCHMARK 2: Teaching and Learning

  • 62% of students graduated with the Seal of biliteracy 
  • 100% of Students have the seal of civic readiness 
  • Melissa has reached out to Dr. Medina for dual language support for teachers.

C.

BENCHMARK 3: Culture, Climate, and Student and Family Engagement

  • To improve feedback from the NYSED Social emotional survey, Lucas is preparing a presentation for admin about interpreting data for MS and HS 

III. Organizational Soundness

A.

BENCHMARK 4: Financial Condition

Account Balance Review - N. Gallagher

  • All account balances were reviewed, wrapping up the annual audit 

B.

BENCHMARK 5: Financial Management

Accounting solutions will update financial statements

C.

BENCHMARK 6: Board Oversight and Governance

  • Reached out to Elisa Botero to see if she’s interested in becoming a non-voting member
  • P. Simon will send a potential board candidate 


 

D.

BENCHMARK 7: Organizational Capacity

Employee manual Jury duty policy was updated. 

  • Three days paid in full, after the three days, $40  a day paid by employer matched by $40 a day from New York state
    • Approved unanimously 
  • Seven sick days paid out. If employees do not use their sick days, the sick days can be paid out at the end of the year.  This does not apply to personal days.
  • Latenesses can be deducted from the 2 personal days allotted at the beginning of the year 
    • Once the 2 personal days are consumed, the employee will be referred to EAP referral program
  • COVID policy, Drug and Alchohol policy, and Fraternization all revised 
  • Everything unanimously approved by the board

IV. Faithfulness to Charter & Law

A.

BENCHMARK 8: Mission and Key Design Elements

  • Charter Renewal submitted, renewal visits scheduled for October and November.

B.

BENCHMARK 9: Enrollment, Recruitment, and Retention

  • 6th - 87 
  • 7th - 78
  • 8th - 82
  • 9th - 94
  • 10th - 86
  • 11th - 74
  • 12th - 71

C.

BENCHMARK 10: Legal Compliance

V. Closing Items

A.

Adjourn Meeting

There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 6:50 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
L. Rojas