American Dream Charter School

Minutes

ADCS Board of Trustees Monthly Meeting

SY23-24

Date and Time

Monday April 15, 2024 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

M. Melkonian (remote), N. Gallagher (remote), S. Espinal (remote), sespinal@theamericandreamschool.org (remote)

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 Apr 15, 2024 at 5:39 PM.

C.

Approve Minutes

L. Rojas made a motion to approve the minutes from ADCS Board of Trustees Monthly Meeting on 03-18-24.
R. Espinal seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

II. Educational Success

A.

BENCHMARK 1: Student Performance

B.

BENCHMARK 2: Teaching and Learning

  • We were awarded the Summer Boost Grant for 100 students (3rd year in a

row)

 

  • ADCS will be hosting 100 students, 25 students per grade.
  • Feliz Sanchez will be heading the program this summer.

 


 

III. Organizational Soundness

A.

BENCHMARK 4: Financial Condition

  • NG Gave a summary of the ADCS account balances.

B.

BENCHMARK 5: Financial Management

Signing bonus 2500 for staff that choose to return to ADCS

  • $250,000.00 is calculated commutatively for a staff bonus for returning staff.
    • This is for 23/24, who started and finished the year.
    • This bonus will be distributed in two portions, half at the beginning and half at the end of the year.
    • If the staff does not stay for the entire year, the initial amount will be deducted from the final pay.
      • RE: Would like to know what the budget will look like after the return bonus payout.
      • RE: Will meet with Digant and go over this financial decision and report back to the board. 


ADCS: Offer letters are being prepared to be sent out this week

  • Offer letters will be sent out by Wednesday, May 17th, and must be signed and returned by April 30th.

C.

BENCHMARK 6: Board Oversight and Governance:

Elisa Botero - Has confirmed that she will attend the June 17th Board meeting.

  • Elisa Botero will join us in June and looks forward to joining the board as a nonvoting member.

SY 24/25 Board Meeting Calendar

  • The virtual option will be ongoing. MM will get confirmation to be in compliance.
    • The third Monday of the month will remain the set date to meet.

D.

BENCHMARK 7: Organizational Capacity

IV. Faithfulness to Charter & Law

A.

BENCHMARK 8: Mission and Key Design Elements

B.

BENCHMARK 9: Enrollment, Recruitment, and Retention

Discuss student recruitment

  • SY23-24 Enrollment Numbers: 
    • 6th Grade: 85
    •  7th Grade: 83 
    • 8th Grade: 86 
    •  9th Grade: 93 
    • 10th Grade: 87 
    • 11th Grade: 73 
    •  12th Grade: 71

◾ Total enrollment 578 • Lottery

 

  • On April 1st, we ran the lottery, which included 685 applications for grades 6-12. We've since received an additional 162 applications, for a total of 847 applications.

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 6:14 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
L. Rojas