Wesley International Academy
Minutes
Governance Committee Meeting
Date and Time
Thursday September 7, 2017 at 4:15 PM
Location
314 Kelly St., SE, Atlanta, GA
Committee Members Present
E. Buckner (remote), J. Hansen, M. Guertin (remote), T. Tidwell
Committee Members Absent
None
Committee Members who arrived after the meeting opened
J. Hansen
Guests Present
Crystal Gaines, E. Cater, Jason Marshall, Yasmenn Qadimasil
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance and Guests
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
T. Tidwell called a meeting of the Governance Committee of Wesley International Academy to order on Thursday Sep 7, 2017 at 4:30 PM.
C.
Approve Minutes
Mazie Lynn confirmed that June minutes were approved in July.
Motion to approve July minutes, seconded by Tidwell. Approaved unanimously
T. Tidwell made a motion to approve minutes.
M. Guertin seconded the motion.
The committee VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
II. Governance
A.
Policy Roundup Taskforce Update
Admin rep Donald Mason, Donica Johnson
Teacher reps David Mitchum , Lee Durden
Teacher reps David Mitchum , Lee Durden
We extended invite to whole Board; they were supposed to respond to Jan. We will send one more invite
The committee will report back at October meeting about the deadline.
B.
Check-In with Executive Director Re: Single Gender Study Plan
We handed it off to ACE committee
C.
Committee Goals for 2017-18 - Accountability Check-In
J. Hansen arrived.
Tidwell and Hanson will meet with subcommittee to come up with timeline for October meeting.
Causey and Hanson will come up with timeline for handbook review
Causey and Hanson will come up with timeline for handbook review
Causey and Tidwell will work on timeline for Bylaw review
Tidwell and Buckneer will come up with timeline for Onboariding
Tidwell and Buckneer will come up with timeline for Onboariding
Committees will report on their goals in September Board meeting. After October training, we will submit Board goals at November meeting for vote.
D.
Charter Renewal Update
Jason reported on APS interview for Charter renewal. There were 9 APS representatives (personnel and other charter school employees), and 7 Wesley reps. No unexpected questions. First question was "Does Wesley have a plan for Beating the Odds?" Questions focused mostly on identified weaknesses and whether there was a plan to address it. Jason felt the interview went well and the body language was positive. Elisa thought the content Wesley provided was right to the point. Generally, APS wanted to know what was the plan and Wesley had good, direct answers. Attorney conflict never came up. The discipline issue did come up - asked why didn't Wesley have more expulsions? Jason offered the restorative practices as a huge strength of Wesley. Mazie Lynn suggested that perhaps Wesley could partner with Municipal Court, represented by visitor Judge Gaines, on more training on restorative justice.
Governance Committee will recommend to the Board in September that Wesley sever relationship with Burr, Foreman based on perceived conflict of interest identified by APS prior to charter renewal meeting.
E.
Plan/Finalize Agenda for October Board Training
Board training in October. Need to work on agenda. Mazie Lynn will start on that.
F.
Lottery Update
Beth Gay and Jason meet with Drew chair and Chris Adams, attorney. about weighted lottery. Both Drew and ACNS were the first to use weighted lottery. Drew uses 5:1 ratio, which is the highest the state has ever given anyone.
E. Cater left.
Drew recommended Wesley focus on preschools and try to make them "priority schools."
Wesley should identify communities to focus on.
Wesley should identify communities to focus on.
Tom will talk to Chris Adams about priority schools and basis for 5:1 ratio and BOE regulations.
III. 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 5:39 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
T. Tidwell