Wesley International Academy
Minutes
August Board Meeting
Date and Time
Tuesday August 3, 2021 at 6:00 PM
Location
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7229250184?pwd=QjRkZlFLRjBFendOMWlZWCtBVW1nUT09
Meeting ID: 722 925 0184
Passcode: WIAevent1
Dial by your location
+1 646 558 8656 US (New York)
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Meeting ID: 722 925 0184
Passcode: 634062934
Meeting ID: 722 925 0184
Passcode: WIAevent1
Dial by your location
+1 646 558 8656 US (New York)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
Meeting ID: 722 925 0184
Passcode: 634062934
The August 2021 meeting of the WIA Board of Directors will take place on Tuesday, August 3, 2021 beginning at 6:00pm. This meeting will be held virtually via Zoom. We hope to see as many stakeholders attend as possible.
Directors Present
A. Hunter (remote), B. Mitchell (remote), C. Hill (remote), D. Hrabe (remote), E. Cater (remote), F. Carroll, G. Burnett (remote), J. Hansen (remote), J. Wright (remote), K. Boyer (remote), K. Jones (remote), M. Guertin (remote), T. Ryan-Lawrence (remote)
Directors Absent
None
Directors who arrived after the meeting opened
B. Mitchell, F. Carroll, G. Burnett
Ex Officio Members Present
J. Marshall (remote)
Non Voting Members Present
J. Marshall (remote)
Guests Present
Allison Haley (remote), C. Hudson (remote), D. Mason, Donald M, Jatoyia Armour (remote), L. Price (remote), Michelle Jacobs (remote), R. Goodman (remote), Sherika Ray (remote), Yashica Douglas (remote)
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance and Guests
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
D. Hrabe called a meeting of the board of directors of Wesley International Academy to order on Tuesday Aug 3, 2021 at 6:00 PM.
C.
Agenda Adoption
T. Ryan-Lawrence made a motion to Adopt Agenda.
J. Wright seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
D.
Approve Minutes - July Board Meeting
T. Ryan-Lawrence made a motion to Approve.
J. Wright seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
T. Ryan-Lawrence made a motion to approve the minutes from July Board Meeting on 07-06-21.
J. Wright seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
II. Public Comments
A.
Public Comments
No public comments.
F. Carroll arrived.
G. Burnett arrived.
III. Executive Director Updates
A.
School Update
Back to school today. 1st day back. Festive reentry with a DJ, balloon arch, bubbles, and incredible teacher, administration, and maintenance team participation. Gratefulness for all of the investment in making this first day great.
1. New Partnership with GSU
- 478 PYP students in building today.
- 241 MYP students in the building today (typically max is 250).
1. New Partnership with GSU
- Long-term vision for this partnership and hope for long-term partnership that could extend as far as FY24
- Returning to the building in a supported way with resources for students and build on innovative teaching culture.
- Aim had been to find about 13 people - retirees, etc. - but that has been difficult to achieve
- Masters of Education program at GSU students will be students in residence (like student teachers)
- Model is reminiscent of a model with Fulton County and Spelman
- Stipends will be paid to both the mentor teacher (Wesley faculty) and the student in residence
- Nancy Jo Shaffer is the point of contact at GSU for this partnership
- Staff COVID vaccination percentage: 85.4% of 123 respondents have been vaccinated (includes faculty, p/t staff, f/t staff, and GSU students in residence)
- Non-vaccinated staff will be tested weekly on Mondays
- New strategies in response to CDC's July 9, 2021 School Guidance (see handout in packet)
- In-person learning is a priority
- Promoting vaccination (middle school students & staff) - in partnership with Fulton County Board of Health on-site
- Masks to be worn indoors by all individuals (no matter vaccination status)
- No visitors without appointment
- 3ft of physical distance between people in classrooms along with other prevention strategies
- Temperature check upon entering school
- Screening testing (preventative, not diagnostic) for at least first 9 weeks of school [$20/test, covered by CARES Act funds]
- Weekly, non-invasive, rapid antigen tests to all students and staff members who consent (or with parental consent for minors)
- Results within 10-15 minutes, family notified, and child sent home
- Viral Solutions suggests at least 30% testing per week in order to realize reduction in spread of COVID in the schoolhouse [goal: 450 students/week for 38 weeks if testing continues for the entire year]
- With increased screening it is expected that initial case count could be high
- Hand washing & respiratory etiquette
- Staying home when sick
- Contract tracing
- Nurse is lead
- Quarantine (keeps someone who might have been exposed away from others) & isolation (keep someone infected away from others [specific guidelines included in packet released by APS July 23, 2021]
- Quarantine: 10d without test / 7 days with negative test (at least 5d from the first day of quarantine)
- Isolation: 10d since symptoms first appeared & 3d since last fever without medication & improved respiratory symptoms
- Staff members do not have to tap their sick leave for mandated isolation & quarantine
- Students who have to isolate or quarantine will receive work to complete at home; current plan is packet materials; uncertain if it can be synchronous learning, but certainly asynchronous learning will be offered
- There can be access to APS-provided learning opportunities if a change is needed
- Cleaning protocols continues (fogging machines)
- Plans for potential increase in illness as fall/winter comes on
- Team is collaborating on ideas for how to empower students with necessary technologies if a shift to virtual is required
- Team is collaborating on the logistics of how to rollout a virtual learning model, including what time of day the decision must be made in order to successfully implement a shift to virtual learning
- Team is collaborating on the related communication plans for any such shift
- Roadmap [slide included in the packet]
- Reconnect
- rebuild classroom & community relationships
- Establish Routine
- help students regain academic mindset
- some students have been away for 18 months
- Social Emotional Support
- incorporate SEL into classroom instruction
- morning meetings continue
- Build on New Skills
- incorporate new strategies identified over the past 18 months
- Academic Boost
- focus on acceleration over remediation
- Reconnect
IV. Board Chair Updates
A.
Return to In-Person Meetings
Will be further discussed during Governance Committee report.
V. Development
A.
2020-2021 Development Report
- Development report has been uploaded into the Development folder in Board on Track
- $84k was realized in FY21
- Business, board, and staff giving were all down in FY21
- Grants and Movember giving were up
- Overall 7% increase in giving in FY21
B.
Board Giving: Give and Get Action Plans
C.
Matching Gift: $20k
- Anonymous individual via the Community Foundation offering a 3-part match
- Will match board giving up to $20k
- individual gifts
- gifts solicited by board member
- does not include in-kind gifts
- Will match staff giving up to $20k
- Will match business giving up to $20k
- Donor wants to encourage our board to cultivate our development prowess
- Will match board giving up to $20k
VI. Finance
A.
FY21 Books
- FY21 books are being closed ahead of fall audit
- Committee goals to be established in August
VII. Governance
A.
2021-2022 Committee Goals
- Thomas Ryan-Lawrence will be Committee Chair this year
- Goals to be established in August with aim of September ratification by Board
B. Mitchell arrived.
B.
Update on New Member Mentorship Program
- New program that we have never offered before; feedback will be key to improving for the future
- Mentors to meet with new members over the next month (ideally face-to-face, when comfortable)
- Aim: find place for highest and best use of skills and interests of new members
C.
Return to In-Person Meetings
- Need/requirement to return to in-person meetings for both regular board meetings and committee meetings
- Collateral conversation: frequency of board and committee meetings could be potentially be reduced
- Mechanism idea: hold meeting dates/times every month, but may not require use every month
- Bylaws require meetings at least every other month
- Collateral conversation: frequency of board and committee meetings could be potentially be reduced
- Want to continue to invite all stakeholders to participate virtually
- Chris Adams, counsel to the school & board, supplied insight to the board regarding current state of Open Meetings Act
- Official Statewide State of Emergency has expired, thus official suspension of the Act has ended, and in-person meetings should be held at this time for voting members of the board
- Emergency circumstances could be found and, if found, should be captured on minutes
- Attorney General is enforcement arm of the Act
- Bylaws: allow only 2 virtual meetings per year before being able to attend virtually, but unable to vote virtually
- August 3, 2021 meeting counts as 1 virtual meeting for each board member
- Concern: achieving quorum
- Other charter schools seem to meet less frequently and more flexibly than Wesley's board (e.g. KIPP Metro's board meets quarterly)
- Dr. Bonnie Holliday - GCSA - is going to push to allow for more virtual access given the increase in participation that boards have seen during COVID
- International School: reducing number of regular meetings and maintaining committee meetings in virtual context
- Anecdotal inquiries show that other charters are not meeting in-person yet
- Comfort expressed by some for meeting in-person with appropriate safety measures and resistance to this idea from others in favor of reducing variables that could impact health & safety of students and faculty
- Concern expressed for whether CDC's in-person gathering translates in the same fashion as the guidelines for students/schools
- Could our meeting in-person jeopardize health & safety of the school community?
- Governing as distinct from educating and can be successfully handled virtually in a way that education has not been able to be as successfully handled
- Thoughtfulness about our motivation for virtual v. in-person meetings as convenience, community spread, or both especially in light of the Delta variant's impact on community spread
- Idea: informally inquire with relevant government stakeholders about maintaining virtual meetings for the immediate future based on current COVID reality
K. Boyer made a motion to For board meetings to remain virtual for an additional 30 days to provide school administration time to put in place strategies to combat the Delta variant with the ultimate goal fo maintaining face to face instruction and to continue to seek legal counsel regarding the Open Meetings Act.
D. Hrabe seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| J. Hansen |
Aye
|
| M. Guertin |
Aye
|
| T. Ryan-Lawrence |
No
|
| J. Wright |
Absent
|
| E. Cater |
Aye
|
| G. Burnett |
Aye
|
| A. Hunter |
Aye
|
| D. Hrabe |
Aye
|
| C. Hill |
Aye
|
| B. Mitchell |
Aye
|
| K. Boyer |
Aye
|
| K. Jones |
Aye
|
| F. Carroll |
Aye
|
M. Guertin made a motion to Adjourn to Executive Session.
D. Hrabe seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
VIII. Executive Session
A.
Personnel: Contract Approvals
- No questions or concerns raised
B.
Personnel: Annual Goals Review & Merit-Based Pay Increase Review
- No questions or concerns raised
IX. Post-Executive Session Matters
A.
Approve contracts discussed in Executive Session
E. Cater made a motion to to provide approve contracts as discussed.
T. Ryan-Lawrence seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
B.
Approve ED Merit-Based Pay Increase
T. Ryan-Lawrence made a motion to to provide a merit-based pay raise for Jason Marshall of 2.084285% effective July 1, 2021.
G. Burnett seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
E. Cater made a motion to to adjourn.
T. Ryan-Lawrence seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
X. 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 8:22 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
M. Guertin
Documents used during the meeting
- WIA_August2021_EDSlide.jpeg
- Fall-Opening-Update.pdf