Summit Academy Charter School

Minutes

Board Meeting

Date and Time

Wednesday October 18, 2017 at 7:00 PM

Location

27 Huntington Street

Trustees Present

F. Mitchell, M. Bernard, N. Campbell, N. Dominguez, Y. Houlder

Trustees Absent

B. Melson, J. Bailin, R. Guarini

Guests Present

C. Swift, Chad Bascombe, Davina Turner, Kenyah Miller, S. Handshaw

I. Opening Items

A.

Record Attendance and Guests

B.

Call the Meeting to Order

F. Mitchell called a meeting of the board of trustees of Summit Academy Charter School to order on Wednesday Oct 18, 2017 at 7:14 PM.

C.

Approve Minutes

  • Add information discussed under Board development as the board has approved moving forward with the proposed event.
  • Bascombe asked question about bonuses; question and answer to be added to minutes.
Y. Houlder made a motion to approve minutes from the September Board Meeting on 09-26-17 September Board Meeting on 09-26-17.
M. Bernard seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

II. Election of Board Officers

A.

Officer Nominations

Board quo rem has not been met so we are unable to hold elections at the meeting.  
  • Board will hold open meeting on October 25th for the first hour of the board retreat to elect new officers.

III. Academic Excellence

A.

Principal's Report

  • Staffing needs as expressed at last meeting
  • Enrollment has dropped to 324, which changes revenue.
    • Discrepancy in the ATS system
  • Curriculum & Instruction
    • MS Interim assessments
    • MS Data data day on Friday
    • HS Interim assessments week of Oct. 31st
    • Using Mastery Connect (free data to refresh staff)
    • Suring up Reading Plus under ELA Coach
    • PD focus on writing 3 part objectives
    • More frequent observations happening
    • Quarter ends on November 10th
      • Concern with HS attendance for 1st period classes
  • Teaching and learning cycle
  • Culture club has helped to engage staff in more activities
  • FAC meetings- 30 parents attended
  • Meet and Greet
    • 86 Parents attended; more than half of parents attended
    • HS given time to contact parents to garner involvement
  • Areas of Growth
    • Staff is too dependent on leadership
    • HS arriving on time
    • Teacher call/out; need for sub
      • Proposing permanent sub
      • Plan for compensating staff for coverage
    • MS laptops (20 still need to be repaired); scholar vandalism and poor management by teachers
    • Finalized budget
  • Seniors attended SUNY College Fair
  • 42 scholars attended 1st Sat. Academy
  • Leanna Lair received a photography apprenticeship
  • Lots of after school activities with teacher volunteers
  • Shift from Jupiter to Powerschool
    • Training for teachers and parents
Questions
How do we evaluate vendors/programs?
  • We look at data and determine the impact on student achievement over a certain amount of time.

B.

Academic Strategic Goals

Review of priority goals for the next three years
  1. Goals provided to board.
  2. Instructional leadership to flesh out strategies and benchmarks.

IV. Finance

A.

Budget Review & Revisions

Budget will be tabled until after the finance committee call on Monday, Oct. 23rd.
  1. Clear understanding of budget and projections.
  2. What is the net incremental allocation for hiring?

B.

Post Audit Call

Audit call with Finance Committee on Monday, Oct. 23rd at 9:30am.  

V. Governance

A.

New Membership Pipeline

B.

Board Retreat

Dan Pasek will facilitate the Board Retreat.
  • Focus is around building capacity on the board
  • Finalizing strategic planning
  • Enrollment; recruitment strategies
  • Board supported/suggested resources to support learning
  • Board engagement with staff
  • Natasha to confirm with each board member attendance

VI. Other Business

A.

Concerns & Resolutions

Guest opportunity to discuss concerns/challenge
  • Introductions
  • Questions, comments, concerns
    • Personal appeals to staff to invite to board meetings

B.

Fundraiser

VII. Closing Items

A.

Adjourn Meeting

M. Bernard made a motion to adjourn the meeting.
N. Dominguez seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 9:00 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
N. Campbell