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Summit Academy Charter School

Minutes

October Board Meeting

Date and Time

Tuesday October 17, 2023 at 6:00 PM

Trustees Present

A. Murray (remote), A. Young (remote), C. McCants (remote), K. Montgomery (remote), M. Bernard, V. Connelly (remote)

Trustees Absent

L. Almonte, M. Nieves, S. Pérez-Sadler

Guests Present

Francis Levine (remote), Juned Haque (remote), M. Kohlhagen (remote), M. Spencer-Edwards, N. Campbell, Nicole Harris (remote), Raisa Schwanbeck (remote), S. Handshaw, Tremaine Price (remote)

I. Opening Items

A.

Record Attendance

B.

Call the Meeting to Order

M. Bernard called a meeting of the board of trustees of Summit Academy Charter School to order on Tuesday Oct 17, 2023 at 6:09 PM.

C.

Approve Minutes

A. Murray made a motion to approve the minutes from September Board Meeting on 10-03-23.
A. Young seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

II. Academic Excellence

A.

Principal's Report

Vacancies

  • 1HS Global I and II 
  • 1 SPED -  Science
  • 1 HS ENL Teacher
  • 1 HS Spanish teacher
  • 1 HS Guidance Counselor
  • 1 College and Career Counselor

Enrollment and Recruitment

  • Numbers up to 255
  • October we continued recruiting at various sites.
    • Migrant Shelter on Hamilton Avenue
  • Establishing partnerships to expand programming and attract new scholars
    • Imagine That Chess Program
    • Partnering with NYC David Prize winner for Red Hook initiatives
  • Creating marketing campaign for the coming school year
  • Buses for morning and afternoon pick up and drop off and College Tours
    • Walmart will issue a wire transfer on October 18, 2023 to pay for the buses.  They are awaiting insurance information.
  • Website Revisions
  • Marketing campaign to highlight new programs
    • STEM & Esports
    • Chess
    • Reviving athletics program to include a competitive soccer team (interest of the new population)

Teacher Retention Concerns

  • Over the past two weeks two teachers have resigned and this is due to a specific issue that has impacted our teacher retention over the years. More specifically, the issue is that SACS does not have a teacher pension fund. The teachers that have decided to leave go to work in DOE public schools where they have a pension fund. Even though our salary is competitive with the DOE, the lack of a pension fund has left teachers without the job security that they want and need and thus has made them seek employment elsewhere.  This is just an issue that we wanted to bring to the board and try to find solutions.

On the Horizon

  • ANet Assessments- 10/30- 11/2
  • End of Quarter 1- 11/10
  • First Saturday Academy- 10/21
  • Parent-Teacher Conference- 11/16


 

III. Finance

A.

September Financial Statements

  • Cash on $2.2 million cash in the bank as of Sept. 30
  • Accounts receivable
    • we have filled out forms for ESSR and anticipate payment in the next few days.
  • PNL Summary
    • Recognized $1.2 million revenue,  $1.1 million expenditures
    • Salaries expensed in last fiscal year.  Next quarter, expenses will increase to reflect staff salaries.
  • Anticipating DOE deposit.
  • Cash on hand anticipated to be about required 60 days.

B.

Board Approval of Audit Draft

A. Murray made a motion to approved the independent audit as presented for 2022 - 2023.
C. McCants seconded the motion.

The finance committee met with the auditors.  There were no material findings in this audit.

  • Decrease in cash from year to year based on enrollment
  • Deficit at $600,000 - less than initially expected

Enrollment

  • SACS did not meet the 85% mark for target enrollment.  Management has submitted a statement.

Recommendations

  • Document finance committee meetings
  • Document verbal approvals for payments
  • CEI explanation needed to understand some expenditures
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

IV. Governance

A.

Adopt the Code of Conduct

V. Connelly made a motion to accept the updated Code of Ethics.
A. Murray seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

B.

Adopt Organizational Chart

C.

Board Schedule

Board members must be present at Board meetings for the meeting to count.  Those who will be remote must submit an address, that will be posted, so that their location will count as a remote meeting site.

 

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 6:47 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
N. Campbell