Texas Center for Arts + Academics

Minutes

TCA+A Special Session of the Board

Date and Time

Tuesday February 23, 2021 at 6:00 PM

Location

  • Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81698366564
  • Meeting ID: 816 9836 6564
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Video/Audio Conferencing NoticePursuant to Governor Abbott’s Temporary Suspension of Open Meetings Laws issued on March 16, 2020, the February 23, 2021 TCA+A Special Session of the Board will be conducted via video conference on the Zoom Video Conference platform, which will be audible to the Board and public and allow for two-way communication. The Board Chair, presiding officer, or trustees will not be physically present at one location, but a quorum will be required for the meeting on the video conference or phone.

Directors Present

Charles Reid (remote), Daniel Bates (remote), Leslie Scott (remote), Leslie Wade (remote), Mary A. Zimmerman (remote), Melissa Goodroe (remote), Michael Wellbaum (remote)

Directors Absent

None

Ex Officio Members Present

Paul Gravley (remote)

Non Voting Members Present

Paul Gravley (remote)

Guests Present

Betsy Compton (remote), Janelle Grau (remote), Jennifer Jackson (remote), Luke Byford (remote), Nancy Vaughan (remote), Penny Clay (remote), Phillip Garrott (remote), Sheyna Ferraro (remote), Tommy Fisher (remote)

I. Opening Items

A.

Call the Meeting to Order

Melissa Goodroe called a meeting of the board of directors of Texas Center for Arts + Academics to order on Tuesday Feb 23, 2021 at 6:13 PM.

B.

Record Attendance and Guests

II. Public Comments

A.

Public Comments

  • There were no Public Comments made. 

III. Consent Agenda

A.

January 12, 2021 Meeting Minutes

Leslie Scott made a motion to approve the minutes from TCA+A Board Meeting - Audit Presentation on 01-12-21.
Mary A. Zimmerman seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

B.

Financial Statements

Leslie Scott made a motion to approve December 2020 and January 2021 Financial Statements.
Mary A. Zimmerman seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

IV. Academics

A.

2019-2020 Texas Academic Performance Report (TAPR)

TAPR is a snapshot of a school's demographic data and instructional program data. It shows how a school's students are achieving on a variety of indicators, including the STAAR test compared to the State average.
Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts - Dr. Jackson
  • 637 students (102 student increase over last school year)
    • 274 in grades 3-6
    • 157 in grades 7-8
    • 206 in grades 9-12
  • Student Population - 69% female and 31% male
    • Student Demographics
      • 16% African American
      • 19% Hispanic
      • 47% White
      • 4% Asian
  • Student Instructional Programs
    • 33 students in special education
    • 17 students in dyslexia program
    • 20 students who are limited English proficient
    • 277 students in gifted and talented
  • 59 Instructional Staff Members - 80% female and 20% male 
    • Staff Demographics
      • 9% Hispanic
      • 6% African American
      • 2% Asian
      • 83% White
    • 50% have taught in 0-10 year range / 50% have taught 11+ year range
    • 80% have a bachelors degree / 19% have a masters degree / 1% have a doctorate degree
  • Highlights of Indicators
    • Elementary Students
      • All STAAR Tests                   
        • 69% earned Meets Standard vs 50% across the State
      • Reading and English Language Arts
        • 70% earned Meets Standard vs 48% across the State
        • 48% earned Masters vs 21% across the State
      • Math
        • 55% earned Meets Standard vs 52% across the State
      • 2019-2020 Student Success Initiative – 5th graders had to meet a certain requirement on their STAAR test in order to be promoted to 6th grade
        • 95% of 5th graders earned that standard on Reading test vs 78% across the State
        • 93% of 5th graders earned that standard on Math test vs 83% across the State
      • 96% Attendance Rate vs 95% across the State
    • Middles School and High School
      • All STAAR Tests
        • 72% earned Meets Standard vs 50% across the State
      • Reading and Writing
        • 83% earned Meets Standard vs 48% across the State
        • 42% earned Masters vs 21% across the State
      • Math
        • 64% earned Meets Standard vs 52% across the State
      • 2019-2020 Student Success Initiative – 8th graders had to meet a certain requirement on their STAAR test in order to be promoted to 9th grade
        • 100% of 8th graders earned that standard on Reading test vs 78% across the State
        • 98% of 8th graders earned that standard on Math test vs 82% across the State
      • 95.7% Attendance Rate vs 95.4% across the State
      • 100% Graduation Rate
      • 32% of 11th & 12th graders choose to take advanced placement classes vs 25% across the State
      • Average SAT Score is 1153 vs 1027 in the State
      • Average ACT Score is 25.2 vs 20.6 in the State
  • Top 5 Initiatives
    • Aligned Curriculum
    • Blended Learning – Education Galaxy and BrightFish
    • Google Classrooms
    • Classroom Libraries
    • Progress Monitoring every 3 weeks
Leslie Scott made a motion to accept FWAFA's Performance Report.
Leslie Wade seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
Texas School of the Arts - Mrs. Compton
  • Top Initiatives 
    • Professional Development - Instructional Coach Julie Murray is helping both FWAFA and TeSA, bridging the gap between the campuses
    • Align Curriculum
    • Rigorous Classroom Instruction
    • Blended Learning - Education Galaxy and BrightFish
    • Technology
  • Student Demographics - 211 female and 77 male 
    • 272 students enrolled
      • 93 Hispanic
      • 20% Multiracial (2 or more races)
      • 87 White
      • 56 African American
      • 21 Asian
      • 1 American Indian / Alaskan Native
    • 97% Attendance Rate
    • Special Populations
      • 16 Special Education
      • 40 English Language Learners
      • 20 504 (medical related disability) 
        • of those 16 dyslexia
    • 18.7% of students/families are economically disadvantaged
    • STAAR Tests
      • English Language Arts and Reading
        • 63% earned Meets Standard vs 48% across the State  
      • Math
        • 58% earned Meets Standard vs 52% across the State
      • 4th Grade Writing Scores
        • 56% earned Meets Standard vs 38% across the State
      • Science
        • 55% earned Meets Standard vs 54% across the State
    • 2019-2020 Student Success Initiative - 5th graders had to meet a certain requirement on their STAAR test in order to be promoted to 6th grade
      • 84% of 5th graders earned that standard on Reading test vs 54% across the State
      • 74% of 5th graders earned that standard on Math vs 58% across the State

 

  • Instructional Staff Demographics
    • 26 Instruction Staff
      • 4 Hispanic
      • 21 White
      • 1 Asian

 

 

 

Daniel Bates made a motion to accept TeSA's Performance Report.
Michael Wellbaum seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

B.

Texas School of the Arts Charter School Renewal

Charter Renewal is done 5 years after charter is initiated and then every 10 years after the first one
  • TeSA received an Expedited Application Renewal
    • due to consistently high performance scores, high financial report scores, etc.
  • Renewal Application ask for things like school philosophy, bylaws, admission process, assurances that the school follows Edgar Rules for finance, serve dyslexia and special education populations, etc.  

 

Charles Reid made a motion to accept TeSA's Charter Renewal Application with recommended edits done by Mr. Gravley if needed prior to submission.
Mary A. Zimmerman seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

C.

Consider TEA Educator Appraisal Waiver

With COVID-19 rules, TeSA and FWAFA can request teacher and principal official appraisals be waived.
Michael Wellbaum made a motion to approve FWAFA's TEA Educator Appraisal Waiver.
Leslie Scott seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
Charles Reid made a motion to approved TeSA's TEA Educator Appraisal Waiver.
Michael Wellbaum seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

D.

2021 Graduation

  • Asking the board to approve moving graduation from May 29th outside at Doxology to May 26th indoors at MacGorman Chapel and Performing Arts Center
  • MacGorman seats 3,500 
    • at 25% capacity it can hold 875 safely
  • will revisit if COVID guidelines change
Mary A. Zimmerman made a motion to approve moving graduation to May 26th at MacGorman Chapel and Performing Arts Center.
Leslie Wade seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

V. President | CEO Update

A.

Updates

Weather Scenarios from last week
  • Praise to Mrs. Compton, Dr. Jackson, and all staff for navigating so many issues like no water, no electricity, etc.
  • Aside from a mild AC issue at FWAFA, we had no damage at either campus 
  • For those 5 days we did not have instruction, waiting to hear from TEA regarding waivers
Official Proclamation
  • City of Fort Worth declared the month of March as Theatre in Our Schools month 
  • Drafted by thespian students at FWAFA
  • Signed by Mayor Price and Representatives from districts 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, & 9
Auditions
  • finalized open enrollment and auditions are being completed due to power issues last week
  • spent a good part of the fall re-doing rubrics
  • all auditions were held online
  • scored and complete by the end of this week to get acceptance letters out prior to Spring Break
  • Acceptance letters will have some added flare with large envelopes like college acceptance letters, confetti, etc. 

 

Gala
  • April 9, 2021 / Virtual
  • Dan and Shelli Bates - Chairs
  • Alumni driven
    • Broadway Stars
    • Committed $5K to fund it
  • Sponsorship packets have been sent out
  • Gala performance will be free
  • Pre and Post Gala performances for sponsored tables
  • Teasers will start dropping on social media for everyone to share out
  • Mayor Price is joining us via video for the event

 

VI. Closed Session

A.

Convened to Closed Session at 7:01pm

  

B.

Opened in Closed Session at 7:05pm and closed Closed Session at 7:12pm

VII. Open Session

A.

Reconvened to Open Session at 7:15pm

   

VIII. 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 7:15 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
Melissa Goodroe

B.

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