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Texas Center for Arts + Academics

Minutes

TCA+A Board Meeting

Date and Time

Tuesday March 22, 2022 at 6:00 PM

Location

Kathleen E. Connors Theater 
Texas School of the Arts (TeSA)
6025 Village Parkway
Edgecliff Village, TX 76134
In-person Meeting Return: Governor Abbott’s March 2020 order temporarily suspending certain provisions of the Open Meetings Act due to the COVID-19 pandemic disaster expired August 31, 2021. Consequently, TCA+A Board Meetings will return to in-person meetings at Texas School of the Arts.

Directors Present

Daniel Bates, Leslie Scott, Leslie Wade, Mary A. Zimmerman, Melissa Goodroe (remote)

Directors Absent

Charles Reid

Ex Officio Members Present

Paul Gravley

Non Voting Members Present

Paul Gravley

Guests Present

Anika Perkins, Betsy Compton, Janelle Grau, Jennifer Jackson, Luke Byford, Penny Clay, Sheyna Ferraro, Tommy Fisher

I. Opening Items

A.

Call the Meeting to Order

Daniel Bates called a meeting of the board of directors of Texas Center for Arts + Academics to order on Tuesday Mar 22, 2022 at 6:04 PM.

B.

Record Attendance and Guests

II. Public Comments

A.

Public Comments

  • No Public Comments were made

III. Consent Agenda

A.

Approve February 22, 2022 Minutes

Leslie Scott made a motion to approve the minutes from TCA+A Special Session of the Board - Hold Date In Case Urgent Action is Needed on 02-22-22.
Mary A. Zimmerman seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

B.

Finance Statements

Mary A. Zimmerman made a motion to approve February 2022 Finance Statements.
Leslie Wade seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

IV. Academics

A.

TEA Waiver Request

  • An "Other" waiver request must be submitted in TEAL for an extension of remote conferencing beyond the allowable cumulative 20 instructional day period. The waiver request must include an explanation of the circumstances and have board approval. Waivers will be granted on a case-by-case basis. 
  • TeSA currently has 5 students who are over the 20 days and 1 student who is at 19 days 
  • We are requesting approval to submit a TEA Waiver Request
Mary A. Zimmerman made a motion to approve submitting a TEA Waiver Request for TeSA students.
Leslie Wade seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

B.

TeSA Teacher Incentive Allotment Application

  • Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA) was created by the State to help teachers get to a six figure salary for teacher retention in the state not for specific district
  • Each campus created a Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA) Committee who then presented TIA information to their peers at Professional Development Day
  • 83% of TeSA teachers voted in favor of TIA
  • TeSA hired a consultant to help with submitting an application
  • Teachers who are coded 187 qualify to be considered Recognized, Exemplary or Mastered accreditation status which stays in place for five years; this accreditation status and the funds follow the teacher to any Texas district to choose to teach
  • Application 
    • MAP Assessment - grades using this assessment will be able to participate in this first year
    • Pilot a system which will allow staff to participate the following year (fine arts teacher, dyslexia teacher, PE teachers, etc.
  • This is just one strategy for helping compensate our great teachers
    • We know teachers can earn much more at a traditional public school district
Leslie Scott made a motion to approve TeSA's Teacher Incentive Allotment Application submission.
Leslie Wade seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

C.

FWAFA Teacher Incentive Allotment Application

  • Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA) was created by the State to help teachers get to a six figure salary for teacher retention in the state not for specific district
  • Each campus created a Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA) Committee who then presented TIA information to their peers at Professional Development Day
  • 80% of FWAFA teachers voted in favor of TIA
  • FWAFA hired a consultant to help with submitting an application
  • Teachers who are coded 187 qualify to be considered Recognized, Exemplary or Mastered accreditation status which stays in place for five years; this accreditation status and the funds follow the teacher to any Texas district to choose to teach
  • Application 
    • MAP Assessment - grades using this assessment will be able to participate in this first year
    • Pilot a system which will allow staff to participate the following year (fine arts teacher, dyslexia teacher, PE teachers, etc.
  • This is just one strategy for helping compensate our great teachers
    • We know teachers can earn much more at a traditional public school district
Mary A. Zimmerman made a motion to approve FWAFA's Teacher Incentive Allotment Application submission.
Leslie Scott seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

D.

MAP Assessment Data

  • Students and teachers have worked incredibly hard to close the gaps in the learning loss created during the panic
  • MAP is a Diagnostic Assessment that engages individual student academic growth and it aligns with STAAR
  • Beginning of the year, Middle of the year, and End of the year assessments are given
  • Both campuses offer In-person campus teacher tutoring and Hey Tutor a virtual tutoring program to fit into student and parent schedules
  • Mrs. Perkins presented middle of the year results which shows all students have met growth 

V. CEO Report

A.

Updates

  • Auditions are complete
    • sent out 101 acceptance letters for FWAFA for Fall 2022
      • 4th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grade openings still
      • second round auditions for those grades will start April 4th
      • 690 potential students for 2022-2023
    • sent out 91 acceptance letters for TeSA for Fall 2022
      • all grade levels have openings still
      • second round auditions for those grades will start April 4th
      • 315 potential students for 2022-2023
    • Kindergarten has the biggest number of open spots still
    • Thank You to Sheyna Ferraro and Paula Fukuhara for their hard work on auditions
    • Thank You to Mike Trinka who voluntarily wrote the program for the spreadsheet we used to determine acceptances, saving hours and hours of staff time it's taken in the past to do this manually
  • Performances
    • Joseph and the Amazing Technocolor Dreamcoat had 4 sold out shows; 1,579 tickets sold
      • Dallas Musical Theatre - the show received nominations in every category
    • FWAFA Faculty Talent Show - sold out performance 
    • Upcoming shows at both FWAFA and TeSA in April and May; March 29th TBC and SGT will perform at Bass Hall with the University Christian Church choir
  • Read Across America
    • Patricia Hardy - Texas Board of Education Representative - read to FWAFA 4th graders outside
    • Michael Crain - City of Fort Worth Councilman - read the Theatre in our Schools Month Proclamation at FWAFA's assembly

VI. Action Items

A.

No action items

  • No action was taken

VII. 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 7:26 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
Daniel Bates

B.

CERTIFICATE AS TO POSTING OR GIVING OF NOTICE

Documents used during the meeting
  • FWAFA-Feb 2022.pdf
  • TCAA - February 2022.pdf
  • Cash Analysis Board - February 2022.pdf
  • TESA-Feb 2022.pdf
  • TIA Handbook 2022-23 TeSA DRAFT 2.20.22.pdf
  • TIA Handbook 2022-23 FWAFA DRAFT 2.20.22.pdf
  • TeSA MAP Student Growth Summary Aggregate by School.pdf
  • FWAFA MAP Student Growth Summary Aggregate by School.pdf