Immunization and Health policy - EC discussed compliance with public health law and NYCDOE.  NYSED has a good form and we propose to adopt it.  The only exemption allowed is a genuine and sincere religious belief which prohibits immunization and is very subjective. Parents must fill out the form and attest to its truthfulness. There are parents seeking exemption who have applied to the school.  We can not enroll them until we adopt this policy.  The Executive Director needs to decide at the school level if their application is granted, denied or we need additional information. We will be in compliance with the public health law and NYSED and they have to apply for this every year. Also, in the event that any provision of the law changes at any time, Bridge Prep will immediately notify impacted families and ensure all parties are in compliance with the law. We want to add that compliance sentence that state law shall govern this and have it notarized. 

G. Winn, T. Castanza and L. Timoney went to the board recruitment event at the Harvard Club.  It was busy and well attended by people who were there to join boards they are interested in. There was a fundraising consultant we met with who may be good to have come to one of our board meetings. Interesting note - some schools there were completely and privately funded. 

We are going to keep the board meetings on the 2nd Wednesday of the month for the next calendar year, and the meetings will move to the school in either August or September.  We should have quorum for June, July and August with a few board members out of town. 

Work right now is around the budget.  Finance Committee meeting was held tonight, and we are putting a schedule together to show the different iterations of the budget until we vote on it at June Board meeting.  The board will have a conference call for the purpose of feedback tentatively scheduled for May 30th.  There will be three finance meetings prior to that call to drill down on the budget and the corresponding narrative.  The calls are with Tim, BoostEd and members of the board.  We asked BoostEd to add an appendix to the budget on items we need to focus on in the spreadsheet. Also, color code from draft to draft to note changes. 

Update on Audit - there were two follow-up questions on payroll procedures from Little Bird HR.  We are fully in compliance with the 45 day time limit and notification will be sent to finance committee. 

M. Petrone and M. Casale have spent the past 7 weeks reviewing companies, curriculum materials and negotiating and presented the best choices. A spreadsheet was given out and blue highlight represented top picks. The DTL was involved in this review and process. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) really impressed us and came up with a program that addresses dyslexia.  HMH sent seasoned curriculum experts who presented digital, phonics, family outreach and classroom design components. They will help us compile and analyze data and the cost is reasonable. They want to make us a pilot school. HMH has a data specialist if we need to help teachers input information and analyze the data with an annualized cost of $13,500. We need to acquire the intellectual knowledge and build capacity to scale. We recommend HMH be our vendor for ELA, Math in Focus (which is Singapore), Dimension science and social studies and use them in an interdisciplinary way for all subject areas and all are aligned to Next Generation Standards. We have a little more work do to on MAP assessments, which are somewhat redundant with State assessments.  MAP is nationwide and we can use it to benchmark and hold ourselves accountable. We are going to create a culture and recommend the following book for all of us to read - Mindset The New Psychology of Success. Now it goes back to the Executive Director to make the ultimate decision.  All should be done by May 30 and included in the budget. There will be Academic Committee meetings to hammer out any remaining items and present final recommendations at the June board meeting.  MAP is what we put in our charter application and is non-negotiable.  We should meet with MAP as a committee. NYC DOE is replacing their system with MAP.  We will be doing MAP assessments to see where our kids are at in the Fall. 

Given out - no comments. 

See Finance Committee Update.
Walton Grant update - because we filled out the application last year we are good.  T. Castanza is going to look at last years application to get prepared. We are likely to qualify for the $250K grant.  Tim will reach out as needed for information beyond what can be taken from our charter application. 

Enrollment is ongoing. 38 first graders and 44 second graders enrolled. We have a 3 students and 21 students wait listed respectively for both grades.  We still have applications coming in. We have 1 student from Brooklyn enrolled. At this point the numbers are good.  In terms of target student, we estimate approximately 50% - more than we would have had with the set-aside lottery. Next year we anticipate a general lottery.  There are still potential issues that could affect enrollment like transportation.  We have already met with OPT though and are working with them. 

Hiring committee call planned for Tuesday.  We are hiring 6 main teachers, 1 SETSS teacher and 1 ENL teacher.  Teachers are the priority hiring focus.  We have already received a lot of resumes via our website and from Wagner College. The spec will be posted on Teach for America, our site, and all colleges. We are also hiring a Speech and Language Pathologist on staff.  We have a list of providers and Perfect Playground is the primary provider on Staten Island for speech, OT and PT.  We are hiring a Social worker too.  There is a list with timelines and positions being hired.  At the June meeting there will be an update as well as ongoing updates on Fridays from the Executive Director. 

One Question - do Saturdays count as school days? Yes.  We have 183 school days.  If students are in school until 12pm it counts as an academic school day. 

A conversation was had regarding hiring the DSI, dual certification, knowledge of IEPs and special education experience within teachers, and how consultants are integrated into the organizational chart. 

A discussion was had in terms of payment schedule and finalizing details of planning and flexibility in the proposal.