Change in Agenda  - Under voting section, we are not voting on Code of Conduct but will vote on that next month.  Instead, we will replace that with voting on Insurance Policies which expire July 1. 

The Board Chair welcomed and thanked all in attendance and shared she will be away in July and back in August. Please note transportation, health, and complaint policies are all part of the School's Student & Family Handbook, which we will be voted on in its entirety in July with any updates or embellishments. Also welcomed was J. Moreau from BoostEd who is here for questions or clarification as we are voting on the 2019-2020 school budget. Congrats to L. Tobacco who is the new CEO & President of Monsignor Farrell High School.

We discussed the immunization exemptions for the Health policy, the budget to gain more clarity, and our pending agreement with BoostEd.  All items will be covered later in the meeting.

We received a letter from an entity that has trademark use of the name BRIDGEPREP (and Design).  It was simply a letter saying we have that name and want to ensure there is no confusion in the marketplace.  It was not from an attorney nor was it a cease and desist letter.  L. Wedinger will reach out to them - they are located in Florida.  We are really Bridge Prep Charter School and are looking into trademarking Bridge Prep Charter School. 

R. Kerr mentioned committee members W. Halle, M. Casale, and A. Margolis and a recent call. T. Castanza will give an update on the curriculum too.  M. Casale, our curriculum consultant M. Petrone, T. Castanza, R. Kerr and Jesse (Director of Teaching and Learning) have chosen all the content and enrichment areas in the form of curriculum and service providers. They did a lot of work on this.  We will be voting on vendor agreements next month and Tim will inform us which content areas have been agreed upon.  This is all content other than OG and we are very confident about it.  
T. Castanza - our core content (Science, Social Studies, Math and ELA) will be provided by Houghton Mifflin.  The ELA is Into Reading and comes with a pilot program they are debuting this year called I Read.  Math is Math in Focus, which is Singapore Math, and we will have an extra PD day for that. Social Studies is a program they will pilot with us for free and science is an established program. 
Point of clarity - these are individual purchase orders for each content area not a contract.  It really is a check request and the detailed purchase orders will be provided in the July meeting. All of these curriculum figures are in the budget and everything is covered.
Specialty subjects are Art, Music and Gym. Instead of going to one place, we put feelers out and are considering a sole source provider for Art - Sundog Theater - which encompasses visual art, drama and dance. We did consider Marquee Studios - they do both art and music but are very expensive. We may consider advertising for both art and music.
PE - we will get someone part time and align to NYC education standards and the state required 120 minutes.  We are working out details with Petrides on where PE can take place.  
A discussion ensued and the main takeaways are:
1.  The speciality subjects are key areas where innovation can happen marrying art, music and movement with OG.
2.  We need to have people who are familiar with disabilities and how to teach to those students.  If they are not trained in that area, we need to train them.  A. Margolis offered to conduct training.  
Conclusion: Academic Committee will meet before the next board meeting and we need to have some special training for specialty providers to understand our kids. 
We will also be using:
MAP Assessments
Leader In Me for school culture - we got a great deal because of Rose Kerr's involvement in Bridge Prep
Sanford Harmony - which teaches empathy, self-advocacy and listening skills. Program is free. 

We basically focused on our BoostEd agreement and proposed some changes when we met with Paul and Josh in May.  Effectively, we will continue the relationship as is but transition in house the Accounts Payable function and the bi-monthly invoicing to NYC DOE.  Tim and RoseMarie went through training for the student invoicing, which is basically the gut of revenue derived from the IEPS.  Boost Ed will support us annually from an audit stand point and to ensure we have tied what we are billing to compliance.  We spent a lot of time around budget too and both the budget and the agreement with BoostEd are up for vote tonight. 

The board was given the 2019-2020 calendar to review and check all dates.  It was decided to move the meeting in September from 9/11 to 9/18. If there are any additional changes, please let L. Timoney know.  The board meetings will be moved to the school in August and perhaps July. 

After carefully reviewing the bylaws, we will be holding elections in July after the terms expire on June 30, 2019.  Board members whose terms expire June 30 are Laura Timoney, Amy Margolis and Maria Casale. 

OPT controls the overall policy and we follow state transportation rules.  We added items to personalize the policy to suit Bridge Prep like the FAQs. This is part of the Student and Family Handbook which will be voted on at the July board meeting. 

This is part of the Student and Family Handbook which will be voted on at the July board meeting. 

This is part of the Student and Family Handbook which will be voted on at the July board meeting. 

It was decided we would vote on this policy at the July Board meeting

Thanks to all who worked on the budgeting process. There was a very collaborative effort with the board and BoostEd and as a result we developed some good methodologies and improvements going forward. Initial projections of IEPs look very solid.  We were more conservative with our projections in the budget and don't anticipate any major changes. DOE said we can expect payment in mid-July. We cannot bill the DOE for any services they are going to providers. 

This is a proposal from the consultant who wrote our CSP grant proposal.  There are many detailed reports that needs to be done throughout the year to justify funding for Title1, Title 4, etc. grants. 

This is all the networking and IT services throughout the year.  This includes all data drops, working with DIT at NYC DOE, consulting, servicing, troubleshooting, unlimited remote support, onsite support, etc. This is not new to the budget and has been projected throughout and will be paid on a monthly basis. 

This is the agreement to continue for another year with BoostEd as our financial consultant.  The major changes in the agreement are a shift to bringing Accounts Payable and Student Billing in house. 

The Insurance policies are in line with the budget.  Once the Executive Committee reviews the policies in greater detail, they will give the Executive Director the authority to bind the policies. The policies came a bit late because we did not have an official school location until after the May PEP vote. They could not issue a policy without a location. Insurance policies can be cancelled at any time.  A. Margolis asked that we investigate keeping pollution insurance with Gallagher. 

Financial reports were in the board packets.  One question was asked on budget vs. actuals which Josh addressed. 

We are fully enrolled at 88 students, this number includes 2 students who have requested religious exemption to immunizations. We are maintaining a waitlist of 22 which breaks down to (20) second graders and (2) first graders. There was still demand after the application deadline. We plan on making two additional offers to offset possible student fallout. 

Family Welcome Night - Bridge Prep hosted its first official school event. There was no RSVP required and this was not a mandatory event. The room was set for 90 people. Families came 45 minutes early, and we had to bring out more chairs.  Families wrote words of thanks which included "life changing", "most exciting year of school yet", "can't wait to go to school next year", "tears of joy", "speechless", "my son and I are included", and "so happy to be part of this school".  Questions from families mainly centered around parent involvement.  

Teachers - after multiple meetings and a lesson planning activity, we have 60% of our lead teaching staff hired. We are ensuring our teaching staff is certified and diverse.  
Associate Teachers - made 50% of offers as of today.  They teachers are approaching certification or brand new teachers.  
DSI - we have a candidate who interviewed as a teaching candidate but she is spot on for this role. We are meeting again early next week.  We also have a back up candidate who is a special education teacher. 

We originally spoke to Ann Edwards about a total of 75 days for the onsite training.  We worked it to say no more than 75 days, decided upon a clear time period of start and end dates, and finalized the 30 hour training Aug 12-16.  This training lines up with the staff professional development and board members are welcome to sit in on the training. 

The Board can do a walk through of the space in July.  School Facilities has been wonderful and working quickly. 

R. Kerr discussed the renewal of the mentor agreement with ends in June and will take it up with the Finance Committee to discuss with them further. Steve, the mentor, will be mentoring Tim, Jesse and the Direction of Special Instruction. Hours will be the same or slightly more per week as necessary.  The role of the mentor is budgeted for already.  
After July 1 - is there any sense there is a problem renewing the mentorship program?  Proposing up to 14 hours per week and the Executive Committee look at the service proposal and we will report back at the next Board meeting.  

The Borough President wants to have a celebratory event for school families, staff and the board.  There was an event planned at the Hilton, but needed to be rescheduled. A new date and time will be determined.