R. Kerr welcomed the meeting attendees and was especially pleased to welcome Diane Hesterhagen, Principal of the Father Vincent Capodanno Catholic Academy to this meeting. 

Executive Committee Meeting held on February 10, 2021 at 8am

Committee Chair R. Kerr reported that the following was discussed:

Parental Leave Policy was deliberated and can now be finalized; recommendations have been presented to the board and will be voted on for approval at tonight's Board Meeting;  continuation of employee benefits during parental leave needs to be worked out; Executive Director Support - aiming for a meeting with T. Castanza during the first week of March; further details will be forthcoming; Executive Director Evaluation - T. Castanza completes his part of the evaluation in April, he shares that with the Board in May; school staff fills out their section of ED evaluation and all results are given to the Board; the Board then meets with ED to discuss the evaluation results; Special Board Meeting to Analyze Academic Data - T. Castanza presented the data; board members agreed they don’t need to see the raw data, just what it reflects about students and the school; Administrative Assistant Asset – Kathy Baldassano is joining us as administrative assistant to the board; this will mean less organizational tasks for the board to deal with; she will concentrate on monthly Board Meetings and Executive Committee Meetings; the other committee meetings will continue to run independently; L. Timoney will oversee the minutes. Committee Reporting Protocol – regarding capturing information at committee meetings and the requirement for minutes under the Open Meetings Law; a written record of topics covered by each committee should be made and then reported by the committee chair at the next regular full board meeting; discussion followed regarding recording minutes for all committee meetings so that there is a written record of all committee meetings.

An Executive Director Support & Evaluation Committee Meeting will be held on March 4th at 7:15pm and the next Executive Committee Meeting will be held on March 10th at 8am.

 

 

Board Development and Governance Committee held February 3, 2021 at 8am

Committee Chair L. Gyimesi reported that the following was discussed:

Board Recruitment Update - reviewed Google document; potential new board members; Handbook for New Board Members should be posted in March; Hiring Administrative Assistant - Details of employment; parameters and costs; the committee is awaiting Kathy Baldassano's decision on our offer; Annual Review of Bylaws - draft of the bylaws by the next meeting; to be completed by June; Open Meetings Law & Minutes of Committee Meetings - discussion on the Open Meetings Law and the obligation to take minutes of committee meetings; L. Timoney shared guidance she received  regarding meetings wherein there is a quorum of committee members present do require minutes, and the advised guidance is that committee reports be a succinct recordation of what was discussed.

The next Board Development and Governance Committee Meeting will be on March 3rd at 8am. 

Academic Committee Meeting held on February 9, 2021 at 6pm.

Committee Chair R. Kerr reported that the following was discussed:

 

The Facilities Subcommittee met on February 11, 2021.

Executive Director T. Castanza gave the following report:

We anticipate public release soon of a formal proposal to extend our temporary co-location at Petrides for another 2 years with an expansion into additional space in Building A. We are confident a public proposal will be released by March 1st for a vote by the Panel on Educational Policy on April 24th. Exec. Director Castanza walked through the proposed space with DoE representatives on February 22nd. He will share all information regarding this topic with the board's Facilities Subcommittee upon receipt of final proposal language from DoE.

Executive Director T. Castanza gave the following report:

School Operations – All grades are now able to attend in-person classes 4-days per week;  Planning Chart (Jan-Jun) - month-by-month tasks that need to be completed on target for next school year; shared with board members in a Google document via the BOT email account;  Admissions – unable to do in-person student recruitment events this year; letters sent to every elementary school on Staten Island, mass mailing next week to all grade-eligible students; a virtual “open house” event for families may be held after April 1st; 34 applications received; half of applicants so far qualify for the sibling preference policy, the dyslexia preference, or both; a section on enrollment and retention will be in the ED report each month; Staff Handbook – entire handbook is shared but only the Parental Leave Policy section needs approval by BOT tonight; Targeted  3 Groups Survey – a staff survey to prioritize the needs of 3 focus groups of administrators, teachers and non-instructional staff using targeted questions based on the November teacher survey results; Dashboard and Academic Data Reporting - focus is on what the data measures, what it tells us, what actions are needed based on the data, and how the data points relate to the NYSED goals for charter renewal. 100th Day of School was commemorated with a week-long celebration;  testimonials of accomplishments families see in their children will be shared with NYSED officials; Standardized Testing – a request to waive standardized testing for grades 3-8 this year was denied by NYSED, awaiting further information; tests may need to be postponed to the fall; assessments are valuable but we do not want to cause anxiety for students. Governor Cuomo Executive Order 202.95 requires teachers to report to their school district if they have received a COVID vaccination; every school and school district must report to the NYS Department of Health the number of completed vaccinations and the number and percentage of teachers of in-person classes; NYS has not yet determined the method for these reports; we are awaiting further guidance.

T. Castanza offered that the current Financial Data is contained in the Board’s Finance Committee’s report; he can offer more information if the Board wants specifics.

T. Castanza thanked the board's Executive Committee members for help with the Staff Handbook; their input on the Paid Parental Leave policy reflects that the board considered the staff and faculty, who will appreciate this very much.

L. Timoney reminded the board that tonight's vote is only on the Paid Parental Leave section contained on pages 35-38 of the handbook; it is not a vote on the entire handbook.

R. Kerr thanked everyone who attended tonight's board meeting; so much more is covered at committee meetings than could be discussed tonight.

A. Volpe said that the Family Association webpage now has a link to the school's virtual store.