Bridge Preparatory Charter School
Minutes
Executive Committee Meeting
Date and Time
Wednesday March 24, 2021 at 4:00 PM
Committee Members Present
G. Winn (remote), L. Gyimesi (remote), L. Timoney (remote), M. Casale (remote), R. Kerr (remote)
Committee Members Absent
None
Guests Present
F. Ebanks (remote), K. Baldassano (remote), T. Castanza (remote)
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
L. Timoney called a meeting of the Executive Committee Committee of Bridge Preparatory Charter School to order on Wednesday Mar 24, 2021 at 4:03 PM.
L. Timoney stated that there are no minutes to approve at this time.
C.
Welcome from Chair
R. Kerr welcomed everyone. The purpose of today's meeting is to review the actions and projects for April, May and June; during this time Executive Director T. Castanza will be taking Family Leave within a few weeks for the birth of his baby, as well as some time off in the summer months. Fahron Ebanks will be taking his place during his absence. There are some upcoming procedures and plans that we need to review and approve in these last 3 months of the school year, such as the budget, contracts, and staffing/hiring plans.
II. Executive Committee
A.
Coverage During ED Summer Leave (+ April)
T. Castanza offered the following information:
- F. Ebanks, COO will be replacing the ED during his absence in the summer months and his brief Family Leave;
- ED has been working with F. Ebanks to plan and prepare for major projects each month;
- A copy of the 2021-2022 Coverage & Leave Planning Chart was given to the board members for their review.
- Spring break runs from March 27th-April 5th;
- ED plans to return to the building no later than April 16th.
- ED will make himself available for any items needed for DOO or Board of Trustees and will virtually attend all board meetings that occur during April, May and June;
- F. Ebanks will attend board meetings in July..
T. Castanza reviewed the high points of the upcoming Ongoing & Scheduled Work Projects for the months of March-August:
- The Joint Public Hearing for our school's expansion will be held on April 19th;
- NYSED 3rd Grade ELA test is scheduled for April 22nd; 3rd Grade Math test is May 6th; staff will be trained on test protocols; notice will go out to parents regarding the tests; we are still awaiting decision from NYSED on whether the tests will be offered - but we need to be prepared nonetheless;.
- We need the school budget confirmation of the Board of Trustees before May 19th;
- NYSED spring check-in virtual visit by Kim Santiago; this will be an informal visit and she will offer us guidance and support based on her observations; she will visit some classrooms and meet with school staff; she will focus on key design elements.
B.
Admissions Update (pre-lottery)
T. Castanza discussed the following:
- An overview of the student admission procedure
- A copy of the school's 2021-2022 Admission Policy was given to board members;
- The student admission lottery will be held on April 5th. We expect to have a lottery drawing for every grade level.
- We are receiving a large number of admission applications and will probably continue to received applications after the lottery; we will have a wait-list for anyone who is not chosen in the lottery drawing.
C.
DTL Hiring & Hiring Committee
T. Castanza discussed the following:
- The Hiring Committee launch started on March 26th; we are still receiving resumes; and expect to hire a DTL very soon;
- On the hiring of a Math Coach, the job will be posted soon; G. Winn recommends we reach out to Shelly DuBose, a consultant at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt-Singapore Math Curriculum to help with professional development and to advise on hiring a Math Coach.
- Staff retention process is ongoing; new staff hiring begins May 10th; "Intention to Return" letter will go out to all staff regarding their choice on returning to the school next year; we are thinking about what non-salary benefits are important and possible incentive re-signing bonuses for staff; this would affect this year's budget since the bonuses would have to be paid before June 30th FY end, but we do have the money available in this year's budget; if the board members are comfortable with this idea, further discussion can be had regarding the bonus amounts.
- A copy of the Staff Survey/Focus Group Responses were given to the board members to review; anonymous responses from staff regarding monetary compensation/salary, health & medical benefits, retirement plan, work day/school schedule and other perks.
D.
Salary Structure & Planning
T. Castanza & G. Winn discussed the following:
- We need to review what the salary figures in the draft budget represent; board members asked ED to give them a chart or memo indicating staff's current salaries/proposed salaries /differentials/remarks indicating the basis for the salary changes; they would like the information to be simple and easily understood by the board; the data details the interaction of the Academic and Finance Committees; T. Castanza and G. Winn can compile that information from the budget Excel file and submit it to the board for guidance and approval in May; they will include DOE & UFT salary scale information.
- Contract reviews have already begun; we need to decide which contracts to renew and which to terminate and when; also the costs involved will affect the budget; some contracts are automatically renewed; the Schoolrunner analytics technology program keeps school records, student attendance and student data, and we need to review their contract which is paid up through the end of the year; PowerSchool is another technology program for school management that we will look into, but it needs a big launch period, so we need to review this further; L. Gyimesi asked to be included in those discussions.
- Rusty will give us additional insurance coverage quotes; we will share this information with the board after we see the recommendations in May
E.
Alignment of school schedule
T. Castanza discussed the proposed changes to the school day which runs from 8:15am-3:15pm:
- The changes are considered "non-material" by NYSED, which has already reviewed the proposal; there is no reduction in the number of programming minutes for CORE academic subjects (Math, ELA, Science, Social Studies);
- L. Gyimesi stated that all changes need to be in alignment with our school's charter with the most important key design elements;
- A copy of the 2021-2022 Daily School Schedule was given to the board members for their review;
- A structured SEL Morning Meeting period of 30 minutes will be formed from the former Morning Meeting & SEL Class periods;
- Designated Specials Block period for SEL/Mindfulness will be added to each Friday afternoon;
- It provides clarity for families around dismissal and opportunities for after-school programming starting at 3:30pm;
- It will be more efficient for busing, special education programming/services and teacher coverages/preps.
III. Other Business
A.
Executive Session
Motion was made by L. Timoney to enter into Executive Session to discuss a personnel matter;
Motion 2nd by R. Kerr and approved unanimously by board members present. Board members entered into Executive Session at 5:15pm.
Board adjourned Executive Session and reentered Public Session at 5:57pm.
IV. 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 5:58 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
K. Baldassano