R. Kerr welcomed the attendees and noted that this has been an unusual year, but it's good because students are back in school and learning.

R. Kerr reported that at the Executive Committee Meeting on September 8th,  the following topics were discussed: committee co-chairs & structure; L. Gyimesi will lead a task force on reauthorization, recruiting new board members, and strategic planning; another task force will be formed on the executive director's evaluation, role & goals. T. Castanza updated committee members on COVID safety protocols; Department of Health and NYSED policies; universal masking policy for staff and students and mandated vaccinations for school staff; new school space in Building A at Petrides. Further details on the topics discussed can be obtained from the minutes of the last executive committee meeting.

L. Timoney reviewed the agreed-upon dates and times for upcoming committee meetings:

The next Executive Committee Meeting will be held on November 2nd at 7:45 a.m.

R. Kerr reported that the Academic Committee Meeting will be tomorrow, October 13th. The following topics are on the agenda for discussion at that meeting: an academic dashboard will be presented to the committee; update on school staffing vacancies and filling positions; the impact on instruction due to moving to Building A; the impact on IEP services as a result of providers' and agencies' vacancies and staff shortages; busing issues; OG assessment update.

The next Academic Committee Meeting will be held on October 13th at 9:15 a.m., followed by November 10th at 9:15 a.m.

G. Winn & L. Timoney reported that the last Finance Committee Meeting was October 4th and the following topics were discussed: line of credit; investment strategies; not appropriate to authorize higher levels of expenditures at this time; whether allowing automated payment for contracts having regular payment plans to be presented to the board at the beginning of each fiscal year, allowing the board to approved those automated payments in advance instead of individually each month; school audit results by Schall & Ashenfarb were presented; we are in good standing and a final draft of the audit will be presented to the full board at the next regular board meeting; one minor issue concerns the debit card, which is being considered for removal since the debit card structure does not allow enough oversight until after the card is used; the debit card matter will be discussed at a future meeting.

R. Kerr stated that it is outstanding that no exceptions were discovered in the audit and school income is good but we have sources of income now that we will not have in the future.

G. Winn added that we don't know what we would face if we had to pay for classroom space or rent. He was impressed with the information from F. Ebanks regarding the school website and finding a company to make the site welcoming, informative and compliant with state rules and regulations.

The next Finance Committee Meeting will be on November 8th at 4 p.m.

L. Gyimesi reported that the last Governance Committee Meeting was on October 7th and the following was discussed: committee goals; creating an orientation and welcome package for new board members, along with an opportunity to meet with L. Gyimesi for any questions or ideas; sponsoring a retreat sometime in November; a structured streamlined approach to recruitment of new board members; renewal and recertification of school's charter; Becky Peters recommended the Pascal Company, a small company that assists schools with renewal of their charters. R. Kerr asked if this would be a short-term expenditure rather than ongoing; L. Gyimesi responded that they would stay on board until our charter gets renewed in March 2024; the cost is usually $26,000 per year for a 3-year contract, but we could be contracted for a shorter period of time, approximately 2 years and 3 months; they evaluate the school, complete and submit all documents and provide us with in-depth analysis regarding any gaps they may find; we can set up a meeting between the board members and the company representative so that we can get all our questions answered; in the meantime we will obtain a copy of their contract for review and see if they will pro-rate the cost for this year or start the contract in January 2022; we can research other companies and discuss what we need, but a decision needs to be made soon since Pascal Company only works with a limited number of schools; we will present this to the full board at the November board meeting.

The next Governance Committee Meeting will be held on November 4th at 8 a.m.

L. Timoney stated that ED Tim Castanza will not be joining us at today's Executive Committee Meeting; he said he is not in school today and therefore won't be joining us remotely in this meeting.

R. Kerr said that T. Castanza did not share this information with her in advance. L. Timoney added that she will communicate with ED regarding not telling the committee members in advance that he would not attend today's meeting; she will share the ED goals with the executive committee in the near future; we should meet with the ED to discuss how we feel things are going and to summarize the areas we want to focus on. M. Casale would like to revisit board policy regarding school staff taking time off during 3-day weekends.

G. Winn added that review and feedback to ED should be done very soon.

L. Timoney reported that Mark Harmon-Vaught has been approved by NYSED to take his place as a Board of Trustees member effective immediately.

R. Kerr stated that Amy Margolis submitted a letter of resignation as a board member; she stated she can no longer serve on our board due to the COVID crisis and family responsibilities; R. Kerr sent her a response letter on behalf of the Board of Trustees thanking A. Margolis for her efforts as an important contributor to our board.

L. Timoney reviewed the updated contract for Board on Track, which indicates a change in our membership package to reflect only the items we need; as a result our costs are reduced from $12,995 per year to $5,995 per year; the full board will vote on this at the next regular meeting.