R. Kerr asked for clarification of two items in the "NOTES" of the last Executive Committee Meeting of 02/08/22 (quorum was not met): 

1.) Why was the "Welcome from Chair" given by L. Timoney? Was Chair R. Kerr absent for that part of the meeting? L. Timoney reviewed her notes and said that R. Kerr arrived later to that meeting.

2.) The section under "Other Business" that discusses the Board Secretary resignation of L. Timoney omits that she will continue as co-chair of the Finance Committee as well as remaining on the Board of Trustees; it is only her position as Board Secretary that she is giving up.

The notes for the Executive Committee Meeting of 02/08/22 will be amended.

R. Kerr welcomed M. Harmon-Vaught to his first Executive Committee Meeting as Board Secretary. 

She is excited about the April 1st visit of Chancellor David Banks to our school; we will be able to show him what dyslexia instruction should look like; this is a moment in time for a charter school to lead and for a large district to learn from us as a laboratory; all Board of Trustee members will be invited.

R. Kerr gave the following update: the Academic Committee will be meeting tomorrow and will discuss the following topics:

• Staffing preview presented by E.D. as part of his budget discussion
• March Dashboard; MAP data and implications for instruction and any need for curriculum changes; a data presentation format similar to Tottenville H.S.
• COVID updates
• Chancellor's visit to our school with local elected officials and Board of Regents Member, Dr. Christine Cea
• Middle school readiness; task force meeting with District 31 leadership to help find middle schools for our students; L. Timoney and T. Castanza will meet with D. 31 Superintendent Dr. Marion Wilson later today to discuss this issue
• Math curriculum update
• Testing administration and training; family outreach regarding testing
• School's updated Discipline Policy
• Report on academic partnerships

Next Academic Committee Meetings will be March 9th at 9:15 AM and April 13th at 9:15 AM

G. Winn reported that the Finance Committee will meet on March 14th to discuss the following topics:

• Budget and tax documents will be reviewed; focus right now is on how salaries for teachers and personnel will affect the budget. There is not much more to cover ahead of this meeting.
• L. Timoney added that salaries are the biggest part of the school's budget.
• We need to spend more time explaining the budget to the Board of Trustees; we only have 2 more months of meetings to clarify the budget
• Will we be evaluating and implementing a merit-based salary situation this school year or are we going to hold off until the fall?
• R. Kerr stated that DTL Christine Volpe has been working on evaluating and assessing teachers; this will be discussed at the next Academic Committee meeting to find out what stage the formula is in for determining the merit raises for teachers. M. Casale added that we need to be very clear about the metrics for determining who is eligible and who is not; G. Winn asked if they are using the Danielson Framework Model? R. Kerr responded yes, they are using Danielson Framework and within each component are specific domains of teaching responsibility and elements and need to be clarified - which of the components will be used for teacher evaluations? (1) planning and preparation, (2) the classroom environment, (3) instruction and (4) professional responsibilities? M. Casale added that Danielson can be somewhat subjective and we need to establish specific metrics to avoid nepotism and inequities; it needs to be objective and fair. L. Gyimesi stated that it's important to be objective with no appearance of favoritism. G. Winn added that Danielson is one tool, but he is concerned about not having a corporate component, such as a 360 Review, a process of getting feedback on an individual's performance from their supervisor and others who interact with them regularly, including peers. Danielson is done by principals and assistant principals and we need to make the process more robust. R. Kerr suggested that the Board of Trustees have a separate meeting with the DTL to discuss the evaluation methods further. L. Gyimesi and L. Timoney both said that this needs to be established first by school leadership, along with the metrics and then presented to the Board for review and approval. L. Timoney added that the Board has expressed several times what we are looking for, not just on the Danielson Framework Method but on more factors; as of now that has not been done; we hope that a method will be determined and that this can finally be resolved. 

Next Finance Committee Meetings will be March 14th at 4;30 PM and April 11th at 4:30 PM

L. Gyimesi reported that the Board Development & Governance Committee met on March 3rd and the following was discussed:

The Board Evaluation Survey results are in and will be presented at the full board meeting; there are no surprises; we are trying to develop a better recruitment process and focus on fundraising; we don't currently have a fundraising plan - do we need one and do we want to work on that this year? Areas that were mentioned in the evaluation surveys included education and training for board members regarding academics and finances.

The trustee job description is being shared with board members and will be posted soon; 

The next Board Development & Governance Committee Meeting will be on April 7th at 8 AM.

L. Timoney said that Board on Track should finalize the online E.D. evaluation template by March 28th; when that is done we will take the next steps; we will meet with the E.D. on a date to be determined.

T. Castanza gave the following update:

Chancellor David Banks has confirmed his visit to our school on April 1st at 10 AM.  Former Staten Island Borough President James Oddo had reached out to Mayor Eric Adams who spoke about schools for dyslexic students, to invite the mayor to visit our school; the mayor cannot attend, but he wants the chancellor to prioritize his visit here. Member of the Board of Regents Dr. Christine Cea is also invited, NYSED officials and local elected officials, as well as the Board of Trustees.

L. Timoney and E.D. met with District 31 Superintendent Dr. Marion Wilson and other D 31 leaders to discuss our 5th graders moving into middle schools; we will be meeting with her and some middle school principals later today to discuss timelines and logistics; on March 14th, E.D. will meet with 5th grade parents to discuss the roadmap of this process and get their feedback.

G. Winn asked if some of the middle school teachers will participate in our summer OG training? T. Castanza answered yes, as soon as we know which middle schools will be involved. M. Casale added that we can discuss this at tomorrow's Academic Committee Meeting.

Admissions update: we have 103 applications for 46 open seats; 2nd grade applicant count is high; 1st grade is lower; 4th grade count is highest of all. We are getting good feedback from our applicants and families; a majority of the applicants are our target group of dyslexic students. L. Gyimesi added that 9% of students have been exiting the public school system in the last year. T. Castanza responded that we will discuss adding a Kindergarten grade in a strategy session. 

L. Gyimesi asked about the Disciplinary Code revision; our policy extends beyond our school's footprint and boarders and includes surrounding streets which is a big extension of our duties; this is more than DOE policies cover; we need to know if our insurance coverage is limited to certain area parameters. T. Castanza responded that he will be happy to talk about all that when he presents the Disciplinary Code to the full board at the next meeting. 

L. Gyimesi gave the following update: 

Pasek Consulting will give us a virtual presentation on charter renewal on March 19th at 8:30 AM, followed immediately after the presentation by our virtual board meeting to discuss the Task Force for Charter Renewal.

M. Harmon-Vaught made a motion to enter into closed Executive Session to consider a matter pertaining to personnel employment; motion was 2nd by R. Kerr.

Board entered into Executive Session at 8:33 AM.

Board reconvened open meeting at 8:40 AM.

R. Kerr stated that all the board members were forwarded the resignation letter of Frank Santarpia recently. He is resigning from the board due to returning to full time in-person employment which leaves him little time to devote to the board. Further information will be shared at the next full board meeting.