L. Gyimesi welcomed everyone and thanked them for staying after the virtual Pasek Consulting presentation on charter renewal which just ended. 

L. Gyimesi discussed the following:

The purpose in holding this Charter Renewal Task Force Meeting is to try to divide the task force members into different areas covering the different components and performance benchmarks of our charter renewal process,  

The performance benchmarks fall into 4 categories and task force members can choose which category to focus on. 

The categories are: 

• EDUCATIONAL SUCCESS/STUDENT PERFORMANCE: Academic success and ability to operate in an educationally sound manner.
• ORGANIZATIONAL SOUNDNESS: Viability and ability to operate in a fiscally sound manner.
• FAITHFULNESS TO CHARTER AND THE LAW: Fidelity to the terms of the charter and compliance with the laws. (L. Gyimesi volunteers to work on this category.)
• PUBLICITY/FUNDRAISING: A new category addition, but an important one. 

The performance benchmarks that our school will be judged on were highlighted by Pasek Consulting in their presentation. 

L. Gyimesi asked the members of the task force to pick a category to focus on, and reminded the board that outsiders and non-board members can assist us with these categories and can also sit on this task force. There will be another Charter Renewal Task Force Meeting to discuss middle school, partnership development and other topics after the NYSED mid-term visit to Bridge Prep in May. This NYSED visit is critical for setting the stage for our charter renewal. We can get a sense of where we stand from NYSED questions at that visit.

There followed a general discussion by board members et al. on these topics: 

The need to focus on getting our charter renewed before we make any major decisions regarding adding grades. What are our long-term plans? What can we do or not do? E.D. meets with parents on May 31st. When we message to families, we need to be consistent; we should have further conversations after our May meeting. How can we relieve parents' anxiety on these topics? A simple statement to update parents at the May 31st meeting after our board meets in mid-May for further discussion. Vaccine mandates are a parent concern as well as the middle school situation and parents appreciate what the E.D. shares at meetings.  

The following was discussed by board members et al.

What is the role of fundraising in renewal? Do we really have a budget surplus? We may need to consider the possibility of having to buy a building or pay rent in future budget discussions. Will whether we can locate elsewhere be considered under financial stability as part of our renewal process? 

B. Peters offered that when she was involved with prior charter schools, it was an internal goal to survive without fundraising and that was continued through their renewal process; how do you know you will get the fundraising money on a regular basis? 

M. Harmon-Vaught added that the Kips charter schools operate solely on public funds and ancillary work was done via fundraising. 

Bridge Prep wants to exist on basic core income, but the teacher academy could be funded otherwise. We also need to look at our operating cash flow, cash on hand, lines of credit, etc.

L. Gyimesi stated that we are strong in our renewal development, but the small issues can affect our renewal outlook, such as whether to have a fundraising plan and what use to make of the funds.

L. Gyimesi stated that another subgroup to consider is publicity; could that help us with our ELL population recruitment? 

T. Castanza added that aside from renewal consideration, a skilled fundraiser on the Board of Trustees brings the opportunity to fund public relations and marketing work; fundraising and public relations work together.

M. Harmon-Vaught said that a media-relations consultant firm such as Knickerbocker can be funded privately by gifts and can help build a brand. Regarding renewal, are we increasing outreach to the ELL population? In finance, the 5-year budget is important for renewal. It was surprising to hear Dan Pasek talk about disqualification of a design element of a charter. T. Castanza responded that perhaps he meant that in the renewal process, a school could look at the design elements and perhaps want to remove one that should not have been there in order to clarify or to add a more distinguishing design element.

L. Gyimesi said that the Pasek presentation gave us a lot to think about. We can deal with the issue of middle school at the May meeting; she reminded everyone to think about which of the 4 categories they would like to work on; and if you know of anyone who wants to help us by joining our task force, please invite them.

R. Kerr stated that she wanted to thank L. Gyimesi for all her hard work on the task force and setting up the Pasek presentation; she also thanked B. Peters for volunteering her time and attending these meetings; when will the task force meet again? L. Gyimesi responded that the task force should meet in April to see which benchmark categories board members have chosen to work on; a school staff member will also be involved in each benchmark group. Pasek Consulting will be reaching out to each board member for data and information on the category they have chosen. In May the task force can meet to discuss middle school expansion and charter renewal.

L. Timoney added that the April board meeting will be earlier than usual (April 13th) due to schools being closed for Spring Recess.