Mrs Suffoletto attended in the zoom and had no comment.

Ms. DaCruz reviewed some staffing challenges and the fact that teachers who are new to the profession are struggling a little with classroom management. Ms. DaCruz and Ms. Colarusso discussed the fact that some special education families have chosen to return to the district to join self-contained classrooms. RISE Prep is a full inclusion model.

Ms. DaCruz stated that the priorities for the second quarter are solidifying culture, tier 1 instructions/academics and implementing schoolwide systems.

Ms. DaCruz gave the update. Collen Colarusso gave an update on the kids with special needs and on the teacher's instruction on how to handle this new situation. Meetings with parents are being scheduled faster than prior.

Placements on special settings/self-contained classrooms are made with the parents. Making the students successful without hurting the majority.  The state would like to see fewer than 15 suspensions /year. Out of school suspensions are followed with meetings with the families. 

Ms. DaCruz reached out to RIDE for our major update.   Steve Osbourne confirmed that will be posted next week.  There will be scheduled two public hearings. The school's leadership will meet with the Governor; he is aware of the fiscal impact. 

Ms. DaCruz stated that the process of finding a location for the high school is still going on with Civic Builders and are assessing how the financing structure will be like. The two frontrunners are:

1. Our Lady of Victorie - main advantage is that is privately owned. A feasibility study will be made to see what will fit in there.

2. 159 Hamlet - it will be a new built but there is a concern that can't be done on time. 

Boys and Girls Club will address the misinformation regarding their role as a swing place with the School Committee.  

Ms. DaCruz stated that the ceremony will be very small; will invite the 16 families who are founders, the board of directors and the commissioner. The event will take place on October 24th at 10:00 am. 

To pick one date for each committee. 

November 19th - at 10: 00 am

All the board members signed the Conflict of Interest.

Ms. DaCruz informed the board that she had submitted one grant for the high school with New School Ventures Grant. A second grant was submitted through Building Excellence School. 

Ms. DaCruz stated that for now we are doing info sheets with TMS. TMS has more of an education background and updating the info sheets is the necessity now. Ms. Dacruz suggested to have them share examples and to give the board one more month to review the bids. 

Ms. Dacruz stated that this company is more non-profit oriented and is missing the education background. For the moment will only try to get the logo.

Ms. Waller gave an update on the first quarter budget. She will present a draft of a different report to the financial committee. Ms. Waller stated that she will produce a statement for the next month that will break up the operating expenses and the capital expenses for both schools. She proceeded to present the non-audit report of the 2023-2024 budget. 

Ms. Waller presented the updates regarding the major amendment and the implications resulted and stated that if we are approved, the school will join the pension plans.  The employee contribution is expected to be a big change for one third of the employees, however with the proper education about the benefits it is expected a positive outcome.

The employer contribution varies and is between 15%-17%. Noteworthy is also the fact that the bulk of the employees are eligible, but not everyone. There are two possible plans to consider: teachers' pension and municipal employee's pension

Ms. Waller informed the board that she has not heard any news regarding the school's application. The auditors had previously stated that other school clients had received their refund, but those schools had applied a lot earlier. The board discussed the possibility of reaching out to the RI federal delegation to see if an update would be possible.

Mr. Beauchamp motioned to adjourn the meeting. Mr. Egan seconded. The motion passed unopposed, and the meeting ended at 10.57 am.