Brighter Choice Charter Schools
Minutes
Board Meeting
Date and Time
Thursday March 12, 2026 at 9:30 AM
Location
250 Central Ave., Albany, NY
Trustees Present
A. Schnide, M. Snyder (remote), N. Velilla, S. Harris, S. Jahn, T. Hanmer, Z. Nelson
Trustees Absent
C. Driggs, H. Sarwer
Guests Present
K. Ford, L. Licygiewicz
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
M. Snyder called a meeting of the board of trustees of Brighter Choice Charter Schools to order on Thursday Mar 12, 2026 at 9:10 AM.
C.
Approve Minutes
N. Velilla made a motion to approve the minutes from Board Meeting on 02-12-26.
S. Jahn seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
II. Committee Reports
A.
Governance Report Out-
B.
'26-'27 School Calendar- Vote
T. Hanmer made a motion to adopt the Calendar for 26-27 school year.
N. Velilla seconded the motion.
The calendar will begin September 1 and end June 25th and will be otherwise aligned with Albany City School District.
III. Closing Items
A.
Adjourn Meeting
T. Hanmer made a motion to adjourn.
N. Velilla seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 9:25 AM.
Respectfully Submitted,
Z. Nelson
Martha Snyder reported on the two principal reports, including updates on enrollment, special populations, the SED report from the site visit. The report was overwhelmingly positive with the schools meeting 9 benchmarks and approaching 1. Re-registrations are trending ahead of where we were last year. The committee discussed a need to keep focused on Boys' school enrollment and staff openings where principal and assistant principal filling gaps. The committee discussed a disciplinary hearing that resulted in a scholar being expelled due to behavior issues that continued despite extended attempts to support the scholar.
The committee also discussed the 5500 being filed for 403B plan as well as the building next door is for sale and was offered to the school. The board will discuss this as well as moving to a partial hybrid meeting model.