Brighter Choice Charter Schools

Minutes

Academic Committee Meeting

Date and Time

Thursday October 10, 2019 at 9:30 AM

Location

250 Central Avenue, Albany, NY 12206

Committee Members Present

M. Snyder, N. Velilla, T. Hanmer, Z. Nelson

Committee Members Absent

N. Maresca, R. McLaughlin, S. Wallace

Committee Members who arrived after the meeting opened

Z. Nelson

Guests Present

K. Ford, K. Mclean, L. Licygiewicz, S. Jahn, Samora Mayberry, T. Stutsrim

I. Opening Items

A.

Record Attendance and Guests

B.

Call the Meeting to Order

T. Hanmer called a meeting of the Academic Policy Committee of Brighter Choice Charter Schools to order on Thursday Oct 10, 2019 at 8:49 AM.

C.

Approve Minutes from the August 23, 2018 Academic Committee meeting

N. Velilla made a motion to approve minutes from the Academic Committee Meeting on 08-23-19 Academic Committee Meeting on 08-23-19.
T. Hanmer seconded the motion.
The committee VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

II. Academic Policy

A.

BCCSB Principal’s report and school update

K. Mclean reported:

Enrollment
had modest increases but still lower than budgeted number of scholars. SWD numbers showed modest gains over, and ENL numbers stayed about the same for June, 2019.

Absenteeism
The school is focusing on weekly attendance data nd have developed a tiered list of action steps with families of scholars who are absent or tardy 3 or more times a week. School-wide goals have been set to dramatically decrease the incidents of chronic absenteeism and tardiness.

Teacher Certification
K. Mclean has developed a Plan of Action whereby teachers lacking current certification will be identified and will work with her and L. Lygiewicz to gain certification, when possible.
 
S. Jahn shares that there is money available to help teachers offset exam fees.

Staffing
Still seeking to hire a Building Substitute Teacher and a Science teacher.

Academics
An increased school-wide focus on "Checking for Understanding" has begun.

K. Mclean shared the particulars of this focus, by trimester.

Leadership Staff
K. Mclean has identified Key Performance Indicators for her Leadership staff.

Monthly school Leadership staff will meet with K. Mclean to share data regarding their area of work to answer the questions,  "What has happened?" and "What are you doing about it? What is your plan?"

 

 


*
Z. Nelson arrived.

B.

BCCSG Principal’s report and school update

K. Ford reported:

Enrollment
Current enrollment at 330, above budgeted number of students

Increased ENL enrollment, SWD maintaining last year's number, continuing to work on increasing enrollment in these sub-groups.

Trustees discussed potential methods out outreach. M. Snyder suggests the schools reach out to the National Association for SWD in Charter Schools" as a resource.

Fall Benchmarking is complete. K. Ford shared results.

Absenteeism
The school has created an Attendance team that meets each week to act on attendance data.

T. Stutsrim will compile data each month to share with the Attendance Team.

School-wide goal to decrease rates of absences and tardies.

Parent Involvement
Increased involvement at recent Back to School Night and tat the first PTO meeting.

Staffing
One of the School Counselors has resigned. At this point she will not be immediately replaced as K. Ford assesses the school's level of need.

She wants to hire two additional Teacher Assistants.

Teacher Certification
K. Ford has identified the teachers that need to gain or update certification and will work with L. Licygiewicz and S. Jahn to support teachers. 

"Secret Sister" Program for anti-bullying month
 

 
Guest, Samora Mayberry left the meeting.

C.

Absenteeism

This topic was addressed individually by each Principal for her school.

D.

Teacher Certification

This topic was addressed individually by each Principal for her school.

III. Closing Items

A.

Future Agenda Items

Updates regarding:

* Absenteeism
* Teacher Certification

B.

Adjourn Meeting

M. Snyder made a motion to adjourn the meeting.
N. Velilla seconded the motion.
The committee VOTED unanimously 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 10:00 AM.

Respectfully Submitted,
Z. Nelson