Brighter Choice Charter Schools

Minutes

Board Meeting

Date and Time

Thursday December 14, 2023 at 9:00 AM

Location

250 Central Ave., Albany, NY

Trustees Present

M. Snyder (remote), N. Velilla, R. McLaughlin, T. Hanmer, Z. Nelson

Trustees Absent

None

Guests Present

K. Ford, K. Mclean (remote), 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 Dec 14, 2023 at 9:27 AM.

C.

Approve Minutes

R. McLaughlin made a motion to approve the minutes from Board Meeting on 11-27-23.
T. Hanmer seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

II. Committee Reports

A.

Finance Report

The Committee met Friday, December 8. During the meeting Paul Augello went through the true-ups and showed us trending with the budget and the budget implications of the Material Change. He described the Merit pay impacts and the committee discussed standards of merit pay going forward. 

L. Licygiewicz described the discussions he had with health insurance options and the ongoing conversation and we anticipate quotes.

B.

Governance Report

M. Snyder summarized the Governance Committee meeting from this morning. K. Ford and K. McLean presented their dashboards and updates that include enrollment, assessment data, culture and COVID cases. 

There is a contract with School Mint, to elevate our brand, particularly that of the Boys' school. NYS Assessments will be released today and that will show how we compare to the state and district averages. We will announce successes to the community. Both leaders described their commitment to reducing chronic absenteeism. We continue to discuss recruitment of new trustees and expanding our board and putting in place a code of conduct and expectations of commitment to the board.

III. Merit Pay Vote

A.

Merit Pay Vote

T. Hanmer made a motion to Accept and approve the merit pay at $180,000 between staff at the two schools, which has been calibrated based on staff retention and scholar success.
R. McLaughlin seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

IV. Closing Items

A.

Adjourn Meeting

T. Hanmer made a motion to adjourn.
R. McLaughlin seconded the motion.
The board 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 9:37 AM.

Respectfully Submitted,
Z. Nelson