Ms. Stiefel, a guardian of a BASSE student, addressed the loss of two dedicated teachers, and talked about students feeling loss and disruption, parents loosing trust and the remaining teachers having to carry a heavier load. She suggested that the current staffing structure should be reviewed.  Further she noted she believes in the school, supports the mission and wants to see BASSE succeed.

Dr. Berry shared a number of items.  DDOE has noted recent announced changes to the US Department of Education including that programs currently supporting charter schools are slated to be transferred to the Department of Labor and will work carefully to adjust to this change should it occur.  

The Interdisciplinary Leadership Team (ILT) at BASSE is looking at the possibility of submitting a major revision to our charter that would slow our growth from what was originally proposed.

Additionally, following the termination of our contract by PCA at the end of September, the ILT has established it's own business office engaging both building staff and external contractors to insure ongoing compliance with DDOE.

ILT and Board members met with DDOE on November 19, meeting some new staff and briefing the team on what's happening with BASSE.  It was a positive and productive meeting. 

Signatory authority for the Proximate Network account, which supports BASSE, has successfully been expanded to include both Dr. Berry and Dr. Cauley.

The first external audit, required by the state is underway and will be completed before the end of the year.

Print Coast to Coast was in the building recently to add the last two panels and some footprints on the floor to the reproduction of the Milton Historical Society's story of Brian's Life, Walking Ito Greatness.

Dr. Berry reported that Raushann has identified a room rental policy provided by the DDOE which we will be adopting as we explore renting parts of the building to outside organizations after school and on the weekends.  This can be both a recruiting tool and an opportunity to increase community awareness about the school.  If we plan to routinely rent space, like the gym or multi-purpose room for outside events we will need to have our insurance company review current policy and we may want to purchase some round tables and additional chairs to have on hand.

Candace Shetzler reported on a routine review/audit of DDOE indicators 9 and 10 related to special education which is currently underway.  This set of indicators reviews the proportionality in a building of special education students across race and other indicators.  Ten students were selected by DDOE to be reviewed during the audit, all of whom came to us as transfers from other schools and already had active IEPs.  As a part of this overall process, Candace has completed an extensive review of our charter to determine to what extent we are currently meeting the goals of the charter related to special education services and where we may need to make adjustments. Additionally, she is noting there are specific items in the charter for which we should have policies and procedures in a manual to insure consistency.  Additionally, Candace suggested, that while not specifically addressed in the charter, we might want to consider developing a policy, consistent with our mission and goals, related to evaluation and referral of students wishing to transfer to BASSE from other schools.   

Raushann Austin and Candace Shetzler reported on happenings in the building and recruiting efforts for next year.

Students recently completed a food drive exceeding their original goal of 500 items, and will be distributing food to families before the holidays.  Associated with this project students participated in a Gratefulness Project school-wide.

Following the loss of our ELA and Math teachers, we have identified a solid candidate for math who will start after the first of the year, and we are interviewing for the ELA position.  Additionally, we now have our two full-time special education educations on board. 

The Winter Dance is coming up in December and plans are underway.

We are in the middle of marking period 2, and parent conferences have recently been completed. The contractor we hired to work with us on business administration is completing training required by the state to access all systems and should be fully on board by mid-December.

In addition to routine contact with parents through newsletters, regular electronic communications and individual conversations, Raushann held her first "Chat and Chew" morning meeting to offer an opportunity for informal conversations with the Head of School and parents. Additionally, Candace reported she has developed a special education parent advisory group with a first meeting scheduled for December 3.

Recruiting season is underway which includes a number of events, radio and social media posts, mailings, fliers, school tours, and events like Dine and Donates to get the word out about BASSE. As of the date of the meeting, November 25, there were 16 completed applications for new students next year.