A roll call was conducted, quorum established.

K Cauley reviewed the terms of Public Comment and invited those who had submitted the required form to speak.

None were present to make public comment.

Dr. Berry introduced Brian Moore, School Launch Leader and invited him to offer some words of introduction.

I can remember the first charter school introduced by the Red Clay District over 25 years ago, and I have been a supporter of charter schools ever since.

I have worked with a number of school districts, for the Department of Education and in local and state level juvenile justice programs.  I have been inspired by Bryan Stevenson and excited about the mission and vision of BASSE.  BASSE brings together all of the experiences of my career, and I am excited to work with students, teachers and administrators, developing leaders who advocate for people who can't advocate for themselves,

We can do amazing things here.

Dr. Berry asked Brian to talk a bit about the physical plant at BASSE, in particular the heating system.

Brian explained that the system is outdated and not sufficient for the size of the building.  In one example, the control issues are not digital and quite out of date in terms of notification capacity around system malfunction/failure.  If a boiler goes out and the system cools down it can take two days or more to reheat the building.  Notification with an hour of this kind of problem would facilitate quick response and repair.

As short term solution to future malfunctions, there are now large capacity space heaters for each classroom.  If necessary, a heating system can be "rented" temporarily but at great cost.

The larger issue is when and at whose expense the system is upgraded, which would qualify as a minor capitol expense.

Jeffrey asks question--the infrastructure of the building does not appear to be able to support the building--what is the role of our landlord in this situation?  Isn't our landlord a state agency? our landlord a state agency?  

Brian explains that indeed Del Tech is part of the state, not technically a state agency, and that discussions will be ongoing about responsibility for a functional HVAC system in the building.

Dr. Berry and Kate attended the regular Charter School Network meeting where Kendall addressed current national political issues and their potential impact on DE and public schools, the new budget from DOE for the next year, and reviewed meetings with new DOE administration.

There are still concerns about the state's funding formula for both regular and public charter schools, and the Charter School Network continues to work with regulation 1596 related to school leader certification. 

Dr. Berry introduced Cassandra Ellis, to fill the role of parent board member.

Cassandra Ellis is both a BASSE parent and special education teacher at the school.

I first learned about BASSE from FB when my son was transitioning to public schools.  He loved the BASSE model and it was a good fit.  My son became a member of the Student Voice Advisory Group and has been engaged with the group for the past two years.  When a position opened up in November such that I could join the BASSE team, I immediately applied and joined the team.

I know we are making a difference as relationships form with students. I love the school.

Dr. Berry introduced Jackie Cantiello to fill the role of teacher/staff board member.

I am the School Counselor at BASSE.   I am focused on helping kids and BASSE aligns with all of my values and priorities.  I wanted to be a part of this exciting school and it has become my home.  It's been challenging but nothing we can't conquer.  

Brian called out Ms. Ellis who responded without hesitation to a student emergency in the building just yesterday.  Ms. Ellis went above and beyond to gain access to the student and provide assistance.

Ms. Ellis is a great example of the dedication of our staff at BASSE.

Academics;  progress reports go out this Friday and IC is on board so parents can access progress reports virtually.  Progress reports for kids who are having difficulty will be sent home as well.

Center for Economic Development for Youth and WSFS did a presentation for students and provided training around setting up a bank account.  Any student who is interested can set up a non-custodial savings account in their name to provide experience managing a bank account.  

Vape Free DE will be making a presentation at BASSE on Friday, thanks to Ms. Cantiello.

Student Voice Advisory Group continues to meet weekly, partnered/supported with Up For Learning. 

As part of Black History month the Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice is presenting an event called From Dreams to Action: Celebrating MLK's Legacy for Change at Epworth United Methodist Church on February 28, and a student from BASSE will be making a speech at the event. 

Enrollment:

The current enrollment at BASSE is 150.  We have 49 active applications of which 12 have accepted which brings the current total of students to 162.

Our goal for next year is 315 and we have to enroll 80% of that number or 252 by April 1, which means we need to average about 25 acceptances per week over the next four weeks to reach this 8)5 total enrollment goal.

We have multi-prong and aggressive recruitment plan in place which includes a calendar of events, direct mail to households with school aged children, wide distribution of flyers, social media posts, dine and donates, and direct parent to parent recruiting.

Please let us know  you have events we could attend or places we can post flyers.   Let us now of 

We just had a very successful dine and donate at Texas Roadhouse in Millsboro and we are hosting an event at Skate World in Laurel from 6:00-8:00 next Monday evening where those who mention BASSE on arrival get a $10 entry. 

Parents are recommending other parents.

We are planning a Family Night/Open House at the school, and several members suggested we might also include pet adoption--both Brandon and Denise are fostering dogs currently, and Denise works with Brandywine PCA so can connect us to adoption processes for parents..  

Parents can schedule a tour of the school through the website. 

Brian is meeting with the Parent Advisory Committee to meet everyone and specifically talk about recruiting.

Kate reviewed progress on the inaugural gala, Shades of Excellence, A Purple Evening to Empower Dreams to be held at the Covered Bridge at Hopkins Heartland on April 11, 2025 from 7:00-10:00PM.  We have already sold a number of tickets and have nine sponsors to date.  Kate encouraged everyone to invite friends and relatives to buy tickets, recruit sponsors and get items/services for the silent auction.

A second fundraising event, BASSE's second golf outing, is scheduled for late summer at the Peninsula Golf and Country Club in Millsboro.  Stay tuned for more details.

Additionally, we did a mailing to about eighty businesses inviting participation in our school launch campaign.

Karen reminded the group of a fundraising process through the Doublegood Company where high-end popcorn is marketed/sold online, and delivered door to door, and the non-profit, BASSE gets half the proceeds from the sale of the popcorn.  Working with this company has proved quite lucrative for several organizations Karen has worked with.

We recognized the good work of Brandon Paris with PCA who has done an amazing job getting our finances in order.  We moved from being in a deficit to operating in the black.

We have received the majority of funds, 92-94%, from the state and local funds and by the endo of the month will have 96% of funds in.  Local funds which include cafeteria revenues, should be coming in more regularly, Brandon reported.

Discussion around whew to post CBOC meeting minutes.  The CBOC had been approving minutes from previous meetings at the subsequent meeting and then they have been posted, Another approach would be to have the Board review and approve the CBOC meeting minutes at the Board meeting following the CBOC meeting.  A third option would be for the CBCO meeting minutes to be posted immediately after the meeting  in Draft, and then either at the following Board meeting or next CBOC meeting, approve the minutes and change the public posting to approved/final. CBOC members will determine how to move forward at their next meeting.

BASSE still does not have a PCard (Procurement card) which makes direct purchases difficult unless the school has set up an account with the vendor.  To facilitate the process of securing a PCard for BASSE, PCA, which has already gone through the process of securing a PCard, will secure a card to be used by BASSE in Jeanine Martin's name.  To move forward with this process, BASSE needs to have a P-card internal control policy.  The State of Delaware provides a sample policy where we need only fill in the appropriate information for BASSE.  Karen points out that we already have financial policies in place which may overlap with the State's PCard Internal Control Policy.  The Board agreed to move forward with a vote this evening to adopt the state's PCard Internal Control Policy, and to review our existing policies to insure there is consistency and no unnecessary duplication.  

The Board approved a contract with Alonna Berry to provide consultation/coaching services for the months of November, December and January with compensation not to exceed $3,000/month if budget allows.  To date, Ms. Berry has invoiced for $9,000 and has received $4,500, and we need a vote to release the other $4,500.

Karen suggested we did not need a vote as this had already been approved and voted on. However, because of the budget contingent nature of the agreement, we decided to move forward with vote to pat the additional $4,500.