Great Oaks Charter School - Bridgeport

Minutes

GOBPT October Finance Meeting

Date and Time

Wednesday October 15, 2025 at 4:00 PM

Location

375 Howard Ave. Bridgeport, CT or virtual.

Committee Members Present

Bob Carlson (remote), David Zieff

Committee Members Absent

Daniel Luciano

Guests Present

Benjamin Chan, Farah Martin, John Scalice

I. Opening Items

A.

Record Attendance

B.

Call the Meeting to Order

David Zieff called a meeting of the Finance Committee Committee of Great Oaks Charter School - Bridgeport to order on Wednesday Oct 15, 2025 at 4:00 PM.

C.

Approve Last Month's Meeting Minutes

Bob Carlson made a motion to approve the minutes from GOBPT September Finance Meeting on 09-15-25.
David Zieff seconded the motion.
The committee VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

II. Administrative / Financial Overview

A.

Financial Position

B. Chan, CFO, went over dashboard including revenue and budget. 

 

  • Statement for Year to Date- we received the funds for Barr Grant. 
  • J. Scalice reports that we, as a school, are waiting for approval for the grant, it has already been awarded but the funding is not released until the final expenditure is approved through Egrants. D. Zieff wanted to confirm how the process works.
  • We are fronting money on a lot of things, the only thing we get up front is Per Pupil Funding. 
  • USDA funded grant- whatever we spend, we get 92% back on that. 

III. Review of FY25 Financials

A.

Financial Documents

B. Chan went over all financial documents with the finance committee.

 

  • B. Carlson asked for the first 3 months we are $162,000 behind because we have summer pay and at the end of the year it will be zeroed out. 
  • Tutor fees- B. Chan reports we haven't seen teacher resident invoices just yet. We have 7 teacher residents. They are being paid by the Foundation.
  • B. Carlson asked what the amount is under other. B. Chan reports a little bit is a slush fund of about 12,000 and the other, 70,000, is for Perkins for the architect. We want to try to make sure any foreseen expense we can track. 
  • B. Chan went over E-Rate Network Funding for 2025-2026. Attachment is included in the agenda. 
    • Vancord is managing the E-rate contract. E-Rate is paying for 85% of the portion. We don't see the invoice of 29,070. We only get billed for $5,130.

IV. New Vendors

A.

New Vendors

B. Chan, CFO, went over all vendors we have used that have exceeded the $5,000 amount. This was put to a vote with our financial committee.

 

1. Perkins Eastman (architects)

2. Amarante SeaCliff (venue)

3. CNB Computers (IT vendor)

4. Academy Bus (bus services)

5. Uniformz (uniforms, printed apparel)

6. Canon Financial (leasing copiers)

7. Total Comm (internet and tech support & products)

Bob Carlson made a motion to approve all the vendors below. 1. Perkins Eastman (architects) 2. Amarante SeaCliff (venue) 3. CNB Computers (IT vendor) 4. Academy Bus (bus services) 5. Uniformz (uniforms, printed apparel) 6. Canon Financial (leasing copiers) 7. Total Comm (internet and tech support & products).
David Zieff seconded the motion.
The committee VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

V. Additional Items

A.

Additional Items

  • Sprinklers need to be replaced/fixed. We discussed reaching out to Aquarion; however they were not able to return our calls/emails. With this, Fire Protection Team did a test, and our total comes out to $4,088. We want this to be taken care of as soon as possible. 
  • We have been able to do fundraisers with Chipotle and Fruta Juice Bar in Bridgeport, CT. 

 

VI. Closing Items

A.

Adjourn Meeting

There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 4:46 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
David Zieff