New Heights Charter School Board of Trustees

Minutes

Board Meeting

Date and Time

Tuesday February 11, 2025 at 5:00 PM

Location

New Heights Board of Trustees

Starting Time: 5:00pm

Location: 1105 W Chestnut Street 

Brockton, MA 02301

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ZOOM Meeting:

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Trustees Present

G. Bengen (remote), G. Gibson Sheffield, G. Phillips, J. Radzevich, N. Christ (remote), S. Bernard, S. Jackson (remote), V. Marturano, W. Lyttle

Trustees Absent

J. Charnel

Ex Officio Members Present

O. Walker

Non Voting Members Present

O. Walker

Guests Present

Angela Smagula, J. Geier, M. Fernandes, M. Jean, N. Jones (remote), T. Chin (remote)

I. Opening Items

A.

Call the Meeting to Order

G. Phillips called a meeting of the board of trustees of New Heights Charter School Board of Trustees to order on Tuesday Feb 11, 2025 at 5:07 PM.

B.

Approved Board Members List

C.

Roll Call

D.

Reading and Approval of Minutes

S. Bernard made a motion to approve the minutes from December 3rd Meeting December Board Meeting on 12-03-24.
V. Marturano seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

II. Executive Director's Report

A.

Spotlights

B.

College Board "Dream Deferred" Conference: March 5th-7th

The NHCSB Leadership team has presented at this conference and submitted a proposal to present at this years conference with a focus on College Knowledge Nights.  New Heights' proposal was accepted and members from our team will be presenting for the third time  at the conference will be held on March 5th-7th in Los Angeles, California. This is a great opportunity in terms of exposure for New Heights and allows many conference goers to meet and also become potential partners with. 

 

OW comments that pursuing to present at this conference can also be linked to his evaluation since it does require that the school presents 6 times a year to spotlight who New Heights is and what we do.

 

GP asks if this is something regarding money? OW answers that we have set this aside in our budget. 

N. Christ made a motion to approve any costs of this conference.
J. Radzevich seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

C.

DESE Early College Grant - 460

JG presents that the 460 grant is one that NHCSB has been awarded almost every year. It is geared towards our EC department and there was some unused funds they had and requested that we send them a "wishlist" of what we would use the funds for. NHCSB did ask for $300k and although they could not grant us the entire $300k, we were awarded with funds in the amount over $150k. We have decided to use the funds towards our popular HBCU College Tours that happen twice a year. This year the HBCU Tours are happening in March.

 

-How many students go every year? 20

-What Schools were visited last year? Morgan University, Howard University, and a college in University because we were in the area.

-Is it all new students or previous students? BSU may have repeaters but the trip to Georgia will feature new students. 

-How many students graduate from NHCSB who go to HBCU's after graduation: about 5 students across the graduating classes of '22-24

-Do you find that students rather go just to get away or because they're genuinely interested in exploring HBCU's? DNJ says that it does not hard us at all to allow students to explore their horizons. We talk about college and are number 1 responsibility is providing access and opportunity to our kids. 

 

The grant money is also going towards our college students being able to purchase food on campus with $15 to spend per day in a college flex account. The students at BSU and MCC can benefit from it and it is a great support our students can benefit from.

 

W. Lyttle made a motion to approve student funding on HBCU tours.
J. Radzevich seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

D.

PowerSchool Breach

JG captures the PS Breach where social security numbers of all staff and 10 students (that were in PowerSchool) were leaked on January 7th. On January 10th and the 16th, our school was assigned a cyber attorney and he walked us through the steps of how this could have happened. We were also privy to how PS resolved this matter by paying a ransom. PS did also offer any staff from any schools who were impacted, credit monitoring for a certain amount of time. In the end, no data was actually breached. 

 

JG did ask the representative for bullet points to be able to present important points to the board. We were counseled that If we indeed chose to pursue legal action, we were able to do so by hiring their attorney for  an amount between $3-5k. Our own school lawyer believes we do not need legal counsel. Ultimately, the final course of any action is left up to the board of trustees. 

 

VM asks if we have cyber insurance? We do and we're covered up to 50k. 

G. Phillips made a motion to sign or not to sign the attorney retainer for this breach.
J. Radzevich seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

E.

ICE Procedures

MF presents our ICE procedures speaks on the two letters that have been created to address any concerns our  families may have. The letters detail resources and guidance given to us by the Attorney General's office of how to address said concerns. The letter clearly states that we do not document our students and their families immigration status nor do we permit ICE agents on our property.  Both letters that were sent to families are posted at our main office, enrollment office and various areas around the school. 

 

 

 

III. New Business (N/A)

A.

Out of State Travel

 Funds from the EC grant will also go towards our popular HBCU College Tours that happen twice a year. This year the HBCU Tours are happening in the 2nd and 3rd week in March.

 

-How many students go every year? 20

-What Schools were visited last year? Morgan University, Howard University, and a college in University because we were in the area.

-Is it all new students or previous students? BSU may have repeaters but the trip to Georgia will feature new students. 

-How many students graduate from NHCSB who go to HBCU's after graduation: about 5 students across the graduating classes of '22-24

-Do you find that students rather go just to get away or because they're genuinely interested in exploring HBCU's? DNJ says that it does not hard us at all to allow students to explore their horizons. We talk about college and are number one responsibility is providing access and opportunity.

W. Lyttle made a motion to to approve out of state travel for staff and students.
J. Radzevich seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

IV. Academic Excellence Committee

A.

AEC Meeting

SB presents on the committee that met recently 

-Early College Vision: Expand Access and Opportunity and shift away from Dual Enrollment and make every students in grades 10-12th an Early College student. 

The Goal is to have 25% of students left in the building by fall and 0% by the spring.

- Building more partnerships – BCC will join our designation team and recently, Assumption College is possibly in the works.

 

-Courses: CTE – career and technical education classes for all of our students.

 

-Aligning MS and HS courses so that more of our students are college ready. The plan is to set the clear expectation early on, identifying key skills, knowledge, and encouraging the development of strong study skills.

 

MF reports her Fall EC updates that were shared previously: 

-MCC: 111 (EC juniors and seniors), 101 (taking college courses at our school – DE), and 11 students at BSU and 26 students that were at Franklin Cummings. 

 

Data Dashboard: see K.K’s presentation

Questions:

Were all F’s individual classes? Yes

 

SB mentions that the AEC meetings are open to all board members in the future. 

 

 

 

V. Finance Committee (Section postponed until February 25, 2025)

A.

YTD Finance (December 31, 2024)

Committee will meet on February 25th. OW does bring up having an extensive conversation about finances on February 25th. Judge Phillips is asking all board members attend. OW also brings up the discussion between him and other members that a vote be taken about the information they have received in their packet for a deeper dive on the 25th of February.

 

N. Christ made a motion to have finances discussion to a separate meeting on February 25th.
V. Marturano seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

B.

Major Factors that impact the Construction of the NH FY-26 Budget

VI. Governance Committee N/A

A.

Executive Session (Discuss Legal Matter)

W. Lyttle made a motion to go into Executive Session.
G. Bengen seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

VII. 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 7:24 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
G. Phillips
V. Marturano made a motion to adjourn the February 11th Board Meeting.
J. Radzevich seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.