Packet ready

The New American Academy Charter School

TNAACS Board Meeting

Date and Time

Wednesday April 22, 2020 at 5:00 PM EDT

Location

Remote Meeting Due to NY Pause

Agenda

Section Number Topic Number Details
I. Opening Items
 
Opening Items
  A. Record Attendance and Guests
  B. Call the Meeting to Order
  C. Approve Minutes
   
To approve last month's minutes
    Approve minutes for TNAACS Board Meeting on March 25, 2020
II. Finance
  A. Monthly Financials
   
  • Discuss March 2020 Financials
III. Governance
  A. Updates from NYSED in Regards to School Closure Due to Coronavirus
   
  • To share information from NYSED around school closure
  • 180 day school year requirement is waived until May 15th 
  • While the DOE announced schools are closed for the remainder of the year, the governor has stated only he has the authority to close or open schools
  • Currently per pupil funding is the same - but it is clear there will be education cuts in the future
  • We are designing next years budget to take these cuts into account
IV. Education
  A. Update on TNAACS Distance Learning
   
  • Discussion of continued us of Zoom to deliver live online instruction
  • NYSED has stated that they consider live online lessons to be a Best Practice
  • NYSED continues to use Zoom but does not endorse any specific virtual platform.
  • Zoom is actively monitoring and revising its privacy policies and safety features
  • Zoom versus Google Meets:
    • Zoom has greater controls for teachers:
      • password protected
      • virtual waiting rooms - students must be admitted into all lessons
      • ability to virtually"lock' classrooms once lesson begins
      • can virtually remove students from lessons
      • Teacher controls mute & unmute features
      • students are able to virtually raise their hands to respond
      • all students can be seen
      • better video quality
      • can create one meeting code/password that can be used multiple times
      • ease of use for families
    • Google Meets
      • password protected,
      • students and families must be invited to lessons daily with a new link/password everyday
      • teacher does not control mute/unmute - must rely on students
      • can only see a maximum of 4 students at a time
      • has no hands up feature - teacher does not know when student wants to respond
      • more difficult for parents to use
V. Other Business
  A. Student Lottery and Recruitment Update
   
The TNAACS Lottery took place on April 6, 2020:

OFFER MADE - PENDING ACCEPTANCE: 106
Kindergarten - 58
1st Grade - 14
2nd Grade - 12
3rd Grade - 11
4th Grade - 8
5th Grade - 3 (Siblings of Applicants in Lower Grades)

 

REGISTRATION COMPLETE: 12
Kindergarten - 9
3rd Grade - 1
4th Grade - 2

 

REGISTRATION IN PROGRESS: 44
Kindergarten - 30
1st Grade - 2
2nd Grade - 4
3rd Grade - 3
4th Grade - 5

 

We had our first Virtual Information Session for new families on Wednesday April 15th - 23 families attended
We will hold our second information session within the next two weeks
VI. Closing Items
  A. Adjourn Meeting