The New American Academy Charter School

Minutes

TNAACS Board Meeting

Date and Time

Thursday May 15, 2025 at 5:00 PM

Directors Present

C. C​uellar-Lezcano (remote), C. Kelly (remote), D. Dula (remote), J. Beavers (remote), V. McDonald (remote)

Directors Absent

F. Monrose, H. Hunt

Guests Present

L. Parquette Silva

I. Opening Items

A.

Record Attendance

B.

Call the Meeting to Order

C.

Approve Minutes

D. Dula made a motion to approve the minutes from TNAACS Board Meeting on 04-29-25.
C. Kelly seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.

II. Finance & Data

A.

Monthly Financials

Elaine from CSBM discussed the monthly financials for April 2025. She reported that there had been little change in revenue or expenses from the previous month. Overall, the savings from the AP leaving and the shift of a staff member to a Director of Operations Position were $3700. It was lower than expected because there are only three more pay periods remaining, and an NFD payout was made to the former AP. There were a few expense variances and adjustments to the projection of what will be spent for the rest of the year. Overall, the school picked up $11,000 in savings from the March report to the April report. Currently, the net loss is $328,000; however, when depreciation is factored in, it reduces to $241,000. Overall, the school is trending in the right direction and is expected to reduce the net loss even further by the end of the year. TNAACS currently has 181 days of cash on hand, and our debt ratio is 1.01, which is extremely low. 

B.

School Wide Data

Lisa Silva shared data about the TNAACS after-school tutoring program and current enrollment trends for the 2025/2026 school year. Tutoring took place over ten weeks, three times a week, with each session lasting one hour. There were five sections of math and one section of English Language Arts (ELA). The student-to-teacher ratio was 4:1. Students were assessed a minimum of every other week using i-Ready Standards Mastery. Lisa shared that the goal was a minimum of 70% on each assessment, similar to lessons on i-Ready. The data showed that some small groups were more successful than others. For example, the second-grade cohort had an overall pass rate of 50%, while the 4th-grade cohort had an overall pass rate of 83%. Lisa also shared that attendance has an impact on student performance.  The next step is to review the students' BOY i-Ready scores and compare them to their EOY i-Ready scores, as well as examine the students' state exam scores, if applicable. 

 

Lisa then moved on to enrollment data for the 2025/2026 school year. She shared enrollment targets for each grade and noted that, while the number of applicants exceeded the target in many grades, the goal now was to convert those applications into actual registrations. Lisa shared that the outreach team is working very hard to engage these applicants. TNAACS currently has 208 actual students (registered and if we count the registrations in process, the number increases to 225. However, our goal is 280 students. 

III. Governance

A.

Executive Session

C. Kelly made a motion to Move into executive session to discuss matters relating to the employment history of a particular person.
C. C​uellar-Lezcano seconded the motion.

The board went into executive session

The board VOTED to approve the motion.

B.

TNAACS After School for 2025/2026

C. Kelly made a motion to Approve Afterschool All Stars as our after-school provider for 2025/2026.
D. Dula seconded the motion.

Lisa presented proposals from three different afterschool programs: Roads to Success ( our current vendor), Kids in the Game, and Afterschool All Stars. While all three were asked to provide proposals for the board meeting, RTS did not, despite being asked three times. As a result, we are using last year's proposal. We received numerous parent complaints about them this year. They promised programming that was not provided. The cost will increase to $350 per month, which means parents will have to pay $210 per month. They also ran our summer enrichment program last year and again failed to provide the promised programming, despite it costing $30,000. Since our goal is to offer inexpensive or free after-school programs with robust programming, we do not want to partner with them again. We received a proposal from Kids in the Game, but at $495 per month, it is too expensive. After school, All Stars was the most affordable at $275 per month, with a cost of $165 for parents. They are also willing to try to get into the after-school voucher program, and some of our families already use vouchers. They are also well-aligned with TNAACS and focus on social-emotional wellness, health, STEM, visual, and performing arts. They utilize subcontractors, such as the Dance Theater of Harlem, to provide programming. They are the cheapest but most comprehensive. 

The board VOTED to approve the motion.

C.

Hiring Update

Lisa shared that there was a hiring day this past Monday. Four candidates came in, and of those, three are potential hires. There is another hiring day on Tuesday of next week. Hoping to see more Upper Loop candidates as TNAACS has three Upper Loop openings.

D.

Board Professional Development Opportunities

IV. 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 7:00 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
L. Parquette Silva
Documents used during the meeting
  • Monthly Report_April_2025_TNAACS.pdf