Ivy Hill Prep Charter School

Minutes

Board of Trustees Meeting - Ivy Hill Prep

Date and Time

Monday August 30, 2021 at 6:30 PM

Location

Ivy Hill Prep Charter School, 475 E 57th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11203
Trustees may also attend via zoom link at https://zoom.us/j/9699543901, from a public location and must have their video capacity enabled for meeting/voting purposes. 

 

Directors Present

A. Jimenez-Schulman, A. Laniyan (remote), D. Lewis (remote), N. Williams (remote), T. James (remote)

Directors Absent

J. Small, M. Kane, M. Michael

Guests Present

A. Johnson, A. Leon-Soon (remote), D. Williams (remote), M. Butcher (remote)

I. Opening Items

A.

Call the Meeting to Order

A. Jimenez-Schulman called a meeting of the board of directors of Ivy Hill Prep Charter School to order on Monday Aug 30, 2021 at 6:30 PM.

B.

Record Attendance

C.

Approve Minutes

D.

Approve agenda

A. Jimenez-Schulman made a motion to Approve meeting agenda.
D. Lewis seconded the motion.
No Discussion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
Roll Call
T. James
Aye
A. Jimenez-Schulman
Aye
N. Williams
Aye
M. Michael
Absent
D. Lewis
Aye
A. Laniyan
Aye
M. Kane
Absent
J. Small
Absent

II. Governance

A.

Approve Executive Members

A. Jimenez-Schulman made a motion to Approve Amended Resolution of the Executive Members of the Board of trustees to include Tanisha James as the Vice-Chair of the Board.
T. James seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
Roll Call
A. Laniyan
Aye
T. James
Aye
N. Williams
Aye
M. Kane
Absent
D. Lewis
Aye
J. Small
Absent
A. Jimenez-Schulman
Aye

B.

General and Committee Updates

General Updates on governance:
  • Attending in Person Meetings - since the suspension on the open meeting law has been lifted, meetings need to be held in person. Members should ensure that they are in person to attend meetings. 
  • RVP Tool in Board on Track - Members should utilize tool to ensure that we RSVP for meetings so that we can better account for quorum to be able to take action at meetings.
  • Move Standing Board Meetings - Is there a possibility to move meetings to another day so  that Mia who currently has a conflict will be unable to attend Monday meetings. Board Member Adam L. shared he could do Tuesday or Wednesday but may have some issues with Tuesdays bi-monthly. It was determined that moving the meeting to another date may cause some other scheduling conflicts. 
  • Committee Chairs - Committee chairs are pretty much set. Nataki is chair of the Finance, Adam L. is chair of Development, Looking to see who can take on role in Academic Committee and perhaps prospective board member Melika could step in eventually. Push to have committee agenda and committee report or minutes which live in board on track so that we capture action items and decision making in one place.  

III. Finance

A.

Review Financial Dashboard

  • Financial indicators within benchmarks.
  • Balance sheet reflects annual 25K deposit made to escrow.
  • Amendment on grants receivable was recently submitted and school awaiting funds. 
  • Pre-paid expenses are within normal range
  • Total assets are 1.1 million
  • Accrued expenses and deferred expenses are within normal range.
  • Total liabilities are 2.1 million
  • P&L in the first month - donated laptops need to be recorded and should be done in next month's financials.
  • Technology line may be potentially over budget because of potential new purchases for projectors which could be covered by grants.
  • Items in yellow are items over the percentage. (i.e accessory furniture, items which payments are made earlier in the school year)
Committee Concerns:
  • Debit card purchases - (Management instructed not to purchase food etc and debit card policy to be revisited when new Director of Finance joins the Team.)
  • Committee also suggested that food purchases/school event purchases be planned out ahead of time so that purchases can be better accounted for. 
  • Projector purchased on debit card but committee advised on how to prevent making these types of transactions on debit card. 
  • Unpaid North Shore invoices. Adam JS and Nataki to work with HOS to resolve issue.
  • Cell phone policy was not approved and tabled for further discussion in a few months. 

IV. Director of Finance Hiring Taskforce

A.

DoF Hired

  • DOF was hired and set to start soon. 
  • Brian Andre will be joining the team on September 13, 2021.
  • Taskforce will be disbanded and and any issues concerning the DOF taskforce will be folded into the finance committee. 

V. Development

A.

Upcoming Initiatives

  • Discussed "Giving Tuesday"
  • Intend to increase amount to 25K
  • Grant writer still being discussed. 

VI. Academic Achievement

A.

Review Dashboard and HOS Report

Enrollment:
  • 63 Kindergarten
  • 63 1st Graders
  • 84 2nd Graders
  • 32 3rd Graders
  • Total of 242 Students enrolled. Only authorized for 240 students. 
Recruitment Initiatives:
  • Life's work
  • Accepted Student's Night
  • Back to school barbeque cancelled.
Hiring:
  • Teaching fellow accepted hired.
  • Hiring for Director of Operations.
  • Hiring for elective teacher.
Summer Institute:
  • Started on August 2nd for 3 weeks where teachers underwent high level professional development. 
Past Event:
  • Accepted Student's Night- Students assessed for placement. 
  • Parents learned about life's work and other expectations.

B.

Approve Updated COVID-19 Protocols

A. Jimenez-Schulman made a motion to Approve Student and Staff facing Covid Response Protocols.
T. James seconded the motion.
Covid Response protocol talks about what happens if certain scenarios happen. It allows parents to see what process will happen if something happens. 
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
Roll Call
M. Kane
Absent
M. Michael
Absent
T. James
Aye
D. Lewis
Aye
N. Williams
Aye
J. Small
Absent
A. Laniyan
Aye
A. Jimenez-Schulman
Aye

VII. CEO Support And Eval

A.

EOY Closeout (Y2)

Finalized close out from last year. Also picking up with goal setting and coaching for this year. Committee still thinking through ways to make sure all of these things tie together. 

B.

HOS Coaching Support (Y3)

VIII. Board Development w/ Ed Board Partners

A.

Goal Setting

Goal setting discussion held. 

IX. 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 7:15 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
A. Jimenez-Schulman