Bedford Stuyvesant New Beginnings Charter Schools
Minutes
Bedford Stuyvesant New Beginnings Charter Schools Board Meeting
Date and Time
Wednesday November 19, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Location
82 Lewis Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11206
Trustees Present
Cecelia Russo, Cynthia Aker, Doris Givens, Shawn Carson, Simone Pratt, Victor Rivera
Trustees Absent
John Matos, Joseph Sciame, Kevin Nesbitt, Vishal Gupta
Ex Officio Members Present
Nicholas Tishuk
Non Voting Members Present
Nicholas Tishuk
Guests Present
Lisa-Renée Brown, Michael Taylor, Patience Brown
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance and Guests
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
C.
Approve October Meeting Minutes
D.
Approved November 10th Meeting Minutes
II. Academic and Family Life Committee
A.
Committee Update
III. Governance Committee
A.
Committee Update
Governance Chair Doris Givens gave an update on the work of the Governance Committee. Vice Chair Shawn Carson asked the board to consider the landscape of charter school mergers and partnerships and whether such opportunities make sense for BSNBCS.
IV. Development Committee
A.
Committee Update
Chair Simone updated the Board on the work of the development committee, including utilization of the school's supporters and donor list. This includes a targeted approach towards various businesses and entities in the community and soliciting support for BSNBCS.
V. Finance Committee
A.
Finance Committee Update
Chief Operating Officer Michael Taylor presented on the school's financial position, including current revenues, expenses and student enrollment. Across both schools, there are currently has 1018 students enrolled, which exceeds the budgeted projection of 970. There are no extraordinary expenses or changes in financial position expected in the near future.
Mr. Taylor confirmed for the Board that there was a 'clean audit' for FY25, with no conditions. The board acknowledged the good work of the finance team in maintaining this level of performance on our financial practices.
VI. Public Comments
A.
Public comments
There were no public comments.
Chief Academic Officer Patience Brown updated the Board on the school's partnership, student recruiting and communications with the school community.
K-10 just wrapped Semester 1; we had over 500 parents attend the recent parent conferences at K-8. High School's trimester ended last week and currently high schools are doing a deep study of a single topic during their Intersession enrichment program. This includes hiking Bear Mountain, Djing, sports and arts appreciation, Broadway plays, drone building and culinary arts students across the five boroughs. We have our Fall festival feasts and celebrations prior to the Thanksgiving recess.
Trustee Victor Rivera asked about school assessments and CAO Brown described the school's data framework regarding baseline and summative assessments, interim assessments and preparations for NYS 3-8 Assessments and Regents Exams. Academic Committee Chair Cecelia Russo asked about afterschool and CAO Brown discussed the K-10 academic and enrichment programs across afterschool and the school's application for additional funding through the City of New York for afterschool programming.