Bedford Stuyvesant New Beginnings Charter Schools
Minutes
Monthly Board Meeting
Date and Time
Tuesday April 20, 2021 at 6:00 PM
Trustees Present
Cecelia Russo, Doris Givens, Joseph Sciame, Kevin Nesbitt, Leticia Theodore-Greene, Patricia Bramwell, Tamikka Pate, Tyler McConnell, Victor Rivera
Trustees Absent
None
Ex Officio Members Present
Nicholas Tishuk
Non Voting Members Present
Nicholas Tishuk
Guests Present
Lisa-Renée Brown, Patience Brown, Vicky D'Anjou-Pomerleau
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance and Guests
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
Victor Rivera called a meeting of the board of trustees of Bedford Stuyvesant New Beginnings Charter Schools to order on Tuesday Apr 20, 2021 at 6:02 PM.
C.
Review of the minutes
March 16th minutes reviewed by board.
D.
Vote to approve minutes
Joseph Sciame made a motion to approve the minutes from.
Tamikka Pate seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
Joseph Sciame made a motion to approve the minutes from.
Tamikka Pate seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
II. Academic and Family Life Committee
A.
Committee Update
Ms. Russo summarized the Committee's previous discussion; including the regular operations of the school, planning for summer school, planning for graduation.
Ms. Brown confirmed that the venue for the Middle School graduation will be St. Joseph's College in Downtown Brooklyn at 10am on June 19th, 2021.
III. Finance Committee
A.
Committee Update
Mr. Tishuk shared a readout of the Finance Committee's previous discussion, including discussion of the school's current finances and initial projections for FY2022. Ms. Lisa-Renee Brown described the school's finances in additional detail, including the reception of a portion of the school's ESSER grant, a part of the federal COVID related funding for schools.
Ms. Brown described the school's status as a School Food Authority, recognized by New York State, and its fiscal implications. Mr. Sciame asked for clarification regarding the initial FY22 projections for revenue, which Ms. Brown, Mr. Tishuk and Mr. McConnell responded. The May Finance Committee will be in-person at BSNBCS and open to the public on May 13th, 2021 at 6pm. Mr. Rivera encouraged Trustees to attend and discuss the budget process at that time.
IV. Governance Committee
A.
Committee Update
Ms. Givens discussed Board recruitment. Ms. Givens and Mr. Tishuk discussed potential Board candidates, their interest in the school and potential partnerships that new trustee candidates could provide to the school, including a potential new parent member.
Ms. Givens discussed the Board's process and the next steps the Board will take in completing its annual self-assessment process.
V. Development
A.
Committee's Update
Ms. Pate discussed potential assistance in development from Bedford Stuyvesant community members. She described a conversation with Mr. Tishuk and colleagues at Board on Track, to further improve the Board's development capacity. She discussed the value in describing this process further at the Board's next retreat.
Ms. Pate described the school's new Classy page, which is a fundraising platform.
VI. New and Old Business
A.
New Business: BSNBCS Culture Working Group
Mr. Rivera discussed that there would be a new Board initiative, that would be shared by Ms. Theodore-Greene.
B.
Old Business
Ms. Russo discussed the need to discuss the planned Board policies around emeritus status. Victor described that this process was ongoing and would occur at the next Board meeting.
C.
Executive Session
Tyler McConnell made a motion to enter into Executive Session to discuss legal and real estate matters.
Kevin Nesbitt seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
Joseph Sciame made a motion to exit Executive Session.
Tyler McConnell seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
Kevin Nesbitt made a motion to ratify the Executive Director's work with the Friends of BSNBCS for the submission of a bid for the purchase of property at 323 Hart Street and his efforts to continue the process of acquiring the property with the Friends Of organization.
Joseph Sciame seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
Then there was the announcement of the resignation of Pat Bramwell from the Board effective after the June Board meeting. The Board paid tribute to her service as a Founding Trustee in 2010 and hoped that she would consider becoming the first Emeritus Trustee under the soon-to-be adopted policies.
VII. Public Comments
A.
Public comments
There were no public comments.
VIII. 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 8:45 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
Nicholas Tishuk
Cecelia Russo made a motion to approve the minutes from Monthly Board Meeting on 03-16-21.
Tamikka Pate seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.