Bedford Stuyvesant New Beginnings Charter Schools
Minutes
Monthly Board Meeting
Date and Time
Tuesday June 15, 2021 at 6:00 PM
Trustees Present
Cecelia Russo, Doris Givens, Joseph Sciame, Kevin Nesbitt, Leticia Theodore-Greene, Patricia Bramwell, Tamikka Pate, Victor Rivera
Trustees Absent
Tyler McConnell
Ex Officio Members Present
Nicholas Tishuk
Non Voting Members Present
Nicholas Tishuk
Guests Present
Lisa-Renée Brown, Patience Brown
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 Jun 15, 2021 at 6:03 PM.
C.
Review and Vote to approve minutes
Motion to approve the minutes from Monthly Board Meeting on 05-18-21.
Passed with correction indicating Joseph Sciame
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
D.
Vote on Vice Chair position
Joseph Sciame made a motion to Accept the renewal of Victor's term as a Trustee and Chair.
Cecelia Russo seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| Kevin Nesbitt |
Absent
|
| Tamikka Pate |
Aye
|
| Joseph Sciame |
Aye
|
| Patricia Bramwell |
Aye
|
| Victor Rivera |
Abstain
|
| Tyler McConnell |
Absent
|
| Leticia Theodore-Greene |
Absent
|
| Doris Givens |
Aye
|
| Cecelia Russo |
Aye
|
E.
Vote on Expiring Trustee Terms
Joseph Sciame made a motion to Elect Officers.
Tamikka Pate seconded the motion.
Kevin as Vice Chair
Victor as Chair
Doris as Secretary
Tyler as Treasurer
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
Victor as Chair
Doris as Secretary
Tyler as Treasurer
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| Doris Givens |
Aye
|
| Tamikka Pate |
Aye
|
| Tyler McConnell |
Absent
|
| Leticia Theodore-Greene |
Absent
|
| Kevin Nesbitt |
Aye
|
| Joseph Sciame |
Aye
|
| Cecelia Russo |
Abstain
|
| Victor Rivera |
Aye
|
| Patricia Bramwell |
Aye
|
II. Academic and Family Life Committee
A.
Committee Update
III. Finance Committee
A.
Committee Update
Holding steady and strong at our enrollment number at 714 and the SpEd number at 165. Balances are strong. Lottery already completed. Our new website is getting a lot of traffic. Three or four applications per day. Highlights: Rent stable, Amex has a variety of payments; Students have taken a lot of field trips; supplies, testing. Cleaning company had a number of payments because of a lag in timesheet submissions. We are earmarking expenses that qualify for $3MM in Federal Aid. We received our reimbursement and then we pay General Foods. The PPP forgiveness portal opened up and we are almost finished with the submission. PK OConnor has started the annual audit process with interim testing.
IV. Governance Committee
A.
Nomination for Emeritus recognition
We put a policy in place to recognize the contribution of trustees who have been with us more than 10 years or more. We find ourselves in the position to offer that. Outgoing Vice Chair Patricia Bramwell has been essential in making our vision into a reality and has been the heart of the organization. We are reluctantly letting you go. We will celebrate Patricia Bramwell and her accomplishments.
Pat thanks us for our kindness and kind words. You are doing a great job and dynamic people.
Pat thanks us for our kindness and kind words. You are doing a great job and dynamic people.
Victor Rivera made a motion to Nominate Patricia Bramwell for Emeritus recognition.
Kevin Nesbitt seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
V. Development
A.
Committee's Update
Nick and Tamikka met and reviewed results of survey and it will guide us for development of a workshop for our board retreat.
VI. New and Old Business
A.
Old Business
Retreat - piggy backed a board meeting on the back of it. Chair Victor proposes that we have a retreat on a Saturday in August from 8:30 be done by noon. If committees would like to stay beyond to me something can be arranged.
August 7 or 14th.
Victor, Kevin, Joe, Tamikka available August 7th.
Cecelia is unavailable in person (but remotely by Zoom)
Will circle back with Tyler and Leticia..
Agenda
Development Workshop (Nick and Tamikka)
Reauthorization (Nick)
School Vision Workgroup (Letitia)
Joseph raised concerns about the mission of the task/force?
Do a climate check to see what is happening inside?
Creating a culture/Scope? Related to societal issues? Transparent/codify? Moment to reflect.
Look at our mission/vision to see if it needs to be changed. Preparedness and readiness. We need to understand. Who we are?
Look at the documents created by Nick first 30 days, year, 5 year renewal package.
August 7 or 14th.
Victor, Kevin, Joe, Tamikka available August 7th.
Cecelia is unavailable in person (but remotely by Zoom)
Will circle back with Tyler and Leticia..
Agenda
Development Workshop (Nick and Tamikka)
Reauthorization (Nick)
School Vision Workgroup (Letitia)
Joseph raised concerns about the mission of the task/force?
Do a climate check to see what is happening inside?
Creating a culture/Scope? Related to societal issues? Transparent/codify? Moment to reflect.
Look at our mission/vision to see if it needs to be changed. Preparedness and readiness. We need to understand. Who we are?
Look at the documents created by Nick first 30 days, year, 5 year renewal package.
VII. Executive Session
A.
Executive Session
Cecelia Russo made a motion to Move into Executive Session.
Tamikka Pate seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
Joseph Sciame made a motion to Go out of Executive Session.
Patricia Bramwell seconded the motion.
VIII. Closing Items
A.
Adjourn Meeting
Victor Rivera made a motion to Adjourn.
Patricia Bramwell seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 8:00 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
Doris Givens
Graduation is this Saturday in person on the lawn of St. Joseph college. We will begin promptly at 10AM. There is a board award for highest achievement. June 26th is the rain date. We have a Kindergarten on June 24th at 9am.
Can we find out what schools students are going to? We had a huge alumni class of 2016 who came in on Bklyn Queens Day. Check on clicker that was sent. It was an awesome event.
One of our students was accepted into Bklyn Tech. Two of our students were accepted into LaGuardia Community College.