Bedford Stuyvesant New Beginnings Charter Schools

Minutes

November Monthly Board Meeting

Date and Time

Wednesday November 16, 2022 at 6:00 PM

Location

82 Lewis Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11206

Trustees Present

Cecelia Russo, Cynthia Aker, Doris Givens, Joseph Sciame, Victor Rivera

Trustees Absent

Josue De Paz, Kevin Nesbitt, Mikhael Edouard, Shawn Carson

Ex Officio Members Present

Nicholas Tishuk

Non Voting Members Present

Nicholas Tishuk

Guests Present

Lisa-Renée 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 Wednesday Nov 16, 2022 at 6:05 PM.

C.

Approve October minutes

Doris Givens made a motion to approve the minutes from October Monthly Board Meeting on 10-19-22.
Cecelia Russo seconded the motion.

The minutes were approved with any needed corrections.

The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

II. Academic and Family Life Committee

A.

Committee Update

Cecelia shared the reportback from the Academic and Family Life Committee; including discussion of the high school expansion of BSNBCS.  The Board discussed school's performance on the 2022 New York State 3-8 Assessments in ELA and Mathematics.  

 

The school had a strong aggregate performance, compared to other schools in CSD16, New York City public schools and in New York State. Nicholas Tishuk presented on the data related to our student demographics, which included 96% students in poverty, 16% English Language Learners, 24% students with disabilities and 20% of homeless students. According to the ranked aggregate performance of academics in ELA and Mathematics, BSNBCS is has the 2nd highest in CSD16; despite having the 4th highest aggregate percentage of students in those four subgroups. Chair Victor Rivera commended the school management team on the academic performance of the school, despite the pandemic.

 

 

III. Governance Committee

A.

Committee Update

New Trustee Cynthia discussed the recently created Trustee handbook and its effectiveness in supporting her on-boarding to the Board. It was a helpful reference for her, in addition to the guidance of Doris who has guided her through joining the Board.

 

For recruiting, the Governance committee is pleased with the level of recruiting, bringing on three new Trustees in the last 12 months.

IV. Finance Committee

A.

Finance Committee Update

The financial committee reviewed the financials of the school, including a review of current enrollment counts for general education and special education students and current bank balances. 

B.

Review FY22 Audit Findings and Vote on Recommendation

Doris shared  that the audit of the school by PKF O'Connor Davies included no 'findings', a management letter 'no recommendations' and we had a 'clean' audit. The audit process included the Single Audit, due to the significant amount of federal funding.  

 

This high amount of federal funding, much of it coronavirus related, will be expended and/or received in the current FY23, meaning that future years should return to a more typical budget pattern.  The auditors confirmed that pattern is this is sector-wide and is a well understood feature of our and other charter school budgets in New York State.

 

The Finance Committee recommends that the full board accept the findings of the audit report, as presented.

Doris Givens made a motion to approve the audited financial statements of BSNBCS for FY22 prepared by PKF O'Connor Davies.
Joseph Sciame seconded the motion.

The Board unanimously approved the motion.

The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

V. Public Comments

A.

Public comments

There were no public comments.

VI. Closing Items

A.

Adjourn Meeting

Cynthia Aker made a motion to adjourn the meeting.
Cecelia Russo seconded the motion.

The board unanimously moved to adjourn the meeting.

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 7:08 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
Nicholas Tishuk