Pharos Academy Charter School
Minutes
PHACS Monthly Board Meeting
Date and Time
Thursday August 21, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Location
https://pharosbx.zoom.us/j/5239033349?pwd=2WLTisGPjTdftRJ9m7yHYDr1je2xYw.1
1005 Intervale Avenue
Bronx, NY 10459
4th Floor
All meetings of the Board of Trustees of the Pharos Academy Charter School are held in compliance with New York State Open Meeting Law.
Date: August 21, 2025
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Location: 1005 Intervale Avenue, Bronx, NY 10459
Other Location(s): https://bronxlighthouse.zoom.us/j/5239033349
525 W. 49th Street Apartment A NY NY
752 Hickory Hill Road Wyckoff, NJ
83 Vanderbilt Avenue Babylon Village, NY
ALL ARE INVITED TO ATTEND!
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PHAROS ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL
DE LA JUNTA ADMINISTRATIVA
Realizamos todas las reuniones de la Junta Administrativa de la escuela Pharos Academy Charter School conforme a la Ley de Reuniones Abiertas del Estado de Nueva York.
Día: 21 de agosto 2025
Hora: 6:30 p.m.
Lugar: 1005 Intervale Avenue, Bronx, NY 10459
Otros Lugares: https://bronxlighthouse.zoom.us/j/5239033349
525 W. 49th Street Apartment A NY NY 10019
752 Hickory Hill Road Wyckoff, NJ
83 Vanderbilt Avenue Babylon Village, NY
Trustees Present
G. Garcia (remote), J. Lopez-Molina (remote), J. Rivera, J. Sowell (remote), K. Shah, P. Wesonga (remote), T. Perez, T. South, V. Angeles (remote)
Trustees Absent
S. Sutherland
Guests Present
C. Russell, M. Dorsey, T. Brown
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance and Guests
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
II. Public Comments
A.
Public Comments
III. PHACS Scholar Presentation
A.
PHACS Scholar Presentation
Staff/scholar presentations will resume in October 2025.
IV. Board Governance
A.
Approve Minutes
B.
Executive Director Evaluation
This will be shared at the September 2025 meeting.
C.
10 Year Anniversary Celebration RSVP
All Board members should RSVP as soon as possible for next month's event.
D.
PHACS Safety Plan Review/Approval
Courtney Russell presented the public facing Safety Plan. A public meeting was held via Zoom last week and approximately five parents attended. The Safety Plan was reviewed and any questions were answered.
E.
PHACS Special Populations Expansion Plan
Pharos Academy Charter School is committed to serving special populations, including but not limited to scholars with Individualized Education Programs as well as scholars who are English Language Learners. Dr. Travis Brown shared a variety of strategies that will be employed in the upcoming school year and beyond to ensure families understand that Pharos welcomes scholars with a wide variety of backgrounds and needs and encourages them to apply, and if offered a seat, enroll. One such example is a Community Leader breakfast this fall wherein the school will invite local counselors, Community Based Organization leaders, and others to join Pharos in person to connect and collaborate. The ultimate goal will be to reinforce and create new connections, as well as share opportunities for scholars with IEPs and those who are ELLs, to consider Pharos as their school of choice.
F.
Charter Renewal Overview
Provide brief overview of the status of the Charter Renewal process.
Board members are invited to consider being a part of the process and various sections of the Charter Renewal application.
Volunteers to support the reviewing process:
Patrick
Jarrod
Vanessa
V. Finance Committee Review
A.
Finance Committee Report
Enrollment # are currently at 716 with a max of 745
Budgeted for 700 a the process is continuing.
Audit is currently in process and moving forward as planned
2 Security Guards to be hired as per the grant that was awarded for the Security Guard occupation at the School.
B.
Investment Account Update
C.
Items Over 50K
VI. Executive Director's Report
A.
Executive Director's Report
Data shared with Board related to student proficiency and school comparison status:
Highlighted Details:
86% Students are proficient in Mathematics (81% Last Year)
79% Students are proficient in ELA
Year over year Pharos is growing each year.
Principal Brown discusses the status of the school in 10 years, making tremendous gains within Grades 3-8.
VII. Facilities
A.
Facilities Update
New cleaning company as of August 11th and overall is moving as planned .
Local Law reporting and final walk through was completed today. School to anticipated to see lower electrical billing and to be reported as in compliance.
VIII. Executive Session
A.
Executive Session
Enter into Executive Session at 7:13 PM
Exit out of Executive Sessions at 7:17 PM
There were no public comments.