Pharos Academy Charter School
Minutes
Pharos Academy Charter School Board Meeting
Date and Time
Thursday May 15, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Location
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: May 15, 2025
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Location: 1005 Intervale Avenue, Bronx, NY 10459 11215
Other Location(s): https://bronxlighthouse.zoom.us/j/5239033349
326 McClellan Avenue Mt. Vernon, NY
17 Brady Avenue New Rochelle, NY
15 Broad Street, NY, 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: 15 de mayo 2025
Hora: 6:30 p.m.
Lugar: 1005 Intervale Avenue, Bronx, NY 10459
Otros Lugares: https://bronxlighthouse.zoom.us/j/5239033349
326 McClellan Avenue Mt. Vernon, NY
17 Brady Avenue New Rochelle, NY
15 Broad Street, NY, NY
Trustees Present
J. Lopez-Molina (remote), J. Rivera, J. Sowell (remote), P. Wesonga, S. Sutherland (remote), T. Perez (remote), V. Angeles (remote)
Trustees Absent
G. Garcia, K. Shah, T. South
Guests Present
C. Russell, Eleanny Arroyo, M. Dorsey, Rouguiatou Diallo, T. Brown, Tristan Bryan, Valery Cruz
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance and Guests
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
II. PHACS Scholar Presentation
A.
PHACS Scholar Presentation
III. Board Governance
A.
Approve Minutes
B.
Board Bios and Resumes
Reminder that Pharos is approaching charter renewal activities and the resumes and bios are needed to prepare for this renewal. Board encouraged to login to the link and complete the bio and resume process.
C.
Executive Director Evaluation
Priority Goal and Self evaluation is in progress and the board will receive in the near future.
D.
2025 - 2026 Board Meeting Calendar
Pharos Academy Board Calendar shared with the Board. This item will need to be reviewed and revisit during next months Board meeting.
IV. Finance Committee Review
A.
Finance Committee Report
Finance Committee met on Monday to discuss financial details and budget reviews.
B.
Investment Account Update
C.
Items Over 50K
Board discussed the following items to review and approve for purchasing:
Young Equipment - Cafeteria Tables Purchase
Lighting Upgrades for compliance with Local Law 88 and Local Law 97
Extensions have been filed to push this work out August 2025
Local 84 filings have been completed and the school would like to continue the process moving with future compliance procedures
Internal timeline ideally to be approved tonight, in light of tariffs and solid plan to move forward with Diamond Electric.
Board requesting additional time to obtain other vendor quotes.
Quotes provided for the lighting upgrades were discussed in detail with the Board.
D.
401K - New Employee Benefit
E.
FY26 Insurance Update
12% increase in insurance cost prediction anticipated. Future correspondence will be shared with the Board next month.
F.
2025 Pharos Scholarship
Scholarship committee met and made recommendations and details regarding the Scholarship process.
Amount $1500/ year, given to 5 scholars in the past, the recommended change will be
Amount $5,000/year, given to 2 Scholars
$500.00/year - Cortevo Scholarship
GPA Criteria increased from 2.5 to 3.0 or higher.
Teacher recommendation
EFC (Expected Family Contribution) to be considered. Video, no more than 3 minutes, instead of a written essay.
Recommendation to include FAFSA qualification.
G.
FY26 Budget Update
Budget to be reviewed and approved during the next month's meeting.
V. Academic Committee Report
A.
Academic Committee Report
Academic committee will meet in July, when the testing data is available to review.
VI. Facilities
A.
Facilities Update
Facilities current cleaning company was given 60 day notice as the school will move forward with a RFP Cleaning.
RFP responses were received and all were invited to attend a building walk through.
Current vendor has been receptive and has taken ownership to the concerns presented during their time at Pharos.
Recommendation to add language to the cleaning contract related to a corrective action plan and a multi-year agreement with a right to terminate.
VII. Executive Session
A.
Executive Session
Invited to stay in Executive Session:
Courtney Russell
Travis Brown
Maria Dorsey
PHACS Scholar Presentation
Senior Scholar present their Interests, High School Achievements, College Application Process, Pharos roles, College Academic Plans, Reasons for the chosen career/study paths and the lessons learned from Pharos that they will take with them during there future academic endeavors.