This meeting was held virtually.  Extraordinary circumstances  - significant snowfall and deep cold - had schools in the area including ALCSG closed - and necessitated the move to all virtual.

Dr. Large, Ms. Woods and Ms. Rowell provided updates to the Board on various aspects of school operations.  ELA and Math assessments were discussed, as the second of three scheduled mock assessments was recently given.   Regents Exams had been taken.  Ms. Heiselberg noted that the largest cohort of students were sophomores taking the Algebra 1 exam; ELA Regents was taken by approximately 20 students.  It was noted that Intervention Fridays will be focused on Regents Prep going forward through the end of the school year.

Culture and Climate updates were provided, with year-over-year referrals down.  Surveys were completed from staff, family and students, and Dr. Large identified areas for improvement.  

Several partnerships were discussed including Albany Medical College to launch a period pantry with the school; Albany City Youth Services and the Summer Youth Employment Program working with 8-12th graders.  

Ms. Rowell noted the work underway with feeder schools, the development of a Saturday enrichment program, a 'big sisters' in-class readers program.  Shadow Day is set for May.  

Family outreach and retention calls continue and leadership continues work with faculty to prepare for the upcoming CSI visit.  Board members suggested the value pulse surveys could provide to leadership to identify what is effective and how efforts are being received.  

Ms. Moree provided the update to the Board pointing to the financial statements and continued work with the Bondholders and their counsel.  She noted that agreement had not been reached in December; bondholders retained a consulting firm to do a forensic analysis and the firm would be on-site in early February.  The Committee continued to work with the consulting firm and bondholder counsel to reach agreement, including numerous meetings and phone calls and the uploading of many documents into the firm's portal for review.  The board discussed cash flow, the timing of tuition invoices and possible receipt of those payments, and how that aligned with remaining payrolls through the school year.

Separately, Ms. Moree noted that budget development for the new school year would get underway much sooner.  A draft template had been provided to Dr. Large with instructions on how to build up the budget.  It was anticipated that a draft would be available by early March to allow the Finance Committee to better understand areas of expense that required further refinement, or the need for RFPs, or re-evaluation.