Butler Academy

Minutes

Board Meeting

Date and Time

Wednesday September 15, 2021 at 5:30 PM

Location

701 S 5th St, Hartsville, SC 29550

Trustees Present

'. Tyree, A. Heatley, E. Mobley, J. Shannon, K. Flaherty, M. Brown, M. Bunnell, S. Wilson, T. Goodson Jr.

Trustees Absent

None

I. Opening Items

A.

Record Attendance

B.

Call the Meeting to Order

M. Bunnell called a meeting of the board of trustees of Butler Academy to order on Wednesday Sep 15, 2021 at 5:31 PM.

C.

Approve Minutes

M. Bunnell made a motion to approve the minutes from Board Meeting on 07-28-21.
T. Goodson Jr. seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.

II. Academic Excellence

A.

Student support and School Culture update

Under the Culture team is the Dean of Culture, school counselor, mental health counselor, licensed therapist. Morning meeting is held every day. Teachers are intentional to greet their scholars for a sense of recognition and belonging. There is also an opportunity for sharing and group activity that encourages inclusion, cooperation, participation. Then there is a morning message for the day.
Discussed components of responsnive classroom instruction.
Social emotional competencies
Academic competencies.
Discussed DESSA comprehensive Socio-emotional learning (SEL) system. Provides accurate actionable data about students SEL strengths and needs, a supportive assessment for implementation for our SEL curriculum. DESSA is nationally normed and implemented four times a year.
Summary of student support presented by C. Tochiki. Summarized federally mandated programs including special education, 504 plans, and English as a second language. Unique to BA are student support specialists. At BA we believe that 'home' is in the general education classroom. Student support specialists are paired with scholars and there is ongoing teacher training support. The learning lab is a special education classroom. 
BA's goal is to graduate scholars with the functional and academic tools required for success outside the classroom. 

B.

Academic updates

Briefly summarized SC Ready results. Comparing results, BA performed according to the charter district and the state.
Looking at our charter, we have meet our goals to meet or exceed testing results compared to our residential school district.
Summarized percent of scholars not on grade level per grade level. Majority are not. 
Discussed how individual learning accommodates both the gifted student as well as that student that lags behind. Discussed tiered level interventions.

III. Development

A.

Enrollment updates 2021-2022 school year

Currently, all grades are full with 241 scholars. 
Extended day program is starting again. Partnerships with Coker, and GSSM for different activities. 1st half is quality, uninterrupted and study time followed by music, dance lessons and visual arts. Currently looking for someone to coordinate the after school program.

B.

COVID-19 health and wellness updates

There are a handful of close contact scholars quarantined, but there are only 2 additional positive cases in scholars since the shut down after school opened the first week. 

C.

Other Development updates

J. Shannon made a motion to create a standing subcommittee of the board called the development committee and to delegate to it such powers as are necessary to create a plan for the board's consideration which provides for fundraising and the creation of an endowment, and that such plan be presented to the board at the meeting subsequent to the next board meeting.
T. Goodson Jr. seconded the motion.
Once established, elect a chair and begin work to establish a budgeted fundraising effort and determine the most effective structure for creating and maintaining an endowment to benefit the school, and appropriate recommendations to the board.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.

IV. Governance

A.

Frequency of board meetings

Agreed to space out board meetings to every other month instead of monthly then as needed.

B.

Board Retreat

Plan a board retreat on Oct 30th for goal setting 9-12pm

C.

Board Committees

Just added a Development committee to the already standing committees of the Finance committee and the CEO committee. Will discuss further during the board retreat based on the goals developed.

V. Finance

A.

Finance Summary

For the new board members, summarized the role of the finance committee.
Summarized the July financials and will email out the August financials soon. 

VI. Closing Items

A.

Adjourn Meeting

There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 7:25 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
M. Bunnell