Loretta Cargill

Kathy Ortiz provided an update on the 2025 Summer Boost program, which ended on August 4th and was held at the middle school campus. Despite fluctuations in student attendance, the program ran smoothly from start to finish. 

Ms. Ortiz further shared that during this time of year, the senior leadership has been busy completing the various end of year state reports due. Continual efforts to enroll and complete registration for new students are underway, with a recently held orientation that yielded a total of over 100 families attending. Operations and leadership team retreats are scheduled for August and are focused on mission alignment, goal setting, and team building.

Ms. Ortiz presented the 2025-26 District-Wide School Safety Plan, sharing that each year the school is required to update the annual safety plan, which include emergency response protocols such as evacuation and shelter-in-place drills. Because the middle school is located in a NYC DOE building, the DOE creates and submits their safety plan on behalf of the entire building. We are responsible for creating and posting the elementary school's safety plan. However, we also include information about the middle school in our overall safety plan to ensure it is represented on our website.

David Barnard shared an update regarding the current roof replacement project at 950 Longfellow Ave. PS wrx, serving as the project manager, has been an extraordinary partner, working closely with us to complete the designs and architectural drawings, to releasing the project for bidding, and bid selection completion. Roof work is expected to be completed before students return in September. HVAC work will happen later on in the school year, but short-term fixes are planned for existing issues.

Lighting upgrades and other minor maintenance work are also ongoing.

Melanie Hok shared the update on the preliminary budget vs actuals for the prior fiscal year ending June 30, 2025. Based on the preliminary results, the reported total revenue is above budget, primarily driven by federal ESSER III funding that offset shortfalls in per pupil and SPED revenue.

Enrollment was slightly below budget at approx. 578.1 students, and SPED revenue came in lower due to fewer high-needs students than anticipated, both of which impacted state funding. On the expense side, the school remained under budget, primarily due to personnel savings from unfilled roles and staff transitions, despite higher spending on instructional supplies, which were covered by grants.

A federal single audit will be required again this year due to more than $1 million in federal funds spent.

"Was not discussed and tabled for a later date"

August 25: Launch Day (“Make Extraordinary Ordinary”) Summer Institute begins

September 2: First day of school after Labor Day.

September 5: Executive and Finance Committee meetings.

September 9: Next board meeting