Bronx Charter School for the Arts
Minutes
Board of Trustees Meeting
Date and Time
Tuesday June 11, 2019 at 6:30 PM
Location
1440 Story Avenue Bronx, NY 10473
Trustees Present
Arlene Bascom, Barbara H. Scott, Charles Whites (remote), Dan Vislocky, Denise Brecher, Graham Powis, Katherine Trager (remote), Lori Biancamano (remote), Noni Lopez (remote), Patricia Kennedy (remote), Susan Geisenheimer
Trustees Absent
Ahmad Sheikh, Aisha Bell, Eric Osorio
Guests Present
Johanne Javel, Jonea Thomas, Karlene Cowan, Miriam Raccah, Tatiana Nadal, Tolulola Laguda
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance and Guests
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
Miriam Raccah called a meeting of the board of trustees of Bronx Charter School for the Arts to order on Tuesday Jun 11, 2019 at 6:30 PM.
C.
Public Session
D.
Approve Minutes
Graham Powis made a motion to approve minutes from the Board of Trustees Meeting on 05-14-19 Board of Trustees Meeting on 05-14-19.
Susan Geisenheimer seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
II. Nominating
A.
Executive Director Evaluation
- Charles spoke about the Executive Director evaluation; process must be completed by July 13th, board executive committee, committee heads, along with staff will be part of the input
- Miriam to complete her self-evaluation by June 17th
B.
SY 2019 - 2020 Board Meeting Calendar
Miriam presented the board meeting calendar for SY19-20, reviewed dates; discussion of board member availability on July 9th for meeting
C.
Board Evaluation
Discussion about how we function as a board and assessment of work done
III. Finance
A.
April Financials
- Total net income for April YTD is tracking at $481K, $252K over budget,
- Total Revenue came under budget by $223K primarily due to decrease in private contributions, from less foundations grants
- Board giving roughly on target for the year; board members to see Miriam to determine where their individual pledge stands
B.
2019-2020 Budget
Arlene Bascom made a motion to accept the budget.
Susan Geisenheimer seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
IV. Operations
A.
Dashboard
Karlene Cowan provided report on May dashboard
B.
Recruitment Update
Karlene highlighted that use of various technology and resources used to post, locate and recruit. This included Greenhouse (tech), partnering with Edgility, and the TNTP (The New Teacher Project). There has been no magic resource.
V. Principal Reports
A.
Elementary School Report
Jonea reported on Elementary School
- To keep school engaging and the academic focus in the upcoming end of school days, there have been a series of themed "Spirit" days
- Jonea and team are planning for the jumpstart Kindergarten program this summer
- Stepping up Ceremony and 5th grade trip are a year end highlight.
- Families have been sent material for summer camps and enrichment activities
VI. Executive Director Presentation
A.
Charter Renewal
- Miriam shared that SY2019-2020 is Bronx Arts Charter renewal year. Miriam requested the the Board keep Bronx Arts top of mind during the renewal period
- Performance Benchmarks (Charter School Performance Framework) published by SED is located on BoardonTrack. Members are encouraged to read.
- The framework will help the board to understand what tests to pay attention to; understand results and what we might consider if Bronx Arts is not meeting the stated results
- Renewal document due by August; school visit will take place in the fall.
- Approximate timeline for SED process is June-December 2019
B.
Ad-Hoc Topics
- Miriam was invited to participate and speak on a panel developed by the Arts Commission of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She noted that participants were particularly in agreement about the challenges of creating integrated arts programs among other things.
- Attendees of note at the commission included heads of bother Kennedy Center and Schomburg as well as actor, John Lithgow
- Arlene asked about the development of director search. The search has been deferred to summer given the need for focus on teacher hiring in both schools.
VII. 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 8:10 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
Barbara H. Scott