Bronx Charter School for the Arts
Minutes
Monthly Board Meeting (Rescheduled)
Date and Time
Tuesday April 16, 2024 at 6:30 PM
Location
ZOOM
Trustees Present
Barbara H. Scott (remote), Charles Whites (remote), Dan Vislocky (remote), David Barnard (remote), Denise Brecher (remote), Evette Stair- Radlein (remote), Lori Biancamano (remote), Susan Geisenheimer (remote)
Trustees Absent
Arlene Bascom, Eric Osorio
Guests Present
Jasmin Abbatiello (remote), Kathy Ortiz (remote), Lesly Garcia (remote), Loretta Cargill (remote)
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
C.
Approve Minutes
II. Nominating Committee Update
A.
Prospective Board Member
III. Executive Director Report
A.
Update
Kathy Ortiz shared updates on lottery day, enrollment, and state testing and gave a brief renewal update.
- Lottery day was a success, with only a few seats left to fill for the upcoming school year.
- The total number of applications as of April 15th, 2024, is 779. That's 146 more applications than in April of last year, totaling 633.
- Bronx Arts will not be accepting 8th-grade applications this year.
- The only area that needs growth in our renewal update is benchmark 10—legal compliance, specifically fingerprinting and teacher certification.
IV. Finance Report
A.
Update
Melanie Hok provided the YTD financials as of March 2024. Melanie also shared that new anticipated expenses for the remainder of the year will be targeted toward year-end events, support with teacher certification, and staff appreciation.
V. Development & Communications
A.
Update
Jasmin Abbatiello provided an update regarding FY24 contributions:
1. Bloomberg Philanthropies approved a grant award of $324,800 ($130,000 increase from the previous year) to support Summer Boost NYC. The program will include grades 2-8 (expanded to include middle school students).
2. To date, a total of $466,298 in private contributions has been raised, exceeding the goal of $450,000 by $19,834 (including pledges and in-kind gifts).
3. There is $3,536 left to raise to reach the goal of $425,000 for cash contributions only.
She also shared the monthly Bronx Arts Can't Stop, Won't Stop highlight video and noted that a detailed report regarding the Winter Recruitment Campaign was sent to all members of the board for their review (it was a great success!).
VI. Upcoming Events
A.
Update
- April 17th-19th: State Exams Gr. 5th & 8th
- April 22nd- 26th: Spring Break
- May 1st - May 3rd: Science Exams Gr. 5th & 8th
- May 8th - 9th: Math state exams Gr. 3rd -4th
- May 14th - 16th: State Exams Gr. 5th & 8th
- May 14th: Board Meeting on Zoom
- May 23rd: Jazz on Longfellow
Susan Geisenheimer gave a committee update introducing a prospective new board member, Zahreen Ghaznavi. Zahreen is currently Assistant General Counsel at TIME, USA. She served previously as legal counsel at Success Academy Charter Schools and, early in her career, was a 5th grade teacher for Teach for America at UNO Charter School Network in Chicago. Zahreen will visit Bronx Arts on May 13th.