Dr. Bobby White:
 

• Today, we had a horrifying incident at MLK, where two young men jumped into the bottom floor window of one of our classrooms. And one of the young men had a gun, and so as fate would have it, I was there pretty much throughout the entire day, where a lot was going on. I saw Dr. Clark there. I don't know if she was also there most of the day. But we immediately went into lockdown. They were scared because the young men who jumped into the window feared whoever was chasing them. So they came to the safest place they knew they could go to a school and dove into a window. 
• It's the area between the cafeteria and our back, ninth-grade hallway. And so the teacher's classroom had a few windows open on the bottom floor. It's not anything against protocol. They wanted some air in the room because you have ninth graders coming in after lunch; you need some air.
• So anyway, they dove in, and they were afraid there was no danger because the young men were trying to dive in to hide. However, when we got them, we recognized at the time that this young man had a gun. Neither one of these young men were students of ours. One was a student from Trezevant, and one was a student of Douglas. And so we went on lockdown, but listen, one thing led to another. Students had their phones and started letting parents know that a gunman was on the loose inside the school.
• Fox 13 was across the street. So I'm like, I'm glad I'm here today. Ms. Perry and her team were incredibly calm and handled the situation as best they could, given the scenario. I was incredibly proud of how they handled it. And we met with the staff afterward after we cleared the campus because this happened maybe about 40 or 50 minutes before school let out, so we spoke with them about what went on. 
• Of course, to help you to understand how we operate, Ms. Williams notified parents about what happened. We had a press release, just in case, there's anything we need to do regarding the media. We're not talking to them right now, though. There's no need for us to speak to them. It wasn't sensational enough for them. So I don't think that it will make the news, but it was traumatic for our kids. I was proud of how they responded. And everything we've practiced and put in place happens like that. And I'm happy about where we are. I spoke with them before we left; we just planned what would happen tomorrow. But one thing we did was go around the room to ask everybody are you okay? We'll make sure we're having these touch points with teachers tonight because it was also traumatic for them. At the end of the day, a non-student dove into a classroom.

Mr. Greg Thompson:

Financial Report September 13, 2022

Financial Update: Preliminary Year-End FY2022-2023

Lower enrollment primarily driving lower revenue numbers: 

• MLK: 547 vs. 575 budget 
• Westside: 328 vs. 330 budget 
• Humes: 207 vs. 250 budget 
• Total: 1,082 vs. 1,155 budget

Cash Balance: 

FY2023 Cash Flow Projections 
At 8-31-2022: ~$1.67M (~ 37 days of cash)
Cash at 9-13-2022: $1.18M (~ 26 days of cash) 
FCS has approximately $1.3M in grants receivables for which it is waiting payment from the ASD. 
Current Enrollment for BEP Payments: MLK: 547 (Budget 550) Westside: 328 (Budget 335) Humes: 207 (Budget 205) Total: 1,082 (Budget 1,090) 
Note Cash flow is on an ok position right now (but it is critical ASD reimburses FCS for outstanding grant submissions from FY2022 ~$1.3M). FCS also needs to begin receiving grant reimbursements for FY23 starting in October.
 

BEP Funding

• Currently calculated at $10,366.43 (less 2.5% fee from ASD). This slightly lower than what was projected in the budget ($10,587) but the number is likely to change during the year.
• True-up calculations happen throughout the year (based on actual enrollment).
• Enrollment is slightly below Board Budget.
   

School                                    MLK             Westside    Humes         Total

Enrollment under Board         550                335          205             1,090
Approved Budget  

Enrollment on which BEP       547                328          207             1,082

is currently based
Current Enrollment Count       547               323           190             1,060

(per internal FCS records)

Summary of Federal Grant Funding

MLK HUMES WESTSIDE NOTES
Non-recurring Grants     

• ESSER 2.0 $697,946.39 $545,258.93 $440,243.66 Rollover funds- will have to spend all of these funds in FY 2022-2023
• ESSER 3.0 $540,521.81 $274,871.42 $170,605.01 Remaining – will have to spend all of these funds by the end of FY2022-2024. A portion of these funds will be spent this year.
• ESSER 3.0 Learning Loss $401,459.35 $218,045.21 $197,895.65 Remaining – will have to spend all of these funds by the end of FY2022-2024. A portion of these funds will be spent this year.
• TN Dept of Education-Facility Grant $68,750.00 $41,875.00 $25,625.00 To be spent FY2022-2023
• Turnaround Grant (TAG) $307,292.01 $181,809.79 $112,655.15 To be spent FY2022-2023
  Best of All $7,812.50 $7,812.50 $7,812.50 To be spent FY2022-2023

Recurring Grants 

• Title I $652,429.80 $352,857.18 $253,482.66 To be spent FY2022-2023
• Title II $39,049.29 $25,501.58 $27,095.43 To be spent FY2022-2023
• IDEA $211,878.28 $94,703.17 $59,390.12 To be spent FY2022-2023
• Rollover ESSER funding amounts are subject to change based on final reconciliations from ASD on prior submissions from FCS.

Mr. Brett Lawson:

• This week, we published a brand new handbook for the faculty and staff, and we attempted to detail everything about how we do school and that it contains a very healthy academic section. And it's our best effort to put our best practices on paper and how we're moving things forward. We don't have a lot of changes to the curriculum this year. We're using everything that we were using last year. But we have changed our internal structures. around how we are working to improve the implementation of that curriculum. And Dr. Clark, our new director of curriculum and instruction, is on the call. And she's now had a couple of months at this and lots of meetings with multi-classroom leaders. And so I thought I'd allow her to jump in on this and tell you guys how things are going. And some lessons learned, some victories so far, and maybe some of our next steps.  

Dr.  Lawanda Clark:

• So the MCLs and I are in between surviving and thriving. And so, we have worked closely with a couple of partners, IP, and with each other to look closely at the curriculum, the lesson plans, and how we can provide teachers with the feedback needed to impact teaching and learning. So I've invested some time in having PD sessions with the MCLs to strengthen their ability to coach the teachers to recognize areas of strength to grow and align them with the strategies needed to get the biggest bang for their buck with having an impact on teaching and learning.
• I'm happy to say that if I just compared feedback from last year to this year, the feedback is more substantial and more focused, and actually, the MCLs feel better about how they view the lesson plans now and how they see them come to life in the classrooms every day. 
• We are currently finishing up the iReady assessments. The MCLs have been trained on iReady and RTI and how to use those programs to support tier two and tier three students. Also, with a focus on how we keep our tier-one babies growing. So we're digging deep into the data. We're getting ready for the case benchmark. And we will use that data to identify 18% of students. We were thinking about overshooting that goal; maybe shoot for 25%, and we'll land safely at 18% so that we can identify our high fliers to put things in place to support them as well. Dr. Harvey and I are also working with the teachers and school leaders to provide feedback and PDs on supporting teacher growth. How to look into their data, use iReady, and use case benchmarks to support the work the MCLs are doing and help the students. The principals have been conducting walkthroughs on things other than planning, like looking at the environment, looking at the student engagement, focusing on the questioning, and using that information to talk with MCLs; we can plan a lot of support.
• Our next step would be to continue the development of the MCLs. We will do a book study on coaching and develop some new strategies to help them. We're going to make sure that we are having data conversations with our school leaders and teachers and, more importantly, with our students to make sure that they are accountable and serious about what the data says about them and their teaching and learning. And we also want to work with the parents to get them involved in knowing what we're expecting from their students when they're not in school. And how the attendance impacts their ability to learn and teach them how it impacts our data. So it's pretty much a village at this point. We're getting insight from everybody about what we need to do, and then the team and I will come together to plan our next phase. We're getting ready to look into the structure and pacing. And we will allow that to be a map of how we want to teach and learn so that we can be ready for the ten ready? We're not going to say we're preparing for the test. Still, we're intentional about what we're teaching and utilizing the blueprint and the curriculum. We're looking at some data from last year to see where our kids are struggling, whether this was standards or whether it's with skills—and then working with the teachers and their structure calendar to make sure that we're hitting those standards and those things that we want our students to master. So the critical thing is being intentional, flexible, knowledgeable, and how to recognize trends and, do the data analysis and make those decisions that impact us in regards to our instructional practices.
   

Mr. Lawson:

• Thank you, Dr. Clark. And as you were giving that remarkable introductory statement, I heard all the acronyms, and you all wonder what they mean. There must have been about 10 in there, and they're in the handbook. We have a section we have not completed, so I'll do a few. 
• An MCL is a multi-classroom leader. Multi-classroom leaders are part of a program we're doing with an organization called public impact group, which you may all be familiar with - and the model is Opportunity Culture. The idea was that you would take your strongest teacher and keep them very closely connected with instruction. And so, the multi-classroom leaders take some of the test data from the students as part of their evaluation. So the teachers are accountable for students' achievement.
• We keep that focus, and they are charged with ensuring that no matter what, we have excellent instruction in our classrooms. Those multi-classroom leaders for English math, science, and social studies, our core subjects, take care of reviewing lesson plans and doing walkthroughs using an instruction Practice Guide. They also do walkthroughs using the team rubric that teachers are evaluated on for their scores. 
• Multi-classroom leaders do multiple things within the school. Last year they were led by and reported to the Principals. This year they are led by and report to the Director of Curriculum Instruction. And we made that change because the Principals told us they said, "we're not able to manage this part of it. It is more than we can say on top of and keep our schools running with a climate and culture that you want to see. So, I asked them before we made this move, and they were pleased that we did it. We're still getting used to how this all works, who does what, and who do I ask, so that is a natural part. RTI is another acronym that's Response to Intervention. That's a model the state has been using for a couple of years around academics. It says you will assess students with diagnostic assessments throughout the year. Those students who are challenged are given extra support and intervention. Those students who are advancing are going to get pushed forward even further. And so it talks about these levels of students in tears. So you heard tier one, two, and three, we're tiering our students. And so, we focus on our tier three students, which are the most challenged. Tier two is slightly different; tier two students need a little help to get over the edge. Then tier one, our students are doing fine with more excellent classroom instruction. Those are just a couple of acronyms. 

Mrs. Arlinda Cathey:

• Our governance report for this evening includes one, a vote and two, other items I want members to be aware of. We will be move forward with a vote this evening for the annual board elections. The board election is for different seats: board chair, board vice chair, board treasurer, who is also part of the finance committee, and our board secretary. You see a slate of three candidates for board chair, board vice chair, and board treasurer. We still have a vacancy for the board secretary. It is not an intimidating position at all. You will not have to take notes. You will work closely with Ms. LaTisha Warren, who supports our board and takes care of many of the administration tasks. Ms. Warren will take the minutes, and you will review the minutes as the board secretary. Make sure there are no typos or errors are corrected because all of our meeting information, agenda, and minutes are on our public FCS website. So it's just the process of ensuring we're actively reviewing minutes and scheduling our meetings. While we don't have a nominee, feel free to reach out to me if it's something that you think might be interesting to consider. We have three members from our team who are nominees for three positions; two of the individuals and I are returning board members. I am not sure if everyone has had the chance to meet Ms. Adams and Ms. Kirby. I want Ms. Adams and Ms. Kirby, if they don't mind, to take a moment to reintroduce themselves to everyone. I have asked both ladies to consider these positions and they have graciously said yes. Kirby, would you turn on your camera and reintroduce yourself to everyone, and Ms. Adams, if you love me, would turn on your camera and reintroduce yourself as well.  

Kimberly Adams: 

• I am Kimberly Adams, and I am the Principal of Westside Elementary. I have been a partner of FCS board since its inception. I have been a part of this project from the start. I love what we are doing and working with the children in our community. Mrs. Cathey asked me to do so I am being obedient. I am sure this will benefit my life at Frayser Community Schools. She will let me know what I need to do, and I will follow directions.
   

Kirbi Tucker

• I am Kirbi Tucker and I am excited to serve Frayser Community Schools. Growing up in Memphis, you don't hear much about the Frayser-Raleigh area. Having the opportunity to serve the students of Frayser Community Schools is a blessing. I serve at Christian Brothers as the Director of Graduate Recruiting. I am excited about being part of the team and being able to serve the students.  

Candice Reddick

• I am Candice Reddick, and this is my first year on the board. I have been serving on the board for about six months. I am from the Frayser area and love Frayser and everything about Frayser. I am the secretary for the Frayser Community Development Corp. I genuinely enjoy serving in this capacity from an educator perspective because I am the daughter of a former educator. I am thrilled to be a part of this board.

Arlinda Fair Cathey

• I want to say that this will be my last year serving as board chair. I will come out of this role at the end of this academic year. That does not mean I will be rolling off the board just stepping down from the position of board chair. So if anyone is potentially thinking of becoming the chair or would like to learn more about being a board chair, feel free to reach out to me. 
• Everyone will receive information from me about the annual BaordSmart Training, which is now available through November 15th. I mentioned this in our working session and talked to the new board members about the BoardSmart training certification we must complete each year. BoardSmart will assist us in meeting training and certification requirements, according to Tennessee Code Annotated 49-13-111(q), which requires that all board members participate in 4 or 6 hours of training and to receive certification through the Tennessee Charter School Center annually.
• Lastly, I will be doing one-on-ones with our new board members to answer any questions you may at this moment in time. I  also would like to have these conversations to see what committees you would like to serve on. We want to get you engaged and keep you active on the board. I have included the link for you to schedule a quick check-in with me.

Mrs.  Arlinda Cathey:

• We're coming up toward the end of our meeting, and I did want to mention briefly that we attempted to implement an annual board giving commitment last year where everyone on our board was striving to give a specific amount. I think it would be good for us, with this new group, to revisit that topic and think through what 100% board giving will look like for the Frayser Community Schools Board of Directors and what we're able to pull from our respective network as well. 
• Because these funds do not necessarily have to all come from our personal pockets, they can also represent the respective networks we operate in. And once we get our development committee fully formed and functioning, I want that to be at the top of the agenda, thinking through what that would look like for us this year. And if there's a specific amount or maybe a different approach we should be using because we now have some fundraising experts on our board, I think it's a perfect opportunity to revisit this and think through what makes sense for us. 
• The Development Committee has existed in a couple of different iterations over the years and I want to make sure that we're continuing to challenge ourselves and to ask what our Development Committee should commit themselves to and what are some of the great ideas we should consider in board giving. So those are just some of my thoughts I wanted to put out there. We will discuss that in the coming months and, hopefully, arrive at a decision. I also want to give kudos to Ms. Kirby Tucker, who was 100%  in board giving last year and did a phenomenal job in terms of really tapping into her entire network on behalf of Frayser Community Schools.