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Aaron Bothner reviewed the agenda. 

Ellen Chen spoke about what the mission and vision means to her. She believes people need to be well-rounded. An art-infused program will help kids to think more broadly and appreciate more about what is not in the books. Additionally, she shared that she is a product of public education. She wholeheartedly believes that public education can change a person. She further shared a specific example one of her favorite teachers in 6th grade.

Aaron Bothner reflected on how remote learning started and how we have tracked this process. He stated in thinking of this, the board thought that it would be great to hear from teachers.

Kurt Davidson introduced both Megan Whitehead (6th Grade Math Teacher) and Kaditou Conteh (6th Grade ELA Teacher).

Kaditou Conteh shared that the relationships that were created before the remote learning began are essential to ensuring that remote learning is successful. She also shared that she didn't utilize the Chromebooks with scholars so her transition was a little harder than it was for math. But she also has structures in place. With the routine she has created, she has seen great results. 

Megan Whitehead shared that she feels as though that the teachers work as a team. So after each session they will say whose session they need to attend next. She also stated that she has created a format for her sessions that are consistent for all of her live sessions with scholars. There will be a spirit week to 6th grade next week as well. A lot of the tools that are being utilized are now being utilized in remote learning, so this was an easy transition for our scholars. 

Aaron Bothner asked the teachers if they have thought about the transition back to in school learning.

Megan Whitehead shared that she really likes Zoom and feels as though it would still be utilized when school is back in session. She also likes that Zoom records so scholars can access the lessons later.

Kaditou Conteh shared that she also agreed with the recorded lessons really helping students as they are able to continuously access the information.

Ellen Chen complimented the teachers on their work thus far.

Aaron Bothner also complimented the teachers work.
 

Tyra Williams introduced Anthony Brown (Assistant Principal), Jason McNatt (Dean of Scholars) and Kirstyanne Prescott (Business CTE teacher). 

Kirstyanne Prescott shared that technology has always been intergrated into her class. She shared her screen and shared a current project that the 9th graders are working on. She went through the project instructions and what she is expecting from them with this specific project. 

Aaron Bothner thanked Kirstyanne Prescott.

Jason McNatt shared that we may have thought that the transition would be easy, however it was not. High school scholars did not think that online school carried the same expectations as in school. Parent communication is key. Families are opening the "virtual" doors of their homes. The school is also supporting parents through this process. He shared that kids are were really uncomfortable with their settings. He shared a specific example about a scholar and his struggle. He also shared the specific work that he is doing to support this scholar. Communication is the key to remote learning, it takes a village. He said he always knew relationships were important but now more than ever he understands and appreciates them. He said as a result of the overall work, he thinks that they will end the the year in a strong position. He then went over the marking period three report. He detailed the targets and what work was being done to support those scholars. With the supports in place, all scholars will pass classes which is remarkable. 

Kamaria Brisseau asked if data cards were an option.

Jason McNatt reported that he would work with Melissa Alston to see if this was a possibility.

Aaron Bothner thanked Jason McNatt for doing all of the remarkable work at the school. 

Anthony Brown reported that the virtual world has created a different world. He spoke of the change in schedule and making an open door policy. He shared that he and Ms. Williams are looking at supporting teachers from their point of view but also from the teachers point of view as well. He also shared that he teachers a class per day and that allows him to better understand what teachers experience during this time. He shared that there is also a 24 hour tutoring program where scholars can get the support that they need at any time of the day. Anthony also spoke about blended learning. He also made mention of how the programs they are utilizing helps ensure the rigor is there to ensure the connect to standardized testing. 

Aaron Bothner thanked all of the speakers. 

 

Kurt Davidson K-8 Principal reported that the lower school has made contact with every parent in the school. One of the items they are tracking is attendance. Another item they are tracking is the red flag scholars. Those scholars are being tracked by the culture team and being supported accordingly. 66% of the scholars are utilizing the zoom completely 100% of the home. 16% are red flags and 100% of them have been supported remotely by the culture team. 80% of the scholars are in attendance on Zoom. Kurt also shared that because all teachers provide two sessions per day, this allows flexibility for those scholars helping their siblings. Kurt reported that they outlined more detailed expectations with the leaders input over Spring Break. He shared the school also had 4 family town halls last week, two English and two Spanish to ensure accessibility. Kurt also shared specific examples of what assessments look like for math and ELA. On Fridays they have team meetings by grade span. On Tuesdays they have content team meetings. These meetings help assess and ensure rigor of instruction. What makes us unique is the culture of the school. Collaboration and structure are key. A crisis is a chance to get our students ahead if we are on offense and not on defense. The goal is to walk back into the school hitting the ground running.

Aaron Bothner thanked Kurt for providing background on his process. 

Tyra Williams CPA Principal shared that they look at a few different platforms to assess the scholar's work, not just Zoom. Teachers are expected to report on level of attendance by scholar. A lot of time is being spent reaching out to families for their support. She reported that there is only one student who they are having a hard time getting in contact with. Tyra shared her screen to show attendance data for the CPA. They track the trending attendance and have conversations with teachers. They utilize this to support teachers where needed. IAs were given this week through Castle Learning. They are timed and randomized. Make ups were allowed but needed to be approved by the principal. Virtual learning does not lessen the accountability level that the scholars are being held to. Her and the team has to find ways to ensure that they produce data that is integrity driven. During May's board meeting results for this month's IAs will be shared out. Additionally, project based learning was opened up to all teachers. She asked her teachers to think outside of the bus and provide authentic learning. Lesson plans need to reflect this thinking. Admin supports teachers with this process. She explained the CPA schedule which runs on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday schedule for small group instruction and Tuesday and Thursday on the regular schedule that reflects what you see in the school building. 

Aaron Bothner shared that the overview was helpful. Being able to triangulate between all the data points is helpful. He invited everyone to add questions in the chat for Tyra, Kurt and Karin to answer. 

Ellen Chen invited Karin to take the board through the process of project based learning. 

Karin McGuire shared that the school leadership team meets, a small group of teachers will collaborate, the national team will meet. There will be more to come here. 

Melissa Alston reported on the number of applications going into the lottery as of March 10th, 2020. She reported a healthy amount of applications considering the shift to remote learning and closing the school building. We had more in district apllications than the 2019-2020 school year and we only down about 500 applications overall. With an estimated 79 seats to fill, we ran the lottery with 2006 applications. This is only a 3% acceptance rate which puts us in a strong position to maintain a healthy waitlist with 97% of our total number of applications being waitlisted.

Melissa Alston also reported that the lottery ran successfully on Wednesday, April 15, 2020 at 5pm. The lottery took place via Zoom and was recorded and the audio was subsequently transcribed. We opened 52 seats for Kindergarten, 25 seats for 9th grade and 2 seats for 12th grade. The deadline for initial acceptance of a seat for those selected in the lottery is Friday, May 1, 2020. About 20 parents attended the Zoom call. We ran the lottery for all 13 grades individually. As of right now we have 32 seats accepted with 8 more days until the deadline for acceptance. From there we will proceed to call parents on the wait list, if needed. Once seats have been fully accepted, we will move on to virtual registration. Our registration process has been fully transformed to be able to be completed online. This includes uploading all support documents. The principals will also create a video message to welcome new families to the Met family. This video will also have clips and pictures of the school environment. I am hoping that this video helps us to welcome families as they will not have the opportunity to be in the building to register.

Jessica Boulet asked whether we were on target for ELL and SpEd recruitment, and Melissa said that she does not have the information now, but she would report out once she does.

Aaron Bothner asked to consider what did we learn and what could be improved. 

 

There are no public comments. 

MaryBeth Rousseau (LHA Controller) shared out that we are in a strong financial position. The school has 217 days of cash on hand. The ebt to service ratio 2.51. Budgeted enrollment increased to 642. There is a year to date surplus of about one million dollars. The staff expenses line below budget  due to vacancies not being filled. Operating supplies and equipment line is over budget due to the purchase of additional chromebooks for remote learning. 

 

Brent Elliot reported on the investment of 5 million and the total is now 5.2 million. All investments are all adhered to by board policy. 

Kamaria Brisseau shared that it is great news that investments are not down due to the current climate. 

Aaron Bothner introduced the reason for the second budget amendment of the school year. The principals approached the board to try to utilize some of the operating surplus from this school year to support this decision to add the most value for students. We would be voting on the allocation of this money. 

Courtney Russell shared out that the principals sacrificed some items on the budget to ensure that we put people first. 

Aaron Bothner identified that Courtney made a good point in that our budgeted dollars are uncertain with an anticipated 5% reduction next year. We need to budget through uncertainty. 

Ellen Chen asked how often could budgets be amended. Aaron answered that we would want to only do this during extraordinary circumstances and as per the bylaws. Ellen asked as she wanted to ensure flexibility if remote learning needs to continue. Aaron also shared that they touched based with the auditors to ensure this was allowable. 

Mary Beth confirmed they discussed the budget amendment with the auditors

Aaron Bothner credited the principals and LHA for doing this work. 

Aaron Bothner talked briefly through the narrative and invited the board to read it ahead of the vote for May's board meeting. Questions before next meeting should be directed to Shanta Pressley. 

Shanta Pressley and Aaron Bothner have been looking to create a spend policy. She shared that she hopes to have a document in front of the board in the next coming months that can then subsequently be implemented for the next school year. Shanta shared this is not a document that currently lives anywhere. 

Aaron Bothner invited everyone to share thoughts/research during this process. How much of an investment account should we have and when should it be increased or decreased. 

Kamaria Brisseau shared that she would like to help support as she has worked on simiiar projects in the past.

Elen Chen asked for a PPP update. Aaron Bothner stated that LHA approached them on applying for a loan to help support during this time. None of this money is accounted for anywhere as it is not completed at this time. However more to come on the usage of funds if received.

Courtney Russell shared that the principals wanted options in regards to the management of the technology services for the school to compare services and pricing. Because of this an RFP was issued. They were researched and many provided by the New York City Charter Center. Where we are is on Monday, Tyra, Kurt, Karin and Courtney will convene on a call and go through the RFPs that were submitted. The decision needs to be made very quickly following this review.

Aaron Bothner asked if the timing lines up for the next board meeting. Courtney stated that this is not something that the Board has voted on in the past. He stated he would look to rely on what LHA and the principals determine what is best. 

Monica Rivera reported that construction has continued last Wednesday with approval from the city. An FDNY inspection was delayed from May to June. The space will be finished by the the second week of May but cannot be occupied until the FDNY inspection is complete and a certificate of occupancy is issued to the school. She suggested a three month extension on the insurance to ensure project completion. 

Aaron shared out that he and Monica are working closely on the insurance piece. 

Monica Rivera reported that a September grand opening would be best at this point. Monica also shared out that there will be money in contingency to support this ceremony.

Aaron Bothner shared out that this will now be a back to school event. The board will revisit this in July to continue to more the project forward. 

Jessica Boulet shared that the board strategic priorities survey needs to be completed by the board, there are only two responses including her thus far. 

Aaron Bothner shared with the board that the deadline will extend to the beginning of next week for the board. He also shared the importance here ahead of the annual board meeting. 

Kamaria Brisseau asked if it was allowable to schedule a zoom meeting for the board members. Aaron asked Jessica to look into if this was allowable. Jessica reported that it is allowable but if it was more than five people it would be subject to open meeting laws. She suggested maybe taking this to a committee call. 

It is Aaron's intention to have this ready in draft for the May board meeting. Aaron asked for a follow up on Doodle to gauge interest. 

Aaron reported that the annual board meeting is in June. He stated that he received positive feedback in regards to the meeting. A Doodle for the board's availability in June will also go out. 
 

Aaron requested that both principals send him what they have in regards to values from the school level. 

Kamaria Brisseau talked about board member specialties. On the current list, the board is seeking the following: finance experience, a member of the community, legal experience, education experience, a parent from the school community, real estate experience, Spanish speaking, someone with technology experience, someone with disability experience and someone with governance experience. 

Kamaria asked for an extension for more suggestions. 

Ellen Chen stated that she knows a special needs lawyer and asked if she could join as a non-voting member or remote board member.  Ellen asked whether the attorney could join the board even though she could not attend in person. Jessica Boulet responded that members of the public who wish to volunteer their expertise could become committee members even without becoming full board members.

Kamaria Brisseau reported that the board recruiting efforts are on pause for now and reopening of the process will be considered in the future.