Nuasin Next Generation Charter School
Minutes
Metropolitan Lighthouse Board Meeting
Date and Time
Thursday April 22, 2021 at 6:30 PM
Location
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Meeting ID: 930 6306 2096
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Meeting ID: 930 6306 2096
Find your local number: https://metlcs.zoom.us/u/acJVN8m3dn
https://metlcs.zoom.us/j/93063062096?pwd=ajlHOXR6QS9hSlJjTk15VmJucjVMdz09
Meeting ID: 930 6306 2096
Passcode: 180165
One tap mobile
+16465588656,,93063062096# US (New York)
+13017158592,,93063062096# US (Washington DC)
Dial by your location
+1 646 558 8656 US (New York)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 669 900 9128 US (San Jose)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
Meeting ID: 930 6306 2096
Find your local number: https://metlcs.zoom.us/u/acJVN8m3dn
Mission
We prepare our students for college through a rigorous arts-infused program.
Vision
All students will be taught by a highly effective teacher in a nurturing environment and will achieve at high levels. Each student will develop the knowledge, skills and values necessary for responsible citizenship and life-long learning. The impact of our collective efforts will fundamentally change public education.
Trustees Present
A. Bothner (remote), A. Khanyile (remote), A. Khatiwada (remote), C. Barnes-Watson (remote), E. Chen (remote), J. Boulet (remote), K. Brisseau (remote), K. Shabazz (remote), S. Huda (remote), S. Pressley (remote), T. Bryan (remote)
Trustees Absent
M. Dorrie
Trustees who arrived after the meeting opened
A. Khanyile, C. Barnes-Watson, J. Boulet, S. Pressley
Ex Officio Members Present
M. Russell (remote)
Non Voting Members Present
M. Russell (remote)
Guests Present
E. Mew (remote), K. Davidson (remote), K. Perez (remote), M. Alston (remote), R. Keogh (remote)
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance and Guests
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
A. Bothner called a meeting of the board of trustees of Nuasin Next Generation Charter School to order on Thursday Apr 22, 2021 at 6:37 PM.
C.
MetLCS Mission/Vision Reflection and Grounding
M. Alston spoke about her vision reflection for the school on an operational side. She shared that it takes a village to make a village.
D.
Review the Agenda
A. Bothner shared what's on the agenda and information on recent emails with the authorizer.
S. Pressley arrived at 6:42 PM.
A. Khanyile arrived at 6:44 PM.
II. School Update
A.
Executive Director Update
M. Russell presented on his 30, 60, 90 plan updates for the month.
- Priorities-
- Highschool-SAT Prep, Attendance, Graduation
- Testing-Participate and support in testing protocols. He would like 90% of scholars to be in house for both State exams.
- Org Chat-Communicating with the changes to the staff.
- Culture-Continue to promote and communicate the vision with everyone in the school.
- Reading Culture Implementation of school-Every teacher is a reading teacher
- Every scholar in the building will be taking an FMP exam to examine where our scholars are with reading levels.
- Personnel-Communicate expectations and enforce excellence to all staff members.
- Transition to Nuasin-Branding
The hiring of the High School Principal has begun. M. Russell would like to have a great person to take the job.
M. Russell gave an update on the Executive Director evaluation rubric's completion. He will have 6 topics where he will reflect on each one. The evaluation will be presented in May for review and the vote will take place in June's board meeting.
B.
K - 12 Head of School Update
K. Davidson presented the ELA Mock exam data.
- 3-5th Grade have significant growth
- 6-7th Grade have a slight growth
- 8th Grade remained the same with growth
- The ELA staff members check in daily in the morning and afternoon. The teacher accountability is really strong this year and they can transition from ELA to Math quickly.
- K-8 Attendance Data-Largely steady when it comes to our absentee rate. We're about 91% with attendance. At least 63% of scholars are present for hybrid and making a lot of progress with in person instruction. More families are contacting the school to get their scholars in for at least 2 days a week. Fridays are now in person and about 100 students attended. The Friday classes are mostly for our "red flags" scholars who are struggling with attendance, ELL's and IEP's scholars. We are at capacity with K, 3 and 8th Grade. Highschool is still struggling with attendance and we targeting all of our attention to make it grow.
- College Metrics-100% of our scholars have applied to at least 1 college. 69% of our scholars have been accepted to a college.
- A new partnership with a company called Pathway to Purpose. The company works with schools to get all scholars prepared for college.
- A School quality guide that the DOE does on outcomes. It shares all our data and information, its important and gives an insight on last years information.
C.
Operations Health Dashboard
M. Alston updated on the Operations Health Dashboard.
- Retention Data for 2019-2020 and 2020-2021- A lot of staff members indicated that they would return and they did not in 2019-2020. In 2020-2021, 4 staff members said they were not returning and didn't return. 2 staff members said they were undecided and didn't return.
- The NYU Internship Program is our main focus to maintain the partnership as well as keeping the interns who currently are staff members.
- Academic Operations-working on the classroom libraries and the ED Law 2D.
- Talent Acquisition/ Marketing- Working on Partnerships, Virtual Career Fairs, Position Description, Offer letters.
- We have had 2 Covid testing days and we have had all negative results.
- MDO Updates- Virtual DOE Visits, Compliance reports
K. Perez shared that there are 479 scholars in LCs and 198 scholars in CPA for this month. On April 14, 2021, the lottery for the 2021-2022 school year took place. The operations team presented the open seats to the potential families. After the presentation, the lottery took place and many families stayed after to ask questions. The event went very well.
K. Perez gave updates on the TCO license. The application was resent to FDNY and we are expected to hear something in 8-10 weeks.
K. Perez did not have any new updates for the rooftop ceremony.
K. Perez gave updates on the TCO license. The application was resent to FDNY and we are expected to hear something in 8-10 weeks.
K. Perez did not have any new updates for the rooftop ceremony.
III. Education Committee Updates
A.
Education Committee Report
E. Chen shared that K. Davidson gave the updates during his presentation. There is Go Formative is a tool that the school has been using that shows what the scholars are writing and teachers can edit on the spot. The Dashboard has been updated with test scores and the new growth.
IV. External Relations Committee Update
A.
Fundraising Initiatives
A. Bothner informed that he would like to have fundraising plans by the beginning of the fiscal year to end of initiatives.
V. Finance Committee Updates
A.
General Updates
S. Pressley gave general updates for this month. 4th Sector and Operations have been working the budget.The PPE loan application has opened and we are still not able to apply due to Chase. They will give us an update when we could apply.
B.
March Financials
E. Mew presented the March finance updates as of March 31st:
- Our financials for this month are very strong and very good metrics.
- Our current ratio compared to the DOE is much higher.
- Our current cash days are higher than last years.
- Enrollment- Is currently above budgeted
- Balance Sheet-Is very steady and strong. The school is operating at a very steady pace.
- Quarterly Investment Report- This last quarter in our investments were not good due to this month but it's still strong.
J. Boulet arrived at 7:51 PM.
C.
Quarterly Investment Update
D.
2021-2022 Budget Update
Leadership and 4th Sector have made a presentation as an initial preview of next years Budget preview for salaries.
M. Russell shared that he would like to compensate his people and bring talent to the school. The presentation was about their structures and data on how they came up with the new salary budget.
- More open positions on the academic side for more support in the whole school K-12.
- The school will be giving a higher raise than the DOE. Culture/Ops/Leaders will have an increase as well. There will be structure changes for certain roles.
- We had 98% of enrollment for this school year.
- The compensation is going to be very competitive to next school year.
- The level of Structural Support is needed for the school as a whole.
C. Barnes-Watson arrived at 7:59 PM.
E.
2021-2022 Salary Budget Approval
S. Pressley made a motion to Accept March Financial as presented by 4th Sector.
A. Khatiwada seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| E. Chen |
Aye
|
| M. Dorrie |
Absent
|
| A. Bothner |
Aye
|
| S. Pressley |
Aye
|
| S. Huda |
Aye
|
| A. Khatiwada |
Aye
|
| K. Brisseau |
Aye
|
| T. Bryan |
Aye
|
| K. Shabazz |
Aye
|
| C. Barnes-Watson |
Aye
|
| J. Boulet |
Aye
|
| A. Khanyile |
Aye
|
S. Pressley made a motion to Approve and accept the salaries as presented for all staff with the exception of M. Russell, as Executive Director, K. Davidson, as the Principal, and M. Alston as the Managing Director of Operations.
E. Chen seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| M. Dorrie |
Absent
|
| T. Bryan |
Aye
|
| K. Brisseau |
Aye
|
| C. Barnes-Watson |
Aye
|
| K. Shabazz |
Aye
|
| E. Chen |
Aye
|
| S. Huda |
Aye
|
| A. Khanyile |
Aye
|
| A. Bothner |
Aye
|
| S. Pressley |
Aye
|
| A. Khatiwada |
Aye
|
| J. Boulet |
Aye
|
VI. Public Comments
A.
Public Comments
There are no public members present.
VII. Board Governance
A.
Approve March 2021 Board Meeting Minutes
J. Boulet made a motion to approve the minutes from Metropolitan Lighthouse Board Meeting on 03-25-21.
A. Bothner seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| A. Khanyile |
Aye
|
| S. Pressley |
Aye
|
| T. Bryan |
Aye
|
| K. Shabazz |
Aye
|
| C. Barnes-Watson |
Aye
|
| A. Khatiwada |
Aye
|
| S. Huda |
Aye
|
| E. Chen |
Aye
|
| K. Brisseau |
Aye
|
| J. Boulet |
Aye
|
| M. Dorrie |
Absent
|
| A. Bothner |
Aye
|
B.
Draft 2021 - 2022 Board Meeting Calendar
Every year the board votes on the Board meeting and School calendar for next school year. Next year the board meetings will be sooner in the month for November, December and February.
The School calendar has been drafted and still follows the DOE due to our busing system.
C.
Ed Law 2 D
In policies for the ED Law 2 D forms are submitted in the boardontrack folder.
- Data Privacy and Security Plan- a policy has been made to protect the scholars information especially now with online.
- Partnerships-They will also be introduced to this law,especially our SIS programs.
- Parents' Bill of Rights-It outlines how we are protecting our scholars to the parents.
- FERPA- It talks about what the law is for FERPA and outlines the disclosure.
- NYSED- has to be aware of the breaches
- On the website, the parents will be able to access all the vendors that we house that also have their scholars information.
J. Boulet made a motion to approve the Data Security Policy, Parent Bill of Rights, Compliant Form, FERPA Form and the Supplement to the Parent Bill of Rights in compliance to the ED Law 2 D.
A. Bothner seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| S. Pressley |
Aye
|
| A. Bothner |
Aye
|
| E. Chen |
Aye
|
| K. Brisseau |
Aye
|
| A. Khanyile |
Aye
|
| A. Khatiwada |
Aye
|
| K. Shabazz |
Aye
|
| M. Dorrie |
Absent
|
| C. Barnes-Watson |
Aye
|
| T. Bryan |
Aye
|
| J. Boulet |
Aye
|
| S. Huda |
Aye
|
VIII. Executive Session
A.
Executive Session to be Proposed for the Purposes of Discussing Staff Compensation.
A. Bothner made a motion to executive Session to be proposed for the purposes of discussing staff compensation.
J. Boulet seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| K. Brisseau |
Aye
|
| A. Bothner |
Aye
|
| T. Bryan |
Aye
|
| K. Shabazz |
Aye
|
| S. Pressley |
Aye
|
| M. Dorrie |
Absent
|
| E. Chen |
Aye
|
| S. Huda |
Aye
|
| J. Boulet |
Aye
|
| A. Khanyile |
Aye
|
| A. Khatiwada |
Aye
|
| C. Barnes-Watson |
Aye
|
S. Pressley made a motion to end executive session.
A. Khatiwada seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| S. Huda |
Aye
|
| C. Barnes-Watson |
Aye
|
| A. Bothner |
Aye
|
| S. Pressley |
Aye
|
| T. Bryan |
Aye
|
| E. Chen |
Aye
|
| K. Shabazz |
Aye
|
| A. Khatiwada |
Aye
|
| K. Brisseau |
Aye
|
| M. Dorrie |
Absent
|
| A. Khanyile |
Aye
|
| J. Boulet |
Aye
|
J. Boulet made a motion to Approve the proposed salary, as discussed in Executive Session, for Malik Russell as Executive Director.
A. Khatiwada seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| A. Khatiwada |
Aye
|
| S. Huda |
Aye
|
| T. Bryan |
Aye
|
| A. Bothner |
Aye
|
| K. Brisseau |
Aye
|
| J. Boulet |
Aye
|
| S. Pressley |
Aye
|
| E. Chen |
Aye
|
| A. Khanyile |
Aye
|
| M. Dorrie |
Absent
|
| C. Barnes-Watson |
Aye
|
| K. Shabazz |
Abstain
|
J. Boulet made a motion to approve the proposed salary, as discussed in Executive Session, for Kurt Davidson as Principal.
A. Khatiwada seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| E. Chen |
Aye
|
| A. Khanyile |
Aye
|
| S. Pressley |
Aye
|
| C. Barnes-Watson |
Aye
|
| S. Huda |
Aye
|
| A. Khatiwada |
Aye
|
| T. Bryan |
Aye
|
| A. Bothner |
Aye
|
| J. Boulet |
Aye
|
| K. Brisseau |
Aye
|
| M. Dorrie |
Absent
|
| K. Shabazz |
Aye
|
J. Boulet made a motion to approve the proposed salary, as discussed in Executive Session, for Melissa Alston as Managing Director of Operations.
T. Bryan seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| E. Chen |
Aye
|
| A. Khanyile |
Aye
|
| K. Shabazz |
Aye
|
| A. Khatiwada |
Aye
|
| T. Bryan |
Aye
|
| S. Huda |
Aye
|
| A. Bothner |
Aye
|
| M. Dorrie |
Absent
|
| S. Pressley |
Aye
|
| J. Boulet |
Aye
|
| K. Brisseau |
Aye
|
| C. Barnes-Watson |
Aye
|
B. Keough flagged that the Board should consider amending Malik Russell's offer letter in keeping with the approved salary raise.
IX. 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 9:45 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
J. Boulet