We have received 61% of our revenues for the budget year. We have expended 54% of our budgeted expenses. Our available cash and receivables as of 1/31/2017 is $705,072. If we had completed payment of the mortgage down today, our balance as of 1/31/2017 would be $441,072.

High school lead testing has been completed, drinking fountains are good but eight faucets out of 27 water sources in High School have problems. 5 are in labs and 3 in girls' bathrooms; all have been marked as non-drinking. Middle School has yet to be done. We will do lead remediation for all buildings after Middle School is completed.
 

We are getting $59,834 deposit back from Terra. $45K will be used for closing costs on Mortgage. Remainder of funds will be transferred to:
$1,225 to Gym
$10000 to instructional needs presented will reverse back to main funds for future use.
$3,609 to main fund.

$2,335 worth of textbooks from Library Grant were received. Income and Expense Budget increased.

Board's concern is that all of the instructional need items should have been included in budget. All surplus funds should go to the Main Fund.

We need to have more detailed information of budget expenditures by month for each budget line to see if we are within or over budget each month.

We have almost completed the purchasing process of the high school building and waiting on the appraisal which is due on Feb. 28. 
Purchase contract is being redrafted based on attorney's comments. Insurance is being updated. We still need to sign purchase contract, do Title examination and arrange insurance commitment for closing by the end of April 2017.

Recommendations from Finance Committee:

Open an ESL checking account prior to closing.
Transfer funds to ESL as needed per closing completion.
Open one escrow account with $75,000 after closing is done.
Move all remaining funds in Citizens bank to ESL checking account after closing is completed.
Close remaining Citizens bank accounts.
 

We have responded for the FOIL request from Democrat and Chronicle for our purchasing policy and information on all contracts and purchases as listed in the attached form. 

Jen presented student performance data from the Middle School. NYS test in ELA is quickly approaching. We are holding an ELA boot camp for students at risk. 7th grade have grown significantly over the year to date. Students at the lowest levels have grown the most.
Intervention program has been very effective. STAR Data for math tests show a similar pattern.

Enrollment is 350, average is 355, we may start enrolling students again. Regents meeting was cancelled. The CSO office members recommended full  term renewal and K through 12 expansion due to high cohort Regent exams and graduation results and strong financial management. In our 2017 renewal visit report we met 9 out of 10 performance framework benchmarks rating. Science Olympiad team participated in the regional competitions with 9 students. 8 new members were inducted in national honor society (NHS). Math league team won 3rd place in the second competition that they attended.

It is time to create a new strategic plan. We should have a full-day session in order to do this May 6th is a tentative date for the meeting. All board members, key teachers and administrators, some parents and students probably will have a series of meetings over six months. Hopefully the strategic plan will be ready by September 2017. Goals should include creating the "RACS Teacher" and define the "RACS Culture". Between now and then, we should conduct some surveys of students, faculty, and parents to identify issues that we should focus on for the strategic plan.

Dr. Kijana Crawford is a candidate to be a trustee of the Board. Her recommended term will be 1 year probationary term. The Governance Committee recommends her appointment.

One staff member resigned. Replacement will be approved at the next Board meeting.