Rochester Academy Charter School

Minutes

Board Meeting

Date and Time

Friday March 16, 2018 at 5:30 PM

Location

Genesee St. Middle School

Trustees Present

D. Calder, K. Crawford, M. Gedemenli, M. Guler, W. Middleton, Y. Bilgic

Trustees Absent

J. Santos

Guests Present

D. Ozcan, J. Doyle, M. Demirtas, Z. Ercan

I. Opening Items

A.

Record Attendance and Guests

B.

Call the Meeting to Order

M. Gedemenli called a meeting of the board of trustees of Rochester Academy Charter School to order on Friday Mar 16, 2018 at 5:41 PM.

C.

Approve Minutes

M. Guler made a motion to approve minutes from the Board Meeting on 02-16-18 Board Meeting on 02-16-18.
D. Calder seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

II. Community Outreach/Development

A.

PR report

We had a Valentine's Day dance at the Middle School.
Middle School students volunteered at the Foodlink Warehouse
Our basketball team won a sportsmanship award.
This Sunday the junior class is organizing a pancake breakfast for fundraising.
Black History Month was celebrated by decorating the doors at the middle school.
 

III. Academic Excellence

A.

Director's Report

Enrollment is holding steady at 418.
Student enrollment by grade level:
Grades  6    7    8    9   10   11 12  Enrollment
March   56  69  62  84  57  44  46      418

We have 462 applicants for next year.
Ms. Doyle presented the March STAR Math and SRI Results. Reading proficiency for grades 6-8 show improvement by grade. ELA practice tests were administered to all students on February 7 and 8. Item analysis reports show that some individual students are struggling.
 

B.

Academic Excellence Committee Report

Surveyed teachers and students on positive contacts to identify students who might feel socially disconnected from the community-who lack social and emotional support. Students who seem to feel disconnected will be recommended to a mentor to help them develop a better feeling of connectedness with the community.

C.

School Safety

Review of School Safety: The Board will review the various elements of our safety policies on a monthly basis. Safety instructions for both schools and social media policies were presented by the school administrators.

IV. Finance, Facilities & Audit

A.

Financials

From July 2017 to January 2018:
Major Expenditures: $1.69 Million
Medium Expenditures: $930,000
Minor Expenditures: $330,000
Fixed Assets:  $136,000

B.

Elementary and Middle School Lease Renewal

Elementary School Lease is being finalized-the only hold up is the cost of initial permit. Middle School Lease agreement is being finalized-the only hold up is a discussion of term of the lease.

C.

2018-2019 Budget Timeline

Budget preparation
•finance committee will prepare the budget in March
•it will be presented to the board in April 2018 meeting
•board will review and make comments for May 2018 meeting
•revised budget will be expected to be approved in June meeting

V. Governance

A.

Strategic Planning

Strategic Planning is underway
Survey has been sent out to stakeholders. The survey will be open for a month, then causewave will analyze the results and have a meeting with the committee to go over the results and do a SWOT analysis. We should have a meeting with a larger group of stakeholders. Biweekly meetings have been scheduled into June to finalize.

B.

Administrative assistant to work exclusively with board

The hiring is not finalized.

C.

Board Training

Board members will be attending ASCD conference.

D.

Governance Committee Recommendations

The committee did not have any recommendations for this meeting.

VI. Other Business

A.

Staff Update

Interviewing candidates for the founding elementary school principal was finalized. 29 applicants, 12 interviewed, two top candidates made the final cut. The candidate was selected and is willing to take the position.
M. Guler made a motion to offer the position of founding principal of the RACS Elementary School to Deanna Wilkinson.
K. Crawford seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
Two new aditional hires, learning lab instructor, Student Management
Y. Bilgic made a motion to approve two additional hires.
D. Calder seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

VII. 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 7:34 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
W. Middleton