Rochester Academy Charter School

Minutes

Board Meeting

Date and Time

Friday March 20, 2020 at 5:30 PM

Location

Online through Zoom.

Trustees Present

C. Sampson (remote), D. Calder (remote), M. Guler (remote), W. Middleton (remote), Y. Bilgic (remote)

Trustees Absent

J. Santos, K. Crawford

Guests Present

D. Ozcan (remote), D. Wilkinson (remote), Deborah Hammer, J. Doyle (remote), M. Demirtas (remote), M. Stevens (remote), Z. Ercan (remote)

I. Opening Items

A.

Record Attendance and Guests

B.

Call the Meeting to Order

W. Middleton called a meeting of the board of trustees of Rochester Academy Charter School to order on Friday Mar 20, 2020 at 5:39 PM.

C.

Approve Minutes

M. Guler made a motion to approve the minutes from Board Meeting on 02-21-20.
C. Sampson seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

II. Academic Excellence and Equity

A.

Cultural Proficiency Report by Breakthrough Leadership Consulting

Deborah Hammer from Breakthrough Leadership Consulting shared some results from a survey staff member took through Survey Monkey. Key findings/Needs showed that RACS is being proactive in its commitment to deal with issues around cultural diversity and inclusion. 
Recommendation #1 Organizational Commitment to DEI.
Recommendation #2 Climate and Culture Matters.
Recommendation #3 Recruitment and Retention of Teachers of Color.

B.

Updates re: COVID-19 School Closure and Distance Learning

Deborah Hammer left the meeting.
 
Before schools were closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, RACS started preparing for the possibility of distance learning. Chromebooks were sent home on Friday, March 13, 2020. The elementary school sent home packets. Class DoJo and Google classroom are being used to communicate about lessons. Teachers are checking in with families who can not connect to the internet.

C.

Committee Meeting Minutes

D.

Student Performance Reports

III. Community Outreach & Development

A.

Committee Meeting Minutes

B.

Report

Z. Ercan and building leaders shared a slide show of different events that have been taking place at different campuses.  

IV. Finance, Facilities & Audit

A.

Enrollment

We are in good shape at 614.

B.

Financials

D. Ozcan gave a financial summary.  He presented a Summary Income Statement, Balance Sheet/Cash flow, Salary & Benefits Report, Expense (year to date) report , Budget vs. Actual comparison, and Revenue/Expense Ratio report.

C.

Committee Meeting Minutes

D.

2020-2021 Finance Committee Budget Preparation

D. Ozcan presented the 2020-2021 Budget Timeline. The finance committee will prepare the budget in their March and April meetings. The draft budget will be presented to the board in the April Board meeting. The Board members will review it after the board meeting. Approval is expected in the May board meeting. If there are any revisions, approval will be made in the June board meeting at the latest.   

E.

Long Term Budget for the future ES Building

V. Governance

A.

Committee Meeting Minutes

B.

CEO Evaluation

W. Middleton presented the CEO Evaluation.

C.

Governance Committee Recommendation: Approval of CEO Memo

C. Sampson made a motion to to present its report to M. Demirtas.
M. Guler seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

VI. Other Business

A.

Employee Contract Decisions

Y. Bilgic made a motion to to approve new hires.
M. Guler seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

VII. Closing Items

A.

Board Meeting Evaluation

M. Demirtas suggested we use a Plus Delta System to evaluate the effectiveness of the board meeting.

        Plus
  • Although we went overtime, in the beginning, we made up the time to finish on schedule. 
  • The meeting went well for being the first one online.
        Delta 
  • We need to stay more on topic.
  • More accurate times need to be assigned to agenda topics and need better communication about agenda item times.

B.

Adjourn Meeting

There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 7:35 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
M. Stevens