Rochester Academy Charter School
Minutes
Board Meeting
Trustees Present
C. Sampson (remote), D. Calder (remote), J. Santos (remote), K. Crawford (remote), M. Guler (remote), W. Middleton (remote), Y. Bilgic (remote)
Trustees Absent
None
Trustees who left before the meeting adjourned
D. Calder, K. Crawford
Guests Present
D. Ozcan (remote), D. Wilkinson (remote), J. Doyle (remote), M. Demirtas (remote), M. Stevens (remote), T. Manchester (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 Jul 17, 2020 at 5:40 PM.
C.
Approve Minutes
C. Sampson made a motion to approve the minutes from Board Meeting on 06-19-20.
M. Guler seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
W.Middleton publicly apologized for his inappropriate comments at the last board meeting referring to the extension of terms of some board members. He said his intent was that he" doesn't want anyone to leave the board, ever." He thinks we have great people sitting on the board. But he said he used a poor choice of thoughtless words. He felt terrible. Board members accepted his apology.
II. Academic Excellence and Equity
A.
Updates re: Planning for Re-entry
B.
Committee Meeting Minutes
C.
Student Performance Reports
D.
Summer School
M. Guler made a motion to to approve the summer school program for Highschool students to make up classes that they did not pass to receive the regents' credit. The elementary is also doing summer learning but their goal was to close the achievement gap. And to approve the budget for the summer school programs.
D. Calder seconded the motion.
HS is for credit recovery only not to gain credit. Mr. Manchester described the program to the board members. Ms. Wilkinson explained the elementary program.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
III. Community Outreach & Development
A.
Committee Meeting Minutes
B.
Report
The graduation video was shared. Seniors were given their Chromebooks to keep as a gift from RACS. Students will have access to use them. When IT withdraws the restrictions on them they will become unlocked.
IV. Finance, Facilities & Audit
A.
Enrollment
Zehra presented the enrollment numbers. We had 1097 applications. So far we have 699 students enrolled and ready to go for September. We are in need of 6th graders. We need 66 more students in enrollment totals. We enroll 10% more to adjust for students that don't show up or change their mind and go to another school.
B.
Financials
D. Ozcan presented the budget numbers. He did not include the money from the PPE loan. There are still many unknowns, but we do know that there will be cuts from the state.
D. Calder left.
C.
Committee Meeting Minutes
D.
Chromebooks Order
M. Guler made a motion to approve the purchase of new Chromebooks.
K. Crawford seconded the motion.
C. Sampson had a question What if families did not have internet access. Hotspots were discussed, a well as wait to see how the county responds or possibly see if there is something we can do with funds earmarked for building expenses. The number of families that were without internet access this year was lower than we expected.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
E.
Purchasing St. Helen Building
V. Governance
A.
Committee Meeting Minutes
B.
Board Self-Assessment
K. Crawford left.
There was an agreement that Development is our weakest area, but we are working on it. The board and CEO were in agreement on the majority of areas that we are hitting high marks. A more detailed report will be presented at the August Board retreat. The Board retreat will be held remotely this year. It was scheduled for August 1, 2020, but because of it being remote this year there was a discussion of possibly changing the date. No final decision was made. More options will come and a final decision will be made at a later time.
C.
COVID-19 Travel Policy
C. Sampson made a motion to approve the new COVID-19 travel and PTO to stay in line with state guidelines.
J. Santos seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
D.
Board Retreat
The Board retreat will be held remotely this year. It was scheduled for August 1, 2020, but because of it being remote this year there was a discussion of possibly changing the date. No final decision was made. More options will come and a final decision will be made at a later time.
VI. Other Business
A.
Employee Contract Decisions
C. Sampson made a motion to approve the new teacher hire and teacher salaries as presented.
M. Guler seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
There was a discussion involving where do yearly bonuses show up if we were audited. They are tied into the salaries but they do not get paid until the end of the year if the person completed the year.
VII. Closing Items
A.
Board Meeting Evaluation
B.
Adjourn Meeting
There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 7:26 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
M. Stevens