Rochester Academy Charter School
Minutes
Board Retreat
Date and Time
Saturday August 5, 2023 at 8:30 AM
Location
Little Swinford, home of the Hickmans
6233 Bopple Hill Road, Naples, NY 14512
Trustees Present
C. Sampson, D. Calder, J. Santos, S. Al, W. Middleton
Trustees Absent
M. Guler
Guests Present
D. Ozcan, M. Demirtas, Z. Ercan
I. Opening Items
A.
Breakfast
B.
Record Attendance
C.
Call the Meeting to Order
D.
Approve Minutes
II. Strategic Planning
A.
Review the progress on the current strategic plan
B.
Review structure of new strategic plan
Dr. Middleton summarized the progress on the new Strategic Plan. He believes we need to focus on development and fundraising to be able to meet our wildly important goal. Mr. Demirtas shared the wildly important goal and lead measures prepared by the strategic plan committee. All board members were invited to the last meeting of the strategic plan process.
III. Board Assessments
A.
Review Self-Assessment Results
Dr. Middleton believes that we have self-aware board members and we know our weaknesses based on the assessment results.
He also pointed out that we will need to work harder on recruiting new board members.
Mr. Demirtas gave us an update on our newest board member, Mr.Tillery.
Mr.Demirtas sincerely thanked our board members for all their hard work.
Dr. Middleton will put together a historical review of the board assessments for the September meeting.
The board members agreed that the Community Outreach and Development Committee should be divided into two Committees. Ms. Santos is willing to be the chair of the Development Committee.
IV. Review Documents
A.
Review Open Meetings Law
Dr. Middleton went over the Open Meeting Law. The board believes that we follow the Open Meeting Law very closely.
B.
General Overview of By-Laws
After reviewing the bylaws, the board decided to discuss two changes in the next board meeting.
Bimonthly meetings need to be changed to monthly meetings.
The committee information needs to be updated.
V. Meeting Dates
A.
Determine Future Board and Committee Meeting Dates
It was decided to keep the board meetings on the 3rd Friday of the month.
The meetings will be at the central office.
The Governance Committee will meet on the 1st Thursday of the month at 9 am.
The Finance Committee will meet on the 2nd Wednesday of the month at 5 pm.
The Academic Excellence Committee will meet on the 2nd Tuesday of the month at 9 am.
The Community Outreach will meet on the 3rd Tuesday of the month at 11 am.
B.
Discuss Monthly Meeting Topic Calendar for Committees
The committee meetings will be canceled for the month of August.
Resume back in September.
Creating the meeting topic calendar for committees before the October board meeting. Three items will be considered in preparing the monthly meeting topic calendar:
1. Regular Board Meeting Topic Calendar
2. CSO Action Plan
3. Strategic Plan
VI. Lunch
A.
Lunch Break
Great lunch. Quality time with friends.
Big thank you to the Hickman family for hosting our meeting.
VII. CSO Action Plan
A.
Review CSO Action Plan
Mr. Demirtas and the board members reviewed the CSO Action Plan. Mr. Demirtas shared that Benchmarks 1 and 5 will be reviewed and completed at the admin retreat this year.
VIII. Roles and Responsibilities
A.
Review Roles and Responsibilities
The board members reviewed their roles and responsibilities as outlined in the By-Laws and initial Charter Document. Ms.Santos suggested adding committee roles and responsibilities to our By-Laws.
B.
Discuss Professional Development Ideas
Ms. Santos recommended attending training as a group. Mr. Demirtas shared some professional development opportunities:
Training - Courses provided by St. John Fisher
Online BoardonTrack training
ASCD conferences
NYS Charter Schools Association Conferences
National Charter Schools Conference
The board believes that we have successfully implemented the strategic plan that was prepared for the last five years.