Regular Meeting - Monday February 12th, 2018 @7:00 PM
Meeting Minutes
Attendance Summary
Name
Status
Arrival Time
Departure Time
Dr. Warren Edwards
present
On Time
At Adjournment
Abigail Corbett, J.D.
present
On Time
At Adjournment
Kathryn Lawrence
not present
April Ledom
present
On Time
At Adjournment
Shadeed Abdul-Salaam
present
On Time
At Adjournment
Dr. Knox Phillips
present
On Time
At Adjournment
LaChauna Edwards, Esq.
present
On Time
At Adjournment
Dominique Love
not present
Peter Vantine
present
On Time
At Adjournment
Jessica Pressley-Willis
present
On Time
At Adjournment
Kapinga Mukenge
present
On Time
At Adjournment
Chester Asher
present
On Time
At Adjournment
Welcome and Call to Order
The meeting will be called to the order, beginning with the pledge of allegiance.
Approval of the Agenda as Submitted
So that there is agreement between board members on the agenda, and the amount of time spent on the meeting, the board shall vote to approve an agenda for the meeting. To the best of its ability, it will stick to that agenda, and allow for the chair to usher the board through the agenda as specified.
1st
parent says that she wants parents to be involved in the committees.
2nd
parent states that she does not feel like a stakeholder in the community.
She has felt that this school year has stressed her out because teachers
are leaving constantly. She feels that teachers need to be supported
Next parent says
she has a 5th grader and a 1st grader. She says that
she has been a part of chcs since the beginning. She says that she is
happy because this is the 1st year her daughter was excelling
in Math but now she has a new teacher and she isn’t
excelling again. She said that the board needs to bring in an HR person to
help the climate at the school.
Next parent says
there have been a lot of changes over the last few months. But she wants
to know when the staff changes will stop. She wants to know when the
Principal search will begin and if it is for this school year or next.
5th
parent says that her students say that they don’t
want to attend school here anymore. She says that there is a common goal
of bringing the school test scores up.
6th
parent- speaking for her grandchildren. She says that she is speaking from
what she has seen from her personal talks with her grandchildren. She said
that she doesn’t like that her children
are being told that teachers were fired.
Parent says that
she isn’t happy that teachers are leaving
we cant wait until January to improve test scores.
8th
parent says that the stress of the school is trickling down into the
community. Likes the proposal to have an HR person. Feels like the
principal search isn’t enough to change the
climate.
9th
parent says that she agrees with everyone that has spoken so far. She says
that some teachers are not GPSC certified and as a result she wants to know
if those teachers can actually administer the GPSC to the students. She
wants to make sure that full background fingerprints are on the GPSC site
Former board
chair speaks (as a parent)…He wants to remind the
board is that our mission is to inspire children based on our mission. He
wants the board to remember that we are here to serve the students.
Board Chair responded to the public and states the
administration, parents and staff HAVE to work together to improve this
school.
Foundation
Executive Director – asked for volunteers. Discussed
the groundbreaking ceremony. A video of a news article discussing the new building was shown to the room.
PTO - annoucned the Feb PTO meeting. Announcend the March 9th mardi gras ball. Asked for parents to volunteer to sit on the parent panel to interview the new principal
Executive Director's Report
Enrollment - 484 students currently. 26 new students in January. There was a delay in transfer students being released from their previous schools
8 suspensions for the school year
0 dismissals
Ms. Johnson was hired to address school culture
Parent and Teacher surveys will come out this month
All staff have all necessary professional training hours required
ELA/Math saw midterms saw improvements in every category
Saturday Academy was developed because grades may not accurately reflect testing scores. The midterm assessments look at the deficincies of the students in specific areas
Tomorrow there is a grade team meeting to discuss tri-focus initiatives. Once a month teachers are conducting discovery days where students go outside for the whole day or half day to "discover"
There is a current requirement for students to go outside at least once a week.
SPED - looking at IEPs 95% of SPED students are receiving services. Expired IEPS for students who came into the school. They are all scheduled to be evaluated.
Teacher Growth - There have been over 200 classroom observations and feedback.
March 22nd event with potential funders for new classrooms "blueprint for success"
Partnering with GA Tech to conduct expeditionary learning and registering for the STEAM conference.
Partnering with AIR serene to bring the arts program to CHCS. Admin is also looking at turning a school bus into a recording studio
Looking at a STEAM summer cam
Crew Culture Report
what is pushing staff out?
whats being said about why teachers are leaving
2 referenced low pay
too much work
no voice
disagreement with the vision
behavior issues
being closer to home
only 1 staff member was let go
Goal is to increase teachers pay in the long term above FCS. Staff currently under FCS pay
Too much work - reformed lesson plan
looking at lunch monitors to free up teacher's times during lunch
No voice - there is a monthly listening sessions and admin resorts back. Admin team only really listens and asks clarifying questions
Theres been an anonymous suggestion box
Team leads on Tuesday meetings
Weekly coaching with teachers
Open Door policy
PTO president met with about 10 teachers
ED listed Staff Concerns and what the Admin's solution was for the problem.
Asher provided the solutions that was given to the teachers concerns each month.
@Abigail Corbett, J.D.asked the difference in the teacher surveys that have been completed. - @Chester Asher explained that the upcoming surveys are from the state not internally
@Shadeed Abdul-Salaam asked for parents to consider the importance of
@Kapinga Mukenge asked if there is a tracking system for teacher satisfaction. @Chester Asher explained they conducted surveys and also in the coaching session teachers have an opportunity
@Dr. Knox Phillips explained that the board will pan strategically how to improve the school culture
Finance Committee Report
A. Committee Report
January net revenue at $1,114.36 due to purchases during the month
Wifi is in the process of being updated
Reimbursements will soon occur for laptop purchases once the grant reimbursement paperwork is submitted.
school is in search for a new vendor for cleaning services
Goal is to get around $100k back in the reserves account. Current deficit is due to the lower money allocated from FCS due to a discrepancy in student count in the beginning of the school. Also, the SPED numbers were incorrectly recorded with FCS
EMAP revenue - a large number of families have balances they need to pay. For families who do not satisfy the debt the child will be unable to attend the after school activity moving forward.
@Dr. Warren Edwards asked about security for laptops. @chaz stated that laptops are in a locked cart and teachers sign out to take them to the class. The IT Director checks to ensure that all laptops are in the carts
@Dr. Warren Edwards asked about Title I percentages.
@Jessica Pressley-Willis asked about security of the internet access. IT has certain websites blocked and the IT director also has the ability to log into any laptop
Tomorrow is the CHCS lottery. There are 91 available seats with over 500 applications.
B. Monthly Financial Report
C. FY18 Budget Update
D. Personnel Approvals
Accept Financial Report
By: Dr. Warren Edwards
Seconded by: Abigail Corbett, J.D.
There was no notable discussion on the motion.
Academic Excellence Committee Report
@Dr. Warren Edwards Asked for the Board to hold the report until next month because the committee met this morning.
Governance Committee Report
The Governance Committee met on Sunday February 11th, 2018 @2:00 PM for what was scheduled to be a 0 hours and 51 minutes long meeting. Present: Dr. Knox Phillips, Abigail Corbett, J.D., LaChauna Edwards, J.D., April Ledom
Not Present: Chester Asher
The members considered the following items:
Welcome and Call to Order
Placing New Board Members on Committees
Upcoming Board Retreat Planning
Planning for Open Board Member Seat
Posting of Agendas and Notes for Committee Meetings
Organization of Past and Present Board Policies
The committee considered 0 motions, of which 0 passed, and 0 failed:
The meeting adjourned at 3:16PM
Elect Peter Vantine as Board Treasurer
By: Dr. Knox Phillips
Seconded by: April Ledom
There was no notable discussion on the motion.
External Affairs and Communications Committee Report
@Dr. Warren Edwards explained that the board will discuss at the Board retreat on how to use this committee more effectively and strategically.
Facilities Committee Report
@Shadeed Abdul-Salaam deferred to Asher to discuss the facilities update during the ED report.
The land disturbance permit needs to be approved.
@Shadeed Abdul-Salaam said he had a conversation with the architect. His inquiry was around the design for the sports area. The roof structure is designed in such a way that the area could be retrofitted to add 8 more classrooms in lieu of the sports complex. Architect said the rough bid between 725k -825k. His interest lied in the possibility of not having space in the future.
@Abigail Corbett, J.D. asked about the contract and if there are an liquidating damages clauses to address if the contractors do not stick to the timeline. @Chester Asher will send her a copy.
Strategic Planning Committee Report
@Dr. Warren Edwards we are in a midst of a transition regarding charter renewal. GA is moving into a new framework for petitions for charter renewal. We have to wait for the new charter renewal metrics to be released to apply. It is not currently set to be released until July. GA Charter Schools Assoc (GCSA) says we should be already writing and prepared to submit in the fall.
The VP at GCSA is asking for FCS to give clearer directions for charter schools that are up for renewal.
@Dr. Knox Phillips has a call with GCSA for an update
FCS is aware of our intent to apply and seems very supportive of our work.
We are going after a 5 year renewal
FCS has a new strategic planning process for charters, and is asking that we use their process
@Chester Asher says that he wants to show a change in trajectory for renewal. He wants data to show that we are making significant progress. He states that he feels really good about where the school is academically at the moment despite the distractors.