Welcome and Call to Order

Welcome and Call to Order – Suzette Arnold, Board Chair at 5:40 p.m.

Ascertain a Quorum

Ascertain a Quorum

Suzette Arnold - present

Roberta Walker - present

Janelle Wilhite – present

Tamseel Syed – present

Felecia Shanklin - present

Maxine Williams-Wright - present

Wanda McKay – Leave of Absence 

Approval of Agenda

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 follow that agenda, and allow for the chair to move the board through the agenda as specified.

Purpose of this Meeting

Purpose of the Meeting

Ms. Arnold explained that the purpose of this meeting is to discuss personnel matters. She thanked everyone for their interest in the meeting and explained that the next in order to discuss the personnel mattes, the board members would go into Executive Session.

Executive Session

This board will enter an executive session to discuss personnel matters related to the operations of the school. No other matter related to personnel, legal or real estate matters will be discussed.

Executive Session

Motion to move to Executive Session to discuss personnel matters. Invitation is being extended to select DPA senior staff to add value to the discussion.

Motion made:            Janelle Wilhite

Motion seconded by: Felecia Shanklin

Motion Carries:        Unanimous vote

Motion to return from the Executive Session and return to Regular Session at 6:28 p.m..

Motion made:            Roberta Walker

Motion seconded by:  Janelle Wilhite

Motion Carries:        Unanimous vote

Ms. Arnold notified the attendees that there were no actions to be voted on from Executive Session. She announced that the Head of School has tendered her resignation and that her resignation has been accepted by the Governing Board. She stated that Dr. Brooks-Long is still a part of the DPA family until April 10, 2023. The board is moving as expeditiously as possible to post the position and to have someone assume that role as soon as possible.

Any Other Business

Any other Business

Mr. Syed asked about the capacity and contract situation of all contractors members inside DPA. Requested a report of where the gaps are, with recommendations by Thursday. Are there any pending issues surrounding our contracts. Mr. Kayemba acknowledged the urgency of the request and stated that he would notify the board of a date that the information would be provided.

Mr. Kayemba mentioned that the school will be submitting action forms to address

• improvements with the Security System
• contract with the new cleaning company (Anago)
• substitute contract
• information technology support during testing (Zones)

Ms. Arnold stated that if there are financial implications to any of the items being suggested the items will need to go to Finance Committee for propper vetting and review. Please send as much information as possible on the board action forms to ensure that the board has the necessary information to make informed decisions. Although the board understands the urgency of these requests, the proper approval process and protocols must be followed.

There were no questions from board members regarding these matters.

Although there was no public comment section on the agenda, the board members agreed to allow for 5 minutes of Public Comment. Ms. Arnold informed the attendees that, if they had any questions or comments that could not be immediately answered by the board, the questions would be answered at a later time by the school.

Public Comment

Public Comment-All board members agreed to allow 15 minutes for public comment.

Pilar Chase (2nd grade teacher) – Smartboards – when will we get a Smartboard in our room? The school will answer your question within the next 48 hours. Ms Chase asked the board to address scheduling. Ms. Arnold stated that as the school moves forward, if scheduling is a policy issue, it will be addressed by Academic Committee.

LaToya Scott (parent)- Recommended that the board address things in a timely manner. Can the board, teachers, and staff be in agreeance on the Head of School, when hire? Can decisions be made in a timely manner? Ms. Arnold stated that although the Governing Board is responsible for hiring the Head of School, input from staff and stakeholders is permissible. Ms. Arnold is in agreement that we must act expediently but we must ensure that we have a school leader who is balancing our operations and academics. The board is charged with doing things legally and in order. To that end, sometimes we receive items for consideration and, if they are not in order, they must be sent back to ensure appropriateness. Along the team gives us information that is legally in order, we can and do make decisions as quickly as possible.

Kathy No last name given (parent)– When will the position for HOS be posted on the website? The goal is to get it posted by Monday at the latest.

JoAnn Morgan (parent)- I would like to know about the ppl that came the other day. What were their findings? Ms. Arnold stated that the DeKalb County Board of Education’s Superintendent visited the school.The board does not have the findings yet. We anticipate that the school will submit the findings at the March Governing Board meeting.

LaToya Scott (parent) – Will we not have a new HOS until the next school year. Ms. Arnold clarified that Dr. Brooks-Long is still the Head of School until April 10, 2023. We will be rigorously attempting to recruit and hire a Head of School as soon as possible. We cannot guarantee when the new Head of School will be in place but every attempt is being made to hire a Head of School as soon as possible.

Kayla Shephard (Kindergarten teacher) How will the resignation of the Head Of S affect the teachers, parents and students. Ms. Arnold stated that the resignation should not affect the teachers or school operations. She further clarified that the role of the Head of School is to provide administrative support to the school operations and the school academic team.The school academic team, operations team and Governing Board are all in tact. Therefore, we should be able to move forward with the regular day to day instruction.

Jerahmeel Boveland (AVTC teacher) – There were a lot of promises made as far as contracts. There have been multiple jobs put on me based off of promises that Brooks-Long made coming from the board. What policies are going to happen because it seems like things are going to keep going down? Ms. Arnold stated that there was a good working relationship between the board and Dr. Brooks-Long. If there was something that happened on the school side that the board is not aware of, the board cannot make a decision on it. The board is setting the stage to get more clarity around some of the things you may be referring to right now. She advised Mr. Boveland that he should speak with his direct supervisor about his concerns so that the concerns can be appropriately escalated to the board. Mr. Boveland stated that he has already forwarded issues to his immediate supervisor but the issues seem not to have been escalated to the board. Ms. Arnold encouraged the teacher to be more involved and be the advocate for himself by speaking up during the public comment section. She also stated that he could use the board email address to forward his concerns to the board. Ms. Arnold state that the board will look at policy issues but will not step over the school’s authority to address issues.

Ms. Arnold thanked all of the attendees for their participation and voicing their concerns. We are committed to continuing the work, filling the Head of School position and filling the gaps.

Ms. Arnold welcomed the new board members, Maxine Williams-Wright and Felecia Shanklin, and allowed them to introduce themselves.

Adjournment

The Meeting was Adjourned

The meeting adjourned at approximately 2:57 pm