The Main Street Academy

Governing Board

Regular Meeting - Tuesday September 21st, 2021 @7:00 PM

Meeting Agenda

Approval of Agenda 5 minutes

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.

Actions:

  1. Approve the agenda.

Approval of Minutes from July 27, 2021 15 minutes

The Governing Board met on Tuesday July 27th, 2021 @7:00 PM for what was scheduled to be a 3 hours and 5 minutes long meeting. Present: Bridgett Bell, Kristal Ramirez, Satonja Gilbert Scott, Willie G. Davis, Jr., Mitch Foster II, Carla Wagner, Heather Wells, Ishmael Abdul-Salam, Chanel Recasner, Kim Walker, Brittany Dunn
Not Present: Kristin Jackson, Jennifer Fine, Farand Dolland, Gayla Graves, Terra Person

The members considered the following items:
1. Approval of Agenda
2. Approval of Minutes from July 9, 2021
3. Approval of Minutes from June 29, 2021
4. Public Comment
5. Principal Report
6. Academic & School Performance Committee Report
7. Faculty Report
8. Finance Committee Report
9. Governance Committee Report
10. President’s Report
11. Executive Session
12. Future Business

The committee considered 17 motions, of which 17 passed, and 0 failed:
1. Approve the agenda as submitted (passed)
2. Approve the minutes from July 9, 2021 (passed)
3. Approve the minutes from June 29, 2021 (passed)
4. Move to executive session at 10:13PM (passed)
5. Move to exit executive session at 10:31PM (passed)
6. Approve up to $15,000 for urgent grounds maintenance with the current vendor. (passed)
7. Approve proposed ASP monthly rate adjustment across the board, remove the service fee from the before care and after care programs and continue the three fee waivers for late fees (not monthly fees). The emergency rate is $50 per emergency plus $25 registration fee for the first emergency and $50 for each additional emergency within the school year. (passed)
8. Move to extend the current janitorial service contract through December 31, 2021 and increase from 2.5 full-time personnel to 4 full-time personnel, one of which is a supervisor with a communication device. (passed)
9. Publish the 2021-2022 Student Handbook with the outlined modifications discussed during tonights meeting. (passed)
10. Motion to Approve the Reimbursement Policy that allows up to 5,000.00 of available funds annually (amount not published in handbook) for up to $500.00 of reimbursement funds per individual, annual request. (passed)
11. Motion to appoint Bridgett Bell to serve as board secretary for 21-22. (passed)
12. Motion to ratify Mitch Foster, II as board Treasurer for 21-22. (passed)
13. Approve Mitch Foster, II to continue as Vice Chair of the Board for 21-22. (passed)
14. Elect Kristal Ramirez as second Vice Chair of the board for 21-22. (passed)
15. Move that Heather Wells remain the president of the board for 21-22. (passed)
16. Ratify the ASPC co-chairs: Willie Davis and Kristin Jackson for 21-22. (passed)
17. Ratify Kristal Ramirez as chair of the Governance Committee for 21-22. (passed)

The meeting adjourned at 10:32PM

Approval of Minutes from August 31, 2021 15 minutes

The Governing Board met on Tuesday August 31st, 2021 @7:04 PM for what was scheduled to be a 2 hours and 50 minutes long meeting. Present: Satonja Gilbert Scott, Kristin Jackson, Willie G. Davis, Jr., Heather Wells, Farand Dolland, Ishmael Abdul-Salam, Chanel Recasner, Kim Walker, Brittany Dunn, Bridgett Bell, Mitch Foster II, Carla Wagner, Kristal Ramirez
Not Present: Jennifer Fine, Gayla Graves, Terra Person, Ishmael Abdul-Salaam, Lisa Simon

The members considered the following items:
1. Approval of Agenda
2. Approval of Minutes from July 27, 2021
3. Public Comment
4. Basement Project Update and Report
5. Principal Report
6. Academic & School Performance Committee Report
7. Faculty Report
8. Finance Committee Report
9. Communications Report
10. Governance Committee Report
11. President’s Report
12. Future Business

The committee considered 6 motions, of which 6 passed, and 0 failed:
1. Approve the agenda as amended. (passed)
2. Amend the agenda to move the finance committee report to follow the basement project update and report. (passed)
3. Approve the Wellness Plan for Covid Mitigation Strategies as presented by the principal. (passed)
4. Motion to approve change order with contractors for the basement project not to exceed $5,000. (passed)
5. Motion to approve updated FYI 21-22 budget to add 3 new positions:
1. Temp - Nurse's Assistant
2. Specials Teachers (2) - {$40,000 provided by Cares Act II Funding} (passed)
6. Motion to approve updated FYI 21-22 budget to add Operations Manager position. (passed)

The meeting adjourned at 10:04PM

Actions:

  1. Approve the minutes from August 31, 2021

Public Comment 10 minutes

Our Public Comment period is for members of the public to address the board. Each member of the public may sign up to comment at the meeting, and will be allotted two (2) minutes. The board will listen, but may not directly respond to any comments. Our meetings are open to the public and public record. As such, if your comment is about a private matter, please contact the board via email, or speak to the board chair privately.

FY21 Audit Review 15 minutes

Randy Shrum, Marshall Jones Audit Firm, will present the FY21 Audit Review.

Principal Report 15 minutes

The school leader reports on the status of the school.


Attachments

Academic & School Performance Committee Report 15 minutes

  1. Confirm committee chair - ● There was a vote for a new chair for ASP and the committee brings forth Ms. Jackson as the nominee for approval by the board.


ASP Committee Report - September 2021

● During our meeting on Sept 13th, Principal Abdul-Salaam requested we shift our goals of the committee to the School Improvement Plan, Curriculum, and Student Achievement. He stated our meetings should utilize the School Improvement. Plan (SIP) as a core focus. Our SIP has several goals, but ones with upcoming deadlines are priority:

○ iReady: Students will advance two levels in reading and math as

measured by iReady during this school year. This has already begun as

teachers and admin have administered iReady assessments for the Fall

and have begun working on targets for students.

○ Write Score Assessment 2x/year: First assessment is scheduled to be

administered in October

○ Promote a healthy and supporting work environment for staff: Wellness

Wednesdays have taken place consistently since the beginning of the

school year. September was a 30/30 month which promoted 30 minutes

for 30 days of wellness. Weekly Health and Safety Committee meetings

continue and onsite COVID testing began this Monday. Uninterrupted

teacher planning periods are prioritized.

○ Establish protocols to promote transparency and collaboration as well as

shared decision making in the school, including timely feedback: There is

an open door policy with school administration, shared leadership

practices, and grade level meetings to address grade level concerns.

○ Improve frequency of opportunities offered through SEM that enhance

existing curriculum: Ms. Buckley and Ms. Taylor have been working on

SEM offerings which were presented at the most recent PTO meeting.

There is a wide variety of selections available, including ones specifically

for virtual students. The program seems well on its way to meet goals. The

collaboration of the two teachers is going to help ensure success.

○ Administer LKES and TKES in a timely manner to improve administrative

and teaching practices: Ms. Jackson is has taken the LKES course and is

awaiting approval from GA DOE to complete the certification process. The

majority of teachers have completed their Self Assessment (over 90%).

Still working on new teacher to get in the system. We have completed our

first round of Learning Walks which are designed to gather information for

planning purposes.


We also have an update form a public question regarding iReady reports to parents and after-school and Saturday tutorials:

iReady diagnostics reports: when will these be received?

  • Teachers have been directed to send iready diagnostics reports to parents and we will give benchmark data at the board meeting.
  • If and when will Saturday school and after-school tutorials begin?
  • Once Title I approves our plan we will begin to solicit teachers for participation hopefully in mid October through December.

Actions:

  1. Ratify Kristin Jackson as ASPC chair.

Attachments

Faculty Report 10 minutes

There is no report at this time.

Finance Committee Report 30 minutes

PTO Report

CFO Monthly Report

FY21-22 Audit Draft

ASP fees

FY22 YTD Budget updates

Grant updates

Hiring updates

SPED Stipends

Gift cards for stand-in food staff

SPED - Para Request

Music Stipends

Basement update

Onsite Covid testing

Gym floors

Fundraiser, Sponsorship, & Grant Updates




Actions:

  1. Approve FY21 audit report as presented by Marshall Jones, noting the correction of $400,000 on the maintenance and operations line.
  2. Approve staff appreciation for additional food service assistance up to $250.
  3. Add a new SPED Paraprofessional in accordance with an IEP.

Communications Report 15 minutes

  • Refreshed Faculty and Staff Directory via tmsa.org 
  • Digital billboard advertising concluded on Camp Creek Parkway (June 8 – August 8, 2021) totaling 2.7M overall impressions/views (+125K) and approximately 1,132 daily views (+132) 
  • Annual Fund proposal pending review 
  • Back to School Communications support 
  • Back to School Guide 
  • Virtual Sneak Peak Videos 
  • COVID/Wellness protocol web page - tmsa.org 
  • Weekly schoolwide newsletters open rate: 
  • August 6: 54% 
  • August 13: 49% 
  • August 20: 53% 
  • August 27: 38% 
  • Infinite Campus marketing push to obtain additional and correct household contact details 
  • Follow TMSA on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn 

Governance Committee Report 20 minutes

  1. Dropbox Proposal
  2. Onboarding - Board Member Outing
  3. Upcoming Fall Training
  4. Letter of Assurances
  5. Proposed Update to the Bylaws

Actions:

  1. Approve proposed update to TMSA Bylaws

Attachments

President’s Report 15 minutes

  1. Approve the Letter of Assurances.

Future Business 5 minutes

This is to add new business to next month’s agenda.