Welcome and Call to Order

A quorum was established and Jennifer Fine called the meeting to order at 7:11 p.m.

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.

Public Comment

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 minutes. The board will listen, but willy 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.

One person signed up for public comment. Ms. Jackson asked what will be done about the mascot situation, as there is confusion for parents and students. She asked for clarity from the board. Ms. Fine said the board will respond before the next meeting.

Future Business

Ms. Dearolph proposed to revise, evaluate and propose changes to bylaws regarding PTO and faculty representatives and compliance issues.

Ms. Parker proposed approval of the state annual report form as an action item in October. It must be submitted by 10/31 at midnight. Ms. Parker said she received it 9/20. Ms. Rodgers noted this is an annual item that should be placed on the master date calendar. Ms. Wells started the calendar and has submitted a draft. Mr. Vin asked if there was any interesting information to share with external stakeholders. Ms. Parker said is was public information; Ms. Smith said the information may be useful for grants, but the presentation may be less than desirable.

Ms. Fine requested all reports be submitted a week before the meeting, along with supporting documentation for action items. Ms. Brown also noted it is a compliance issue.

President’s Report

This report is made by the governing board President.

1. Re-chartering preparation. Current school charter term is July 1, 2015- June 30, 2020

• September 11, 2018 conversation with consultant who assisted with first re-charter. Will be drafting a scope of services to discuss with the Board
• Gearing up for new Performance Framework review area for re-chartering. Internal review of governance documentation and process (Board and committees) - meeting announcements, agenda setting, posting of action items decisions, posting of minutes, etc.
• Georgia Charter Schools Association (GCSA) Charter Petition review (voting item)
• GCSA Policy Manual - tool for establishment of required and best practice policy development and implementation at TMSA (voting item)
• September 17, 2018 meeting with Andrea Cooper-Gatewood

1. Establishment of short, weekly Risk Management calls with President , Vice President, Principal and Director of Business Operations
2. Committees to establish no more than 5 measurable goals to present and ratify at the October Board meeting
3. Recruitment for Board and Committee positions
4. Annual Letter of Assurances for School Year 2018-2019 to Fulton County Schools - Voting Item (Attached)

TMSA’s charter runs through June 2020; rechartering is Ms. Fine’s primary focus. She has started ramping up for the process. TMSA will be part of the first group of schools doing an online application. Ms. Fine reached out to the consultant TMSA used for the prior rechartering. Things should start to be put together in spring 2019. She wants to have a conference call with Ms. Parker, Robert Baker, Thomas Van Soelen and Elisa Falco to start the process.

On 9/17, Ms. Fine met with Andrea Cooper Gatewood, TMSA’s Fulton County liason. They had a fruitful conversation regarding board composition and succession, the school’s budget, among other things. They will meet more regularly going forward.

Ms. Fine charged each committee to come up with five concrete goals to be ratified at the October meeting.

Annual Letter of Assurances for School Year 2018-2019 has been completed and must be submitted to FCS. Vote to submit was taken.

Ms. Fine requested that the Board authorize up to $2500 to engage GCSA to perform a deatiled review of TMSA’s recharter petition. Ms. Parker asked what services GCSA provides in relation to Mr. van Soelen; Ms. Fine said GCSA was highly attuned to the new performance framework, but she wanted to talk with everyone on a conference call. Ms. Parker said there may be others who can provide services GCSA provides and TMSA should not have two sources doing the same work.

Ms. Fine said she would report back to the board with additional information regarding the services of GCSA as well. Ms. Parker also requested Ms. Fine inquire regarding accreditation with Mr. Van Soelen.

Ms. Fine also requested that the Board authorize up to $3000 to purchase the GCSA policy manual tool for establishment of required and best practice policy development and implementtation at TMSA.

Communications Report

Mr. Vin said the communications plan is being finalized; each subcommittee has reviewed and refined their responsibilities. They have highlighted key priorities and projects. He asked the board to review it this month, ask questions at October’s meeting and vote in November. Timing is missing from most of the subcommittee sections; he will work with each of them to get that information.

Arianna, the communications consultant, has been doing a lot of listening to what is going on around the school. She has developed a communications strategy. Upon approval, the parts pertinent to students and parents will be put in the student handbook. The goals are aligned with TMSA’s strategic plan and mission. He discussed the rationale of viewing the PTO as an external audience; he also talked about the matrix of communications and how they should be disseminated.

Ms. Brown asked about the integration of room parents in this plan; Ms. Graves, Mr. Vin and Ms. Parker addressed her concerns. Mr. Vin said he would upload the draft for review. He expressed his pleasure with the document thus far.

Governance Committee Report

This report is submitted by the governance committee chair.

1. Election of Governing Board Treasurer (voting item)
2. Election of Governing Board Secretary (voting item)
3. Amending By-laws to delineate that PTO rep, teacher rep and ex-officio members are non-voting members and do not have to qualify for all compliance procedures (voting item)
4. Financial Training for new board members Heather Wells, Bridgett Bell, and Kelly Johnson will be held on September 26, 2018.

The Committee met and is working on compliance. All compliance was achieved for 2017-18. The first full board training was in August; there are individual new board members attending compulsory training.

Ms. Dearolph said Ms. Bell has been nominated to be the treasurer; Ms. Brown has been nominated as secretary.

The Governance committee has also recommended the faculty and PTO reps not be included as ex-officio members, so they are not required to have compliance training. Ms. Parker requested clarification; Ms. Dearolph said the committee will do further research; Ms. Fine said the motion will be tabled.

Academic & School Performance Committee Report

ASPC: Did not meet

Finance Committee Report

Ms. Smith said TMSA is well within budget for the year; the FY 18 budget audit is due Monday to the county. It will be sent to us by Thursday at the earliest. She requested a specially-called board meeting Thursday meeting to approve the audit, with the auditor being present to answer any questions. She encouraged questions and said the auditor works for Fulton County.

Ms. Fine proposed Thursday morning at 8:30 am; she said the board would need the audit tomorrow. She will post it as a specially-called meeting on charter boards.

Ms. Smith discussed long-term capital improvements ideas.

HVAC update: all of the units are in place in the rooms; upstairs hot water piping is complete. Cooling is complete in most upstairs units. The end of next week should see the end of the piping project, and there should be heat in time for cold weather.

Ms. Fine said that due to a higher than expected response, Lowe’s is no longer accepting applications for the school grant; Ms. Rodgers had been working on it. TMSA will be ready to submit next year.

Ms. Smith discussed a request by the athletic dept for temporary lighting and restroom facilities for the football/soccer field.

Principal Report

The school leader reports on the status of the school.

Ms. Parker said FTE is 10/2; all students need to be present. The TMSA annual report is due 10/31; we need to ensure all of the board members has taken appropriate training. Ms. Dearolph said everyone completed their hours. Ms. Parker said next Thursday, an instructional walk will be taking place; principals, local and state officials will be looking at each classroom.

Ms. Brown inquired regarding curriculum night; Ms. Parker said it will be virtual, but the details are still being ironed out. It will be filmed the week of 10/8 and sent to parents.

Ms. Rodgers asked if board members should be present for the instructional walk; Ms. Parker said it is a half day session with same-day feedback. While board members are encouraged to come to the building anytime, she preferred with the larger group already scheduled to attend it not be at the same time as the instructional walk.

PTO Report

Report given by the PTO President

Ms. Graves said the World’s Finest Chocolate fundraiser is off to a good start. There is an online fundraiser through school store; a percentage goes to a classroom teacher when families shop online. In October, the boosterthon fun run will happen at the end of the month. More info to come. The PTO is looking for ideas for the day of Make a Difference, the last Saturday in October. The goal is to get the school community out into the larger community. 10/9 is the next PTO meeting; it is family fitness night.

Faculty Report

Ms. Monti reported regarding the faculty report previously submitted to the board. She also inquired regarding the faculty party; Ms. Fine responded the budget was $1000.

The Meeting was Adjourned

The meeting adjourned at approximately 8:23 pm

Approval of Minutes from Aug 28, 2018