Welcome and Call to Order

The Meeting will be called to order by the Chair.

Mission: The mission of The Museum School of Avondale Estates is to inspire students, teachers and the community to collaborate to develop strong critical thinking, interpersonal and academic skills in our students, which will prepare them for real-world success.

 

Core Values: Responsibility, Respect, Cooperation, Sustainability, Creativity, Kindness

Public Comment

Our Public Comment period is for members of the public to address the board. The board will listen, but may not directly respond to any comments. Please do not use specific student, teacher or administrator names in your comments as 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.

Email Executive Director, Dr. Katherine Kelbaugh at Katherine.kelbaugh@themuseumschool.org for Zoom access to the meeting.

Public comment (no longer than one page) should be submitted via email to Katherine.kelbaugh@themuseumschool.org. Your comments must be received by 10:00 am on the day of the meeting. Only those emails received during the allotted time will be read aloud and broadcast. Emails received outside of the allotted time will be included in the Public Comments record for the next meeting.

There were no public comments.

Approve Previous Meeting Minutes

Approve previous meeting minutes.

Approve the Agenda

Approve the agenda as presented.

School Leader Report

Principal Mike Stewart reflected on several areas including staff return to school, student returns, enrollment and facility needs. Mr. Stewart shared the instruction staff return to school timeline and instruction year preparation plans and reminded all of the student return dates. He shared his philosophy for the upcoming instruction year: a focus on supporting forward student progress and achievement, not falling into a backward-focused remedial learning emphasis.

Mr. Stewart noted that there were several withdrawals as well as plans for accommodating new enrollment needs. He also shared a staffing update and detailed the conditions behind the need for improved, adequate orchestra needs.

Executive Director Report

Executive Director Dr. Katherine Kelbaugh reported on general updates as well as TMS Foundation news.

Dr. Kelbaugh reported on a robust effort to document volunteer opportunities within the school and individual classrooms, as well as create an easily-accessible online platform for TMS families to identify those opportunities (QR code leads to online spreadsheet of volunteer opportunities).

She then reflected on the content and attendance of the July 13 town hall focusing on return to school details. Dr. Kelbaugh reported progress in reinvigorating the National Association of Museum Schools (NAMS).

Dr. Kelbaugh reported on news from DeKalb County School District on CARES II and ARP/ESSER funds. (She noted that TMS CARES I budget was submitted to DeKalb in 2020 and funds not yet been received.) She shared that DeKalb alerted charter schools that they will receive direct allotments of the funds. Dr. Kelbaugh and Mr. Stewart are aware of likely fund award amounts and eligible expenses, as well as reimbursable items from spring TMS expenses. They will work to see that TMS allotments are utilized appropriately, prioritizing student and staff needs.

Dr. Kelbaugh shared the proposed slate of officers for TMS Foundation, 2021-2022. Returning members in officer positions include: Anne Huff (Chair), Esta Busby (Vice Chair), Nathan Balmes (Asst. Treasurer) Beckie Uhlenberg (Communications), Tina Younger (PTO Liaison). New proposed members/ officers were presented: Amit Thaker (Treasurer), Secretary (Tristin Albertsman) and Edwin Link (Major Donor Cultivation and Stewardship).

Finance Committee Report

Treasurer and Finance Committee Chair Tamara Richards reviewed the preliminary school year-end report, noting several line items where the Employee Retention Tax Credit had impacts. She noted that the annual audit would begin next month.

Ms. Richards then shared details of the August spending proposal, necessitated by lack of budgeting details from DCSD. She is hopeful by next month's meeting, TMS will have heard from DeKalb as to the planned QBE for the year, as well as other critical budgeting details that will allow creation and voting on the remaining months' budget.

Facilities Committee Report

The Facilities Committee has not met during the transition period from the previous committee chair and designation of a new chair. Therefore, a Facilities Committee report was not given.

Governance Committee Report

Governance Committee Chair Richard Piercy focused his update on introducing Jade Yang as a nominated Board of Directors member.

Diversity Committee Report

Diversity Committee Chair Cristina Cassidy reviewed accomplishments on the strategic plan for diversity as of end of school year 2021. Following review of each of these accomplishments, which will be shared in a dashboard format on TMS website, Ms. Cassidy also noted that a survey will be sent to TMS families to gather more information on thoughts related to TMS mission statement. She reminded the Board that some comments on the potential to revisit the mission statement arose during the listening circles organized by the Diversity Committee.

Board Chair Update

Board Chair Dr. Kelly Swinks reviewed several Items. Dr. Swinks noted that DCSD returned to TMS an assessment from a Board of Directors meeting observation from several months back, noting two areas of concern. She also shared that, beginning in August, the Board of Directors will return to in-person meetings with accommodations for spacing, ventilation and other measures. She noted that remote participation will still be offered. Committees were encouraged to decide on an approach to future meetings that work best for each committee.

The Meeting was Adjourned

The meeting adjourned at approximately 9:23 pm