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 minutes of the previous monthly meeting.

Approve the Agenda

Review and approve the meeting agenda.

Governance Committee Report

Governance Committee Chair Richard Piercy thanked Board members for participating in the most recent fall training with UGA's Carl Vinson Institute.

Board Chair Update

Board Chair Dr. Kelly Swinks expressed her appreciation for fellow Board members, school leadership, and TMS community.

The Meeting was Adjourned

The meeting adjourned at approximately 8:50 pm

School Leader Report

Principal Mike Stewart had previously submitted his report to the Board of Directors via email and, in the interest of the robust agenda, offered to simply take questions about that report and cede his time back to the evening agenda.

Principal Stewart was asked to elaborate on the school's average daily attendance rate. He stated that TMS is averaging just above 95%. Board Chair Kelly Swinks noted the hire of a new educator, an honoree of Teacher of the Year in Gwinnett County, detailed in Mr. Stewart's report.

Finance Committee Report

Treasurer and Finance Committee Chair Tamara Richards provided a review of monthly financials as well as other finance reporting. Ms. Richards reviewed her regular expense and revenue spreadsheets, noting just a few line items. She noted that one line item of savings in benefits which is trending in actuals as costing less than budgeted. Ms. Richards noted that the final Paycheck Protection Plan forgiveness paperwork had been submitted and she hopes this process will be finalized by year's end.

Facilities Committee Report

Chair Jade Yang shared that a submittal occurred for the annual Facilities Grant from the State DOE. (The State is awarding up to $50,000.) Funds are being requested for asbestos abatement and paint for existing windows in the cafetorium and some security master plan needs. She also noted several quick implementation priorities with the playground refresh funds from the Booterthon. These quick improvements include immediate purchase of moveable outdoor recreation items and some small games and outdoor art supplies. Ms. Yang stated that long-term, bigger improvements will continue to be planned for later implementation.

Diversity Committee Report

Diversity Committee Chair Cristina Cassidy shared a diversity tracker, intended as an evaluation of progress towards goal achievements. She noted that the diversity tracker is publicly available on the school website. Ms. Cassidy called out several highlights including practicing restorative circles, teacher recruitment efforts, student recruitment committee efforts and noted the priority for utilizing the next Board of Director's training to further DEI training for the Board. Finally, she celebrated the hiring for the new position of the DEI Coordinator.

Executive Director Report

Executive Director Dr. Katherine Kelbaugh reviewed the charter conditions sent to TMS from DeKalb County Schools. Some of the conditions included a renegotiation of our facility lease (without fully detailing what those potential lease changes may be), attendance zone changed to all of DeKalb County, continue to meet the 4% annual disadvantaged student attendance, and a requirement that to adjust the weight in our lottery by two times (however, it was noted that our current charter does not specify a weight, as our lottery is based on a formula). Dr. Kelbaugh shared that DeKalb Schools stated their next steps would be to have TMS Board of Directors confirm we've met the conditions then the District would advance the charter renewal paperwork.

Dr. Kelbaugh also shared options based on different responses the Board may have to the conditional approval. She noted that outreach to Georgia DOE, GCSA and SCSC all resulted in responses to that the situation is unprecedented.