Board Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, November 12, 2013 3:00 p.m.
Band Weintraub- 1 South School Avenue Suite 500 Sarasota, FL
Board Members:
Present: Philip Brown, Marie Byrd- Blake, Alex Chavez, and Felice Schulaner
Absent: Patrick Carnegie, Darryl Cobb, Harriet Moore, and Anne Weintraub
Others Present: Cynthia Cavallaro-Day, A. Louis Parker, Shannon Rohrer-Phillips, Neil
Phillips, and Dawnyelle Singleton
Guests: Lily Meadows, Miranda _____ (School Financial Services)
Quorum present? Yes
Proceedings:
• Meeting called to order at 3:06 p.m. by Visible Men Academy Board Chair, Marie ByrdBlake
I.
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Financial Report- Louis Parker
Balance sheet that was turned into the district was distributed and discussed
Lily explained the Redbook and how spending is coded
Louis went over the CSGF, and CSP grants (amounts, distribution)
Cindy explained the CSP (Charter School Plan grant)
$90,000 of the CSP grant went to the purchase of our computers
Marie questioned facility lease vs. facility costs
Lily remarked that our financials looked good and that we have a surplus
Fundraising and recruiting more students is still needed to make expenses and payroll for
Cindy, Louis, and Shannon
If CSGF comes through with another payment, we would be in good shape
We must get an audit at the end of the year
SFS will do the RFP's (Request for Proposals) for the auditor
Louis and Phillip will make a recommendation for auditors
Lily commented that she does not recommend us using the debit card. Issue is keeping
track of the receipts
Debit card use was very high in August due to getting the facility ready for school
Felice asked if online banking would suffice as proof, but Louis confirmed they need
itemized lists
Marie asked if a recommendation of only having one person in charge of the debit card
would be better
Dawnyelle has been the primary user of the card
Dawnyelle and Neil use the card the most
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Phillip commented on the issue of the exposure of VMA financials with several people
having the card
Neil suggested we put a system in place to pre plan for upcoming expenses
Lily suggested adding her name to emails regarding certain expenses
(At this point, Louis, Dawnyelle, Lily, and Miranda leave the meeting due to prior commitments)
II. CEO Report- Neil Phillips
• Currently we have 65 students
• There was no movement around the FTE time (October audit based on enrollment)
• Normally public schools counsel out students to Charter schools after the FTE period; that
did not happen
• Alex commented on the specific ways to reach out to the Hispanic market. Specifically church
outreach, and speaking to families in Spanish.
• Alex suggested Pride Park, Sarasota, and the Catholic church
• Alex would like to arrange a meeting with Neil, our Spanish-speaking teachers, and Father
Selestino with St. Jude. Also with Unidos Now. He also inquired about Pastor Jerry and his
aid in recruiting to which Shannon commented.
• Neil commented that the culture and climate is good with a positive energy, enthusiasm and
hard work
• There was some delay in receiving some of our curriculum materials due to common core
changes, which put a strain on suppliers who put traditional public schools at a priority above
charter schools
• The materials we did receive allow our students to have “flexible grouping” based on
proficiency levels
• We have it across classrooms and grades (“Cross grades”)
• First quarter report cards came out mid October and progress reports are coming
• KaBOOM! playground is installed and the event was a huge success
• 11/9 we had our first Saturday Success event that was a success (10 Visible Men and 25
students attended). Neil provided an overview of the event
• Alex questioned the presentation of information in Spanish
• Felice suggested contacting New College regarding Spanish speaking volunteers
• Alex asked about expanding the Saturday Success program into Spanish (separate group for
students and parents)
• Neil wants to keep it in house until we have perfected what we have
• VMA had their first official field trip to Hunsnader Farm
• Enrichment
o We have added Music (Creative Percussion led by Lane Ruise) to our Wednesday
afternoon enrichment
o We also have volunteers from New College that volunteer on Wednesdays
o Forty Carrots Family Center in Sarasota work with our Kindergartner classes on a
“Drama Discovery” program
o “Games for Good” (Sports programming with a character development piece) will also
be in place soon
• Challenges include
o A delay in training our teachers on curriculum materials (due to delivery delay)
o ESE and ESOL administration, and compliance
• The VMA Leadership Team (Neil, Louis, Shannon, Cindy, and Dawnyelle) met and had a 5
hour meeting around recruitment and what we learned from last year
III. Students and Family Services- Shannon Rohrer- Phillips
• Our student profile includes 41% Black, 44% Hispanic, 14% White, 1 Middle Easterner, and
26 students qualify for ESOL and 12 of those were monolingual
• We had some special education, and behavior issues
• Shannon looks at student IEP
• Speech, Language, and ESE consultants have been brought in to ensure we deliver the proper
needs to these students
• Compared to the beginning of school discipline and behavior has dropped dramatically
• Marie asked about IEP’s (Individual Education Plan) and Shannon confirmed that as long as
a student can be in the class 80% of the time with no seclusion, we can honor their IEP
• We have 10 “Project Heart” (families that qualify as homeless)
• They receive extra uniforms and weekly counseling from Jewish and Family Services
• The VMA Parent Advisory Board will be formed in the coming weeks
• We have also been collaborating with Manatee Glens on adult addiction issues
IV. Development- Cindy Day
• 2 handouts were distributed
• Fundraising objectives were reviewed
• The CFO of Tropicana, Steve Lobell visited VMA this morning with 4 of his co workers
• Phillip mentioned a tie in with Tropicana and affinity groups
• Felice asked about naming opportunities for our portables as a possible resource
• Bealls, Inc. (Steve Knopik) has been unresponsive
• Alex suggested Ron Allen (NBC) and Mack Caraway
• Felice suggested a meeting/ tour of VMA with Katie and Peter
• VMA will do a end of the year ask in the form of a mailer (Shine Circle of local and national
donors)
• Alex asked about the criteria of being in the Shine Circle
• Neil mentioned there is no monetary level to be in the Shine Circle
• Grant Potential and Grant Report was distributed
• Following the January MCF Luncheon, a VMA fundraiser will be planned for the Spring
• David Grain (Grain Industries) donated $50,000
• We raised $1,000 through Gulf Coast Gives which off set KaBOOM! costs
• LWR Foundation gave us $2,300 for headsets
• Dr. Richard Wharton has been engaged
• Sarasota Community Foundation $5,000 for marketing materials
• Upcoming grants were distributed
• Ryan Stoyles has donated time to write grants and gather academic data on our school
• Local grant opportunities are continued to be explored
• Between in kind and grants we raised $75,000
VIII. Education Committee - Neil Phillips
• The committee has yet to meet
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Neil will send out testing results of FAIR and Kinder readiness
We will also send out MAP Testing from all grades
A second round of testing will take place in December and January
The committee plans to meet at least twice before the January board meeting
IX. Development Committee- Cindy Day
• The committee had a conference call
• The SHINE brochure was reviewed and edits are pending
• Outside sources are being considered for committee (Beth Wexler) from Temple Beth Sholom
Schools (helped raise $1,000,000 in a year)
X. Audit/ Finance Committee- Phillip Brown
• Their meeting led to the SFS presentation held earlier in the meeting
XI. Growth Committee- Neil Phillips
• A conference call was held on Friday, November 8th
• Present include Neil, Marie and Louis
• Neil distributed 2 items that included:
o What is the growth? And What is the plan of future schools
o Daryl opened the door to possible funding from CSGF with the understanding
of getting on enrollment target for year 2 (but made no commitments)
• We need satisfied customers, and measureable results
• The growth committee would like the Board members to commit to the 248 enrollment
numbers
• Our board needs to be thinking about future schools and year 2-5
• Felice suggested we get this school really right before we think about future schools
• Phillip questioned the possibility of a co-ed school with single gender classrooms
XII. New Business- Marie Byrd- Blake
• Harriet Moore has resigned (via letter) from the VMA Board
• A possible Advisory position may be available to keep her involved
• A VMA parent will participate in the January Board meeting
• Alex suggested we have an Hispanic and African American parent represented on the Board
• VMA Board Officers:
o Alex Chavez will be Vice Chair of VMA (voted and approved)
o Neil suggested Board development explore Board Officers
o There was discussion around the Secretary position
XIII. VMA Tour- Marie Byrd- Blake
 Marie suggested the Board agree on a new date to tour VMA
 Alternate months when we are not meeting as a Board
 Tuesday, December 10th at 9:00 am
XIV. Adjourned
 Meeting was adjourned at 5:30 pm
Next Board Meeting:
Tuesday, January 14th, 2014
3-5 pm @ VMA 1003 63rd Ave. East, Bradenton, FL
Minutes submitted by VMA Administrative Assistant, Dawnyelle Singleton with assistance
from audio recording, and Marie Byrd- Blake.