Board Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, January 14th 2014 3:00 p.m.
Visible Men Academy- 921 63rd Ave. East Bradenton, FL 34203
Board Members:
Present: Philip Brown, Marie Byrd- Blake, Patrick Carnegie, Alex Chavez, Darryl Cobb, and
Felice Schulaner
Absent: Harriet Moore, and Anne Weintraub
Others Present: Cynthia Cavallaro-Day, A. Louis Parker, Shannon Rohrer-Phillips, and Neil
Phillips
Quorum present? Yes
Proceedings:
• Meeting called to order at 3:06 p.m. by Visible Men Academy Board Chair, Marie ByrdBlake
Approval of the minutes:
• Meeting minutes were approved with noted corrections.
I.
CEO Report – Neil Phillips
 Current enrollment is 59 students
 The reduction of 2 busses to one
 Energy is focused on retention and enrollment for next year
 VMA had a Holiday assembly with great attendance from the VMA Board
 A faculty meeting was held on 1/6/14
 A 2 day Leadership Team retreat was held on 1/2/14 and 1/3/14
 Kindergarten classes have been combined, and co-taught
 Testing (FAIR continued, with NWEA and MAP planned for February)
 Behavior and growth continues to be positive
 Attrition caused by life circumstances (transportation, sibling at another
school)
 Kindergarten count is currently 27
 Reason for combining include more space, and collaboration
 Combining classes will be reassessed next year
 Student and Family Services – Shannon Rohrer- Phillips
o We have 10 students with IEP’s
o We continue to collaborate with Children’s Therapy Solutions
o Manatee Glens has helped our students and families
o A consultant continues to audit our records and make sure we are
compliant with the district
o Our district relationship is strengthened
o We have 10 certified Project Heart (homeless) students that receive
services from JFCS (Jewish Family and Children Services)
o We have 5 child welfare cases
o The First Parent Advisory meeting is on 1/19/14
o Parent Needs Assessments will be reviewed at this meeting
o Shannon was a speaker at the Manatee Juvenile Justice meeting on
12/19/13 and Manatee Healthy Start on 12/3/14
o ELL (English Language Learners) students have made great gains
o Florida Center made a visit to VMA and talks about future Professional
Development for our teachers around Boy Behavior and ADD/ ADHD
o Outreach events are planned
o Open Enrollment begins in January and we have 3 students enrolled
for next year
o An outline of recruitment events and student enrollment tracking was
asked to be provided at the next Board meeting
II.
Finance Report – Louis Parker
 Finance Report and Committee reports combined
 A financial report was distributed
 We received an advance from CSGF (Charter School Growth Fund)
 $65,318 is still listed as a payable- represents the salaries Neil, Louis, and Cindy did
not receive in the first quarter
 We still need money to start next year
III.
Operations Report – Louis Parker
 A proposal was made to the Manatee CRA (County Redevelopment Agency)
regarding VMA building a school in the empty lot next door
 On 1/28/14 a presentation is planned to put 5 portables on the lot next door
 Student to teacher ratio was discussed with the plans for 30 students per portable
 Louis to re- test the idea of a co location with Rogers Gardens Elementary School
 Advantages includes operations costs, and serving our demographic
IV.
Development Report – Cindy Day
 Development is being restructured to start local and spread nationally
 Grant writers are being brought in as consultants (Marlene Resnick)
 Louis will coordinate the grant cycles on 1 year, and 5 year basis
 Lakewood Ranch, Sarasota, and Manatee Community Foundations are being sought
for recommendations for potential donors
 Neil is the keynote speaker on 1/ 23 at the Manatee Community Foundation
Luncheon
 80 blazers have been donated for our boys
 A video clip of our students stories will be shown during the MCF Luncheon
 VMA presented to the Manatee County delegation
 End of the Year Ask brochure was sent to approximately 450 potential donors


We received 8 new donors for a total of $24,000
A database system (Daylite) has been purchased to manage contacts and donors
V.
Committees
a. Committees Reports
i. Growth Planning Committee: Determine expansion of School 1 and
replication plan beyond School 1
Neil: Committee Chair (Members: Louis, Philip, Felice, Linda)
 A report was distributed that showed enrollment targets
 248 students is the target for next year (quadrupling enrollment)
 The Leadership team did not feel comfortable with this number
 Implications include, facility, fundraising, staffing and recruitment
 Financial implications were reviewed by CSGF
 The role of the board was discussed
 The question was asked and discussion was had around: Does the
board want to create an entity that is ultimately sustainable, or
does the board want to raise a significant amount of money every
year?
 The Board agreed on long term sustainability with public
funding, and a flexibility on the target population
VI. New Business
 The motion was made to have the CFO report to the VMA Board Chair and not to
the CEO for the academic year of 2013-2014
 The motion was properly seconded and approved
 The motion was made to accept Steve Lobel to the Board of VMA
 The motion was properly seconded and approved
 VMA Board visit
o A date for a school visit and read a-longs were suggested for February
o The Board will be emailed with possible dates
VII.
Meeting was adjourned at 5:05 pm
Next Board Meeting:
 Tuesday, March 18th 2014 3-5 pm @ VMA 921 63rd Ave. East, Bradenton, FL
Minutes submitted by VMA Administrative Assistant, Dawnyelle Singleton with assistance from audio
recording, and Marie Byrd- Blake.