New America School-New Mexico
Governing Council
Wednesday December 9, 2015
4:30 PM
1734 Isleta Blvd
Albuquerque, NM 87105
Board Members Present: Paul Rael (President), Juan Vigil (Treasurer), Rick Bela
Regrets: Fred Silva (Secretary), Gladys Recinos (President-Elect)
Staff: LaTricia Mathis-Principal, Mike Vigil II-Business Manager, Susan Fox (GC Legal
Counsel), Lorella Lovato (Assistant Business Manager), Paul Perez (Programs and
Compliance Director), Dominic DiFelice-Superintendent.
Minutes of the GC
1. The meeting was called to order at 4:32 PM by Paul Rael
2. The mission statement was read by Perla Montellana, Attendance and Parent
Outreach staff
3. Students of the month were recognized. Students of the month were introduced by
staff and addressed questions asked by the GC. Recipients this month
o Raul Rosales
o Liseht Zarate
o
Brenda Dzul
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Isaac Martinez
Nancy Jimenez
Sean Saiz
Elijah Keddy
Cisco Cushing
Jonathan Cavalier
Jesus Apodaca
Carlos Perea
Esperanza Garcia
Samantha Gamez
Richard Koschade
4. Moved by Juan Vigil and seconded by Rick Bela that the agenda be approved.
Votes: Unanimous.
5. Moved by Juan Vigil and seconded by Gladys Recinos that the minutes of
November 11, 2015 be approved. Votes: Unanimous.
6. Moved by Juan Vigil and seconded by Fred Silva that the slate of officers remain
the same for 2016, viz. President-Paul Rael, President-Elect-Gladys Recinos,
Treasurer-Juan Vigil, and Secretary-Fred Silva. Votes: Unanimous.
7. Rick Bela provided a brief update on the work of National Board members to
securing funds for expansion purposes. They met with the chair elect of the
Kellogg’s foundation Ramon Murguia in Denver and presented the need for
expanding our services to other areas. Board members feel that the message was
well received and that there is a good chance the Kellogg’s Foundation will fund a
school opening in New Mexico with the focus on students of poverty. To continue
to work on fundraising for the National Board both Juan and Rick wish to
continue in their current roles. Moved by Fred Silva and seconded by Paul Rael
that Rick Bela and Juan Vigil continue as director and alternate respectively on
the National Board. Votes: Unanimous.
8. Susan Fox presented the Background Check Policy. Although the school is
complaint with the protocol additional guidance has been provided. The issue of
whether additional background checks be conducted after a period of time was
fully discussed. Moved by Rick Bela and seconded by Juan Vigil that the
Background Policy be accepted as presented. Votes: Unanimous.
9. Treasurer Juan Vigil presented the financial reports as they had been discussed in
detail with the finance committee prior to the GC meeting. Mr. Vigil stated the
main thing to report was that the BARs to be presented at the end of the reports
would clear up the expenditure line items that had been over budget and discussed
in previous GC meetings. He also stated that for the month of November, the
school had revenues of about $239k while expending around $260k, so the school
brought in nearly enough cash to cover all expenditures. Mr. Vigil concluded the
reports by noting that the bank statement reconciled to the general ledger in the
amount of $641,305.86 in the main account and $5,934.93 in the activity account.
BARs #0005 M, 0006 M and 0008 T were presented for the purpose of
maintenance on the Operational fund. BAR #0009 I was presented as an increase
to cash carryover as the draft financial statements had been received from the
audit. And finally BAR #0010 I was presented to recognize the revenue related to
a refund of prior year’s expenditure. Moved by Juan Vigil and seconded by Fred
Silva that the BARs as presented be approved. Votes: Unanimous.
10. The GC discussed the Performance Framework in great detail. It was decided that
the Governing Council take action on this item at the January meeting for the
following reasons:



The request from the CSD was received on November 24, 2015 and
proposes substantive changes to the Charter Contract (of which the
Performance Frameworks are a part) that neither staff nor the
Governing Council has had sufficient time to consider and analyze;
The proposed changes appear to be extensive and constitute an
amendment to the existing Charter Contract that requires careful
consideration by staff, Council members, and school legal counsel;
The reasons for the proposed changes to the existing Charter Contract
have not been made clear to the Governing Council, and the
Governing Council has questions for CSD/PEC that need to be
addressed prior to making a decision on the proposed changes.

Based on the G.C.'s discussion the Principal will send a letter which
includes guidance provided during the discussion.
11. The dashboard presented student results on the 2015 spring PARCC tests in grade
9-11 Language Arts, Algebra 1, 2 and Geometry. Results were extremely poor.
The principal has spoken with staff and a plan will be developed to improve
results going forward. LaTricia will report on a monthly basis to the GC as to the
progress of the steps taken to improve student achievement.
12. The principal report included
o Participation on the SBA
o SB-9 and SB-99 bond election
o NMCCS has requested support to hire consultants from Colorado to
initiate changes to the accountability framework for schools like NAS
o Changes to the school’s Improvement Plan were discussed. The new plan
will be much more extensive in scope
13. A summary of the FMP update was provided. The last meeting had a large turnout
of staff, students and parents. Collen Martinez will present the revised MFP at the
next meeting of the GC.
14. Public Input: None
15. Next meeting January 13, 2016
16. Meeting adjourned at 6:48 pm.
__________________________________________
Secretary, GC