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| | 1. | | Review and approval of the minutes of the May 25th meeting.
Minutes note: Ms. Pointer Mace moved, seconded by Ms. Mallory, for approval of the minutes. There were no objections. | | | |
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| 0 | 2. | Communication | Communication relating to administrative matters of the Charter School Review Committee.
Minutes note: The schools were noticed for this meeting for the importance of filing monthly reports in a timely manner.
Central City Cyberschool - Christine Faux - the school building was paid off on Tuesday and a full-time business manager will be hired with the money formerly used to pay the mortgage.
Milwaukee Math and Science Academy - Halil Dulgeroglu - last year there was a miscommunication and that issue has been addressed and reports will be filed timely.
Escuela Verde - Dan Gregor - Executive Director of Transgender for Youth - the auditor didn't submit it timely although the school had provided the information to them; the auditor reviews numerous operations and schools and it will be submitted timely in the future.
Rocketship -
The chair was the only member when Rocketship was chartered. The CSRC is concerned with the huge deficit and how that will be paid.
Brittany Kinser - Community Engagement Officer
Andy Stern - Chief Financial Officer
TIm Sheehy - Board member
Rodney Link, Jr. - principal
Shy Connnor - Community Engagement Officer Carl Cira - ML Tharps and Associates - CSRC auditor
Mr. Sheehy said the mayor and he recruited Rocketship to come to Milwaukee, which functions as a team with the national organization. He is very proud of Rocketship being in Milwaukee. Mr. Connor said Rocketship is a non-profit organization serving primarily low-income communities. They are among the top 21 Title 1 schools in Milwaukee with the Badger results. They are partners, not franchises, and deep support and services are provided to schools and the central network handles the administrative support so staff can focus on increasing student learning. They always anticipate a 3-5 year plan to reach financial stability for an individual school as enrollment grows. Their student population is continuing to grow, so the school is on track to get to where it needs to be. All payments to staff and vendors are being made and the school is on track to meet its buget. The 13 Rocketship schools have a total budget excess and the school has adequate cash to pay all of its externals.
They will soon be beginning the process of buying the building. Schools are charged 15% of most revenues for central office support; 10% goes to the national team and 5% is kept in the community. Rocketship has $15 million in unrestricted net assets with its 13 schools and adequate cash reserves. They also do an audit of the local school as part of a national audit.
A nonprofit entity will be purchasing the school building. Mr. Link estimated that about 89%-90% of the students will be returning. Most of the students who are not returning are doing so as they're moving out of Milwaukee County. Ms. Kinser said there is a small recruiting team which operates year-round. Enrollment is monitored on a week-by-week basis and is the subject of every board meeting. Ms. Pointer-Mace said the school seems very welcoming to parents, which she thinks adds to the low student turnover. Overall they have an annual revenue of $75-$80 million and the central office gets about $10 million; as a whole they took in about $5 million in philanthropy. They do not want to be dependent on philanthropy on a continual basis and will be completely self-sustaining in the 2019/2020 school year. They will still accept donations, but will not be dependent upon them. They are still working on raising $2.5 million - a goal that was set when the school was opened locally.
Mr. Stern said that for the 1.5 million that is due in June 2019 that Rocketship national is proud of the school's accomplishments and will continue to support this school. Ms. Pointer-Mace would like the school to test how students achieve throughout life, rather than just on the Badger exam. Rocketship has done a middle school study in San Jose and their students outperform other students by 20-30% and Milwaukee will track its students as well.
Jaslyn - 4th grade student
Maximum - 5th grade student
Delva Benitez - parent of current student
Nelly Hernandez - Office manager and founding parent - translator for Delva Benitez
Maureen Dandrige - K4 teacher
Allison Benderben - special education inclusion teacher and founding teacher
Ms. Pointer-Mace moved, seconded by Ms. Mallory, for acceptance of the report. There were no objections.
Member of the public:
Larry Hoffman - Schools and Communities United | | | |
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