Advocates for Academic Excellence in Education, Inc. (Benjamin Franklin High School) Regular Board of Directors Meeting April 24, 2014, at 4:00 PM Benjamin Franklin High School Library 1. Call to Order: 4:06 PM 2. Roll Call: Duris Holmes ’80, Mark Mayer, Patricia Adams, Susan Weeks, Carl Indest ’79, Gary Ostroske, Les Alexander, Mark Baum ’77, Joseph Cao, Saundra Levy Excused: Ingrid Labat, M.D. ’87, Joseph Horton, M.D. ’65 3. Approval of Agenda: Recommendation to remove Action 8a. Agenda put to motion, motion 2nd, motion passed. 4. Faculty Recognition (Dr. Rusnak): Dr. Rusnak recognized Dr. Shannon Antoine who is a long-term faculty member of faculty, Chair of the English Department, and played a leading role in the SACS Committee. He acknowledged her work with the Riverbend Review, which has been recognized as one of the finest literary magazines in the country and was recently granted the Columbia Scholastic Press Association’s Gold Crown Award. Dr. Antoine acknowledged the students of Riverbend Review, who built the magazine from scratch and have contributed countless hours of work. 5. Consent items a. Approval of March Minutes deferred until the next meeting. b. Principal/CEO Summary (Dr. Rusnak). 6. CFO Monthly Report (Ms. Bowler): Ms. Bowler reported that as of March they had not received the payment of $640,000 from Orleans Parish. OPSB reports that this will come in April’s MFP. Motion to approve, motion 2nd, motion passed 7. Information / Discussion a. Nominating Committee (Mr. Ostroske): Mr. Ostroske welcomed nominations for board members to fill future vacancies. In regards to the Strategic Plan, Mr. Ostroske reported that 10 requests for proposals from consultants were submitted; however, no proposals have been received. He mentioned the need to contact new candidates or to develop a grassroots approach. b. Preliminary 2014-2015 budget (Ms. Bowler): Ms. Bowler submitted the preliminary budget for the 2014-2015 school year to the board for review. Approval of the budget is tentatively set for June 10th. c. Admissions report (Ms. Jenkins): Ms. Jenkins reported that 250 acceptance letters have been sent out. 230 students will take the admission test on Saturday, April 25th. Falcon Prep was a great success and she received positive feedback from prospective students. She estimates that it would be easy to get an additional 30 students, for a total of 280 new students for the coming school year. 8. Executive Session Motion to go into Executive Session Executive Session pursuant to La. Rev. Stat. § 42:6.1(A)(2) to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining on chair’s declaration, duly given, that an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining position of the public body. Motion passed unanimously on roll call vote. On motion to leave Executive Session, seconded, passed unanimously, board left Executive Session at 6:30 PM. No poll, straw vote or final or binding action was taken in Executive Session 9. Adjournment: Put to motion, motion motion passed. Meeting adjourned at 6:31 PM.