Amber Charter School
Board Minutes
April 19, 2017
MEETING CHAIR:
Soledad Hiciano
MEETING SCRIBE:
Valentina Rubio-Dumornay
MEETING LOCATION:
Amber Charter School, East Harlem, 220 East 106th Street, New York, NY 10029
ATTENDANCE:
Board: Juvanee Bedminster, Amador Centeno, Elena Goldberg Velazquez, Beatriz Gonzalez Day,
Anthony Harris, Soledad Hiciano, Ann Wiener
Absent: Frank Aldridge, Chantal Frazier, John Gutierrez, Jenna Pantel
Staff: Vasthi Acosta, Veronica Almedina, Sasha Elliott, Christine Ganey, Kirsys Gomez, Heidi Hamilton,
Misty Heelan, Monique Mighty, Valentina Rubio-Dumornay.
I. Call to Order
Ms. Hiciano called the meeting to order at 6:18 pm.
II. Check In
Board Members checked in.
III. Facilities Committee Update
o Mr. Centeno updated the Trustees on the status of the search for a subtenant for the property
at Amber Washington Heights.
o Mr. Centeno reported that lease negotiations for Amber II permanent space are in the final
stage.
IV. Executive Director Report
o Dr. Acosta reported to the Trustees that the Governor has passed the new budget. There has
been an increase in the per-pupil amount, $500 more per student and another $300 in state
allocation. In addition, the rental assistance has also gone up to 30% for Amber II.
o Dr. Acosta reported that the lottery was held last Tuesday, the total number of applications
received was 1537, the waitlist number is 897. Ms. Hiciano asked what were the enrollment
numbers for the draft budget. Dr. Acosta stated: East Harlem: 480; Kingsbridge: 230. Dr. Acosta
congratulated Ms. Ganey on her phenomenal work in student recruitment.
o Dr. Acosta reported to the Board that after speaking with Ms. Susan Miller Carello (SUNY
authorizer) and Ms. Joey Gustafson (charter schools consultant) in regards to splitting Amber II
in two locations for one year, they both advised against separating the school into two
locations. They both warned that the organization would suffer by losing families and staff
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members in the long run. Therefore, Dr. Acosta will move the entire school to the new location
in the fall.
o Dr. Acosta reminded the Trustees that we have potential sub-tenants for the current school
location and CBRE our real estate consultant is aggressively marketing the space for subleasing.
o Dr. Acosta explained that the consequence of not leasing the space would be a $460k expense.
At the same time Dr. Vasthi reminded the Trustees that if Amber had not found a turn-key
building, the cost of renovations for the permanent location would have been a greater
expense. Ms. Hiciano asked how much it will cost to prepare the permanent space. Ms.
Hamilton expressed that this would be around $200k, including furniture. Ms. Hiciano
expressed that she understood why the whole school had to move at once. Ms. Hiciano then
expressed that Trustees would have to think about Development and have a conversation with
the Foundation. Since there will be a financial burden in regards to the lease of St. Elizabeth.
Ms. Wiener asked if the space had been offered to the DOE. Ms. Hamilton took note and will
reach out to the DOE.
o Dr. Acosta reported to the Trustees that a Policy for Relationships has been drafted and was
shared with the Education Committee.
o Motion to Approve the Relationship Policy:
 Move: Ann Wiener
 Second: Juvanee Bedminster
 Aye: All
 Nay: None
 Abstain: None
o Ms. Goldberg Velazquez asked about due process and Ms. Hiciano explained that the due process
is spelled out in the Employee Manual.
o Dr. Acosta reported that the SST retreat will be this upcoming weekend in the Poconos.
o Dr. Acosta reported on an Education Summit at the Hispanic Federation where she was invited to
be part of an Education Focus group. The Latino Leaders Roundtable had their Board Chair event.
Dr. Acosta thanked Ms. Hiciano and Ms. Gonzalez Day for attending.
o Ms. Hiciano highly encouraged all trustees to attend Stepping up ceremonies.
V.
ACS Washington Heights Principal Report
Ms. Almedina reported on the narrative writing Publishing Party and how wonderful it was.
At the last school Assembly which focused on Community the honor roll students and their
parents were present and the number of honor roll students has more than doubled.
o NYSESLAT testing is being conducted at Washington Heights.
o Ms. Almedina shared a nice story where the Staff Developer showed an incoming new student
the picture of Amber students and how diverse the student body is. Ms. Hiciano reinforced how
wonderful is to have great quality staff.
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VIII. ACS East Harlem Principal Report
o Ms. Elliott reported that NYS ELA testing at East Harlem on the last day took until dismissal time
to complete. Ms. Elliott reported that NYS Math testing is in May.
o Ms. Elliott presented a video that was created by the 1ST Graders on Community for their
school assembly. The video focused on the murals that are found in the East Harlem and their
artists.
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IX. Board Chair Report
o Ms. Goldberg Velazquez reported that the Flywheel fundraiser was cancelled due to lack of
participation. Ms. Goldberg Velazquez asked the Trustees to help brainstorm of other events
that can be done to raise money for the school.
o Ms. Hiciano explained that various types of events have been planned in the past, but going
forward the main thing would be to plan fundraising events based on the type of Board that we
are. Ms. Hiciano expressed that this conversation will be brought up at the Board Retreat. Ms.
Goldberg Velazquez expressed that other organizations honor people to get a larger crowd.
o Ms. Goldberg Velazquez brought up the idea of sending Trustees a survey to ask questions
about what type of Fundraising event they would most likely participate in and help sell tickets
for. In the next Development meeting they will put together questions for the fundraising
events survey and then send it around. Ms. Winer wondered how other community charters do
their fundraising events. Dr. Acosta reminded the Trustees that Faircom had done a Benchmark
document for Amber where it analyzed the fundraising efforts of other comparable charter
schools with Amber.
o Ms. Hiciano reminded Trustees that the Board Retreat will be happening July 23: dinner and all
day, July 24, at the Allegria Hotel. She asked if anyone needed transportation. Ms. Wiener and
Ms. Bedminster raised their hands.
o Motion to approve February Board Minutes:
Move: Beatriz Gonzalez Day
Second: Ann Wiener
Aye: All
Nay: None
Abstain: Amador Centeno, Elena Goldberg Velazquez,
o Motion to approve March Board Minutes:
Move: Amador Centeno
Second: Ann Wiener
Aye: All
Nay: None
Abstain: Juvanee Bedminster, Elena Goldberg Velazquez, Anthony Harris, Soledad
Hiciano
X. Committee Reports: Questions?
o No questions.
XI. Board Meeting Adjournment
Ms. Hiciano called for the adjournment of the meeting after asking if there was any other new
business. Vote to adjourn the meeting:
o Move: Amador Centeno
o Second: Juvanee Bedminster
o Aye: All
o Nay: None
o Abstain: None
Meeting adjourned at 7:53 pm.
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