Beacon PTA Meeting Minutes – Jan. 2021
Beacon PTA Monthly Meeting
Jan. 11, 2021 (6-8 PM, Zoom)
1. WELCOME – Shirley Brady, Robin Broshi, Nancy Molesworth (PTA Co-Presidents)
2. PRINCIPAL REPORT – Brady Smith
• Admissions process – DOE proposal submitted today, 1/11. Admissions portal will open 1/18.
• Applications will be open on myschools, likely to close on 2/22. Admissions is not “first come first served”
• Virtual information sessions (open houses for fall admissions) – including 4 student-led and IEP sessions – are listed on Beacon website.
• The SLT is working on Beacon’s mission statement. Application process should be aligned with the new mission statement.
• Beacon’s Equity team is up and running and working on a school-wide equity statement.
• PBA Week is coming up on Jan 25th and planning is going on now. Student gov’t is working on community building and social activities during PBA week.
On Friday January 29th of PBA Week, there will be workshops but no class sessions or assessments.
• Respect for All Week and Black History Month are coming up up in February
• SPRING SCHEDULE – Proposed schedule released to staff on Sunday and students today. More synchronous class time and additional SGI (Small Group Instruction) and tutoring time. G and H band will be mixed throughout school day • if no class student will have a “free” period. Class start time is 8:30am; “Collaboration” is a teacher period for preparing and doing department work, and doesn’t impact students. Spring schedule was made after consulting multiple constituencies – teachers, students and parents. The DOE’s expectations for synchronous minutes have increased from Fall to Spring.
• Feedback: Brady received 180 emails from students today regarding the new schedule. He will meet with BUU and other student groups as to possibly revising schedules, especially with regards to increased screen time. The SLT will discuss on 1/14 and the PTA is surveying parents on their responses by 5pm on 1/13 and will share w/Brady.
3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
(Anju Gupta & Katherine Bruck, Recording Secretaries)
• December 2020 PTA general meeting minutes presented for approval (click here). Approved.
4. COMMITTEE REPORTS
Treasurers (Spencer Green; Andrew Flamm)
• $238K of the $300K PTA budget for the 2020-21 school year has been allocated.
• $62K remains to allocate for 2020-21 expenses: clubs, teachers, guidance, etc.
• Fundraising goal was $185K by Dec. 31st; we have raised $168K.
Spending requests:
• Kim Ellliott, dance teacher: $7K for spring semester for teaching assistants. Will likely give her $4320 as she was given funds for fall semester that she hasn’t yet used up.
• Brady Smith, principal: $5K to rehire librarian for 16 weeks. Role needed to purchase library books related to another grant, which Beacon will lose if a librarian is not in place to execute.
• Keith Miller, photography teacher: $3K for photo books and Adobe license.
• Deb Heller, Beacon College Office: $450 for 3 College Office counselors to attend Professional Development workshops including DEI.
• Heather Szostak, biology teacher: $300 for digital downloads.
These budget requests were put to a vote and approved unanimously.
Fundraising (Karen Jolicoeur; Alison Overholser)
• December brought Beacon closer to the 2020-21 school year fundraising goal of $250K, with $168K raised ($86K in the month of December alone).
• Fundraising team was particularly cognizant of raising money with a DEI focus.
• Looking ahead: planning a virtual event for the spring & focusing on corporate matching and monthly recurring gifts
• Special thanks to the fundraising team, who worked throughout the holiday break.
Diversity Equity & Inclusion (Gary Ramsay; Windell Williams)
• DEI meeting was well attended on January 6th – primary focus was new admissions plan.
• Content and community committee -? Is working on more content and programming.
• Met with BUU before the end of last semester. things much better with Brady as the new
Principal but inequities still exist with regards to privacy with remote learning.
• Given Jan. 6 events in D.C., DEI work is increasingly important; new members encouraged.
• Book Club meeting is tomorrow night; Part 4 of Caste will be discussed.
Communications (Justine Keil; Kathy Morgenstern)
• Newsletters are going out regularly and have been well received.
Community Building/Relations (Karen Stonely)
• Community building meetings have been going on.
• Links for events and notes are listed in newsletters for grades and IEP meetings.
• Focus has been on strengthening community as a whole not just for individual grades or constituencies.
• 9th and 10th graders planning workshop on “self advocating.” Please forward any ideas to beaconpta@beaconschool.org.
Hospitality (Elle Melaver; Kate Williams) – no report
Merchandising (Tali Mermelstein; Jeff Rosenblum)
Online merchandise purchases are going well.
7. SCHOOL LEADERSHIP TEAM (Robin Broshi; Windell Williams)
• Two non-regular meetings were scheduled to address admissions since the last PTA meeting.
• Brady collaborated with SLT on the new admissions plan and waited for feedback from DOE.
• PTA note to parents supported parents not harassing as to grades, which came out of past teacher experiences.
• Next regular SLT meeting is Thursday Jan 14. Focus is on the new school mission statement, spring schedule and Beacon website.
8. NEW BUSINESS
• Martha Kessler – NYC CEC presentation and Beacon parent spoke on upcoming Community Education Council Elections. Primary form of communication will be NYCSA (New York City Schools Account) for DOE. Need to have your child linked to that account. Community Education Council (CEC) is most active and gives parents a voice. Superintendent must attend all CEC meetings. The High School Council is the one that applies to Beacon. CEC for D75 Council and on Special Education and ELL. Elections: Eligibility to run is based upon your student’s specific criteria. One school rule: only 1 parent from Beacon can be elected. Deadline: February 1 is when applications are due and the term is 2 years. Encourage parents to run and vote. Martha can be reached at
elections2021@school.nyc.gov for any questions.
• Samilia Ghartey-Sam – Beacon’s school social worker addressed the importance of students’ socio-emotional health and well-being. Counseling teams are available with drop-in office hours. Many students have support by close relationships with teachers and advisors who often refer a student to counseling. Teachers can also fill out a referral form and counseling will reach out to students or their family if warranted.
• Principal Brady Smith addressed parent feedback. Note that parent/guardian survey on spring schedule due 1/13 at noon; feedback on school’s mission statement is due 1/13 at 5pm for consideration at the 1/14 SLT meeting.
• Daily Advisory morning check-in: Some parents think it is important. Time has to come from somewhere to add synchronous learning. Wellness break was important to students, more than for Advisory check-in. Friday’s longer Advisory time will remain in place.
• Workload – concerns that more class meetings will increase homework load. Certain classes such as AP do not currently have enough time to meet curriculum requirements. Teachers may use the 4th added period for asynchronous learning so that teachers can work with students in SGI format.
• 9th graders – concerns expressed. Difficult to get DOE permission for any in person meet-ups in school. Trying to figure out how to have gatherings. In conversation with Manhattan Borough President’s Office in terms of in person outdoor graduation. Big Sibs zoom events have been well received and hope to be continued.
• Brady hopeful to have more in-person events now that teachers are starting to get vaccinated. Hard to predict how NYS and NYC will tell schools to proceed. Kerry Dowling said that teachers who currently teach in-person, such as elementary school teachers, should receive priority.
• Brady reiterated that the new spring schedule was designed to meet the needs of various constituencies and stakeholders’ priorities and interests, with a focus on students’ socio-emotional needs. That said, he is open to suggestions and added that there is not consensus amongst various groups as to what priorities should be.
• Kerry Dowling addressed comments in the chat to let the community know that there are various valid reasons as to why so many teachers are out for medical accommodations and are protected by HIPAA rules.
9. MEETING ADJOURNED
(Any questions? Please contact beaconpta@beaconschool.org)
