Ontech Charter High School

“The organization amended its by-laws changing the composition of the board ( article ii, section 3) to have three classes instead of two classes of board members. To provide continuity of the board and to insure an orderly transition of board members, with the beginning of the july 2018 annual meeting, the board will be initially divided in three classes as equal as possible, with the terms staggered over three years so that at the time of each of the next two annual meetings, the terms of approximately one-third (1/3) of all members of the board shall expire. Thereafter, all terms will be for three years expiring at the annual meeting. The organization made changes to their by-laws to add an ad hoc advisory committee. This committee shall be created to give advice and support to the school concerning community outreach and relationships and make recommendations to this effect to the board.”

“Form 990 is reviewed by management and the finance committee of the board of trustees for approval. If changes are required, the school will then forward to the auditing firm and a final version will be distributed to all the board members prior to the irs submission.”

“Under the general municipal law, no school officer or employee may have an interest, direct or indirect, in any contract with the school, when such officer, trustee, or employee, individually or as a member of the board, has the power or duty to (a) negotiate, prepare, authorize or approve the contract, or authorize or approve payment under the contract; (b) audit bills or claims under the contract; or (c) appoint an officer or employee who has any of the powers or duties set forth above. Any trustee, officer or employee who has, will have, or later acquires an interest in any actual or proposed contract with the board must publicly disclose the nature and extent of such interest in writing to the directors and members of committees with governing board delegated powers considering the proposed transaction or arrangement. But after the presentation, he/she shall leave the meeting during the discussion of, and the vote on, the transaction or arrangement involving the possible conflict of interest. The chairperson of the governing board or committee shall, if appropriate, appoint a disinterested person or committee to investigate alternatives to the proposed transaction or arrangement. After exercising due diligence, the governing board or committee shall determine whether the school can obtain with reasonable efforts a more advantageous transaction or arrangement from a person or entity that would not give rise to a conflict of interest. If the governing board or committee has reasonable cause to believe a trustee, officer or employee has failed to disclose actual or possible conflicts of interest, it shall inform the trustee, officer or employee of the basis for such belief and afford the member an opportunity to explain the alleged failure to disclose. If, after hearing the trustee, officer or employee's response and after making further investigation as warranted by the circumstances, the governing board or committee determines the trustee, officer or employee has failed to disclose an actual or possible conflict of interest, it shall take appropriate disciplinary and corrective action.”

“The process for determining compensation for the organization's director is conducted by the review committee and the board of trustees for review and approval. The review committee was composed of three board individuals who culled the list to two candidates who were then interviewed in person. The compensation package was a result of aggregating information from salary levels paid by other similar educational institutions. This was refined further by salary information specifically from charter schools. The organization also took into account our internal salary levels at ontech to have a comparative relationship between the senior executives and senior administration. The discussions, deliberations and decisions are recorded in the minutes of the board meetings and retained within the organization's book and records. The process for determining executive compensation was last conducted in fy2019.”

“The organization makes its form 990 available for public inspection as required under section 6104 of the internal revenue code. The return is posted on guidestar.org and other similar types of websites. In addition, the financial statements, conflict of interest policy, articles of incorporation and by-laws are also available upon written request at 312 sedgwick drive, syracuse, ny 13203, or by calling the organization directly at 315-420-3199.”

“Financial consultants: program service expenses 33,733. Management and general expenses 0. Fundraising expenses 0. Total expenses 33,733. Other consultants: program service expenses 87,087. Management and general expenses 20,960. Fundraising expenses 0. Total expenses 108,047. Payroll services fee: program service expenses 6,404. Management and general expenses 0. Fundraising expenses 0. Total expenses 6,404. Security : program service expenses 1,585. Management and general expenses 0. Fundraising expenses 0. Total expenses 1,585.”

“The school has an audit/finance committee that is responsible for oversight of the audit and selection of the independent auditor. The process has not changed from the prior year.”