Ascertain a Quorum

Ascertain a Quorum – 9:02 a.m.

Suzette Arnold

Roberta Walker

Tamseel Syed

Wanda McKay – arrived late

Janelle Wilhite – arrived late

Wanda Brooks-Long, Ex-Officio

Welcome and Call to Order

The meeting will be called to the order.

Welcome and Call to Order by Suzette Arnold, Board Chair, 9:04 a.m.

Approval of Agenda

The board approves the agenda items with the following motion statement.

Approval of Agenda with an amendment to add a 2^nd Executive Session to discuss personnel

Approval of Previous Minutes

Approval of All Previous Minutes was the motion made

Executive Session

Board Chair reminder: Protocol is for all reports from the school and the Board Committes to come to the board for review and responses before getting to meetings. This is to ensure the most efficient use of everyones time.

Head of School Report

Head of School Report – Dr. Brooks-Long and Melba Smith

Melba Smith, Interim Principal, presented the Interim Principal’s Report which included:

Mission/Vision

August Monthly Highlights and Pulse Check

           Fire Drills were reported to the State

           Approved CSIP posted on the website under the Title I Tab

           Parent and student surveys posted on the website

           Progress reports went home this week

           Flag football team had a recent win of 15-0

           Hosted a Pep Rally last Friday

           Title I Night is September 29, 2022

DCSD Innovation Team is scheduled to come to DPA the following days: October 3 (morning); December 9 (noon) 1^st PBL/AVC Showcase date; January 31, 2023 (morning); 2^nd PBL Kickoff and March 29, 2022 (noon).

           PBIS Kickoff is October 5, 2022

           The last MAP Testing make up day was yesterday

           Leadership Team meets biweekly

           School-wide Book Fair began this week and ends September 30, 2022

           Parent compliment: The car rider line has improved

           Anti-bullying assembly will take place next week.

Professional Development

TKES Orientations have taken place.

School Social Worker, Nurse, and Counselor have competed their Evaluation Orientation

Teachers have completed their TKES Self-Assessment

TKES Pre-evaluation will occur during the week of September 25, 2022.

Partnerships

Kennesaw State (New) MOU-Currently working with Dr. Kwanza from the KSU School of Education regarding a student teacher partnership.

Georgia State University/Reading Recovery has commenced. There are currently 7 teachers in the program.

Excel and Accel Academy begin the week of October 3, 2022

Accel Academy is every Tuesday through Thursday from 3:45 p.m. to 5:45 p.m. Attendees are High Level 1 and Level 2 learners.

Excel Academy will take place every Saturday from 10:00 a.m. -12 noon. This academy services Gifted Students and High Level 3 and 4 students.

Student Enrollment

Grade Level                                       Students Recorded                             

Kindergarten                                                  52                                           

1^st                                                                   67                                                      

2^nd                                                                  59                                           

3^rd                                                                   63                                           

4^th                                                                   63                                           

5^th                                                                   62                                           

6^th                                                                   79                                           

7^th                                                                   75                                           

8^th                                                                   62                                           

Human Capital Report

Total Staff – 70

Total Resignations - 3

Total Terminations

Total Promotions

Total Retirements

Total Non-Renewed

Open Positions – 5

Upcoming Instructional Training

Balanced Math #2 and Guided Reading #2 - September 28, 2022

Classroom management Training – September 21, 2022

Mentorship Program has begun – September 19, 2022

Infinite Campus – Grade Inputting – October 5, 2022

Co-taching (PEC Teachers) – Upcoming

Differentiated Instruction – Upcoming

Survey results for Students

Ms. Smith reviewed all questions and the results of the survey

Highlight - Teacher of the Month

Ms. Trevius Ward was the August Teacher of the Month

GMAS Data Points

Ms. Smith reviewed GMAS data points for 2019-2020, 2020-2021, 2021-2022.

Review of data for different grade levels and subjects and whether DPA beat the state and/or district. (Report is available upon request)

Intentional Intervention Plans

Ms. Smith reviewed the Intentional Intervention Plans for Math, Reading, Science and Social Studies.

Board Comments:

Ms. Arnold thanked Ms. Smith for the report. She stated that it was a great presentation and provided some context for the board. Ms. Arnold reminded the School Leadership that the Board Members should have gotten the report prior to the meeting so that questions could be asked prior to the meeting and an abbreviated report could have been presented.

Ms. Wilhite agreed that the report was a good report and requested the specific information regarding resignations.

Mr. Syed agreed with the other Board Members that this was a good report asked for trends and not just a testing data for each year and strategic approach to improve the numbers. Mr. Syed also asked clarifying questions regarding the BHAG.

Mr Syed discussed the MOU process and stated that MOU’s must be seen by the board prior to being sent to Legal. Ms Walker indicated that the Kennesaw State University MOU was not discussed in Academic Committee.

AVC Inventory – Ms. Arnold stated that the board has not received the AVC inventory that has been requested multiple times. She made a formal request for the AVC Inventory with the payor source. Dr. Brooks long stated that the information was sent but not as a formal report. The AVC Inventory will be presented to the board in the October board meeting. Ms. Arnold explained that this is an area that we faultered in previously and that we need to be proactive.

Parent and Teacher Surveys - Ms. Arnold asked when the board would be able to see the parent and teacher survey results. The board wants to see the results before Tuesday.

KSU Student protocols – Ms. Arnold stated that, although the board has not seen the MOU, the same protocols need to be put in place for the KSU partnership as there would be for anyone else providing services to our students (i.e., background checks, etc.). Dr. Brooks-Long discussed the status of the KSU MOU. She stated Mr. Fortson has seen the MOU and made comments/recommendations. Those comments/recommendations will be sent to KSU and then the MOU will be presented for board approval.

Mr. Syed stated that the MOU should come to the board prior to anyone else – the board should see if first. Legal should only be engaged AFTER the board sees it. He raised concerns regarding the cost of sending to Legal prior to sending to the board.

Small Class Sizes – Ms. Arnold raised the question regarding our Charter Contract and one of the differentiators being that DPA will have small class sizes. Dr. Brooks-Long explained the co-teacher model and that by having a co-teacher in every class, the student/teacher ratio decreases. Ms. Arnold requested that we change the verbiage in the Charter Contract to mirror what we are doing and to whcih we are held accountable. Ms. Walker and Ms. Arnold agreed that during the Reauthorization process, the verbiage should change to our actual process.

Excel Program – Ms. Arnold asked how many students are in the Excel Program? Ms. Smith stated that the applications are still being received.

Ms. Arnold asked’ “How many High Performing Teachers do we still have from the 2019 staff cohort that are still teaching with the students that we currently have now and are we tracking the performance of those students based ono their performance aligned with those high performing teachers from 2019?” Seven of those teachers are still at DPA. Three have been promoted and the other 4 are still in the classroom.

Dashboard presentation by HOS:CAO

Dashboard Presentation – Dr. Wanda Brooks-Long The dashboard is aligned to the Strategic Plan and Charter Renewal Process and CCRPI demographics. Dr Brooks-Long gave an overview of each section.

Student Demographics - Dr. Brooks-Long gave an overview of the student demographic section of the dashboard. Mr. Syed asked how the demographics have changed over the years. He explained that the background of his question is: How are we doing with marketing? Beginning October, the demographic change trend data will be provided. Also, the plan to have a more robust, culturally-diverse, marketing strategy will be presented in October.

Employee Demographics/Human Resources Management – Discussion regarding staff resignations in September: PEC Teacher, Classroom Teacher, Media Specialist and Human Resources Manager. Dr. Brooks-Long will go back and review the numbers before the meeting on Tuesday. Ms. Wilhite asked if we have Exit Interviews for all of the terminated/resigned staff. Review of Enrollment/Student Attendance 2019-2023 also review of available Staff Attendance Data-We are doing A Comprehensive Attendance plan to ensure we have all staff and students here. Beyond the Core-We have submitted to the Atlanta Metropolitan Film Festival and are currently in consideration.

Mr. Syed asked when the Board will receive the Student Attendance Improvement Plan. Dr. Brooks-Long stated that the Student Attendance Improvement Plan will be presented in October.

Evaluations-Staff evaluation data was presented. Dr. Brooks-Long is awaiting clarifying information on some variables from DCSD. Parent and Student Activities section will be populated in October. Survey data section will be populated with student, parent and staff survey information after all data has been collected and aggregated. Financial section – Brief overview of Financial Efficiency Score and spending rate. Facilities Report – Brief overview of the facilities tasks/repairs and the status of those tasks

Mr. Syed stated that it is a good dashboard. He requested that an MOU/Partnership tab with the outcome of those be added to the dashboard. He would like for BHAG, Georgia State MOU, etc. to be added so that we can track outcomes, etc. Dr. Brooks-Long will also add the Countdown to Reauthorization with several tabs. Ms. Arnold thanked Dr. Brooks-Long for the dashboard and stated that it was very good. She further stated that the board has been asking for a long time to get a comprehensive report. She stated that, since the document is so long and has so much information, it should be presented to the board prior to the meeting to give the board time to review, ask questions, etc. to give the school time to prepare answers prior to getting in the meeting as a means of clarifying knowledge and using everyone’s time during the meetings as efficiently as possible. Ms. Arnold stated that she looks forward to seeing the updated document each month a week before the meeting. Ms. Wilhite asked that the information for each committee be vetted by the committee prior to inclusion on the dashboard. Discussion regarding data on the dashboard being presented for the prior month’s activities. If there are any real-time or urgent information, it can be updated appropriately. Dr. Brooks-Long will also add a Development tab.

Committee Reports

Academic Committee Report – Roberta Walker

Ms. Arnold asked for the status of outstanding agenda topics

Dashboard has been developed.

Student Performance – Data presented in the Head of School/Principal’s report

Safety Policy-was submitted to DCSD on time and a copy was sent to the board along with the other documents for today’s meeting. Ms. Arnold asked if the Safety Policy was approved by the board. There was no verification that the Safety Policy was approved by the board prior to submission to DCSD. Ms. Arnold cautioned School Leadership that anything required to be submitted to DCSD or the state must be formally presented to and approved officially approved by the board (through the Board Action Form process) prior to submission to those entities.

Student Count - Data was presented in the Head of School/Principal’s report

EIP Status for Students –Agenda to be changed to reflect “IEPs” instead of “EIPs.” IEP status for our students – we are complying. FTE counts are where they need to be. There is a monthly IEP compliance meeting with DCSD. Partnering with DCSD to attempt to plug some holes in the reporting system. We have our own Social Worker as DCSD is no longer providing Social Workers to Charter Schools. She is responsible for RTI/MTSS/EIP students and monitoring IEP documents for DPA and counseling services. We are assessing whether/how to provide her with assistance with the workload. We have also requested another PEC teacher to support our IEP students. Discussion regarding information following students when the are initially enroll at DPA from another DCSD school and that the student information is not always flagged in Infinite Campus. As a result, the FTE count in Infinite Campus did not properly document the number of IEP students being enrolled at DPA. DPA had to inform the district that additional newly enrolled students that should have been flagged, were not flagged. We are working in tandem with DCSD to get the IEP’s input, updated and locked in Infinite Campus. This will assist with ensuring that DPA students are getting the correct services and DPA is properly funded. Discussion regarding how DPA receives notification that newly enrolled students have an IEP/EIP/504 and how the documentation is secured by the school. Ms. Reid explained that during the enrollment process, parents are responsible for denoting their student’s needs on the enrollment application and providing a copy of the student’s exceptionality documentation. Discussion regarding complete vs incomplete applications. Ms. Walker iterated that the parent is responsible for denoting whether the student needs special accommodations. If the parent does not indicate that special accommodations are required, the student is placed in general education classes. If the parent does indicate that special accommodations are required, there is a different process. Ms. Arnold suggested that the enrollment application be updated to assist the school with determining if there are students that need accommodations. After discussion, the board was made aware by Ms. Walker that the school is only accountable for providing services when we are made aware. We are not held accountable when the parent does not disclose. Ms. Arnold applauded Dr. Brooks-Long for taking the steps to work with our authorizer to work through the issues. She also reiterated that while collaborating with our authorizers we must be mindful that they are still our authorizers and DPA will be held accountable for our students.

Reports to DCSD – The board reporting calendar can assist us in what to submit and when. Also, Ms. Rodgers is making a list of important items that go to DCSD on a regular basis. This list should be presented for review during the October Governance Meeting. Ms. Arnold further explained that the board members are held accountable for all information that is presented to DCSD by the school and they must be made aware of what they are being held accountable for. Dr. Brooks-Long will forward a listing of terms and acronyms that the board members may find helpful.

Surveys (Parent and Teachers) will be presented at the next month’s meeting.

2^nd Executive Session to discuss personnel at 11:49 a.m.

Motion to move into 2^nd Executive Session to discuss personnel action items

Motion to resume regular meeting at 12:45 p.m.

Finance report presented after the conclusion of 2nd executive session

Finance Committee – Janelle Wilhite

The committee met and discussed several things but did not vote to move anything for consideration by the full board. Items that we discussed were policy and strategic goals.

Financial Reports from Last month – were not available during the Finance Committee but were prepared after the Finance Committee. Will be an open discussion item at the September Governing Board Meeting,

Status of Audit-will be an open discussion item at the September Governing Board Meeting.

Financial Report-will be an open discussion item at the September Governing Board Meeting.

Governance Committee Report – Tamseel Syed

Telehealth Services Agreement – Recommendation from the Governance Committee to move forward with the Telehealth initiative and added to the September Governing Board Meeting Consent Agenda. Blake Coty, ESE Telehealth, attended the Governance Committee and gave an overview of the program and answered committee members’ questions.

Board Elections – can be part of the agenda for the September Governing Board Meeting.

Board Operations Manual – is currently being reviewed

Board Goal - Discussed keeping the same goals and bringing on more board members

Development Committee Report – Wanda McKay

The Development Committee is having a difficult time getting a quorum which makes the Committee unable to take any actions. Discussion regarding the number of members and their commitment. Ms. McKay will reach out to the Committee members to discuss member dedication, additional membership, and meeting dates/times. Ms. McKay to update the information in Charter Boards to indicate whether there were meetings, quorums, etc.



Golf Tournament – no updates

Other Board Business

Dr. Brooks-Long to send list of all items from the 2^nd Executive Session that are to be included as Consent Agenda Items and/or Discussion Items on the September Governing Board Meeting Agenda to Ms. Arnold. 

Adjournment

Motion to adjourn at 2:17 p.m.

The Meeting was Adjourned

The meeting adjourned at approximately 8:55 pm