Welcome and Call to Order

The meeting was called to the order at 9:10 a.m. 

Approval of Agenda

So that there is agreement between board members on the agenda, and the amount of time spent on the meeting, the board shall vote to approve an agenda for the meeting. To the best of its ability, it will follow that agenda, and allow for the chair to move the board through the agenda as specified.

In Attendance

The following committee members were present:

Tamseel Syed, Suzette Arnold, Janelle Wilhite, Dr. Wanda Brooks-Long

Approval of Minutes from Jun 14, 2022

Minutes attached here for convenience

Committee Chair Report

Report of the committee health

Tamseel: The committee is making progress and it is important that the progress be consistent for attaining more success. The committee has a lot of work ahead in the upcoming months and with due diligence it can all be accomplished.

Strategic Plan

Dr. Brooks-Long prepared a draft of the strategic plan which aligns the strategic goals and KPIs back to CCRPI score improvement. The draft was reviewed and the committee members offered suggestions to improve the document. Notably, Suzette Arnold appreciated the progress made and liked the introduction to the plan. She also highlighted the need for the plan to be SMART while ensuring the goals are realistic. Janelle Wilhite noted that the previous strategic goals should also be a good resource to help draft upcoming goals. Suggestions on Governance goals was offered by all members.

The plan will be reviewed again in August committee meeting.

School Safety Plan

Dr. Brooks-Long presented a draft of the school safety plan and member weighed in on improvement of the plan. Suzette mentioned that in addition to the checklist of all safety goals, the location/usage of each of the item available on DPA campus should be included as part of the plan document. Clean up of inactive phone numbers and any irrelevant information was also suggested. Clear stepwise procedures to be followed during any untoward incident also needs to be identified.

Communications and Internal Control Policy draft review

Dr. Brooks-Long is completing the draft and suggested to include this as part of the September meeting

Discussion on Website Compliance

The website was being updated and Dr. Brooks-Long showed a glimpse of the revised website. She proposed that all policies and procedures would be included in one webpage as a panel view.

Work in progress towards ensuring items can be found in an easy to navigate fashion.

18 Week Assessment report review

The 18-week revised draft was reviewed/discussed and the committee members agreed to approve the report to be submitted to the entire DPA board for review during the work session.

HR procedures on maintaining staff contracts

Dr. Brooks-Long suggested that this item is being worked on and all the returning staff currently have an active contract. The HR operational procedures would be developed in the coming months and a draft would probably be reviewed during the September committee meeting.

School calendars - Academic and Staff calendar

Dr. Brooks-Long mentioned that the Academic Calendar was approved at the Academic committee meeting.

The Governance committee approved both the Academic and Staff calendars with the addition of Juneteenth as an annual holiday. Since the students usually have summer break during that time, the number of instruction days for students remain at 192. The staff calendar was adjusted to include this holiday as well.

Job Descriptions and Organizational Chart review

A draft of the organization chart was presented by Dr. Brooks-Long. Some changes were suggested by Janelle and Tamseel.

Motion to add another position called "Grants/Data Specialist" was passed - the position addition will be presented at the Finance Committee with budget amendment proposal as well.

Office space lease copy and plans

Dr. Brooks-Long suggested we continue the current office space lease for the remainder of this year and possibly next year as well. A lease contract will be obtained by Dr. Brooks-Long from the landlord and the committee will review it in the August meeting.

Board retreat planning update

Dr. Brooks-Long will be completing the necessary paperwork to secure the venue of the retreat before Monday (07/18). The follow-up planning will occur during the August meeting. GCSA will be providing speakers for the retreat.

Committee goals will be set in August meeting.

Board calendar review

The board calendar was reviewed and Dr. Brooks-Long suggested that DPA should expect a survey from DCSD that needs to be filled out - it will be included as a calendar item once it is received.

Potential Board Members

Discussion of potential candidates was done and 5 candidates were shortlisted to be reached out to. An email will be sent by Tamseel Syed to invite them for next steps to become part of the DPA board.

Central Office Skills Gap Analysis

A skills gap analysis is being done by Dr. Brooks-Long and she is comparing the required skillset to existing skillset at DPA. A subsequent professional development plan will be developed by Dr. Brooks-Long.

Other Discussion Items

Central repository of DPA policies - will be done once all policies are reviewed.

Student handbook - will be presented at the special called meeting on 07/22

HOS evaluation - is being led by Suzette Arnold and Roberta Walker

Bylaws - will be reviewed in August Committee meeting

Vendor evaluation reminder - will be reviewed by Finance committee in July and August committee meetings. DPA leadership decided to terminate two vendors based on poor performance.

Public Comment

Our Public Comment period is for members of the public to address the board. Each member of the public may sign up to comment at the meeting, and will be allotted two minutes. The board will listen, but may not directly respond to any comments. Our meetings are open to the public and public record. As such, if your comment is about a private matter, please contact the board via email, or speak to the board chair privately.

No public comment occurred.

Recommendations to the Board (if applicable)

Motions passed at the 07/16/2022 committee meeting: 

1. Approve the 18-Week report to be discussed and considered for a vote during the July Board Meeting. Item to be forwarded to the entire board for discussion during work session.
2. Approve the Staff calendar
3. Approve the Academic Calendar
4. Motion to add a new position called "Grants/Data Specialist" - the position addition will also be presented at the Finance Committee for discussion and a budget amendment proposal.

Adjourn

The Meeting was Adjourned

The meeting adjourned at approximately 9:45 pm