Ivy Preparatory Academy Governing Board Meeting Information

LOCATION: Governing Board meetings are held at Ivy Preparatory Academy at Kirkwood, located at 1807 Memorial Drive, SE Atlanta, GA 30317.

AGENDA: Governing Board meeting agenda items are scheduled to be considered as noted in this agenda; however, agenda items may be taken out of the order presented on the agenda at the discretion of the chair. 

ACCOMODATIONS: Reasonable efforts will be made to assist and accommodate persons with a disability. Please contact Dr. Charcia Nichols at 404-622-2727. Request should be made as early as possible to arrange the accommodations, no later than 24 hours prior to the meeting.

PUBLIC COMMENTS: The Public Comment time period is for the public to address the Governing Board. Those who wish to speak must sign-up before the start of the meeting. Speakers may have up to three minutes to speak. 

Welcome, Vision, And Mission

Welcome - Board Chair

• Meeting Call to Order - 6:12pm - Board Chair
• Roll Call - Board Board Chair

Vision and Mission - Board Vice Chair

Vision: The Ivy Preparatory Academy for Girls at Kirkwood cultivates female leaders who manifest change in the world.

Mission: The Ivy Preparatory Academy for Girls at Kirkwood fosters a culture of collaboration, passion for learning, integrity and servant leadership in an environment designed especially for girls.

Ivy Board Member Norms

Ivy Preparatory Academy Governing Board members commit to being.  Specifically, board members will BE…

1. Prepared. Participate in meetings having read and processed meeting materials; knowing, understanding, and revising board policies and procedures; and focusing on the role and responsibility of the board to govern and provide financial stewardship.
2. Proactive.  Anticipate challenges and opportunities and respond to requests and questions from board members and school leadership in a timely manner. 
3. Punctual.  Begin and end meetings on time. 
4. Present. Fully engage in meetings with limited distractions. 
5. Personable.  Interact with other board members, school leadership, and members of the community with grace and professionalism.  
6. Principled.  Work within the school community with transparency and efficiency without ethical challenges and conflicts of interest, or the appearance thereof. 
7. Proficient.  Pursue ongoing board training and development to increase and enhance governance skills. 
8. Passionate. Advocate for the school and its leadership, staff, and scholars encouraging and providing academic and financial support.

Approval of Agenda

Public Comment

Public Comments - Board Chair NO PUBLIC COMMENTS

Transparency: Board meetings are a public forum to provide transparency into the governance of the school. Engagement from the community is strongly encouraged and vital to that governance.

Time Limit: A total of 30 minutes shall be set aside for public comment.  Each speaker will have a maximum of 3 minutes to speak.  A speaker may not sign up to speak more than once during the same public comment period.

Board Action: Board members shall not provide responses nor engage in direct conversation with speakers during public comments. The board will direct the Head of Schools or the Chief Financial Officer to engage in responding at a later time as necessary and appropriate.

Civil Discourse: Speakers are encouraged to maintain decorum and present their comments in a civil manner.  The Governing Board reserves the right to request any speaker engaging in personal attacks, or the use of obscene or derogatory language, to restate their position in a manner more appropriate for a school environment.

School Leadership Reports - Academics, Operations, And Finance

Academics and Operations Report - Head of School

• Fab Four
• HVAC
• Food tasting
• FTE
• Deficit: more FTE in kindergarten, increase in EIP teachers
• Still to address: ESOL, SWD and Gifted
• Champions for Ivy (reduced class sizes - innovative model presented/submitted)
• MTSS (Multi-tiered Support/Strategies)
• PBIS (Positive Behavior Interventions/Strategies)
• SEL (Sister Talks, Habitudes, individual/group counseling)
• Sentence stems
• Restorative practices (for adults and scholars)
• iReady data (EIP, enrichment, targeted instruction, MTSS)

Finance Report - Chief Financial Officer

• Perfect audit
• Review of budget
• Current deficit: refinancing of bond
• Review of federal programs
• Admissions and data management
• Recruitment of new scholars
• Retention of scholars
• Human resources
• Faculty/staff recruitment
• Benefits

Action request: approval of August 2022 financial presentation

The August 23, 2022 Governing Board Minutes

CLICK to read the full minutes

The Governing Board met on Tuesday August 23rd, 2022 @6:00 PM for what was scheduled to be a 2 hours and 3 minutes long meeting. Present: RaShaun Kemp (board chair), Ronnie Banyard Jr (board vice chair), Tonye Durr (board member) Not Present: Kristie Battle (board treasurer), Dr. Jay Bush (board member) The members considered the following items: 1. Ivy Preparatory Academy Governing Board Meeting Information 2. Welcome, Vision, And Mission 3. Ivy Board Member Norms 4. Approval of Agenda 5. Public Comment 6. School Leadership Reports - Academics, Operations, And Finance 7. The July 12, 2022 Report From The Finance Committee 8. The July 26, 2022 Governing Board Minutes 9. The August 9, 2022 Report From The Finance Committee 10. The August 9, 2022 Report From The Governance Committee 11. The August 16, 2022 Report From The Academic Committee 12. Consent Items 13. Action Items 14. Information Items 15. Executive Session The committee considered 15 motions, of which 15 passed, and 0 failed: 1. Amend agenda to include Add Executive Session (passed) 2. Amend agenda to include Amended “Volunteer” Board Policy as action item (passed) 3. Approve Amended Agenda (passed) 4. Approve Consent Agenda Items (passed) 5. Nominate Secretary from the floor (passed) 6. Approve the Resource Development and Institutional Advancement (RDIA) Committee a sub-committee of the Finance Committee (passed) 7. Approve Appointment of Ms. Leslie Purifoy Plunkett as a board member (passed) 8. Approve board chair’s committee appointment (Leslie Purifoy Plunkett, Finance Committee) (passed) 9. Accept the Resignation of Board Member, Tonye Durr (passed) 10. Approve Parent Bill of Rights Board Policy (passed) 11. Approve Divisive Concepts Board Policy (passed) 12. Protect Students First Board Policy (passed) 13. Amended Volunteer Board Policy (passed) 14. Motion to Enter Executive Session (passed) 15. Motion to End Executive Session (passed) The meeting adjourned at 8:59 PM

The September 13, 2022 Report From The Governance Committee

The Governance Committee met on Tuesday September 13th, 2022 @6:00 PM for what was scheduled to be a 1 hours and 38 minutes long meeting. Present: RaShaun Kemp (board chair), April Jackson (committee member), Dr. William Epps (committee member) Not Present: none The members considered the following items: 1. Ivy Preparatory Academy Governance Committee Meeting Information 2. Welcome and Call to Order 3. Approval of Agenda 4. Public Comment 5. Governance Committee Work Session 6. Information Items The committee considered 3 motions, of which 3 passed, and 0 failed: 1. AMEND AGENDA (passed) 2. APPROVE AMENDED AGEBDA (passed) 3. Recommend slate of prospective board members for service (passed) The meeting adjourned at 8:26PM

Consent Items

• Approve monthly Head of School Academics and Operations Report
• Approve monthly Chief Financial Officer Finance Report 
• Approve August 23, 2022 Governing Board Meeting Minutes
• Accept September 13, 2022 Governance Committee Report

Action Items

Item(s) for Approval

• Appointment of Dr. Nadine C. Duncan as a board member
• Appointment of Ms. Sarah Lampkin as a board member
• Appointment of Ms. Stephanie Twitty-Carmon as a board member
• Approve contract for Head of School
• Approve contract for Chief Financial Officer

Item(s) for Ratification

• Ratify board chair’s committee appointment (Dr. Nadine C. Duncan, Governance Committee)
• Ratify board chair’s committee appointment (Ms. Sarah Lampkin, Governance Committee)
• Ratify board chair’s committee appointment (Stephanie Twitty-Carmon, Academics Committee)

Items(s) for Action

• Accept the Resignation of Board Member, Dr. Jay Bush
• Sign Board Member Annual Affirmation/Statement of Commitment

Item(s) for Discussion 

• Proposal to conduct an assessment of the organizational structure, departmental operations, and processes to help the Board ensure necessary supports are in place to optimize the schools ability to implement its mission and to ensure that the Board has the ability to conduct strategic long term planning for operations and sustainability of the school. 

Presentation by One HR Schools Consulting Firm - presentation

Ms. Renata Freeman

Erica Ware - Client Relations

Kiera - HR Manager (onsite at Ivy)

Services: Onboarding, training, retention, employee relations. Compensation

Executive Session

The Governing Board closed its meeting as permitted by the Open Meeting Act of Georgia. 

The only specific matters may be considered or discussed during the closed portion or executive session of a governing board meeting:

• To review an appeal from a Student Disciplinary Tribunal;
• To consider a matter involving the disclosure of personally identifiable information from a student's educational records;
• To discuss the future acquisition of real estate;
• To discuss or deliberate upon the appointment, employment, compensation, hiring, disciplinary actions or dismissal, or periodic evaluation or rating of a public officer or employee;
• To consult and meet with legal counsel pertaining to pending or potential litigation, settlement, claims, administrative proceedings, or other judicial employee or in which the officer or employee may be directly involved.

Action Items

Item(s) for Approval

• Approve contract for Head of School
• Approve contract for Chief Financial Officer

The Meeting was Adjourned

The meeting adjourned at approximately 1:20 pm