Minutes: Regular Meeting

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. 

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.

Public Comments - Board Chair NO PUBLIC COMMENTS MADE

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.

CLICK to read the full minutes

The Governing Board met on Tuesday September 27th, 2022 @6:00 PM for what was scheduled to be a 2 hours and 8 minutes long meeting. Present: Kristie Battle (board treasurer), RaShaun Kemp (board chair), Ronnie Banyard Jr (board vice chair), Leslie Purifoy Plunkett (board secretary)

Not Present: 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 August 23, 2022 Governing Board Minutes
8. The September 13, 2022 Report From The Governance Committee
9. Consent Items
10. Action Items
11. Executive Session
12. Action Items

The committee considered 10 motions, of which 10 passed, and 0 failed:

1. Approve Amended Agenda - Approval of the meeting agenda with an amendment to table discussion of contract approval until after executive session. (passed)
2. Approve Consent Agenda Items (passed)
3. Appointment of Dr. Nadine C. Duncan as a board member (passed)
4. Appointment of Ms. Sarah Lampkin as a board member (passed)
5. Appointment of Ms. Stephanie Twitty-Carmon as a board member (passed)
6. Table committee appointments to October meeting in order to review bylaws and make sure committees are balanced prior to new appointments. (passed)
7. Acceptance of the Resignation of Board Member, Dr. Jay Bush (passed)
8. Motion to enter Executive Session 7:30pm (passed)
9. Motion to exit Executive Session 8:01pm (passed)
10. Approve contracts for Head of Schools and CFO for 2022-2023 per terms discussed in Executive Session (passed)

The meeting adjourned at 8:20PM

Welcome - Board Chair, RaShaun Kemp

• Meeting Call to Order - Board Chair - 6:02pm
• Roll Call - Board Board - (late arrivals: Purifoy-Plunkett 6:07pm; Bryant 6:17pm; Battle 6:39pm)

Vision and Mission - Board Vice Chair, Ronnie Banyard

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.

ACADEMICS AND OPERATIONS REPORT - HEAD OF SCHOOL (Dr. Nichols)

TOPICS AND RELATED ACTION ITEMS:

• 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)
• FY23 data - Benchmark I (adjustment in assessment dates to allow for reteaching)
• Upcoming events and meetings
• Sentence stems
• Restorative practices (for adults and scholars)
• iReady data (EIP, enrichment, targeted instruction, MTSS)

FINANCE REPORT - CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

TOPICS AND RELATED ACTION ITEMS:

• Perfect audit
• Review of budget
• Current deficit: refinancing of bond
• Completed federal programs drawdowns
• Coverage of future events for bond refinance
• Facilities grant - possible use to cover expenses
• No bond updates
• Allotment sheet comparison to explain deficit
• Enrollment for the month 450 (net change of 4)
• Wait list of 40
• Withdrawn 14
• Title IV and 3 (awaiting review)
• DoubleGood fundraiser results - over $14,000 profit (over $28,000 in sales)
• Marketing (yard signs - placement approval and restrictions)
• Community engagement
• Online spirit shop
• Winter/Spring issue of Charter magazine
• Admissions and data management
• Recruitment of new scholars - social media
• Grade-level breakdown and scholar capacity
• Retention of scholars
• Human resources - available opportunities reviewed 

Action request: Approval of September 2022 financials

REPORT PRESENTED BY RaShaun Kemp

NOTE: Amended agenda moved and approved to include reviews of Code of Ethics policy, prospective board member vetting policy and committee membership policy and background check for board members.

The Governance Committee met on Tuesday October 11th, 2022 @6:00 PM for what was scheduled to be a 1 hours and 38 minutes long meeting. Present: April Jackson (committee member), Dr. William Epps (committee member), RaShaun Kemp (board chair) 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 2 motions, of which 2 passed, and 0 failed:

1. Amend the agenda to include reviews of Code of Ethics policy, Prospective Board Member Vetting Policy, and Committee Member Policy (passed)
2. Approve Amended Agenda (passed)

The meeting adjourned at 7:12PM

REPORT PRESENTED BY Kristie Battle and Leslie Plunkett

NOTE: Giving Tuesday, 11/29, upcoming fundraising collaborations with IPAK

The Finance Committee met on Tuesday October 11th, 2022 @6:00 PM for what was scheduled to be a 1 hours and 23 minutes long meeting. Present: Kanethia Henderson (committee member), Leslie Purifoy Plunkett (board secretary) Not Present: Kristie Battle (board treasurer)

The members considered the following items:

1. Ivy Preparatory Academy Finance Committee Meeting Information
2. Welcome and Call to Order
3. Approval of Agenda
4. Public Comment
5. Finance Committee Work Session
6. Information Items

The committee considered 3 motions, of which 3 passed, and 0 failed:

1. Meeting called to order at 6:17pm (passed)
2. I move that we approve today's agenda as presented. (passed)
3. Motion to adjourn meeting at 7:34pm (passed)

The meeting adjourned at 7:13PM

• Approve monthly Head of School Academics and Operations Report
• Approve monthly Chief Financial Officer Finance Report 
• Approve September 27, 2022 Governing Board Meeting Minutes
• Accept October 11, 2022 Governance Committee Report
• Accept October 11, 2022 Finance Committee Report

Item(s) for Approval

• Amendments to the 2022- 2023 school calendar presented by Dr. Charcia Nichols.

1. Change asynchronous day from November 9, 2022, to November 8, 2022 (allows for Election Day participation and aligns with surrounding calendars)
2. Change December 12-16, 2022, to half-days of instruction (allows for parent conferences from 12:00 PM until 4:00 PM on those days)
3. Addition of two asynchronous days: January 4, 2023, and February 16, 2023
4. Change March asynchronous day from March 22, 2023, to March 16, 2023

• Approval FY 2023 Facilities Grant

Item(s) for Ratification

• Ratify board chair’s committee appointment (Stephanie Twitty-Carmon, Academics Committee)

Items(s) for Action

• Sign Code of Ethics form https://docs.google.com/document/d/1b4g-bxYjzDOEORl_9HWCAsTuUYylTSg8ZxtKZ-q65D0/edit?usp=sharing
• Endorse 2021-2022 Charter School Annual Report

Items(s) for Discussion

• Marketing presentation from Chiara Henderson (review of marketing goals and targets)
• TABLED TO NOVEMBER: Prospective Board Member Vetting Policy: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1V9odbQbEJYgJzWJlk-jkzTzAfDsDjxLygvvki_AXrJY/edit?usp=sharing 
• TABLED TO NOVEMBER: Committee Membership Policy: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1S47qw6YCZzUvZKD72xOihD9SW-45StHWneXn3LfUC3E/edit?usp=sharing (Expansion of the Governance Committee)
• November 19 Board Retreat Agenda:  possible items include who does what at the school with an updated organizational chart; getting to the vision in the aftermath of the pandemic; team building; fundraising and financial stewardship.  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aHlUKrMZgbrBTW9bKlhs_-u2zQKLp2rIAC85AnDgToQ/edit (Please email all agenda items/ideas to Board Chair Kemp by November 4, 2022.)

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.

• Governance and Finance Committee Meetings November 8
• Board retreat November 19 9AM-12PM at Nelson Mullins
• Board meeting November 29

The meeting adjourned at approximately 11:17 am