Minutes: Regular Meeting

The board discussed to accept the amended agenda to the Governance Session: to remove the Board Policy Presentation 

The board reviewed the previous meeting minutes as presented: July 3, 2018, July 26, 2018, August 16, 2018, September 20, 2018 and October 18, 2018. 

• New Business

Jason Allen introduced Terra Gay which has completed the process of becoming a board member. Terra Gay has twenty years background in education and will intend to extend support with building bonds

Laticia Sharp (CFO) presented Kirkwood and Gwinnett’s financial dashboard. Laticia Sharp provided a handout and discussed Kirkwood’s FY2019 following:

Monthly Financials

Requesting the approval of the September financials presented in the October 18, 2018 board meeting.

October 2018 financials will be presented for discussion

FY18 Audit Report

The FY18 Audit Reports were forwarded to the bond holders as part of compliance.

Amended FY19 Budget and Projection Plan

Work continues on the FY19 Amended Budget.

SCSC Visit

Completed visit with State Charter School Commission on October 5, 2018.

Federal Programs

All FY18 Federal Program drawdowns and completion reports were completed

Completed MOE reporting required for IDEA FY19 Budget submission

All FY19 Federal Grant Budgets have been submitted and approved

Financial Policy/Procedure Manual:

Further revisions were made to the Financial Policies and distributed to the Board for review

Nutrition Reporting

           Worked with School Nutrition to bring claims and financials current. Some adjustments may be required following review

YMLA Close-Out

Closed out YMLA’s Georgia Department of Revenue account

Working on final close-out for YMLA for the FY19 audit season

SAM (System for Award Management) Registration

           Completed SAM registration renewal, the federal government’s vendor database

Paula Harris-Harvey (Director of Scholar Services) presented the following during her presentation: 

• Ivy Preparatory Academy at Kirkwood has a total of 34 scholars that have been diagnosed with a disability, disabilities range from autism, mild intellectual disabilities, significant developmental delay, significant learning disabilities, to other health impairments
• Student with Dreams (SWD) population makes up about 6% of the school population
• Primary and Middle school scholars STAR data for reading and math
• Discussed closing the gap by offering before school tutoring by Kimberly Hardy and Aziz Balamani. After school tutoring is offered by Imogene Redwine and Mrs. Clark    On Fridays, the SWD team provides donuts and juice and conduct data talks with each of their scholars on their caseload to discuss:
• Accommodations
• Weekly Reports
• Assessments
• Set and establish goals for the upcoming week

ESOL Program (English for Speakers of Other Languages) 

• Currently have five scholars identified
• Ivy Preparatory Academy ESOL program provides support for English Language acquisition and development of skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing through content-based instruction
• Instruction is delivered by one ESOL teacher who is an expert in second language acquisition and content knowledge. By combining language-rich classes with standards-based instruction, general education and ESOL teachers create an environment that is both nurturing and academically rigorous as they prepare scholars to fully participate in general education classrooms

Occupational, Speech and Language Therapy

Talented and Gifted Program (TAG)

• Developed to address the need of academic acceleration and enrichment beyond what occurs in the general classroom environment
• Currently 25 scholars
• Curricular Focus
• Reading, writing, and research integrated with Science and/or Social Studies
• Skills Focus
• critical thinking, problem solving, and reading, writing, research, speaking and listening
• Logistical Program Focus
• increase number of gifted and talented scholars by collaborating with teachers to increase project-based teaching and learning

Parent Engagement/Upcoming Events

• Parent Survey that will help the Scholar Support Team improve in areas where we may not meet standards
• Cocoa and Conversation Scheduled for Wednesday, December 19, 2018 from 3:30-5:30 pm 

Charcia Nichols discussed CCRPI data for 3rd through 8th grades and the importance of the five component areas: Content Mastery, Progress, Closing Gaps, Readiness, and Graduation Rate (only for High School). Charcia Nichols discussed the following:

Operations

• Nutrition
• Contractor secured until December 31st
• Compliance Audit November 27-28, 2018
• Status letters will be distributed 11/16/18
• Will be moved to Finance beginning December 1st
• Facilities/Maintenance
• Roofing concerns; now impacting tenants
• Oven repaired but will need more attention over the break
• Awaiting asset tags for inventory for Kirkwood and Gwinnett
• Information Technology
• Laptops are now being checked for testing
• Currently conducting bandwidth testing
• Safety and Security
• Safety Drills being conducted in a timely manner
• New procedures for inside dismissal will be implemented first of the year
• Data and Enrollment
• 495 Scholars as of 11/16/18
• Re-enrollment opened 11/5/18 and will close 12/5/18
• 180 re-enrolled scholars
• 21st Century
• Grant writer secured
• Grant will be submitted by 01/31/19

Academics

• Intensive Reading support for scholars in 3rd grade
• Scholar parent meetings regarding STAR data currently taking place
• Five staff members attended EUREKA training last week
• TOTAL OF 10 STAFF HAVE BEEN TRAINED
• Girls of Color Book Fair this week
• Jacket to Jacket Program Ended last Friday
• Microsoft partnership has provided teachers with intense training twice per month and 4th and 8th grade scholar field trips twice per month
• App Challenge Showcase is December 5th at 6:00 pm at Buckhead location for Power My Learning

Next Steps

Hired a Math Coach

Increased STAR Assessments to measure Lexile Scores

Focus on Effective Instruction-Data Analysis, Planning and Instructional Strategies

Attendance Incentives

Monitoring Beyond the Core closely

Leadership Cohort

USA Test Prep Usage

Higher Level Questioning

Book Club, Literacy Focus, Math Focus

No public comment

• Legal
• Personnel
• Property and Space

The meeting adjourned at approximately 8:54 pm

Board Policy Review

Jason Allen named 44 Board policies that have been reviewed and revised during the Committee of the Whole – Work Sessions.  The policies' purpose is to ensure everyone has an understanding of Ivy’s policies. Here are the following policies:

Financial Policy:

Financial Data Reporting

Accounts Receivables

Head of Schools Legal Requirements

Annual Operating Budget

Annual Audit

Records Retention

Cash Management

Purchasing Process

Procurement of Contractor Services

Check Requests

Credit Cards

Purchasing from Employees, Vendor Relations and Prohibited Expenditures

Disbursements

Adult vs. Student Generated Funds

Bank Statement Reconciliation

Transfer of Funds

Internal Controls

Program Manager Reporting Documentation

Grants Financial Management

Admissions/Ticket Sales

Charity/Family Support Funds

Restricted Donations

Field Trips

Fundraising Funds

Gratuities/Discount

Inactive Funds

Lost or Damage Learning Resources

Negative Funds Balances

Parent Leadership Organization (PLO)/Booster Clubs

Refunds & Reimbursements

Sales Tax

Travel

Board Member Travel

Vandalism

Vending Machines

Concession/T-shirt/Miscellaneous Sales

Inventory of Equipment

Reporting Lost/Stolen Technology and other Equipment

Transfer of Information

Inclement Weather

Mandated Reporter Training for Volunteers

Nondiscrimination

Volunteers

Conflict of Interest - Employee

Gwinnett GAP Year Close Out

Jason Allen discussed duplicating the academic structure of Kirkwood due to data shown that Kirkwood’s academic structure is successful. The board has decided not to move forward with Gwinnett’s GAP year and will vote to end the contract. The board has a target of duplicating another IPAK by 2021/2022 school year.