Girls Global Academy
Minutes
GGA Board General Meeting
Date and Time
Monday February 22, 2021 at 6:30 PM
Location
This meeting will be conducted over video conference
Trustees Present
Beth Blaufuss (remote), Christine Miller (remote), Donna Tymus (remote), Elaine Harris (remote), Janice Parker (remote), Kevin Bryant (remote), LaKisha Myrick (remote), Mary Pendleton (remote), Maura Dunn (remote), Maureen Colburn (remote), Max Levasseur (remote), Scott Ganske (remote), Shalini Benson (remote)
Trustees Absent
Marilyn Bowser
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance/Recognize Quorum
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
Max Levasseur called a meeting of the board of trustees of Girls Global Academy to order on Monday Feb 22, 2021 at 6:43 PM.
II. Other Business
A.
Approval of Minutes from January 2021 General Meeting
Maura Dunn made a motion to approve the minutes from GGA General Board Meeting on 01-25-21.
Maureen Colburn seconded the motion.
Spelling of Shayne's name was corrected after the vote.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| Maureen Colburn |
Aye
|
| Marilyn Bowser |
Absent
|
| Kevin Bryant |
Aye
|
| Elaine Harris |
Aye
|
| Christine Miller |
Aye
|
| Beth Blaufuss |
Absent
|
| Mary Pendleton |
Aye
|
| LaKisha Myrick |
Aye
|
| Donna Tymus |
Abstain
|
| Max Levasseur |
Aye
|
| Janice Parker |
Aye
|
| Maura Dunn |
Aye
|
| Scott Ganske |
Aye
|
| Shalini Benson |
Abstain
|
B.
Update on Board "Homework"
- Reminder to send head shots to Karen.
- Make transition to GGA email if you haven't already.
- Reach out to Jason if you've lost the intro message.
- Use GGA for all GGA business
- Re: the Board on Track tutorial on getting started- the last session was recorded. Max will share the link. If there's anything people are having an issue with, send it in an email message to Max. May ask Board on Track to do another session if there's something Max can't address or have Board on Track respond to the questions. We want to report any frequently occurring problems or issues.
Committee assignments look good in terms of balance.
C.
GGA Board "World" Recognition
"World" recognition postponed until the March meeting, in the interest of time.
III. Finance
A.
Approval of EdOps Contract
In Jan 2021 Board meeting, voted to approve
- Student Data Support Contract for SY20-21 (July 2020 - June 2021)
- Finance Support Contract for SY20-21 (partial) (July 2020 - Jan 2021), pending results of SY19-20 Audit
Audit was successful and Finance Committee now recommends approval of EdOps Finance Support Contract through the remainder of SY20-21 (Feb 2021 - June 2021)
The Leadership team is developing a long-term strategy for financial support and oversight activities which impact the use of EdOps in future years
Maureen Colburn made a motion to Extend the EdOps Support Contract from Feb 2021- June 2021 for an additional $20,000 beyond what has been approved to date (cumulative total is over $25,000 for EdOps so a vote is required).
Max Levasseur seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
B.
Other Finance Updates
Lease contract:
As a provision of the lease contract, GGA opened an account at Eagle Bank, then opened an account at Citibank instead
This is an account into which money is swept to pay the lease
Board has to approve closing the Eagle Bank bank account
Kevin Bryant made a motion to Close the Eagle Bank account.
Beth Blaufuss seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
Updates:
Leadership has added a Special Education independent consultant to better support the student body.
The cost is $20,000, which is above the $15,000 Leadership team threshold- but it's below the Board voting threshold so it's only being reported
We haven't had a quarterly update, but are on track with the financials
Finance Committee meeting minutes are in Board on Track
We are spending against plan
The Jan 2021 financial report is fine
Management action plan for the audit:
Priorities, goals, and assumptions are being addressed
Leadership team has put together a management action plan
Bylaws and records are being updated by the Governance Committee
Received the final audit report but it arrived too late to include in tonight's meeting so it will be voted on in March
Even though an audit wasn't required it puts us ahead of the curve for stronger policies and streamlined processes- plus sufficient oversight. It supports managing the money and school in a fiscally responsible way.
Presented new timeline for the budget:
Maura reviewed the Budget Process calendar. We're still on track.
Does a good job of laying out the way the school is growing, consistent with the board and leadership expectations
Top six priorities are around the staffing, curriculum, and supporting the students
Leadership team did a great job in setting expectations for the numbers next month.
IV. Academic Committee
A.
Highlights on Students, Program, and Faculty
Revisited goals and added
"Foster commitment of staff to the mission and success of GGA"
How to measure outside of equal narratives and retention...
Attendance is holding steady
Shayne doing wake up calls as an intervention
Biweekly meetings to discuss chronically absent students
If three students are absent, it makes a huge difference in the numbers (percentage)
Support Saturday program has started
Students attend from 10 am to Noon
Built in independent work time and individualized support as well
ACT Aspire was given
Highest leverage topic- skill to support math and reading growth
Numeracy and conceptual understanding of math
How can everyone support girls as readers?
Next data point is in March- trimester finals
Support services team can support more students during the day.
Putting measures in place to add support
Kevin questioned who established the benchmarks
The GGA goal is to have 30% meet standards
ACT Aspire goals are set
All states are still going to do testing
We need to know how we're doing
We are using ACT Aspire because ACT is something that students will take long term. The assessment will grow with students over time.
Good way to measure progress. It's a nationally known assessment.
Our job is to support growth of these girls and not compare to a benchmark
PARCC data should not be a shock
This is a shared responsibility. Need to show progress holistically
Good to learn more.
Looking at this from a growth point of view vs what's missing
V. Student Recruiting Committee
A.
Review Progress Metrics
22 applications came directly from students
Engaging with Washington School for girls- good partnership
Retention has been good- we're at 69
Great job- n target
Goal is to follow up on all families
Some wellness checks have been done. It will be great to check in on families for the next month.
Sent stickers and magnets in the mail as well as the curriculum guide
Julie has been doing a great job
The focus is on getting more leads- continuing to push leads
Working with community organizations, 'Invite a Friend campaign', open houses in March
Proactively working on retention
Building tours on March 6th
Wellness calls will continue to solidify engagement
Shout out to those who have been making the wellness calls. See if they have questions. Thank them for choosing GGA. 'Great experience'
Received 215 applications, with 102 designating GGA in their top 3 choices
102 are in the top 3
On target for next year- not calling it done but on track
Typically there is 10- 15% attrition, which would mean 6 or 7.
It so happens that 6 have made it known that they are applying to other schools
Every ward is represented in the applications, which was one of GGA's goals
B.
Update on Next Recruiting Activities
VI. Development Committee
A.
Recent Development/Fundraising Activity
Budgeted $250 for training from 3rd party providers
Board on Track also contains training resources which provide a better understanding of the board role in the fundraising domain
Discussed March event
Focus is on cultivating relationships for future asks
Board is invited to be part of this effort
Potential panelists and keynotes are being contacted- looking for additional recommendations
Karen shared data on individual giving
Goal for overall board goal individual giving- $30,000. We are at 58%
This breaks down into $10,000 for the Board, $20,000 from high value donors- so $30,000 is organizational overall board goal
End of year Because Girls Matter campaign exceeded the goal- $12,369.30 vs $10,000 target
Goal was 80 donors, but we had 38. Working to increase this.
Average gift size was $250
This campaign is still up on the website
We have met 100% board giving criteria
Question was asked about planned fundraising activities
- What are the reasonable expectations for the Board
Noted that GGA is more reliant on personal connections, foundations, and Federal grants
Strategies need to be laid out
Development plan will be the focus of the Development Committee meeting this week
B.
Upcoming Work
VII. Executive Director's Report
A.
General Status of Student Body and School Operations
B.
March Women's Event
Looking for woman to spotlight every day during the month of march and to attend the summit
Individuals are being recommended for panelist or keynote roles in the spreadsheet that Karen set up.
The plan is to have two 5 person panels
People are being recruited to be 'spotlights', then selection
Panelists need to be asked/selected
There's a form letter for the ask to be a spotlight
Karen showed a template for Instagram and social promotion- Quote that inspires them will be included next to their picture
Panel confirmation will be finalized at the end of the week
Presentations by students will be made, as well. Board is invited to attend.
Board members can also volunteer to do interviews
VIII. Closing Items
A.
Adjourn Meeting
There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 8:35 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
Elaine Harris