San Antonio STEAM Academy
Minutes
SA Prep Regular Board Meeting
Date and Time
Thursday September 2, 2021 at 6:30 PM
Location
San Antonio Preparatory Schools
6127 Summer Fest Dr.
San Antonio, TX 78244
Building 201 - Multipurpose Room (MPR)
6127 Summer Fest Dr.
San Antonio, TX 78244
Building 201 - Multipurpose Room (MPR)
Directors Present
A. Blanche, B. Coleman, D. Behnke, J. Cooper, M. Harris, S. Villela, X. Toson
Directors Absent
D. Ray, R. Vogt
Guests Present
S. Hall-Furman
I. Opening Items
A.
Call the Meeting to Order
B.
Record Attendance
C.
Approve Agenda
S. Villela made a motion to amend the the agenda for today.
M. Harris seconded the motion.
Motion to amend the the agenda for today was made by Stephen Villela. It was seconded by Milton Harris.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
D. Behnke made a motion to approve the agenda with amendment.
J. Cooper seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
D.
Approve Minutes
A. Blanche made a motion to approve the minutes from June Regular Board Meeting on 06-23-21.
D. Behnke seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
E.
Approve Minutes
A. Blanche made a motion to approve the minutes from Special Board Meeting on 07-20-21.
M. Harris seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
II. Finances
A.
Financial Dashboard
B.
RFP Audit Responses
A. Blanche made a motion to give authority to the finance committee to make the decision on the audit.
D. Behnke seconded the motion.
Recommendation to put it to the board to place the decision on the Finance Committee as to which audit firm to go with, in order to move as soon as possible.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
C.
U.S. Small Business Administration RESOLUTION
A. Blanche made a motion to retroactively approve the resolution to complete the requirements of the certification.
M. Harris seconded the motion.
Motion: Earl - Retroactively approve the resolution to complete the requirements of the certification.
Second: Milton
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
Second: Milton
III. Other Business
A.
Enrollment
Current enrollment is at 215 toward a target of 336.
Xavier asked what is being done to increase enrollment and what the board can do to increase enrollment. A Marketing Group (Wiz Taylor Marketing Group) has been hired to assist with digital marketing efforts on social media.
Recapture campaign has been employed.
What are our contingency plans if or when we have to move to a virtual offering? What does the school need to accomplish this and to be setup for success?
Brandi: May have a solution, such as UIW or other districts who can donate machines for our students and to put them in queue in case we need them if the environment calls for us to go 50-100% virtual.
James: Create an org chart with positions that are budgeted for, notate with names for those positions that are filled and notate for positions that have yet to be filled or have been recently vacated.
Xavier: Is there another way to think of how we staff classrooms since we didn’t hit enrollment?
Stephanie: Believes that there would be a negative impact on the brand.
Hired for 420 students but landed at 215.
Went from 58 staff to 36 staff.
Primary focus of the Development Committee to set goals on Enrollment, vs setting up a separate Enrollment Committee.
Xavier asked what is being done to increase enrollment and what the board can do to increase enrollment. A Marketing Group (Wiz Taylor Marketing Group) has been hired to assist with digital marketing efforts on social media.
Recapture campaign has been employed.
What are our contingency plans if or when we have to move to a virtual offering? What does the school need to accomplish this and to be setup for success?
Brandi: May have a solution, such as UIW or other districts who can donate machines for our students and to put them in queue in case we need them if the environment calls for us to go 50-100% virtual.
James: Create an org chart with positions that are budgeted for, notate with names for those positions that are filled and notate for positions that have yet to be filled or have been recently vacated.
Xavier: Is there another way to think of how we staff classrooms since we didn’t hit enrollment?
Stephanie: Believes that there would be a negative impact on the brand.
Hired for 420 students but landed at 215.
Went from 58 staff to 36 staff.
Primary focus of the Development Committee to set goals on Enrollment, vs setting up a separate Enrollment Committee.
B.
School Safety
There was an incident that threatened the safety of students and staff where the campus had to go on lockdown, or rather on HOLD (see “In An Emergency” handout).
IV. Amended Item: Academic Committee
A.
Curriculum
Stephen Villela member of the academic committee asked for the TEKS and Unit Plans. Superintendent will email and post to our website.
V. Closing Items
A.
Executive Session (Closed)
D. Behnke made a motion to enter executive session.
A. Blanche seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
D. Behnke made a motion to exit executive session.
S. Villela seconded the motion.
Exit - Motion: Dejah
Second: Stephen
B.
Public Comment
None
C.
Adjourn Meeting
There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 9:24 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
D. Behnke
Dejah asked the question about if ESSER relief would be enough to put us in a better standing this year. Gene’s response was that we could use ESSER to supplant but without increase in enrollment, the financials are not positive.
Treasurer Report [Earl Blanche]: Earl shared that if we continue on this track we will find ourself beyond a 90 day period. If we do not increase our enrollment or identify additional grant dollars to bridge this gap, we could find ourselves insolvent. We are going to move into the calendar not having a cash reserve that goes beyond the 90 days. We will burn a lot of cash with our teachers salary and benefits.
We don’t want to let our CEO get to a position making a decision under the stress of cash. This is when we’re susceptible at making poor decisions.
Finance Committee is working to bring in other sources of money where our cash position is a little over 48 days.
It’s unacceptable to be scarring to make payments to our employees.
SA Prep how now moved up in Earl’s priorities as our treasurer.
Question from James [RE: Potential grants] - Who would abide by the stipulations of the institution.
Clarity was provided that Stephanie and her team manage the grant but that the board may need to approve SA Prep to apply for the grant but it depends on the grantor’s requirements.
BBVA line of credit - process was started but documentation was delayed. Xavier reached out to request a status update but Gene and his team cannot give us a full status update. Nothing new to report. But the fact that our poor enrollment is evident could be the barrier.
The 990, our tax return, are due November 15 but we filed an extension so now due May 15, 2022. Now that we’ve been in existence, we now have to go through a certified audit.
The audit reports go to the board for review and approval, not managed by the school’s operating officer, but something that the finance committee and board make the decision on.