ER: Lots of celebrations - Fall Festival, Gobble Gathering, and winter holidays. Lots of joy was shared with scholars. 

We opened new classrooms for K-2 and wrapped up middle of the year testing 

There has been a lot going on with the Indianapolis Local Education Alliance. Everything they have done is just a proposal. It will be legislated between January and March of 2026. ILEA proposes the creation of an additional board to manage facilities and transportation, IPEC, or "the Corporation". Innovation school boards stay intact, as does the IPS board. This new board will be the unifying group over systems that are a little fragmented. It will be governed by 9 mayoral appointees. It does limit the number of authorizers, but not OEI. It does repeal the $1 law. There iss also a call for the full funding for Special Education. 

What is not in the recommendation is: Consolidation into a single authorizer, an authority board, erosion of the property tax sharing, a mandate to sell charter buildings, a charter moratorium, and removal of the elected IPS board 

There are still lots of unanswered questions about the timeline, what happens to the innovation school model, the details of a common accountability system, the size and scope of a future operating referendum, and the specifics of building ownership and debt transfer. 

M Meer: When do you think this will reach a final decision? 

ER: The statehouse has been working on this, but legislation is coming this session. 

N Frech: If the $1 law is off the table, I'm wondering what that looks like for us and what our path forward is. Is there an option to take advantage of it before it goes away. 

ER: Great point. We do have language in our innovation agreement that would allow us to transfer ownership of a building. We have a discussion with IPS today to talk about that. But this building, since it is in use, is not necessarily a part of that law. 

JH: We are always working to make sure our scholars are prepared for any high school option in Indianapolis. We want them to have a well-rounded education. With that in mind, we received 14.4 million in Lilly Funding. This allows us to increase in social studies and science instruction, coaching and data systems, and adding professional learning pathways for educators. The second concept in the Lilly grant is about modernizing learning spaces, like a new or refreshed gymnasium, a performance space, expanded access to arts and fitness, and health and safety accessibility improvements. We worked to make sure that any priority in the strategic plan is reflected in the funding from Lilly.

The 14.4 million has been deposited, currently in a Money Market account. We are working to be more strategic about our investment

These building upgrades are going to get wrapped into the work that is happening with Rebuilding Stronger

N Frech: One option to explore is putting the funds into the issuance of a bond. Other charter schools have worked through the same process.

We are on track or exceeding our benchmark goals. Our Cash-on-hand number is going to look very high for the next few years. We are working to change that into a reserve account

We had no significant findings in our FY25 audit, except for a minor issue related to the filing of our Form 9. 

We had celebrations from our auditors regarding our systems and cash on hand. 

We are also in the middle of our USDA audit, and we have passed so far. They will finish that in January. 

We are currently waiting on IPS to fix our pass-through based on higher enrollment. You may also remember that we have passed two versions of the budget, including the higher enrollment

E Rangel: Our data from Checkpoint 1 at the beginning of the year shows that we are slightly behind where we were last year. There is always context to this data, and often it relates to high-quality teachers. One of our OEI goals is to close gaps between special populations and ethnicities. 

This data has informed our work by creating new teacher lesson planning protocols. It has also pushed us to create ELA or Math intervention for all students 6th-8th grade. In addition, some middle school students are receiving reading fluency intervention. And finally, our coaches are receiving coaching themselves on content. 

M Meer: nothing further. We will be focusing on investment recommendations. 

With Kristy rolling off of the board, we will put forward Rachel as the interim Board Chair in February. 

For the board members rolling off, they will be present in April for their final meeting, and then they will roll off. 

Board recruitment: mayor sponsored events, but please reach out to your networks

Nothing other than the news of Rachel being nominated for the Interim Chair. 

6/30/26: Leader Evaluations and the Board Self-Evaluation