Adelante Schools
Minutes
Adelante Schools Board Meeting
Date and Time
Friday January 20, 2023 at 8:30 AM
Location
Emma Donnan Elementary and Middle School
Scholar Center, Floor 2
1202 E Troy Ave., Indianapolis, IN 46203
Goals:
- Approve organizational foundational tools and policies to govern our school and operate effectively.
- Deepen our understanding of Adelante’s Emma Donnan operational state and provide any necessary support and guidance.
Directors Present
A. Smith, K. Branson-Hutchison (remote), K. Kainrath, M. Staten (remote), N. Frech, R. Scott, S. Simpson
Directors Absent
B. Burcope, M. Whitley
Guests Present
E. Rangel, J. Habayeb, M. Rooney
I. Opening Items
A.
Call the Meeting to Order
K. Kainrath called a meeting of the board of directors of Adelante Schools to order on Friday Jan 20, 2023 at 8:31 AM.
B.
Record Attendance
C.
Approve Minutes
Motion to approve the minutes from Adelante Schools Board Meeting on 12-15-22.
Update that Marry was remote (not absent) and Matthew was in person for December board meeting.
II. Ebullience & Spotlight
A.
Ebullience spotlight
- ER highlighted holiday assistance for families
- Mrs. Chrissy Franz, Director of Literacy award
- Marketing video and campaign "Love your School."
- Launched on all platforms on Tuesday and resulted in 6 requests for tours from cliked links
III. Executive Director Update
A.
Executive Director Update
- ER shared replication application updates and timeline
- LOI submitted on 2/4
- Application due on 2/10 which is a pared down application of what will be different or the same on a second campus
- 3/17 will receive feedback from OEI and request response from Adelante within a week
- April 11th capacity interview
- 4/25 application hearing and all board members requested to attend
- AS: timing of replication?
- ER: fall of 2024
- MS: clarification on 3/17 feedback from OEI
- ER: last time they sent us an excel sheet adn we responded to clarifying questions in the excel sheet.
B.
Staff Handbook Update
- ER: updates to staff handbook
- 12 month staff currently have 5 days of PTO during the summer and then have a dark week during the first week of July
- Learned experience is that this is too close to the return of teachers and staff feel pressure to "catch up" and we experience more families enrolling who have delayed registration
- Proposed change is all 12 month staff are entitled to an additional paid holiday of 9 days. For FY23 this will be from May 30, 2023-June 9, 2023.
- AS: current PTO for 12 month employees?
- ER: Same as teachers. First year, 8 days of PTO, if not using all days can roll over 4 days each year for a max of 12 days.
- KK: clarified total number of PTO days
- ER: no reduction or increase, just a shift in timing
- JH: Juneteenth and 4th of July are also paid holidays
- NF: What is typical for operations during this time?
- ER: Typically very quiet, families are quiet unless we are running summer school, which we would.
R. Scott made a motion to Approve Staff handbook changes to restructure summer PTO for 12 month employees from a 5 days of PTO and a week off in July to 9 days at the end of the school year.
S. Simpson seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
C.
School Calendar SY23-24
- ER update to IPS school year calendar
- Later in year that usual, not asking board to approve an Adelante calendar at this time.
- Request to empower academic committee to approve the school calendar.
- KK: Clarified timing
- NF: Do we typically mimic IPS's calendar?
- ER: Yes, we will start and end same days but will do some minor adjustments based on feedback we heard last night.
N. Frech made a motion to allow Academic committee to approve the Adelante calendar.
K. Branson-Hutchison seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
IV. Financial Operations
A.
December Financial Position
- JH shared additional funding secured that will support scholar nutrition and tech engagement updates that will enable use of academic platforms at home more.
- Original budget was $5.4M with a $1.2M increase from secured funding and overall savings with the result that we are currently looking at a $6.7M budget for FY23.
- We are exceeding days cash on hand, net income, debt to asset ratio, and overall ratio.
- Cash on hand goal from OEI is 45 days. At the end of Q2 we are at 152 days based on the original budget.
- Completed audit this month, spending down grants. February will draft budget reprojections for the board. March FY24 Budget drafted. April FY24 Budget presented to the board.
- Audit update: Closes out on Tuesday and will be submitted to OEI
- Zero findings for Adelante
- Strongest Audit yet
- RS: Is there a number of days cash on hand that is too high?
- JH: around the 200 day mark. When it hits the amount of money in your account that is not part of the budget. For example, spending down $180k on grants, so the cash on hand will decrease next month and will bounce back up the following month.
- AS: asked for clarification on OEI view of cash on hand, accounts, and debt.
- JH: they only look at cash on hand in account regardless of upcoming large expenses and the debt to asset ratio.
- NF: how does this compare to other schools in our landscape?
- JH: OEI portfolio shows data for all their charter schools. Larger schools can have different debt to asset ratios if they have built a school from the ground up or smaller schools have far less cash on hand and may be off target.
- NF: Is there a target we are aiming for?
- JH: Above the target from OEI, not really. Thinking about emergency reserves if schools close again or other concerns.
- KK: Thinking about replication too
- NF: Future thinking setting a target would be idea
V. Committee Updates
A.
Academic Excellence
B.
Finance & Development
C.
Governance
- KK shared goal to continue to expand board. BB has met with someone, KK will meet with them and then potential to bring forward to the board.
- Executive session for ER's midyear evaluation.
VI. Board Chair Update
A.
OEI Reporting Requirements
- KK updated board to items due to OEI.
VII. 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 9:08 AM.
Respectfully Submitted,
A. Smith