See report in board packet.

$3000 raised at dine out.
PTCA might open up opportunity to sponsor Friday coffees to other businesses.
Yearbook - need parent volunteers for production. Looking for 2 volunteers for each grade level. Using Tree Ring software.
 

Principal Goodgame:
Intensive training course on race, inequity and privledge alreayd shifting conversations in building.
MC Campus preparing for exhibitions.
Food Bank food drive. No incentives, just serving community.

Principal Zelski:
Food Bank drive
Second round of MAP testing
Winterfest & Winterfest recap
Inclusive Schools week - "look at people not through people"
"I'm Not Racist, Am I?" screening on 1/11 at 6:30, only 45 tickets left
Will be staying engaged with students though the 22nd.


 

Matt Underwood presented draft nondiscrimination policy to protect students and employees from discrimination.

Matt Underwood drafted after review of APS, City of Decatur, Dekalb county and sent to school attorney for review.

 

Lia Santos presented a draft change to the board nomination process. Specific verbiage is in board packet for the meeting and includes redline. Redlines reflect current practice in nomination process.

Tara Stoinsky recommended modifying language to note interest in candidates who are outside of the school.

Nick Chiles asked about intentions for EC/MC campus representation given that the board is interested in moving away from being a parent-only board.
 

Board members should come to the mid year retreat 1/27 prepared to discuss. 

Laura Melton discussed progress on the next strategic planning process. 
Laura and Matt Underwood drafted and released and RFP.
Responses due 1/12/18.
 

Matt Underwood reviewed the quarterly performance dashboard. 
There are changes to attendance measures.
Current FRL percentage decreased overall because the 8th graders who left last year were at a higher rate than this year's 8th graders. K FRL rate is up 3%.
APS employee who measures milestones data for graduates has left, so that data is not available. Matt will review with the board when it becomes available. 
Tara Stoinski asked how the strategic objectives get updated each school year on the dashboard. Matt explained he updates on those items in the board retreats and other periodic meetings through the year. 

Matt Underwood reviewed the summary of the stakeholder feedback surveys included in the board packet.

Goal on overall satisfaction question is 80% affirmative responses.
Want to take a closer look at student responses about being engaged in meaningful learning. 
New question this year about inclusive and supportive or students/families regardless of background. Will track responses over time. 

Parent responses - K-8
Student response - 3-8
38% of faculty staff is of color
considering devoting staff meeting time to allowing faculty to respond to boost response rate
Data is available to be disaggregated by grade.
Matt Underwood discussed how the leadership team handles statistically significant decreases in a survey measure. 
Cathy Goodgame discussed how she handed a specific measure that declined a few years ago. 
It is possible for Matt to add a question about board feedback if the board wants feedback.

Matt Underwood provided a report on the Diversity and Equity Strategic Initiative, included in the board packet.
Four schools now have new weighted lotteries (Museum School, Drew, Wesley, International Community School), which weights to favor English language learners)

 

Ryan Camp indicated that all is well financially. No committee meeting in the past month. 
Details included in report included in board packet.
Health insurance premiums, was projected to be 19% premium increase. Tweaked and negotiated down to 8% increase. No budget impact because it will be covered in a contingency already in budget.

Tiffany Mitchell reported on the educational excellence committee meeting with Nancy Lamb about MAP scores. Report is included in the board packet for this meeting. Nancy Lamb met with committee. Committee wants to see results from next administration (12/17) to get more information on some questions. MAP is administered three times per year: beginning, middle, end.
Data will be disaggregated by race once there is another administration to be able to look at trends.
 

Joyce Gist Lewis reported on last committee meeting, included in the board packet for this meeting. 

Meegan Fortsen reported on Fund Development committee meeting and fundraising to date, included in the board packet for this meeting. Considering hiring a event planning firm to run the event logistics and alleviate demands on parent volunteers. 

Matt Underwood reported about the part-time fund development position currently open. Target is to hire by end of January. Position will be 20 hours per week vs 5 hours per week allocated last year. 

Matt Underwood reported on USDA grant application for farm-to-school programming across schools in the area.