Maya Jenkins (CREATE Teacher Residency) led the group in a brain smart start to discharge stress. She also asked the group to make a commitment. 

No public comment. 

PTCA Exec Meeting is also tonight due to MLK holiday. No report.

Lara Zelski reported on the Elementary Campus - finishing mid year conferences with employees. Kicked off Black History Month today to make up for the short month (February) and mid-month break. 

Cathey Goodgame reported on the Middle Campus - extra celebration for Dr. King's 91st birthday at Morning Meeting last week. At start of next week each child will participate in a 20-min data talk about MAP scores, Milestones, history and growth over time.  

Ayodele Harrison, one of the Assistant Program Directors for CREATE, provided an overview of the CREATE program. He is also a parent at ANCS. 
Elizabeth Hearn, director of the program, talked about the CREATE program, how it is funded, and where the program is going. She reported that 80% of funding comes from US Dept. of Education. Originally funded under a 5-year grant but remaining two years of this grant funding looks precarious based on US DOE reorganizations. CREATE will apply for funding for years 4 and 5 but won't have decision until too late. They are seeking additional federal and private funding. Will need to shift to more earned income - charging for things that CREATE has been able to provide for free so far. Seeking multiyear contract from APS to provide some of the work it has been providing so far. Program needs $300k to fund second year residents in paired teaching. If funding is not secured, they will have a scaled down model of the program. 

Chuck Meadows reported that the Educational Excellence Committee is preparing to consider changes to our enrollment policies, lottery priorities, and attendance zone in the interest of a) meeting the Georgia Department of Education’s diversity requirements for charter schools in the state and b) meeting our charter goals for socioeconomic diversity. See board packet for full report.

• Charter enrollment goal is 40% of new students enrolled via the lottery should be from disadvantaged households. Despite recruitment and weighted lottery efforts, the school has not met these goals. Educational Excellence committee has been working on this issue. 
• Chuck presented background information on the charter renewal process. The state sets diversity goals for all charter schools in the state, and the ANCS charter has its own diversity goals. Two types of diversity: socioeconomic diversity and racial/ethnic diversity. Department has questioned why the diversity of the school does not reflect the diversity of the Jackson Cluster (not the primary attendance zone). Lottery can only give preference based on socioeconomic status.
• Board is considering what, if any, changes should be made to the attendance zone and/or the lottery preferences.
• Any proposed changes would not go into effect until the lottery for 2021/2022 school year. 
• The Board will know more about this year's recruitment and outreach efforts once the current year lottery is complete.
• Unified charter application system going into place across APS this year could potentially attract a broader pool of applicants. 

Possible changes that are being considered: 

•     Attendance Zone:
  • Expand attendance zone to the entire Jackson Cluster, as defined by Atlanta Public Schools.
  • Expand attendance zone to include specific adjacent neighborhoods, or specific Neighborhood Planning Units (e.g. W, V, Y, etc.)
• Lottery Preferences & Policies
  • Increase the lottery weighting for economically disadvantaged applications (e.g. from 4-1 to 10-1).
  • Elevate the priority for economically disadvantaged applicants from neighborhoods outside of our tier 1 attendance zone.
    • Economically disadvantaged applicants from the tier 1 attendance zone would remain at a higher priority

Application for charter renewal is due at the end of August. Decision needs to be made prior to the end of the school year. Board would need to have discussion with APS prior to making any changes and would need to reach out to the wider community to collect adequate public input. Final vote would need to be taken in May or June. 

Committee/Board expects to make a recommendation within the next 2 meetings and then seek public input.  

​​​​​​​For additional information, reach out to Chuck Meadows, Eric Teusink (Chair), Hanah Goldberg (Educational Excellence Committee Chair), and/or attend Educational Excellence Committee meeting on Feb. 6. Committee meetings are public. 

Chuck Meadows is working on the charter renewal process and included an update in his report. Board will be getting training on the process at the Feb. Board retreat. See board packet for full Executive Director's report. 

Chuck Meadows presented a proposed monthly "dashboard" for reporting to the board. See report in board packet for specifics on metrics to be tracked monthly. The "dashboard" tool would be used as a method for providing information to the board at public board meetings. Board (Committees) could track metrics on this dashboard as well. 

Other items will be reported at regular intervals. Chuck reported on:

• MAP Growth. School has missed some targets on MAP testing. Will be reviewing reports for next 30 days and identifying actions to take. MAP (measures of academic progress) scores for winter administration show that the school only hit goals in 2 of 9 grades. Better results in reading but still not where they hoped to be. Considering two main factors: 
  • Integrity of the testing environment - need to ensure all students have the same conditions and the environment is conducive to testing. Cathey Goodgame and Lara Zelski are following up with teachers and identifying what adjustments to make.
  • Timing of the test to ensure that tested subject areas have been covered at the time that the test is taken. 
• Review of Beating the Odds scores released last month. On track at Elementary Campus (EC), off track at Middle Campus (MC) 
• Continuing school tours every other Thurs. at EC and every other Wed. at MC. 
• Looking at making some formatting changes to the Courier to make it more scannable. 
• ApplyAPSCharter.org. Application window opens January 29.

Kristen Frenzel reported on the annual review process underway for ED Chuck Meadows. A pulse survey was distributed to board and leadership team in the fall to gather informal, anonymous feedback, which was then synthesized and delivered to Chuck in an oral conversation and written feedback. A more robust mid-year evaluation survey has been distributed to the board, Leadership Team, and Chuck. Feedback is requested by January 31.  

Kristen also reported on the policy review and update process. The Governance Committee has reviewed all policies flagged by the legal team and has distributed those policies to the Leadership Team for feedback.

Nakia Echols provided a nominations task force update. Applications due at end of January. Will move forward with interviews and then will propose a slate to the full board. Only difference this year is to speed up the timeline a bit to help with on-boarding. Would like to vote on slate in March so new board members can start attending meetings and understanding their roles and responsibilities. 

Eric Teusink is having conversations with board members about next year's officer roles and other leadership positions. He anticipates a Board vote on these roles at next board meeting. Early adoption will help with setting strategic goals and more quickly on-boarding new board members and effectively transitioning from one board to the next. 

Meeghan Fortson reported that the Mid-year Board Retreat is Sat. Feb 1 at EC from 12-4. Lunch will be served. Elisa Falco from GA Charter Schools Association will deliver training that is required for board members. Meeghan will send links for online training sessions to fulfill remaining FY20 Board training requirements (12 hours for new board members and 9 for returning board members).

Laura Melton provided her report, which is in the board packet. Public meetings regarding next year's budget will be at committee meeting on 2/12 and the board meeting on 2/18. Anticipating board vote at March board meeting. The Business & Operations committee has reviewed all policies and will coordinate with the Governance Committee on next steps. 

Jordache Avery provided update on roof project, which is on schedule and will happen when the school is vacant as of 5/28. No updates on intercom system. Waiting for revised proposals. MC backyard project is still ongoing. Documentation on all facilities projects is in the Board shared Google drive.

Meeghan Fortson provided her fund development report, which is included in the board packet. No committee meeting in January. Will have a more robust report at Feb meeting. Gather and Grow is on track, having reached 60% of annual goal. Board participation in Gather & Grow Fund is 77%. Wonderball Auction (March 7) is in great shape. Tickets go on sale Feb 5.  Board members are encouraged to attend. Auction will be held on March 7. Next committee meeting is 2/12. 

Hanah Goldberg delivered report, much of which was covered earlier in the meeting and is included in board packet.  
Hanah, Chuck Meadows, and Eric Teusink will be meeting with APS Office of Innovation and GA Charter School Association to discuss Charter Renewal. Discussion around importance of outreach. Started paid advertising for enrollment on social media in December. Will review data. 

Howard Franklin reported on the GA Legislative Session. This week is budget week. Expect to see more school-related legislation in the next few weeks. 
Chuck mentioned Governor Kemp's $2,000 pay raise for teachers has less of an impact at ANCS.

No items for executive session.