It is a great pleasure to start the Chair Report with the great news of Darrin Francois who has been accepted into more than 80 colleges and universities. 

Darrin is a counselors' assistant so in September Darrin started applying to different schools. 
Darrin is interested in pursuing a criminal justice major. He is looking at his options and the financial support each school is offering. He has been offered two full-ride scholarships out of state so he is considering their offer. Darrin is a college track student.

 

• The 5th circuit hearing took place last week. K Katner, C Allen and S Wilson attended. 

C. Allen is asking that all committee chairs confirm their continuation of service as chairs prior to the May meeting. 

Also, if anyone has names for potential board members please share them with C. Allen or R. Keller to start recruiting.  

Strategic Plan - May 24th at 6:00 pm - The board will meet in the community room to finalize the strategic plan to present to the board for approval at the June Board Meeting. All board members are welcome to attend. 

C. Allen has met with multiple board members one-on-one so far and some are still to happen 

Staff appreciation celebration will take place on Wed. May 9 

Board End of the Year Party  at the clubhouse of C. Allen's residence June 9th  

Thanks to everyone who has been working diligently for the iStudio event. 

C. Allen will follow up with board members who have not submitted their pledge. 

A second IHSNO student later joined the meeting and was recognized by the chair: 

Jeremiah Jones is a Junior at IHSNO. He is interested in Law and probably psychology. 
Jeremiah is part of the ambassadors helping in the iStudio event this weekend. 
 

The report is included in the meeting packet. 

• We have been audited in the Special Ed. department and there were no identified areas out of compliance. Due to these successful results, we will not be monitored anymore. 
• The LDOE visited our building and their feedback reflected that overall we are moving in the right direction.  
• We are working on the transportation plan for next year as we will now have to provide transportation for all of our students. This will have a significant financial impact on the organization. We are still finalizing details to determine next steps. Parents and students have been surveyed in order to make a better-informed decision. 
• We are currently working on a potential electronic gate securing the Baronne entrance. 
• We are near completion on the hanging garden.
• There is one more MOU that needs completion for the Legacy park project in order to move forward. 
• We are currently preparing for EOC testing. Technology has been busy preparing our technology devices for testing. The department is also working on the technology 3yr plan.
• Development - We are having our great event this Saturday. iStudio & a Taste of New Orleans. We currently have sponsorships and ticket sales at about 12k which was the target. We have 22 items for the silent auction. 
• We need an update on the tickets that each of the board members has sold/committed so far.  
• The art students have called their work "New Orleans Generation 300" 
• SW reminded board members to complete their tier 3 disclosure by May. 

• The tool showing the format for the Strategic Plan and dashboard was presented to the board as the tool that will be used to collect and monitor the academic progress of the school. 

B. Schilling is not present and the committee didn't have a meeting this month. 

The administration had a meeting with the Small Center and was provided guidance for the submission of our grant. 
Next steps: finalize the proposals. The submission date is May 1. We are ahead of the game: just waiting on letters of recommendation from other partners. 

The administration has taken the lead on this grant and is doing a great job at it. 

• The financial dashboard is included in the packet 
• The state made some errors in calculating our MFP. D. Deno identified the error and the state is expected to correct the error and pay off what was pending. 
• Everything is in alignment with our expectations. 

Next year's budget will be reviewed in detail at the next month's meeting. Everyone is invited to be part of the discussion. The committee will be ready to recommend the budget to the board at large at the June board meeting. 

• R. Keller presented the form that will be circulated for board members to evaluate the board meetings. 
• RK will lead this process. SC will help with the survey to make it available electronically through Survey Monkey
• RK is open to feedback on the form. 
• RK presented revisions to some existing policy statements. We currently have a policy that states that at the annual board meeting in June, everyone is voted back on the board. The proposal is that directors are not voted on again, but rather their continuation is assumed unless indicated otherwise. 
• AT asked if the board can vote a director off the board. CA and RK explained that in current policy we have that due excess absence and/or by voting of the 3/4 of the board. 
• CA asked board members that if they have any feedback on the Policy Manual and Bylaws please make them known at next month's board meeting at which time a vote on the proposed changes will be taken.