Wesley International Academy

Minutes

June Board Meeting

Date and Time

Tuesday June 3, 2025 at 6:00 PM

Location

Media Center

Directors Present

A. Sumter (remote), D. Hrabe (remote), K. Boyer (remote), K. Jones (remote), O. Okwara (remote), S. Williams

Directors Absent

A. Hunter, E. Cater, J. Ziemann, R. Moorman

Ex Officio Members Present

J. Marshall (remote)

Non Voting Members Present

J. Marshall (remote)

Guests Present

Anisha Moring (remote), Bill Campbell (remote), C. Hudson (remote), C. Wyatt (remote), D. Johnson (remote), Felicia (remote), Jackie Shoemaker (remote), Kiantra Butler (remote), L. Price (remote), Morgan Felts (remote), Pam Mathis (remote), R. Edwards (remote), R. Goodman (remote), R. Pavone (remote), Rivers (remote), S. Finney (remote), S. Smith (remote), Yasmeen Asron (remote)

I. Opening Items

A.

Record Attendance

B.

Call the Meeting to Order

D. Hrabe made a motion to Call Meeting to Order.
A. Sumter seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.

C.

Approve Agenda

S. Williams made a motion to Approve Agenda.
O. Okwara seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.

D.

Approve Minutes

D. Hrabe made a motion to Approve April Minutes.
S. Williams seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.

E.

Community Comments

No Comments

II. Board Chair

A.

Executive Committee Slate

S. Williams made a motion to Appprove Executive Committee.
A. Sumter seconded the motion.

Kwende Jones   Chair

Kate Boyer         Co-Chair

Obi  Okwara       Treasurer 

Adrian Hunter    Secretary

The board VOTED to approve the motion.

B.

Reminder Board Member Training

All Board members will need to get training hours:

 

  • 2 hours on Finance and Governance
  • 9 hours pre-selected
  • Board members that have completed their hours , Jenn Ziemann, Kate Boyer, Senaca Williams and Doug Hrabe.

C.

Board Survey Update

The board survey will provide valuable insights into our current needs and help define our priorities for future planning.

 

D.

2025-2026 Board Committee Meeting Dates

Please see attached meeting dates.

 

E.

2024-2025 Board Goals

The following goals have been completed:

  • Finance 
  • Governanace 
  • Acadmeics (waiting on test scores)

III. Executive Director Updates

A.

Farewell to Doug and Ewa

Executive Director expressed appreciation to departing board members Ewa Cater and Doug 

Hrabe for their 6 years of dedicated service.

 

ED also thanked staff for their hard work in making the year a success and recognized the leadership team for their strong guidance and commitment.

 

Move is going well and Wesley is ready to go!

 

 

B.

Principal Updates

Rachel Goodman provided the following updates:

  • Support Staff Winner: Pam Mathis
  • PYP Teacher of the Year: Andrea Tomlin
  • MYP Teacher of the year: Ebony Smith

Georgia Milestones testing has been completed:

  • Milestone scores were sent with final report cards.
  •  Student proficiency scores have been received  but student growth has not.

School Highlights:

  • Academic Growth, K-3 Literacy alignment with the Georgia Early Literacy Act.
  • Professional  learning and teacher support has been very successful.
  • Successful implementation of Early Literacy and STEM  (STEM focused on  Professional Development).
  • Teacher Mentor Program led by Ms. Haircrow has been successful for the second year.
  • Aspiring Leader Program partnered with ANCS and has been completed.

STEM :

  • Students show cased innovation and critical thinking for STEM Night, PYP Exhibition and MYP Science Fair.
  • Established  partnerships with community and science-math based careers . 
  • Established, STEM Advisory Council .

Teacher Retention Rate  is at 95%!

IV. Governance

A.

Revision of Mission and Vision (Strategic Planning)

S. Williams made a motion to adopt goverenance recommendation of revised Mission and Vision Statement.
A. Sumter seconded the motion.

Donica  Johnson reads updated Vision and Mission:

 

 Wesley aims to: nurture  a community where academic mastery and strength of character empower students to confidently pursue their goals and contribute meaningfully to society.

 

Preparing Students for Success- Today and Tomorrow

through rigorous academics, language development, and emphasis on character building. WIA ensures students are prepared for high school and beyond.

 

 

The board VOTED to approve the motion.

B.

Family/Student Handbook

S. Williams made a motion to To have an appendex to make changes as needed for Student Handbook 2025-2026.
D. Hrabe seconded the motion.

Governance  Committee voted at their last meeting to  give leadership autonomy to change .

The board VOTED to approve the motion.

C.

Enrollment Updates

Donica Johnson gives enrollment updates:

  • Extending enrollment  offers to new  families;  awaiting completion of current and new families paper work.  
  • At the last meeting, it was reported that 31 families planned to leave, but updated information shows that only about half are  moving  due to the school 's relocation .

 

D.

Board Candidate Recruitment

 Board recruitment :  

  • Executive Committee  and Executive Director will conduct interviews for board candidate.
  • Interview process is facilitated by Goverance Committee.
  • All board members need to actively recruit potential board members.

V. Academic Excellence

A.

Spring MAP Overview

Crystal Hudson gave  MAP Testing  overview.

 

  • Spring MAP data showed a  decrease for students needing help and increase for students  reading levels.
  • MAP growth in math scores  increased 25% from last year and overall growth 40%.

 

B.

STEM Progress

Pavone presents: STEM progress:

  • APS has approved for WIA to move to next steps for STEM certification.
  • Community Partnerships : Wesley met goals and waiting for commitment from partners.
  • Establishment of STEM Advisory Council.

 

C.

STAMP DATA

Stamp  4Se is a performance test for mandarin students.  Stamp evaluates reading, writing, speaking and listening.  There are 5 levels, 0 is  the lowest and 5 is  the highest.

 

For 8th Grade Class ( 83 students) performance in:

  • Reading 62% on level 1
  • Writing 27% on level 1 and 27% on level 3 
  • Listening 45%  on level 3  
  • Speaking 46 % on level 0

7th Grade -majority of class is  on level 1 except for listening is on  level 3.

Other grade results are in May Academic Committee Meeting.

 

VI. Finance

A.

FY 26 Budget Review

S. Williams made a motion to Approve 2025-2026 Budget.
O. Okwara seconded the motion.

Lisa Price  (CFO) presented budget for 2025-2026 school year.

 

CFO Goal is to develop a blanced budget for  allocating resources to support initatives and Charter Performance Goals.

 

WIA will implement a competitive mulit-year compensation. Wesley's salary scale is 95% of APS salary scale  for 2025. 

 

CFO will manage increase of pension benefits  and healthcare expenses through responsible budgeting, cash management and competitve bidding.

 

CFO will maintain an Unrestricted Cash Balance of 30-45 days of working capital.

 

Budget is based on FTE of 746 students, best case would be 770 students and maximum 824.

 

Funding from State and Local Government :

  • State funding  is up 1% due to retention.
  • 7% increase in local funding.
  • APS  Fund Balance included 17 M for Charter School.  17m dropped to 10.3 m.   WIA has a surplus to cover change.
  • Federal Funds for now will remain the same 650k for Title 1.
  • Wesley will plan for  6%  year over year increase .

One time spending items:

  • Busing fro WIA to Coan   300K
  • Moving and Supplies        150K
  • Chromebook refresh         150K

Capital Expenses:

  • New Furnture
  • New Flooring
  • IT Hardware Replacement
  • Trailer Canopy
  • Counter Tops
  • Estimated Total   $880k

 

 

The board VOTED to approve the motion.

VII. Executive Session

A.

Board Candidates

S. Williams made a motion to move to executive session.
A. Sumter seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.

Executive Session:

-

Kate Boyer presented the candidates interviewed by the executive committee. Resumes were included in the board packet.

 

 

 

 

 

D. Hrabe made a motion to accept the Executive Committees recommendations to extend a board invitation to Bobby Little and Rajnish Singh.
S. Williams seconded the motion.

Doug Hrabe emphasized the caliber of the candidates.

The board VOTED to approve the motion.
S. Williams made a motion to return to main session.
D. Hrabe seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.

VIII. 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 7:40 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
D. Hrabe