Living School
Annual Board Retreat
Date and Time
Sunday June 14, 2020 at 9:00 AM CDT
Location
Living School, 6003 Bullard Ave., New Orleans, LA 70128
All are welcome at Living School Board Meetings. Translation is available with 24 hours notice. This is a Board Business Meeting happening within view of the public.
Public comment is welcome on any item on the agenda. At the end of each agenda item, after Board discussion, there will be a time for public comment. Members of the public wishing to comment on any agenda item, may raise their hand at this designated time and be recognized by the Chair to speak for up to 2 minutes per person, per agenda item. On any matter up for a vote, public comment must be heard prior to taking the Board's vote.
For members of the public wishing to address the Board for longer than 2 minutes on any given agenda item, please give the Chair at least 24 hours notice to be added to the agenda. We will strive to accommodate longer items but cannot guarantee room on a given meeting's agenda.
Public comment is welcome on any item on the agenda. At the end of each agenda item, after Board discussion, there will be a time for public comment. Members of the public wishing to comment on any agenda item, may raise their hand at this designated time and be recognized by the Chair to speak for up to 2 minutes per person, per agenda item. On any matter up for a vote, public comment must be heard prior to taking the Board's vote.
For members of the public wishing to address the Board for longer than 2 minutes on any given agenda item, please give the Chair at least 24 hours notice to be added to the agenda. We will strive to accommodate longer items but cannot guarantee room on a given meeting's agenda.
Agenda
Purpose | Presenter | Time | |||
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I. | Opening Items | 9:00 AM | |||
Opening Items
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A. | Record Attendance and Guests | Stefin Pasternak | |||
B. | Call the Meeting to Order | Danneka Mitchell | |||
C. | Approve Minutes from previous Board Meeting | Approve Minutes | Danneka Mitchell | 3 m | |
Approve minutes for Living School Board Meeting on April 3, 2020 | |||||
D. | Approve Minutes from previous Board Meeting | Approve Minutes | Danneka Mitchell | 3 m | |
Approve minutes for Living School Board Meeting on April 21, 2020 | |||||
E. | Recognize the resignation of I. Aresa | Danneka Mitchell | 1 m | ||
II. | Academic, Culture, & Evaluation Committee | 9:07 AM | |||
A. | Committee FY20 Goals | FYI | Mandi Lehnherr | 3 m | |
GOAL 1: Conduct a comprehensive & effective end-of-the-year CEO evaluation
- Task 1.2: Develop a way to incorporate student & family feedback into the CEO evaluation (4/1/20). - Task 1.3: Conduct Year 1 CEO evaluation (6/30/20). GOAL 2: Develop annual evaluation tools, processes, and metrics for academics & culture - Task 2.2: Align Graduate Profile, Staff Development Rubric, & Academic/Culture dashboard to the mission (10/31/19). |
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B. | CEO Report | Discuss | Stefin Pasternak | 10 m | |
Refer to CEO Report
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C. | Review potential changes to 2020-21 Calendar & Schedule | Discuss | Stefin Pasternak | 15 m | |
D. | Approve FY21 Community Handbook | Vote | Mandi Lehnherr | 10 m | |
Refer to the Community Handbook
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E. | Approve FY21 Staff Handbook | Vote | Mandi Lehnherr | 10 m | |
Refer to the Staff Handbook
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F. | FY19-20 CEO Evaluation | FYI | Mandi Lehnherr | 5 m | |
G. | CEO 2020-21 Offer | Vote | Mandi Lehnherr | 5 m | |
III. | Finance & Development Committee | 10:05 AM | |||
A. | Committee FY20 Goals | FYI | Traci Simon | 3 m | |
GOAL 1: Monitor Organizational Sustainability
- Task 1.2: Conduct annual audit (6/30/20). - Task 1.3: Monitor FY20 Budget and revise as needed (6/30/20). GOAL 2: Plan for expansion - Task 2.1: Build variations in our financial model for different future circumstances. - Task 2.2: Build facilities plans and decision making timeline for future circumstances. Goal 3: Recruit students for each class - Task 1.2: Recruit 80 students for Class of 2024 (6/30/20) |
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B. | Finance Dashboard & Report | Discuss | Joe Daschbach | 10 m | |
C. | Spring 2020 Renovations Update | Discuss | Joe Daschbach | 5 m | |
- Demolition completed
- Phase 3 scaled back to save money due to anticipated COVID programming & budget shifts, due to start ASAP
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D. | Approve Auditor | Vote | Traci Simon | 10 m | |
E. | Approve FY21 Budget | Vote | Traci Simon | 20 m | |
Refer to FY21 Budget
Highlights:
- Assumes 95 students
- Conservatively models all the expected financial impacts of the virus
- Currently balanced with $45k of borrowing either from the LDE Loan or our Line of Credit
- Thinned organizational chart due to current budget situation
- Investments in enrichment programming
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IV. | Governance Committee | 10:53 AM | |||
A. | Committee FY20 Goals | FYI | Tristram Millard | 3 m | |
Goal 1: Clarify Board recruitment & composition strategy
- Task 1.2: Create list of Board needs: please let Tris know if there is anything we can do to help you fill your role more effectively. This might be education, clarification, one-on-one discussion/coaching, etc. Even though I have been on the board for more than two years, I am still painfully aware that there are a lot of things that I am unfamiliar with. - Task 1.3: Create list of community members to cultivate: We have discussed in the past a strategy to start cultivating high profile and influential potential board members. If you have the name of someone you feel would be additive to the mission of the Living School, please provide to Tris. You do not have to know the person personally as I am happy to approach anyone about the school and cultivate the relationship. - Task 1.4: Host board cultivation events: This is going to be on hold until COVID-19 is less of a threat to our community. Goal 2: Implement & improve Board development plan - Task 2.1: Improve Board participation, effectiveness, independence, & consistency. - Task 2.2: Raise funds for Board development & refreshments: There is a financial cost for the refreshments and the preparations for the meeting. Would like to ask the board to consider making a contribution to save the school money that could be put towards the students. Tris will fund the first 3 meetings with a donation to set the tone. Goal 3: Improve communications - Task 3.1: Utilize Board Members with large social media followings to increase communication across lines of difference. - Task 3.2: Create an emergency communication plan: with current pandemic and Louisiana's history of natural disasters (both potential and realized) the Board should have a communication plan in place:
1. Board member's contact details should be provided across the whole board. While on BoardOnTrack (https://app2.boardontrack.com/org/7vg07T/user/list) it would be most convenient to have contact cards emailed out so that we can download to phones. If everyone is amenable to this idea, we will make it happen.
2. In the event of an emergency a group text will be sent to the board clearly stating that there is an emergency. All board members should respond ASAP. If a response is not received within 45 minutes, the original sender of text message will call members who have not responded and relay emergency information and response. If board member is still not reachable, communication will be made to other telephone numbers and email addresses provided.
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B. | Reviewing the role of the Board | Discuss | Danneka Mitchell | 30 m | |
- Review & update Bylaws
- Review & update Board, Committee, & Officer Role Descriptions
- Review outcomes of Board Assessment and FY OnTrack Score
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C. | Approve Academic & Culture Committee Description | Vote | Mandi Lehnherr | 2 m | |
D. | Approve Finance & Development Committee Description | Vote | Traci Simon | 2 m | |
E. | Approve Governance Committee Description | Vote | Tristram Millard | 2 m | |
F. | Approve CEO Support & Evaluation Committee Description | Vote | Danneka Mitchell | 2 m | |
G. | Story, Mission, Vision, & Strategic Plan | Discuss | Kieta Mutepfa | 45 m | |
Refer to our NSVF Presentation
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H. | Lunch Break | FYI | Danneka Mitchell | 30 m | |
I. | Committee Breakouts | Discuss | Tristram Millard | 30 m | |
- Reflecting on FY20 (What goals were set and what was accomplished?)
- Setting goals for FY21
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J. | Approving FY21 Board Calendar | Vote | Tristram Millard | 10 m | |
K. | Board Recruitment & Nomination Timeline | Discuss | Tristram Millard | 10 m | |
Refer to Board Recruitment Call & Board On-boarding
- Whose term is ending this FY?
- When do we want to allow ourselves to nominate and add members to the Board?
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L. | Contributions for annual Board Meals | Discuss | Tristram Millard | 5 m | |
$50 - $100 annually covers the cost of meals at all Board Meetings & retreats.
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V. | Closing Items | 1:44 PM | |||
A. | Adjourn Meeting | Vote | Danneka Mitchell |