Paramount Schools of Excellence
Minutes
Board of Directors
Date and Time
Tuesday March 12, 2019 at 5:30 PM
Location
3020 Nowland Ave, Indianapolis IN, 46201
Directors Present
A. Bekele, B. Eldridge (remote), J. Hazzard, Jr., M. Bishop, P. Blackard, T. Rude
Directors Absent
C. Park, J. Amu
Ex Officio Members Present
T. Reddicks
Non Voting Members Present
T. Reddicks
Guests Present
Aaliyah Carranza, Adam Freeman, B. Richardson, Brian Anderson, Caiden Friedrich, Darius Sawyers, J. Monk, Jackie Fitzgerald, Keith Thomas, Kyle Beauchamp, Mary Laflin, Mun Lee, Nasreen Khan Clark, P. Purvis, Precious Jones, Rachael McWaters, Rhonda Grady, Sarah Shaffer, Scott Frye, Tiffany Palacios, Valerie Carlisle
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance and Guests
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
T. Rude called a meeting of the board of directors of Paramount Schools of Excellence to order on Tuesday Mar 12, 2019 at 5:37 PM.
II. Public Comments
A.
Public Comments
The Brookside Middle School Robotics team spoke about their 1st place win at State the past weekend. This win secured the team's spot at the Worlds competition April 28-30 in Louisville, KY.
B.
Presentation by Brian Anderson
This presentation was moved to take place during the Finance Committee Meeting.
III. Consent Agenda Review and Approval
A.
Review and approve minutes.
T. Rude made a motion to approve minutes from the February Board Meeting on 02-12-19 February Board Meeting on 02-12-19.
M. Bishop seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| P. Blackard |
Absent
|
| B. Eldridge |
Aye
|
| J. Amu |
Absent
|
| M. Bishop |
Aye
|
| A. Bekele |
Aye
|
| T. Rude |
Aye
|
| C. Park |
Absent
|
| J. Hazzard, Jr. |
Abstain
|
B.
Voucher approval
T. Rude made a motion to Approve the voucher as submitted.
M. Bishop seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| J. Hazzard, Jr. |
Aye
|
| B. Eldridge |
Aye
|
| M. Bishop |
Aye
|
| J. Amu |
Absent
|
| A. Bekele |
Aye
|
| T. Rude |
Aye
|
| P. Blackard |
Absent
|
| C. Park |
Absent
|
T. Rude made a motion to approve the voucher.
M. Bishop seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| T. Rude |
Aye
|
| J. Hazzard, Jr. |
Abstain
|
| J. Amu |
Absent
|
| A. Bekele |
Aye
|
| M. Bishop |
Aye
|
| P. Blackard |
Aye
|
| C. Park |
Absent
|
| B. Eldridge |
Aye
|
IV. New Business
A.
HR Policy for Background Checks
T. Rude made a motion to pass the HR Policy on Background Checks.
J. Hazzard, Jr. seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| M. Bishop |
Aye
|
| J. Hazzard, Jr. |
Aye
|
| T. Rude |
Aye
|
| P. Blackard |
Aye
|
| J. Amu |
Absent
|
| B. Eldridge |
Aye
|
| A. Bekele |
Aye
|
| C. Park |
Absent
|
B.
CRM Platform
T. Rude made a motion to approve signing the Crossroads contract once both legal teams have reviewed the contract, and both sides agree.
J. Hazzard, Jr. seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| J. Amu |
Absent
|
| J. Hazzard, Jr. |
Aye
|
| M. Bishop |
Aye
|
| T. Rude |
Aye
|
| B. Eldridge |
Aye
|
| P. Blackard |
Aye
|
| A. Bekele |
Aye
|
| C. Park |
Absent
|
C.
Site Leases
T. Rude made a motion to give T. Reddicks authority to execute the leases for Paramount Community Heights and Paramount Englewood upon legal review of both parties in both cases.
M. Bishop seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| A. Bekele |
Aye
|
| C. Park |
Absent
|
| B. Eldridge |
Aye
|
| J. Hazzard, Jr. |
Aye
|
| T. Rude |
Aye
|
| J. Amu |
Absent
|
| M. Bishop |
Aye
|
| P. Blackard |
Aye
|
V. Operations Report
A.
Operations Report
T. Reddicks discussed additional lease terms for both PCH and PEN.
HB1001 & HB1641 go for discussion this Thursday morning, which hold multiple charter school-related issues.
HB1001 & HB1641 go for discussion this Thursday morning, which hold multiple charter school-related issues.
B.
Principal Report Discussion
Paramount Englewood:
D. Sawyers shared: Melissa Medinger has joined the team as Assistant Principal. There are student recruitment events at local establishments. Pre-opening is over 59% complete. Biggest concerns right now is waiting for the weather to break to get into the community more to recruit students, but the team is diving in. Staffing is underway. The biggest need is finding high quality math, ELA, and special education teachers. TFA recruitment fair is this weekend, and there is another fair in Michigan coming up.
Paramount Community Heights:
K. Beauchamp shared: The admin team has been working hard to support teachers through the New Teacher Academy. It's a really busy time of year with assessments coming up. Teacher and student recruitment are ongoing for 19-20. Brookside and Navigation have been providing needed support. 60-70 students are still enrolled in the after school programming.
Paramount Brookside:
M. Laflin & S. Frye shared: Teachers and staff are getting ready for ILEARN. There are about 90 students involved in after-school tutoring. Mary Jo Rattermann and Addie Angelov conducted the annual site evaluation and provided feedback. Relationships have been created with local universities to increase recruitment efforts. SCO meetings continue to grow in attendance. S. Frye provided shout outs to T. Palacios and P. Purvis for helping as needed. The first professional development that included all three schools was held at Brookside last night.
D. Sawyers shared: Melissa Medinger has joined the team as Assistant Principal. There are student recruitment events at local establishments. Pre-opening is over 59% complete. Biggest concerns right now is waiting for the weather to break to get into the community more to recruit students, but the team is diving in. Staffing is underway. The biggest need is finding high quality math, ELA, and special education teachers. TFA recruitment fair is this weekend, and there is another fair in Michigan coming up.
Paramount Community Heights:
K. Beauchamp shared: The admin team has been working hard to support teachers through the New Teacher Academy. It's a really busy time of year with assessments coming up. Teacher and student recruitment are ongoing for 19-20. Brookside and Navigation have been providing needed support. 60-70 students are still enrolled in the after school programming.
Paramount Brookside:
M. Laflin & S. Frye shared: Teachers and staff are getting ready for ILEARN. There are about 90 students involved in after-school tutoring. Mary Jo Rattermann and Addie Angelov conducted the annual site evaluation and provided feedback. Relationships have been created with local universities to increase recruitment efforts. SCO meetings continue to grow in attendance. S. Frye provided shout outs to T. Palacios and P. Purvis for helping as needed. The first professional development that included all three schools was held at Brookside last night.
VI. Closing Items
A.
Next Meeting
April 9th, 2019
5:30
3020 Nowland Ave
Indianapolis, IN 46201
5:30
3020 Nowland Ave
Indianapolis, IN 46201
B.
Adjourn Meeting
T. Rude made a motion to adjourn the meeting.
M. Bishop seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| C. Park |
Absent
|
| P. Blackard |
Aye
|
| A. Bekele |
Aye
|
| T. Rude |
Aye
|
| M. Bishop |
Aye
|
| J. Amu |
Absent
|
| B. Eldridge |
Aye
|
| J. Hazzard, Jr. |
Aye
|
There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 6:15 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
T. Rude
C.
Committee Meetings
Governance: T. Rude explained the system for reviewing policies uploaded to the Google Drive folder J. Monk set up.
These will be ready for vote in June/July.
Finance: T. Reddicks talked through the 19-20 draft budget updates, specifically $125K originally provided by the Mind Trust which has been withdrawn and given to Invent Learning Hub as gap funding for the School 20 purchase. T. Rude clarified the student enrollment buffer included in the budget ($700K risk reserve). B. Anderson mentioned the Facility Grant per pupil could change with this legislative session.T. Reddicks explained the organization budgeted for two count days in case this changes. The budget shows a loss of $365K, but this was expected due to growth of the two new schools; however, this goes to the positive the following year. The budget includes a debt service breakdown by facility over the next 6 years. T. Rude stated the goal is to approve the budget in June.
B. Anderson presented the funding structure options for the new Paramount Community Heights build. The two types are Traditional and New Markets Tax Credits. The organization is working with Civic Builders, IFF and Charter School Growth Fund to bring together the best possible financing options.
These will be ready for vote in June/July.
Finance: T. Reddicks talked through the 19-20 draft budget updates, specifically $125K originally provided by the Mind Trust which has been withdrawn and given to Invent Learning Hub as gap funding for the School 20 purchase. T. Rude clarified the student enrollment buffer included in the budget ($700K risk reserve). B. Anderson mentioned the Facility Grant per pupil could change with this legislative session.T. Reddicks explained the organization budgeted for two count days in case this changes. The budget shows a loss of $365K, but this was expected due to growth of the two new schools; however, this goes to the positive the following year. The budget includes a debt service breakdown by facility over the next 6 years. T. Rude stated the goal is to approve the budget in June.
B. Anderson presented the funding structure options for the new Paramount Community Heights build. The two types are Traditional and New Markets Tax Credits. The organization is working with Civic Builders, IFF and Charter School Growth Fund to bring together the best possible financing options.
D.
Executive Session
ICS-14-3-4(b)(2)(D): the purchase or lease of real property by the school board up to the time a contract or option to purchase or lease is executed by the parties;