Paramount Schools of Excellence
Minutes
Paramount Board of Directors Public Meeting
Date and Time
Tuesday March 15, 2022 at 5:30 PM
Location
Paramount Online Academy Training Room
1203 East Saint Clair
Door #8
Indianapolis, IN 46202
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Meeting ID: 815 6725 5132
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Meeting ID: 815 6725 5132
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Directors Present
A. Bekele (remote), B. Eldridge (remote), E. Mendez (remote), J. Amu (remote), J. Hazzard, Jr. (remote), M. Bishop, P. Blackard, T. Rude
Directors Absent
L. Smith
Directors who arrived after the meeting opened
A. Bekele
Ex Officio Members Present
T. Reddicks
Non Voting Members Present
T. Reddicks
Guests Present
Alyssa Brelage (remote), Amanda Meadows (remote), B. Richardson (remote), Barb Richardson (remote), Brandalyn Hayes (remote), Case Calvert (remote), Chris Larson (remote), D. Sawyers (remote), D. Taylor (remote), Darnecia Suggs (remote), Dr. Brandalyn Hayes, Jennifer Hurley (remote), Justin Braun (remote), K. Beauchamp (remote), K. Sherrow (remote), Keith Thomas (remote), Lindsay Omlor (remote), Lisa Hopman (remote), M. Laflin (remote), M. Miller, Marc Hardy (remote), Megan Bouckley (remote), Phoebe Duvall (remote), Stefanie Hanes, Stefanie Hanes (remote), T. Gustin (remote), T. Palacios (remote), V. Hereens (remote), Vivian Heerens (remote)
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance and Guests
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
II. Public Comments
A.
Public Comments
III. Consent Agenda Review and Approval
A.
Review and Approve Minutes
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| J. Hazzard, Jr. |
Aye
|
| T. Rude |
Aye
|
| E. Mendez |
Aye
|
| B. Eldridge |
Aye
|
| P. Blackard |
Aye
|
| L. Smith |
Absent
|
| M. Bishop |
Aye
|
| J. Amu |
Aye
|
| A. Bekele |
Absent
|
B.
Voucher Approval
IV. New Business
A.
Teacher Pathways Update
Phoebe Duvall, Alyssa Brelage, Amanda Meadows, and Darnecia Suggs presented on how their teacher pathways experience has allowed them to grow and develop skills that will benefit them as they grow within the PSOE organization.
B.
Authorized Credit Card Approval
The school has reached a point where Tiffany Palacios, Director of HR, needs to frequently borrow the Navigation credit card to process payment for background checks, motor vehicle reports, HR training, and postage for letters that need to be mailed. They are requesting a new credit card be issued for these payments.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| L. Smith |
Absent
|
| J. Amu |
Aye
|
| B. Eldridge |
Aye
|
| P. Blackard |
Aye
|
| T. Rude |
Aye
|
| J. Hazzard, Jr. |
Aye
|
| A. Bekele |
Absent
|
| M. Bishop |
Aye
|
| E. Mendez |
Aye
|
C.
COVID Policy Updates
The city changed the restrictions on COVID-19 quarantine and mask requirements, so the schools updated their policies to follow the most recent guidance, which includes removing mask mandates for staff and students regardless of vaccination status. With the local government policy changes and only a few months left of the school year, the decision was made not to differentiate between any staff vaccination status at this time.
D.
Charter School Growth Fund Approval for School 7
CSGF has offered $75,000 in support of school #7 to cover legal and marketing endeavors. The funding must be spent in a way that is mutually agreeable to all parties in the merger. The school is seeking board approval to accept these funds. (Parties include Every Girl Can STEM, Purdue Polytechnic, and Paramount.)
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| L. Smith |
Absent
|
| J. Hazzard, Jr. |
Aye
|
| J. Amu |
Aye
|
| T. Rude |
Aye
|
| E. Mendez |
Aye
|
| M. Bishop |
Aye
|
| A. Bekele |
Aye
|
| P. Blackard |
Aye
|
| B. Eldridge |
Aye
|
E.
Strategic Planning Committee Update
Green lighting frameworks were created to aid in the process of opening additional Paramount schools. The rating system that was created is based upon six different categories. The 2024 Indy K-8 Girls’ School for school 7 scored a 54%. This tool will help to reverse engineer a successful opening of the school.
V. Operations Reports
A.
Navigation Team
South Bend and Lafayette projects are underway with Keystone. The Navigation team has hired a new team member, Anthony Moore, who will serve as the Community Enrollment Manager.
B.
Principal Reports
POA - Brandalyn Hayes
Positive trends and growth with EOY data. Trine came to visit and they saw some great things happening in the classroom. The next step is to send the data over to Trine so that they can build their report and share this with the board in the coming weeks. 30 POA students will be taking part in the bowling incentive that is taking place with PEN.
PEN - Darius Sawyers
The school is diving into EOY data and identifying trends in the data. 90 students at PEN are eligible for the student incentive with bowling.
PCH - Tara Gustin
PCH is looking for trends in their EOY data. 3rd grade geometry was lower than expected so they are targeting this specifically. IREAD for 3rd grade is wrapping up this week, and they are proud of the success they are seeing.
PBR - Dexter Taylor and Korry Sherrow
Brookside has hit all of the EOY goals and is proud of the hard work that teachers and students have put in this year to meet these goals. The school is looking forward to parent/teacher conferences which will be taking place next week. TIC data meetings will be kicking off tomorrow to analyze data to identify strengths and areas that need refinement with teachers during team meetings.
VI. Closing Items
A.
Next Meeting
April 19th
5:30 pm
Zoom link for virtual attendees will be shared publicly soon.
In-person address is:
1203 E. St. Clair Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202
B.
Adjourn Meeting
VII. Committees
A.
Finance Committee
The committee reviewed the budget.
B.
Academic and Governance Committee
The committee reviewed the Family Handbook.
No members of the public were present.