Amber Kocher and Rachelle Schultz, Blue and Company, were present at the beginning of the meeting to present the Hope Academy 990 Form.

Amber Kocher of Blue and Company, shared with the Board the key changes to the 2018 tax act recently implemented by the IRS.   Highlights of the tax act: 

• corporate tax rate increase up from 15% to 21%
• new tax on investment income for colleges and universities
• internet companies are now required to collect sales tax

Barb Elliott announced that Leah Mannweiler is going to be presented with the 2018 Richard M. Fairbanks Circle of Hope Award at the Circle of Hope dinner event on April 26th.  Leah has been a Fairbanks Board Member and volunteer for nearly twenty years.  The Hope Board gave Leah a round of applause for this award.

Barb also let the Board know of the special recognition that Phyllis Land Usher received on Friday, April 20, 2018 by United Way of Central Indiana's 100 Years of Hand Raisers and Game Changers Celebration at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  She was recognized as being one of United Way of Central Indiana's 100 Heroes.  These 100 individuals, nominated by their peers, family members, co-workers, and friends and chosen by a nine-member volunteer committee, have used their skills, passions and talents to make the community a better place.

Hope Academy's Principal, Linda Gagyi, shared the 2018-2019 School Calendar with the Board for their review.  Linda pointed out that the State of Indiana requires that students be in school for 180 days per year and that Hope Academy has scheduled the students to be in school for 184 days during this calendar year.

Rachelle Gardner, Hope Academy's Chief Operating Officer, shared the Business Development Contact List (August-April 2017-2018) with the Board. This list outlines who the Hope Academy marketing team wants to meet with and includes schools, professionals, and treatment providers.  This plan outlines initial meetings and the planned follow-up with them.  The Marketing Committee can track the meetings and see which ones prove most fruitful.

Rachelle advised that  two visitors from the Department of Education were at Hope Academy last week.  The visitors took a tour of Hope Academy and met with Rachelle to discuss funding. Currently schools are funded at $500/per student but Rachelle discussed with them the possibility of increasing the funding at $1,000/per student.

The Division of Mental Health and Addiction (DMHA) Policy Committee will be going to Washington, D.C. to meet with peer groups and specialists.  The outcome of this trip is for a policy of this State to be written that would embrace students in recovery.

Amy Levander commented that we all have an obligation to make contacts and reach out to the community to spread the word about Hope Academy.

Leah Mannweiler asked who lobbies for alternative schools?  She wondered if we could join efforts with them?  Amy said that she would check to see what the lobby groups are for education.

There was discussion around Department of Child Services (DCS) and Probation and that these units are split apart.  Leah and Amy are working to get a meeting with the new DCS Director.

Linda Gagyi shared her Principal's Report with the board.  She shared with the Board that the students held their SPROM this past weekend and that the students really seemed to enjoy themselves.  They students had gotten cash donations for their decorations and food.  The girls had traded dresses and everyone had something nice to wear. She shared that there is a really strong culture with this group of students.

The students are now looking forward to their trip to Butler and attending the play "The Great Gatsby" at Clowes Hall on April 30th.  They also plan to tour the campus while there.

There are currently 36 students enrolled at the school and 9 of them will be graduating this year.  She pointed out the graduation activities that will be held on May 30th and encouraged everyone to review the important dates shared on the Principal's Report.

Linda shared that next week is Teacher Appreciation Week and that she had reached out to the parents asking that they send thank you cards to the teachers.  Amy Levander commented that she thinks next week that the Board members should also send cards to the teachers thanking them for their service.

Barb Elliott went over the letter recently sent to the Mayor's office thanking them for the support of Hope Academy provided by the city.

She also discussed the financial support committed by Fairbanks to Hope Academy through 2020.  The Fairbanks Board will review the commitment of funding direct and indirect costs at the June Board meeting and revisit the funding past 2020.  The comment was also made that the Executive Committee meets once a quarter and they will need to stay in touch with Fairbanks regarding the budget and how it's working to help move the plan forward.

Barb discussed an element of Fairbanks' growth strategy.  She outlined the Fairbanks Employer Services Spotlight Program for self-insured employer groups with 500 or more employees. that will be presented to the Fairbanks Board of Directors at the April meeting.

Marissa Manlove gave the Marketing Committee update.  John Ryan, a member of the Fairbanks Board of Directors, has joined the Hope Academy Marketing Committee.  She believes that John's involvement can help the Marketing Committee reach out to the kids that need to be attending Hope Academy.

Marissa referred to the handout, 'FY '19 Hope Academy Marketing Plan - April 2018.'

• Who are the key audiences where we get our referrals from?
• We want to put our budget/allocation focus on where we will get most of our students.
• What are the tactics used?
• There needs to be engagement with returning students.

Jan Stanich says they've put together a work-flow on how contacts will be made and follow-ups to be made.

We want to go back to referral partners to show how the students have done over time so they will see how Hope works out and they will continue to provide referrals.

Hope Academy had an open house last week and it was very well attended by teachers.  Another one is planned for June.

They are looking at creating a survey for Hope alumni to see how they've stayed engaged.

Janice Gabe asked if Hope is reaching out to therapists, psychiatrists, and schools of former students for referrals?  She noted that it would require consent by the student/parents but that it's worth looking in to.

Janine Shopp reviewed the financial statement for 2017 Actual versus 2018 projected budget. 

Janine reviewed the 2019 budget numbers and noted the assumptions are made on marketing outcome.  The key takeaway is that enrollment needs to rise in 2020 and 2021 because funding comes from growth in enrollment.

The numbers provided show the projected loss has changed since December and that Hope Academy will hit the contribution budget.

Kevin Turner discussed that the Governance Committee went through the evaluation of the CEO and COO form from Board on Track and that they made some changes to the survey and that it will be sent out soon to the Hope Academy board members.

Due to concerns regarding confidentiality of former patients, Rachelle, Barb and Leigh Ann agreed that they want to move these discussions regarding donations from major donors to the committee meetings.

Colleen Kenney stated that the discussion has begun on a 2nd fundraising event for the Fall of 2018.

Rachelle shared that John Adams of the Fairbanks Board has joined the Academic Committee.

The committee is working on engagement with current students and their parents to set up expectations with the summer program and returning in 2019.

Amy Levander says they are working on dates for strategic planning.