Reflect in the minutes of today's meeting that the new charter process no longer includes going before the City-County Council. With that understanding the minutes will be approved.

Jeff Reed and Tyler Dickey from Blue and Company presented the audit. They reported a clean audit, with no findings. Audit is required by the State and the City.

Tyler presented the overview of the audit. The State Board of Control has audit procedures that they must follow. The financial information is reviewed to determine that it is fair and accurate. He reviewed the Opinion in the financial statement and a review of the income statement showed a significant increase in contributions in 2019. There were no findings and it was a clean audit.

Included in the packet was a required communication from Blue & Co. where they would list out any deficiencies and there were none for this year.

The final letter was an industry update letter, not specific to this organization but rather is specific to the not-for-profit industry.

Marissa discussed the Indiana Open Door law, which will now be done annually. Rachelle noted where we post the agenda and the minutes 48 hours prior to each board meeting.

A summary of all Board Committee Goals as approved by the currents strategic plan was displayed and discussed.  The goals were submitted to the Mayor's office in August as the current year's board goals.  They will be updated as needed and transfer over to Hope 2.0.  Click on the Board Goals tab in Board on Track and you will see the different goals for each committee.  The Committee Chairs can click on their goals and keep track of the success of their committee.
 

Marissa felt they had powerful support at the meeting and shared that they had a good turn out of board members. They were asked pointed questions and Marissa felt they responded well to each one. The Board felt good about how the Prospectus Hearing went and this past Friday Hope Academy received a formal invitation to move forward.

Leah thanked the staff for their efforts in keeping the board updated and the communication process.

Thanks was given to Janine for her extra effort she's given during the preparation.

Marissa noted the lengthy list from the Office of Education Innovation (OEI) of what needs to be done to move forward with Hope 2.0. She noted the list of board members and their strengths prepared for the charter application and asked the members to think of individuals that could be brought on to the board and asked the board members to confirm their interest in moving forward on the board of Hope 2.0. Marissa asked that members confirm by Monday their intent to move forward on the board. The current board is seeking men and people of color to join the Hope 2.0 board, and perhaps someone that is in recovery.

Rachelle noted they have to conduct background checks and obtain fingerprints for the new board.

At the Prospectus Hearing they asked specifically about the financial commitment of a partner to Hope Academy. The charter application requirement is to have 60 days of cash and Marissa feels confident that she'll be able to say where the funds will be coming from by the time of the next hearing. She shared that they have grant proposals out there, but once they are granted the charter she feels the grants would be more forthcoming. She's very encouraged by what has happened so far.

The Tom Wood Family Foundation has pledged $50,000 for the first two years of Hope 2.0. Mariann had a positive conversation with Mariann Glick and they will be submitting a grant for $50,000, with the potential for this to be a multi-year grant opportunity. Rachelle commented that The Lilly Foundation toured the Hope facility and they will provide a grant of $50,000. It was also commented that the Mayor will be coming to Hope on November 18th at 1:00 PM and it was felt that this is a good sign.

For the November 21st hearing Marissa shared that she doesn't feel they need to have the same kind of testimony but feels they need to share who are the financial partners that add to the total financial support. She asked for suggestions of who should attend the hearing on behalf of Hope and Amy suggested that they consult with Patrick on what type of testimony would be most beneficial.
Amy then pointed out their concern for the lack of board members and staff of color, given that we are going to partner with IPS and located in Indianapolis, we should have a larger population of color. They didn't see color in the audience of those attending for support; the student population was at 35% black and that wasn't reflected in the attendance at the hearing.

 

Rachelle said they submitted an application to the Simon Youth Foundation and they meet this week so she hopes to hear by Wednesday whether or not they are approved. Once we get approved to their academy then we would sit down with them to determine what we need, which is not necessarily in a Simon space.
 

Rachelle shared that they have been working with IFF in looking at three spaces for the new school location: The 3 locations are:

The former Carpe Diem Innovative School location on Pike Plaza Road;
The United Way building off of Meridian and 30th on the first floor, they would have their own separate entrance;
The Excel Center which sits at Hanna and Madison near the U of Indy campus (the last two spaces in that strip mall).

They plan to send out a survey to the current student population to determine how they feel about traveling to the downtown or southside of the city.

These locations had not been included in the initial charter application but will be included in the next phase of the application process.

 

Marissa shared that they will move forward with the expansion campaign once they know they have the charter. At this time they have nothing to report.

Linda pointed out they have changed the date of the Thanksgiving dinner to November 15th.

She also shared that the student count has gone down to 25, with one student under a court ordered placement, and one student that no longer wanted to be sober.

Janine pointed out that they have converted the bookkeeping to CIEF. She noted that they did receive the Alternative Education payment at the end of August. She reviewed the September income statement with the Board.
 

Marissa reminded board members to go in to Board on Track and complete the self-assessments. She also reminded the Board that an evaluation on school leadership needs to be done. It was agreed that they would focus solely on the COO evaluation due to all the activities that are currently going on. This is critical so that Rachelle can receive feedback. Members should be receiving e-mail reminders to complete the assessment.

Because of a generous donation, Hope Academy has purchased a bus and now needs to find the funds to have the bus painted yellow so it can transport students.

It was mentioned that there will be several booth events coming up in the near future where Hope Academy will be promoted.

 

Colleen reported on the success of the Rise and Shine breakfast and noted that the number of donors and gifts this year as compared to last year was significant.

The Development Committee has begun the monthly meetings to prepare for the 2020 Taste of Hope event. They received recommendations for the Faces of Hope award and came to a consensus that it will go to Fairbanks; if not for the foresight of Fairbanks to give life to Hope Academy they would not exist today and they felt this is a fitting tribute to Fairbanks.

The motion to approve the recommendation was approved.

Thanks was given to Colleen for her efforts with Rise and Shine.