Ethos Classical Charter School
Minutes
SY25 Ethos Budget Hearing
Date and Time
Wednesday May 15, 2024 at 5:00 PM
Location
Ethos Classical Charter School
2295 Springdale Cir SW
Atlanta, GA 30315
Directors Present
E. Raines (remote), J. Boyd (remote), L. Taylor (remote), M. Childress (remote), M. Moore, T. Fick (remote)
Directors Absent
A. Lamborghini, M. Ball, T. Mitchell
Guests Present
B. Hines, D. Mack, P. Amos, P. Laub (remote)
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
C.
Approve Minutes
II. 2025 School Year Budget Presentation (July 2024-June 2025, FY25)
A.
Welcome and Introduction
- Introductions of those in the room and online:
- B. Hines, CFO
- D. Mack, Head of School
- M. Moore, Board Chair
- IN ROOM: R. Jones, parent; M. Taylor, parent; A. Seward, parent; K. Wright, grandparent
- ONLINE: D Williams parent, R Jones, parent; Press, L. Taylor, Board Member; P. Laub, Finance; E. Raines Board Member; iPhone
B.
Overview of the Budget
C.
Budget Priorities
D. Mack presented the priorities as we designed the budget for FY25, including:
- Additional kindergarten class to align with priority of building school from our kindergarten up, so correlating personnel costs
- Meeting increased costs, year over year, especially those in staff benefit costs
- Meeting our five-year mark, which is the time of many furniture and equipment aging out, so investment in supplies.
P. Laub reported on budget process and timeline, and the sources and calculation of funding from state and local sources, including updates from the Georgia state budget and it's implications for our budget.
D.
Revenue and Expenditure Breakdown
B. Hines presented the proposed FY25 Budget:
- $11.9m in revenue, broken down by State Revenue (8.8m), Federal (2.6m), Local Sources (.2m) and Other Sources (fundraising and programs, .35m)
- $9.4m in operating expenses, broken down by personnel/salaries (4.25m), benefits (1.28m), purchased professional and technical services (1.02m), purchased property services (
III. Public Comment
A.
Questions, Comments, and Input from Attendees
Attending public had a number of questions for the staff and Board, including:
- Clarification on the sources of revenue, the nature of funding via tax dollars
- Questions on the presentation of the budget, rounding methodology, submission to the state timeline and materials
- Questions on the audit process, auditors, and state selected audit firms
- Questions on treatment of and application of surplus funds
- Discussion of risk level of revenues decreasing year over year
- Clarification of elements of the budget dedicated to the preparations for a middle school, for curriculum design.
- Clarification of the scholar lottery process
Due to the special nature of the budget hearing meetings, no minutes to approve.