One City Schools
Minutes
One City Regular Board Meeting
Date and Time
Tuesday January 27, 2026 at 4:00 PM
Location
3rd Floor Conference Room
1707 W. Broadway
Madison, WI 53713
This meeting of the One City Board of Directors will take place in-person, at the Pleasant T. Rowland Leadership Campus. For those outside of Madison, or who are traveling, please use the following link:
https://onecityschools.zoom.us/j/87275142442?pwd=VGU5c1BFLy83QnAzekZXY2IxOWJjUT09
Passcode for the meeting is OneCity
Directors Present
B. Curley-Prestine, D. Dantzler Jr., G. Ladson-Billings (remote), J. Howard (remote), J. Johnson, J. Krupp (remote), J. Parisi (remote), S. Campagna, S. Stroman (remote), T. Pedracine (remote)
Directors Absent
D. Aguayo, G. Derzon, N. Wray
Ex Officio Members Present
K. Caire
Non Voting Members Present
K. Caire
Guests Present
B. Pickett, C. Hampton, Donald Dantzler (remote), G. Wiseman, H. Brandt, K. Key, Kim Anderson, M. Dyslin, M. Ruffin, N. Navarro-Albaladejo
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
C.
Approve Minutes from the November 25, 2025 Regular Board Meetings
II. One City Scholars Presentation to the Board
A.
One City Scholars Presentation
III. One City Schools 2024-25 Audit Presentation
A.
Audit Presentation
Ashlyn Smith, Manager at CliftonLarsonAllen (CLA), CPAs, reported on the recently concluded audit of One City Schools. Ms. Smith shared that her sole focus is in working with nonprofits.
The audit was submitted to One City's charter authorizer (the office of Educational Opportunity (OEO) at Universities of Wisconsin) by the deadline of December 1, 2025 and to the Department of Public Instruction (DPI), by its deadline of December 15, 2025.
Ms. Smith reported that, most importantly, One City received a clean audit with one material weakness, which was due to an adjustment carried over from last year's audit. There were no other concerns to report to the Board.
Ms. Smith noted that revenue trended upward in 2024–25 and that there was an overall positive change in net assets.
Ms. Smith stated that CLA is working on finalizing the Single Audit, with a deadline of the end of March, but likely to wrap up by the end of February.
IV. Review and Approval of November and December 2025 Financials
A.
Review and Approve November and December Financials
Board members reviewed the financial reports from November and December 2025, as the One City Board of Directors does not hold a regular meeting in December.
The Board noted a revenue shortfall attributable to lower-than-projected enrollment in some grades, and discussed the importance of increasing fundraising efforts to address the gap.
V. One City Tutoring Program: Fall to Winter 2025-26 Academic Growth and Mid Year Pivot Report
A.
One City Tutoring Program
Maria Dyslin, CAO, shared the promising results to date of the One City Schools volunteer tutor program. One City staff are grateful for the exceptional volunteers working with our staff and Scholars.
The University of Florida Literacy Institute (UFLI) training held in early January was a great success. All One City staff, along with volunteer tutors and some community members and parents, attended the two-day training.
UFLI will provide a refresher to One City staff on February 9th.
UFLI will hold the first Midwest "Pop-Up Academy" on March 14–15, with plans for approximately 80 participants.
B.
Mid Year Pivot
Prior to winter break, leadership developed a plan to modify the school day to ensure Scholars reach their academic potential, demonstrate One City's Habits of Character, and develop the knowledge, skills, and tools necessary to become agents of change in their own lives and in the community, while also supporting the educators who will make this growth possible.
School leaders reported to the Board on the details of this mid-year pivot, including the tracking measures in place and data collected to date. While One City's academic growth is exceptional - both the elementary and middle schools have received "Exceeds Expectations" ratings for two consecutive years - One City remains committed to increasing proficiency for all Scholars. The key elements of the change are a concentrated focus on academics during the morning and project-based learning during the afternoon.
VI. Advocacy Update
A.
Update on One City Schools Advocacy Efforts
On Wednesday, January 28th, there will be an Assembly Public Hearing before the Colleges and Universities Committee to consider AB #818, the Demonstration Public School Legislation. Board members are invited to attend.
VII. Department Reports
A.
Department Updates
Written updates for each department were provided to board members.
One City Schools STEM teaher Danyella Portillo and One City Scholars presented their work on the Future City Competition: Scholar-led engineering projects integrating sustainability, civic planning, research, and systems thinking.