K. Caire introduced newly hired Special Education Director Kim Anderson to the group. 

Ms. Anderson holds a Masters of Arts in Writing and Literature, a Masters of Teaching, and a Masters of Education, and is currently enrolled at UW Madison, pursuing her doctorate. 

N. Wray asked Ms. Anderson to discuss her dissertation and invited her to sit down and talk with him about her work. 

Ms. Anderson's dissertation topic focuses on the impact School Resource Officers have on Black females and Latinas, explicitly focusing on discipline and the school-to-prison pipeline. 

Ms. Anderson explained that she is restructuring the special education department at OCS to make the most of the talented staff on that team, ensuring the best for One City scholars. 

C. Zdeblick wondered if there is some way to connect the FAST Program with the special education program. She shared her connection to the Cutting Edge program at Edgewood College, and reminded the Board that special education students can stay in high school until age 21.

M. Hanson stated that he would like to join the meeting between Ms. Anderson and N. Wray

W. Akhtar asked about the process of reviewing IEPs in relation to the evaluation OCS is doing with UW-Madison and noted that evaluating IEPs may change the learning outcomes for our scholars.

T. Jaeckle reviewed the trends in OCS account balances. He warned Board members that we will see a drop next month due to the NMTC closing.  

He pointed out that charter school payments comprise the bulk of our school’s revenue. Fundraising makes up 38% of our revenue.

Expenses have been sitting at about $500,000-600,000 per month. Personnel makes up 65% of our expenses which is in line with our budget.

N. Wray asked about what subsidies the school receives for the school nutrition program. 

K. Caire explained that we receive Community Provisions which is a federal program that we are eligible for because 40% of our students qualify for free or reduced lunch.

M. Hanson asked if there are any threats to funding in which we may be interested in lobbying; or is there a reserve in place in case of an economic downturn?

T. Jaeckle replied that OCS' VP of Government Relations will engage in advocacy work that will result in better funding for charter schools. 

L. Lang presented a cash flow analysis to estimate bank account levels by the end of the year. At this point, estimates show that we’ll have $750,000 in the bank at the end of the school year for operations. This highlights the need to fundraise for both operations and building renovations.

M. Ruffin summarized outcomes from open enrollment for One City’s elementary school. 

A lottery for grades 4K-4th will be necessary because the number of applications exceeds the number of seats. 

There are 5 more seats open in 5th grade. 

95% of our current families are returning to One City next year. 

T. Jaeckle asked if 4K siblings of older OCS students will receive preference. M. Ruffin confirmed that siblings of current students do receive preference but that they may be subject to a lottery if applications outnumber the available 4K seats.

G. Wiseman confirmed that the high retention rate should be celebrated and will be shared with OCS stakeholders and mentioned in press releases and marketing materials.

D. Davis shared that OCPA is still looking to hire a few more staff but that much of the team is set in place. 

OCPA hosted two virtual Open Houses this month with an attendance of approximately 75. The video recording will be posted shortly on our website. 

The OCPA webpage has been recently updated. 

Open enrollment for OCPA will take place the first three weeks of April, beginning April 4 and ending on April 22

K. Caire reported that OCS has raised $31,638,903 since July 1, 2014.

He shared that there are a number of donors who have given to OCS in the past but have not contributed in the past year or two. 

OCS will host an event to capture their attention and bring those donors back to OCS.

OCS will host a 90-minute in-person fundraising training sometime in April.

G. Derzon suggested that OCS bring in sponsors for any event we plan to host and cautioned that events do not always result in successful fundraising.

K. Caire stated that an event would include a celebrity or headliner and ticket prices would offset costs associated with the event. 

M. Hanson said that hosting an event with a major headliner/celebrity will be a great marketing opportunity to get One City’s name/brand out there.

N. Wray noted that there are 10-12 major capital campaigns going on in the region right now.

N. Wray also explained that there is a sense in the Madison area that One City doesn’t need donations because of the major donation received from the Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation to purchase the new facility, along with other significant amounts received from CSGF and other sources.  

There is not a clear understanding of the need for funding to continue in order to complete renovations of the the elementary school. 

S. Martyniak asked about One City’s goals and timeline for raising the money, and K. Caire responded that we need:

• $1M for operations
• $7.5 towards the capital campaign
• An additional $5M by the end of the calendar year

Board members discussed the pros and cons of holding in person Board meetings vs. virtual meetings. 

D. Ledesma appreciates the virtual option for the Board meetings

C. Gaines asked us to consider the new variant and highlighted the success of the virtual option.

S. Martyniak said she will not be present for next month’s meeting and would appreciate the option for a hybrid meeting.

C. Gaines suggested we implement a conference call-style hybrid meeting which may be simpler than a video conference.

The board agreed to meet in person in the future, beginning in April 2022, barring any negative changes in COVID-19 conditions, at One City’s preschool building.

S. Martyniak suggested that the board gather in person on another date for a purely social gathering to get caught up with one another.
 

G. Wiseman reminded members that the upcoming Board Retreat will be held on May 7, the first Saturday in May. The location is to be determined.

C. Gaines stated that she will not be present on 5/7, as she will be traveling outside of the country on that date.