T. Jaeckle provided an overview of financial statements:

• One City drew $300K from the existing line of credit, $300K and is working with Summit to open another line of credit in the amount of $600K.
• July was a low fundraising month, but fundraising is ramping up this month and should increase through the end of the year.
  • Stock donation of $62K received last week
  • $500K expected by end of this week ($250K for operations and $250K for the advocacy account)
  • $180K from Ascendium Education Group to support the implementation of the Project Read AI pilot project
  • $1MM pledge from an anonymous donor for operations
• First charter school payment expected end of September.

T. Jaeckle reviewed trends in expenses:

• Personnel expenses have increased and are leveling out as One City began filling positions for the 2024-2025 school year
• General expenses have increased (legal expenses incurred, marketing costs, some printing expenses increased)

T. Jaeckle shared that One City's main points of revenue include donations, government grants, and charter school payments.

K. Caire shared that the team has raised $1.9MM in the past month.

K. Caire debriefed a meeting One City had with DPI yesterday. The OCS team discussed the affect of poor attendance on Scholar performance. DPI reported that child protective services is not equipped to act on truancy claims. K. Caire also shared that OCS expects a 37% increase in Scholars with special education needs which comes at a great cost. OCS as a charter school is obligated to accept any child who lives in the state of WI whereas traditional public schools may turn students away if their IEP requires schools to incur additional costs.

• N. Wray suggested that One City frame the strategy as recognizing the flaws in the system 
• S. Klug requested a 15-minute review of the Special Education needs of One City Scholars at the next Board meeting.

Board members were introduced to One City Schools new Director of Finance, Janel Vertz. Ms. Vertz come to One City with substantial skills in school finance. 

K. Caire provided updates to the 2024-2025 employee handbook:

• Title IX policy updates covering sex and gender-based discrimination
• Addition of a false accusation policy
• Updated disability accommodation statement

K. Caire shared updates to the 2024-2025 Preschool Family Handbook:

• Updated preschool rates
• Added a section about the staff childcare center that opened in November 2023

K. Caire shared updates to the 2024-2025 OCES and OCPA family handbook:

• Title IX policy updates covering sex and gender-based discrimination

Board members discussed the reason for keeping the old Title IX policy as well as publishing the updated Title IX policy: if someone comes forward and shares that an incident occurred prior to July 31, 2024, the Title IX coordinator must follow the old policy.  Incidents reported after July 31, 2024 must follow the new policy. 

S. Klug shared that the Board will handle the CEO review in-house rather than using a consultant to manage the process. G. Wiseman and S. Klug will work together to finish the process prior to the end of the calendar year. Chair Howard requested that the team share a timeline with the Board so they know what to expect. G. Derzon requested an update and improvement to the survey questions. S. Klug and G. Wiseman will share a timeline and proposed sample questions.

N. Fees shared a staffing update. One City Schools celebrated a nearly 90% retention rate since the end of the 2023-2024 school year, and most open positions have been filled. In response to a staff survey, One City has moved to implementing differentiated professional development so team members in different roles are growing and learning.

Board members congratulated Maria Dyslin on her promotion to Chief Academic Officer. M. Dyslin shared that the first few days with staff back in the building have been very positive.

A. Ogunniyi reported that having most of the secondary school team return for the 2024-2025 school year provides the opportunity to hone and improve their skills.

J. Clements shared that One City is hosting a fall coaching symposium this week to kick off the school year.

M. Ruffin reported that One City has hired two Family Engagement Coordinators and that they have hit the ground running and are helping to call families and encourage them to complete enrollment paperwork. K. Caire shared that One City has 47 seats to fill as of last week.

C. Hampton shared that One City Advocates has a new website and that One City is working to open a bank account to keep advocacy funds separate from all other school funds.

B. Pickett welcomed 5 new staff at the preschool. K. Caire highlighted B. Pickett, L. Cutting, and the preschool team because the parents of the one preschool team member who left mid-year donated $10K to One City Schools last week. The gift was a testament to the preschool team and the experience that team member had during their time at One City Preschool.

V. Ramakrishnan highlighted the work he is doing to implement Project Read AI at One City Schools, an initiative sponsored by Ascendium Education Group. The AI Tutor, which is student-facing, is one piece of the Project Read AI suite of services.  V. Ramakrishnan commended the OCS team for their help in pulling children at different reading levels to test out the AI Tutor and for One City's commitment to being a lab school on the cutting edge of innovation.

V. Ramakrishnan reported that Project Read AI collects the following data: the number of stories they've read, the number of minutes they've read, and the specific letter-sound concepts students need the most help with.