Fawn won the game with 600 points.  

Welcome to the team and congratulations Sarah on growing your team!

Site advertised to the public.  Anticipate enrollment numbers will rise.  Targets not completely met for December.  

Need 109 applications by March to meet benchmark, and currently at 100.  By April 28 need 70 complete enrollment applications, and we are currently at 45.  Per Sarah we are on track to meet benchmarks set by SCSC.

Discussed anticipation of hiring Montessori Academic Specialist.  

A lot of interest in lead teacher positions.

Discussed other ways to reach out to hire teachers.  Currently on LinkedIn, but also discussed reaching out to non-profit organizations to reach more potential applicants.

Also have active applications for other administrative positions.  

Currently not vetting sufficient qualified applications for the Elementary level lead guides.  We have sufficient qualified applicants for the Kindergarten lead guide.  Overall on target with qualified applicant pool for lead guides in various areas.  

Question: If able to hire enough certified teachers could the training funds be used to provide tuition reimbursement for teaching assistants?  Per Sarah, that is possible but can also consider increasing salaries for assistants. 

Need to investigate other job posting options that are free or posting to community colleges to reach graduating students. 

Funded from the school leader stipend and Georgia Initiative grant.

Working with EdTech to make sure all expiring funds are used and requirements met.  

IRAs for Sarah and Darius-Do we need to work through EdTech to facilitate setting up the IRAs? Sarah will make contact with EdTech to find out next steps.

Line item on Finance agenda needs to be update.  

Alfie now on the finance committee.

EdTech will provide a tracker and they are now providing back office services as of this month.

Strategic Planning Board retreat on January 28, 2023.  

Kim shared the agenda.

Learned that we are on track with many of our initiatives and plans. 

Key is understanding funding and how it is calculated for charter schools which is different than a traditional public school.  

Take snacks/water with you to orientation, because there are no breaks.  Breaks not built into the agenda.

Budget $1.6 million originally.

Budget updated to $2.4 million.  Will be able to complete some items that might need to be eliminated. 

•      Non-profit buying the property and providing funds to renovate the site.
•      Able to get an uptick in budget based on needs for first year to fit all needs in one         building and eliminate possibility of doing more renovations in 2nd year

Shifted some rooms around from the 1st draft of the plans based on feedback from team, security needs, needs to facilitate the school model.  

Contract needs to be reviewed and the Board will need to vote on contract, then it will be sent to SCSC. In reviewing contract, pay close attention to Sections 1-5 and 7.   

Contract due to architect by 8pm 1/30/23.  

Fawn and Darius did another walkthrough to review items that we can keep, things that need to be repaired and what needs to be completely renovated.

During walkthrough, reviewed possibility of additional bathrooms.  Able to place a bathroom between each classroom with access from either classroom (jack/jill style)

Elevator primarily for handicap access at this point in time.  

Last item to plan is the playground.  First priority was the building itself.  Might be able to get grant funds or donations to facilitate paying for the playground area.  Would need to pay an additional design fee for the playground design.  

Plan is to take vote on Friday, January 27, 2023 via email after we have had a chance to review the contract.  

Vote will be sent by Kim on Friday afternoon.  

Applied for Charter School Launch Grant.  Selected to move forward to the next round.

Submitted paperwork for Strategic Planning grant which includes a stipend for Sarah's salary.  

Focused on hiring, and increasing her capacity to fundraise.  Want to make sure that we fill gaps between state funding and what we need.  

Next item for RedefinED is needed in late February primarily related to facilities.  Fawn is assisting.   

Emmalee Hackshaw--very excited to have another Montessori option on the Southside.  Excited to have her son join the school.  Happy to help with anything the school needs and to join the Sankofa family.