Prelude Prep

Minutes

July Board Meeting

Date and Time

Wednesday July 16, 2025 at 9:00 PM

Location

Prelude Prep July Board Meeting (we will use this link to record. Jen will handle recording)
Wednesday, July 16 · 9:00 – 10:00am
Time zone: America/Chicago
Google Meet joining info
Video call link: https://meet.google.com/kxh-qemj-xvt
Or dial: ‪(US) +1 423-707-2683‬ PIN: ‪515 823 292‬#
More phone numbers: https://tel.meet/kxh-qemj-xvt?pin=1320680061135

Notice is hereby given that a regular meeting is scheduled at 6:30 PM.
This Meeting will be conducted by telephone conference in accordance with the Governor’s
authorization concerning the suspension of certain open meeting law requirements for COVID-19.

Directors Present

Dr. Denise Miner-Williams, Jennifer Paquette, John Sanchez, Kim Munoz, Steve Viola

Directors Absent

None

Directors who arrived after the meeting opened

Dr. Denise Miner-Williams

Guests Present

Lauren Lewis

I. Opening Items

A.

Record Attendance

B.

Call the Meeting to Order

Jennifer Paquette called a meeting of the board of directors of Prelude Prep to order on Wednesday Jul 16, 2025 at 9:10 AM.
Dr. Denise Miner-Williams arrived.

C.

Pledge of Allegiance recited.

D.

Approve Minutes

Jennifer Paquette made a motion to approve the minutes from Board Meeting on 06-18-25.
Kim Munoz seconded the motion.

1. Correction made and accepted: Finance committee, not Board, will meet before the July Board meeting.  

2. Dr Miner-Williams noted that past meeting minutes from May 20th, April 16th, September 24th, and April 24th had not been officially approved on the board on track system, despite potentially being voted on previously. She committed to making these minutes available for review and future approval (00:05:26).

The board VOTED to approve the motion.

II. Committee Reports

A.

Academic Committee

1. Dr. Miner-Williams and Ms. Lewis provided an update on academic performance from STAAR, expecting a high C or possibly a B accountability rating, which shows improvement year over year. They highlighted the school's competitiveness with other charter schools and local schools, especially in closing reading and math gaps for focus groups like special education, bilingual, and economically disadvantaged students. Ms. Lewis shared that funders recognized the school's achievement on reading, sending congratulations and a gift card. 

2.  A TEA grant was received, providing more days with Lavinia Group for reading and math.
The Bluebonnet math program is now used for elementary and middle school.
3. Enrollment: Daily tours are occurring and applications are being received consistently. Goal is to increase enrollment by 100 students. Lauren Lewis noted that the loss of PreK for SA funding could benefit the school's enrollment, as their pre-kindergarten qualifications align with the needs of undocumented and economically disadvantaged children. We have an organization who is making phone calls using a script to gain contacts for enrollment. There is no "street-walking" to pass out flyers this year.

4. Staffing: The school has job openings for grades one, five, and six due to a fifth-grade teacher leaving the education profession. Efforts are being made to attract experienced teachers due to
new House Bill stipulations that increase funding for teachers with three to five years of experience. Ms. Lewis plans to use LinkedIn, Facebook, and Indeed ads for recruitment and encourage alumni network sharing.
5. Teacher Training is scheduled for July 28th with Lavinia, focusing on curriculum understanding and implementation. 

6. Summer school had 51 children participating, who enjoyed the Lavinia curriculum. Ms. Lewis anticipates limiting summer school to younger children in the future due to older students losing interest and Not attending. Both attendance and pre/post test scores are tied to funding.

B.

Finance

The Committee reviewed the financial, which look good. The school passed the FIRST criteria with a 79% this year, an improvement from 68%. We received no points for the debt to capitalization ratio (keeping us from attaining an Above Standard rating).  Ms. Lewis highlighted that increasing enrollment is key to improving this ratio.
● Ms. Taylor-Paquette emphasized the need to understand the amount of general operating funds versus donor-designated or restricted funds. Ms. Lewis explained that while the school had a
cash balance of $371,056, only a portion, specifically $125,000 from local revenue, is flexible for discretionary operational use. The Board has an important role in increasing local, non-donor-designated funds for flexibility in operational spending

C.

Governance

1. It has been previously noted that Mr. Sanchez will not be working on the Development Committee due to conflict of interest with his job, and will be working on the Governance Committee.

2. New Board members: Ms. Taylor-Paquette acknowledged that current methods for recruiting new board members are not working. She emphasized the need to utilize local networks with contacts in the community seeking potential members  for development/fundraising and legal expertise. Ms. Taylor-Paquette will update a one-pager document for board candidates to facilitate outreach. 

3. All members completed their required training hours for 2025. The clock for completing annual training for 2025-2026 has begun. Ms. Lewis stated there is a new house bill addressing the requirements for annual Board member training. She is attending a meeting for details on that and will report this to the Board ASAP.

III. CEO Support And Eval

A.

2024-2025 Evaluation

Ms. Lewis will send in her reviewee input and all Board members will review and write up their input to the evaluation. These should be forwarded to Ms. Paquette for consolidation. Pending state testing results being available by August (which Ms. Lewis will include in her input), the evaluation will take place after the August board meeting.

IV. Facility

A.

Updates:

1. Flooring is being installed in the cafeteria.

2. CPS is requesting easement rights on the campus bordering Zarzamora Ave, sending a $1 payment for it. Ms. Lewis sent the request to our legal support.

V. Other Business

A.

Website | Board Member Bios and Images

B.

Board Retreat

1. The board retreat is scheduled for July 22nd starting at 3pm at Prelude Prep with the goal being to address topics that require in-depth discussion. 

2. Topics for discussion include 

     review By-laws and sign conflict of interest documents

     review the CEO evaluation and making revisions, 

     review and editing the student code of conduct for future voting

     review of school safety policies and procedures

     reviewing board committees 

     assessing enrollment
     discussing staff salaries, incentives, and performance bonuses

     short in-service on reading financials for non-finance members

3. Refreshments will be served.

VI. Closing Items

A.

Follow-ups to be completed this month

1. Any other topics for discussion during the July 22nd board retreat should be sent to Ms. Taylor-Paquette ASAP. 

2. Ms. Taylor-Paquette will work with Ms. Lewis to ensure they have the correct bylaws and policies for the retreat.
2. Dr. Miner-Williams will make the May 20th, April 16th, September 24th, and April 24th meeting minutes available to everyone for approval.
3. Ms. Lewis will send the link to the alumni network for job postings and pay for LinkedIn and Facebook ads for job postings.
4. Ms.Taylor-Paquette will update the one-pager for board candidates.
5. Ms. Lewis will let the group know about the training updates.
6. Steve Viola will send bios of potential board candidates with whom he is speaking to everyone via email.

B.

Adjourn Meeting

There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 9:51 AM.

Respectfully Submitted,
Dr. Denise Miner-Williams