Miles Ahead Charter School

Minutes

MACS Board Meeting

Date and Time

Thursday April 18, 2024 at 7:30 PM

Directors Present

A. Lee (remote), A. Turner (remote), C. Browne-Roberts (remote), C. Menifee (remote), D. Laguerre II (remote), E. Miller (remote), E. Quackenbush (remote), H. Lust (remote), J. Toussaint (remote), T. Reese (remote)

Directors Absent

U. Sayers

Guests Present

gstevens@gacharters.org (remote)

I. Opening Items

A.

Record Attendance / Confirm Quorum

B.

Call the Meeting to Order

H. Lust called a meeting of the board of directors of Miles Ahead Charter School to order on Thursday Apr 18, 2024 at 7:35 PM.

C.

Confirm amount of people who signed up in advance for Public Forum

D.

Approve Meeting Agenda

C. Browne-Roberts made a motion to to approve the April 18th meeting agenda.
J. Toussaint seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

E.

Approve Minutes from March 16, 2024

J. Toussaint made a motion to approve the minutes from March 16th Board Meeting MACS Board Meeting on 03-16-24.
E. Quackenbush seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

II. Treasurer's Report

A.

April Treasurer's Report

  • Dorian shared the March 2024 financial report and Ed and Jennifer shared corrections for the current ending total for March 2024.
  • Dorian presented outgoing expenses and deposits. He shared that we closed the Capital City account and transferred the balance to the Georgia Own account.
  • Updated the board on the Money Market account interest earned in the month of March. 
  • Dorian shared the current budget and forecast for the 2023-2024 fiscal year. 
  • Dorian shared that as a first year school we are managing a very good cashflow and reserved cashflow procedure. Dorian attributes the good standing in cashflow to maintaining a conservative budget and the grants that Kolt has obtained has allowed us to maintain excellent financial standing. Jennifer added being able to retain Ed Tech as our back office provider has helped MACS maintain good financial standing. 
  • Dorian also provided a grants summary which included grants obtained and money drawn from them.
  • Dorian also shared the multi-year projection for MACS.

III. Committee Updates

A.

Committee Updates

  • Academic- no meeting this month or updates they will meet May 14th.
  • Development- Angel updated the board on the fundraising event Parent's Night out on Friday, April 12th as well as the plan for Giving Tuesday in the fall. Michelle Neely, GCSA has offered assistance for fundraising for MACS. Angel will schedule a meeting with her. 
  • Finance- see Treasurer's Report.
  • Governance-  created a process for recruiting new members and have began the process for selecting prospective board members. 

IV. Items to Vote On

A.

First Amendment to Lease Agreement

E. Miller made a motion to accept the First Amendment to the lease agreement in regards to Building 200.
J. Toussaint seconded the motion.

Henry shared the reasoning behind the changes is to expand to more grade levels and more classrooms using the 2nd building 200.

The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

B.

RFP Response For Services - 1.) Cleaning Services

C. Browne-Roberts made a motion to approve the RFP bid for Maid Quick Cleaning, LLC.
A. Lee seconded the motion.

Adjust the verbiage in the proposal/contract for August 2024 to May 2025. 

The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

C.

RFP Response For Services - 2.) Meals ... No Response Has Been Received

D.

RFP Response For Services - 3.) Bus Service

E. Miller made a motion to table this item until amendments are made to the contract.
C. Browne-Roberts seconded the motion.

The board recommended that we table the vote and request amendments to the contract that relate to the field trip rate and the issues the prior school year in relation to the reliability of the bus services. For the discussion regarding transportation, when this is further looked into, the issues were the following: wait the additional fee would be for additional hours. I brought that up because being we are adding 5th grade, they may have an extended trip and the additional cost isn’t laid out. The proration is increasing by $1,000 per month.  Per the contract, it states no proration, however, there is  $11,000 for the month of December when the students are out two weeks

The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

E.

Open Up Resources Libraries

J. Toussaint made a motion to accept the proposal for the Open Up Resources for SY24-25.
E. Miller seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

F.

SchoolMint: Enrollment & Engagement Platform

A. Lee made a motion to accept the Year 2 renewal of School Mint/Connect.
E. Quackenbush seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

G.

Additional 3rd Grade Class - Final Vote

E. Miller made a motion to approve the expansion of 3rd grade to two 3rd grade classes at 20 students each.
C. Browne-Roberts seconded the motion.

The board discussed the different options for adding a second 3rd grade class versus keeping just one. 

The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

H.

FY25 Budget Hearing Schedule - Finance Committee To Develop

A. Lee made a motion to have the two Budget Hearings May 16th and May 30th 2024.
J. Toussaint seconded the motion.

Propose May 16th and May 30th (Special Call Meeting) as this years Budget Hearing meetings. The board will develop a schedule for subsequent years to stay in compliance for the Budget hearings. 

The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

V. Meeting Discussion Topics

A.

MACS 3-Year Strategic Plan ... The June 15th In Person Board Meeting Will Be an Extended Meeting to Allow Dedicated Time To Review The Plan.

Extend the time during the June 15th in-person meeting to complete the 3 Year Strategic Plan.

B.

Board Chair Followups

  • We had 100% attendance in the SCSC Governance training for the board. 
  • The board must complete 6 sections of asynchronous virtual trainings to complete the required trainings by April 30th. 
  • Henry updated the board on board member status as it relates to board members leaving. Henry also updated the board on the prospective board candidates and their standing in the interview process. 

C.

Board Recruitment Plan

Henry shared the plan to the board.

D.

Gregg Stevens

E.

Executive Session if Required

E. Quackenbush made a motion to move into Executive Session to discuss personnel matters at 9:10 pm.
E. Miller seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

F.

Executive Director's 2023-2024 Bonus

A. Lee made a motion to to approve the Executive Director bonus as discussed in the Executive Session.
J. Toussaint seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

VI. Closing Items

A.

Public Forum - Opportunity for Submitted Questions from Public

B.

Announcements

Dorian remined us that the two Budget Hearing must be at least 2 weeks a part. The board went back and amended the vote for the two Budget Hearing Meetings.

C.

Next Board Meeting: May 16, 2024, @ 7:30pm, Via Zoom

D.

Which Summer Month To Cancel Board Meeting?

The board will keep the June 15th meeting to an extended in-person meeting. 

C. Browne-Roberts made a motion to keep the June 15th in person extended meeting and cancel the virtual July 18th meeting.
E. Miller seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

E.

Adjourn Meeting

There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 9:43 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
H. Lust