Opening Items

Please note which board members are present and absent for the Secretary. 

The meeting will be called to order by the Chair. 

The meeting minutes from the previous month (regular meeting and special meeting) will be reviewed and voted for acceptance barring any agreed amendments. 

 

The meeting minutes from the previous month (regular meeting and special meeting) will be reviewed and voted for acceptance barring any agreed amendments.

The meeting minutes from the previous month (regular meeting and special meeting) will be reviewed and voted for acceptance barring any agreed amendments.

At each regular and special meeting which is open to the public, members of the public and employees of Kestrel Heights shall be afforded time, subject to reasonable constraints, to comment to the board.

Public/employee comments and questions shall be:
1) Limited to two minutes (2 minutes).
2) Directed to the Board and not to individual members.
3) Presented in a professional demeanor and not in a threatening, profane, vulgar or abusive manner.
4) Topics that are relevant to the business matters of the Kestrel Board of Directors.
5) Recognized after speaker provides their name to the Board President prior to addressing the Board.

It shall be the decision of the Board if it is appropriate to respond to a question and which Board member will respond. The Board encourages all comments/questions to be submitted in writing to the board following the two minutes to ensure the entire message is heard by the board.

Individuals who engage in repetitive comments/questions will be asked to refrain and/or yield the floor.

Review of the monthly expenses from the school through the month of September.  

Ms. Buckholz and Dr. Tracy will present the ledger for all line items that are currently over budget.  Due to low enrollment the budget was shifted in November and it took several weeks to confirm all changes with Acadia.  The purpose of this presentation is to explain the reason line items are over budget and if possible the plan to address.  

The following Requests for Proposals were sent out in March and will be presented in April.  


Here are a list of services we currently contract out:  

• Cafeteria/Child Nutrition 
• Custodial/Cleaning 
• Audit Services (no formal RFP but asked for proposals) 
• Financial Services (payroll and invoicing) 
• Attorney 
• Lawn Care 
• Insurance Broker (Liability)
• Insurance Broker (Health) 

Ms. Callahan has requested to update the School and Community Policy (3.40 Student Illness and Injury).  Attached is the updated policy with the changes in yellow.  She will present the changes and why she feels the change is necessary.  

Based on the feedback from the February Meeting, the calendar committee and Ms. Goff have provided additional information.  Ms. Goff made recommendations as it pertains to start time and Ms. Vargas adjusted the calendar based on changes to start time and banked hours/days.  They will present these option to determine if the board would like to change the approved calendar.  

Ms. Goff will present the plans for End of Grade Prep, Summer Remediation, and Summer Reading Camp.  

The Board must approve the Summer Remediation Program.  

At a recent staff meeting there was significant concern stated by the staff pertaining to the increasing behaviors and the reduction of support.  

With the staffing adjustments in November and Dr. Tracy's role change in February the staff stated they are feeling that there are not adequate resources to address the behavior needs at the school.  Ms. Goff identified three options:

Ms. Goff's Comments: After speaking with my team, I am requesting at least one of the following options to better support the school community with the lack of available resources following the 11/30/2018 departure of many staff and Dr. Tracy change in time on campus.

1 - Self-Contained Behavior Support Classroom - staffing would include at minimum one EC teacher (behavioral support trained) and ideally a dedicated TA

2 - Behavior Specialist on staff - not a TA but a certified/trained behavior support specialist

3 - 1 additional Social Emotional TA's (keep Dale in the position he was just hired for but also hire a second person)  


Below are the budget implications* for each of the recommendations:
1 - Self-Contained Behavior Support Classroom   ($16,371+10,251= $26,622)
2 - Behavior Specialist on staff     ($16,371)
3 - 1 additional Social Emotional TA's   ($10,251)

 * All budget estimation contain average benefits package and employment from March 1 until the end of the school year.  Teacher salary based on 1 year exp and TA salary based on 1-10 years exp.  

This same information was shared via email to the board on February 22, 2019.  

Annual the board determines if staff will be paid out for left over Paid Time Off.  Staff can receive either cash, 401 K deposit, or HSA deposit.  Ms. Buckholz provided a snapshot of where the organization is as it pertains to unused PTO and what that could cost the organization. 

As of the February's payroll, we have 380.5 days of PTO remaining, with an estimated cost of $15,520.00.

Voting Items 

1. Approving overall PTO payout 
2. Allowing staff to receive payout via cash, retirement, or HSA 

Academic Excellence

The state of North Carolina Department of Education and the Office of Charter Schools informed KHS that we are below the required 50% certification rate.  This cannot be addressed until the following school year.  The purpose of this ongoing agenda item is to develop a long term plan to address this concern.  

Feb:
Review Policy 

March-April 
Discuss current staff 

April-June 
Implement and communicate plan 

Current Policy:
2.18 Licensure Requirements

It is the expectation that all professional employees will hold a valid North Carolina license appropriate to the position in which he or she is employed. Licensure renewal is the responsibility of the individual, not of the school. Renewal activities for all professional employees need prior approval by the director. Any courses or activities undertaken shall directly relate to the employees' position responsibilities and shall have suitable content level. A record of all approvals; satisfactorily completed renewal activities and timely submission of certificate renewal data to the State Department of Public Instruction shall be maintained in the Personnel file. Any employee allowing a license to expire must have it reinstated prior to the beginning of the next school year. An expired license is a basis for dismissal.

2.21 Highly Qualified Teachers

Effective June 30, 2009, all teachers, regardless of hire date, should meet the qualifications and competencies established by federal and state law, policy and regulations, including the requirements of No Child Left Behind.

Dr. Tracy will provide an update on the 2020 Charter Renewal  and Annual Performance Framework

Charter Renewal: Site Visit

• No additional Updates at this time 

 Performance Framework 

• March Submission Requirements (Due March 18)
  •  Board Member List Updated (Not submitted at this time; awaiting board member information) 
• March Submission Requirements (Due March 31) 
  • School Improvement Plan (N/A)
  • EMO/CMO Public Records Request (N/A)
  • Board Criminal History Check Policy 
  • Fire, OSHA, and other required Health or Safety Inspections 
  • Civil and Liability Insurance Certificate 

Board will enter closed session for the purpose of NC GS § 143-318.11(a) (6).  Closed sessions.

• (6) To consider the qualifications, competence, performance, character, fitness, conditions of appointment, or conditions of initial employment of an individual public officer or employee or prospective public officer or employee; or to hear or investigate a complaint, charge, or grievance by or against an individual public officer or employee.

Board will exit closed session and disclose any required aspects of the session.

Governance

Board Members will have time to ask Executive Director specific questions pertaining to his monthly report.  

The purpose of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) fiscal monitoring is to confirm federal, state, and local resources are focused on improved results for children with disabilities and their families.  The process consists of multiple tiers; Tier II requires school systems to complete the IDEA Fiscal Desk Review.  

Dr. Tracy will provide a brief update on the Targeted Support & Improvement Additional Targeted Support (TSI-AT) grant that was submitted to the state.  

Based on feedback from the state KHS may be awarded a one time amount from $7,000-10,000*.  The amount can be used for the following reasons; see grant application for full detail:

• A comprehensive Needs Assessments 
• Root cause analysis specific to the subgroup
• NC STAR training 
• Professional Development to support the needs of the subgroup 
• Develop or revise a school improvement plan 
• Provide substitutes or stipends to allow staff to attend a TSI training 

* Grant amount is based on total number of schools who applied for the grant.  

Page 2 of the report was uploaded to the CCIP site on 3.8.19

The Board of Directors will annually review all polices and staff handbooks, the schedule is below.  For the month of September the board is complete the 1st read of the School and Community Policy 

Staff Handbook
June (First Read)
July (Second Read)
August (Board Approval)

School and Community Policy Section
September (First Read)
October (Second Read)
November (Board Approval)

Finance Policy Section
December (First Read)
January (Second Read)
February (Board Approval)

Employee Policy Section
March (First Read)
April (Second Read)
May (Board Approval)



 

The PTSO has reached out to the board to discuss a more formal relationship. 

Based on KHS By-Laws the board is to elect new members in June.  In order to prepare for these elections the board will discuss the process in place to recruit new board members.  Currently, there is one staff Ex-Officio officer opening, the board will also discuss a plan to fill that position as well.  

To inform the board on the progress being made by Avison and Young in an attempt to sell this property.  

Monthly Progress Report 
Below please find an update on marketing activities during the last month (sent by Bill Aucion, Vice President of Avison and Young):

• Dan Smith expressed interest but doesn’t have anyone in mind
• Made sure we are up and running on LoopNet as well
• Talked with Gabe Gorelick about the property. Explained how it can be developed in the flood zone.
• David Divine inquired about the setbacks and flood zone.
• John Linderman met with Bobbitt. They prepared a draft site plan based on the property constraints (attached.) It appears the site can accommodate about 30k-40k sf. To raise the base level above 262’AGL, about 3 or 4 acres will need to be raised by 4 feet. The estimated cost to raise the site is $200k - $250k per acre (so maybe $600k). If we assume a price per building foot for industrial should be around $18 per building sf (on 40ksf), the total price for the land and grading together would need to be $720,000. If we back out the grading cost, that leaves a sale price on the land at $120,000.
• Jonathan Gindes also reviewed the property for development. His engineer estimated the grading cost at $700,000.
• Frank Csapo was interested but said he’s not willing to take the risk on site development for only 40,000 sf of space.
• I realize this may be shocking but we did want to let you know what we’ve learned so far. 

Literature Review: Complete a comprehensive literature review of the known educational models with a focus on Practical and Proven Models. 

Identify Top 6 Models: Provide the Board with reasons and rationales for 6 educational models that can be implemented at the school and would provide the school an educational and marketing advantage.