No public comment

No public comments.

Ms. Vargas shared the Marketing and Enrollment Update.  She shared the social media campaign as well as the current enrollment.  At present, Kestrel has 413 enrolled at this time for the 2023-24 school year with waitlists for a few of the grades.  121 students are in process of submitting their paperwork for next year.  Ms. Vargas also shared what the deadlines are for the waitlist and accepting their seats.  Ms. Vargas sends out the exit survey to families that decline their lottery seats, and she will share those results with the Board once we receive them.  The Board discussed pursuing a reciprocity agreement with Research Triangle High School with Kestrel Heights; Kestrel Heights administrative staff will follow up.

Ms. Vargas gave an update on Marketing and Enrollment.

Mr. Paris asked for clarification on the 2023-24 enrollment figures; Ms. Vargas confirmed present enrollment stands at 413 as of March 9.

Mr. Matthews provided an update from the Facilities subcommittee.  The delay is now related to the fire alarm, which must be inspected, and then the elevator inspection will follow.  Mrs. Jackson provided an update from the staff on the plans for moving forward.  They are working with BCCG to get the staff tours of the new building.  Ms. Davis also talked about giving families and the community an update on the building progress.

Mr. Matthews of Alliance Education Services gave an update for the Facilities Committee and new building,

Ms. Jackson also gave commentary on progress being made on the facility and remaining items before a temporary certificate of occupancy can be obtained.

Mr. Matthews also gave status of shifting the escrow-bearing account for bond payments for a higher-earned interest rate given the current environment of rising interest rates.

Ms. Villegas provided an update on curriculum and assessment.  She shared iReady scores as they have tended to be a good predictor of EOG scores; iReady now provides an EOG predictor module with information on where specific students need more help.  iReady is showing growth for the whole school, although the scores are better in reading than in math.  Kestrel is now offering a math camp after school for tutoring thanks to Ms. Guess, and 35 students are currently getting that tutoring twice a week.  Kestrel is also using the data to identify small group instruction and is providing intervention for 261 scholars.

Ms. Villegas gave an Assessment update on ACCESS testing to monitor students' progress in acquiring English language proficiency in academic contexts.

Ms. Villegas gave a progress update of IReady assessments to forecast EOG readiness for school and the enrichment/intervention actions the school is taking to ensure students remain on track.

Mr. Price gave the Dean of Culture report.

Mr. Price provided an update on the school culture moving towards a proactive culture instead of a reactive culture.  The third quarter focus includes updating carpool line to increase monitoring and decreasing the time in the carpool line, using Class Dojo, providing staff with virtual trauma informed training, and increasing conferences to support students' needs.  There were 25 behavioral referrals during the month of February.  Data was analyzed to understand the needs and causes.  There will also be a Read-a-Thon coming up soon.

Mr. Touchette provided an update on Camp Kestrel 2023.  Interviews were held for the Camp Coordinator position, and Ms. Marrow (second grade teacher) will be the new Camp Coordinator.  Camp Kestrel is open to current and incoming families.  The process of staffing the camp will start later in the week depending upon enrollment. 

Mr. Touchette discussed plans for Camp Kestrel 2023.  He announced KHS 2nd Grade teacher, Ms. Crystal Marrow, will be the Camp Kestrel Coordinator for 2023.

The application period for Camp Kestrel began on March 3; at present, 73 campers have been registered.

Ms. Jackson provided the Executive Director report.  The school has been having attendance meetings with parents to focus on having students attend regularly as students have had more absences this year and more tardies.  She also shared application data and the source of applications with referrals by a friend being the largest source.  Mrs. Jackson also shared that the NC required EpiCenter report is up-to-date.

The Board had an extended discussion about the absence challenges.

Ms. Jackson gave the Executive Director report.  She gave a report on school attendance and actions taken to address scholars with higher rates of absence.

All Epicenter reports were delivered on time through February 28, 2023.

Mrs. Jackson shared the monthly budget report. The school is 67% of the way through the school year, and the budget is on track for the year.  There are several areas - travel and substitutes - that are over-budget, but will be taken care of with journal entries as funds were pulled from wrong budget lines.

Ms. Jackson gave the financial report.  Progress to the fiscal budget is tracking as expected for this point in the year; some cleaning up of journal entries for proper allocation of State, Local, and Federal funds is being conducted by the bookkeeper.  Those changes are expected to be made ahead of the next meeting.

Mr. Paris reported that the committee needs another month to update the finance policy and vote on it.

Discussion tabled to April meeting.

Ms. Davis shared the proposed Parental Leave policy (not FMLA) as part of a revised Employee Policy.  She shared that there is currently no PTO rollover from year to year.  Non-administrative employees can get paid out for PTO each year (they get 14 days per year), and Administrative employees cannot get paid out for PTO each year (they get 16 days each year). Currently, staff are required to exhaust all PTO for parental leave prior to going on short-term disability.

Proposal would be to allow staff and administrative staff could either get a payout for days OR rollover 10 days.  Under parental leave proposal, staff would get 10 paid leave days and then could use the disability policy.  They can take their PTO as well when disability ends, or they can save it.  The additional cost to the school would be cost of 10 days for leave.

The Board discussed and was supportive of the approach.  Attorney Bowens is going to take the information and write up a policy for a vote.

Ms. Davis gave an overview of the Parental Leave Policy, and presented options to add a Parental leave benefit of 10 days for an eligible birth, adoption, or foster care placement.  All full-time employees are eligible for the benefit (birthing or non-birthing parent).

Ms. Davis introduced a proposal to modify to PTO rollover policy as follows:

• Add administrators to the list of employees eligible for the benefit
• Allow employees the option to either rollover up to 10 unused days of leave to the upcoming fiscal year OR payout unused days at the current rate of $140/day.
• Unused rollover days would expire without payout if not used in the rollover year.

Attorney Bowens will draft a new policy statement based on feedback from the board for review and vote at a future board meeting.

Ms. Jackson shared a new proposal for Children's Internet Protection Act Policy.  Kestrel Heights receives federal Education Rate (e-rate) funding for cabling, ports, WiFi, and related uses.  As a recipient of these funds, Kestrel Heights is required to have a security policy for children as they access the internet.  

Ms. Gordon gave an update on operations.  KHS team is focused on planning the move into the new facility once a temporary certificate of occupancy is isssued.

Quotes for ongoing maintenance items have been solicited (replace water heater, existing building roof repairs, monument sign, and other items).  Full details can be read in the submitted report.

No report given.

The board discussed two contracted-related measures with council.