MS Delta Academies
Minutes
Board of Directors of MS Delta Academies
Date and Time
Tuesday March 29, 2022 at 6:00 PM
Directors Present
Emily Cupples (remote), Jacquelyn Brownlow (remote), McKinley Martin (remote)
Directors Absent
Sonja Hollins-Alexander, Williams Brack
Guests Present
Danielle Blasczak (remote), Lindsay Phillips (remote), Maureen Sigler (remote), Tamala Shaw (remote)
I. Opening Items
A.
Call the Meeting to Order
B.
Record Attendance
C.
Approve Agenda
D.
Approve Minutes
II. Board Chair's Report
A.
ED Evaluation Process
III. Executive Director's Report
A.
Facilities Updates
Lindsay Phillips of LevelField Partners gave an update on the facility acquisition and renovation plans. She reviewed how the timeline for purchase has moved up, and that a property evaluation report has been completed. She covered the lease and purchase terms currently being negotiated. Ms. Phillips also provided an update on the construction budget and financing agreement status. Property diligence items are complete.
Mr. Martin posed clarifying questions about lease payments and tax payments, as well as specific terms of the agreement. He also asked about the ongoing relationship with the leaseholder in terms of financial agreements, liability, agreement terms, and timeline.
Ms. Cupples posed a question about the leaseholder's recent decision to sell rather than rent.
The board resolutions regarding the facility plans were presented for review, and the board decided to take additional time to review the documents and await documents closer to finalization. The board will reconvene April 19th to pose clarifying questions and to vote on the resolutions.
These documents were also provided to the board members for review:
KT Builders Contract
Term Sheets
Purchase Agreement
Ms. Phillips's email address was also provided to answer questions in the interim.
B.
Strategic Planning Updates
Maureen Sigler of MKS Education Partners provided an update to the strategic planning process. She reviewed a draft of the plan that covers five high-level goals and 3-4 action steps to help achieve those goals over the next five years.
Dr. Shaw and Mr. Martin posed clarifying questions about the timeline and the action items that align with each goal.
A narrative aligned with the goals will be provided by MKS within the next week.
C.
Fundraising Updates
Dr. Shaw thanked Ms. Cupples for the donation made by her cousin. Dr. Shaw also shared that her birthday fundraising campaign exceeded its fundraising goal by raising $2800 for college tours.
Dr. Shaw shared that Trustmark Bank made a donation of $100,000 to the school. She asked board members to thank the bank for their support.
Grant applications have been submitted to the Community Foundation of Northwest MS and State Farm. A grant award was received from the National School Lunch Program.
IV. Financial Report
A.
Credit Card
Dr. Shaw presented a credit card policy for review. She requested approval to move ahead with a school credit card to help with the cash on hand balance. The card Dr. Shaw that recommended has no limit but must be paid off at the end of each month. It also provides cash back rewards. The card would have to be based on Dr. Shaw's personal credit because the organization is new and still developing its credit history.
B.
Check Signers
C.
Financial Reports
Dr. Shaw shared that the monthly financial reports are available in Board on Track for all members to review.
V. Committee Reports
A.
Academic Report
No report
B.
Finance Committee
No report
C.
Governance Committee
No report
VI. Closing Items
A.
Next Meeting Date & Topics
Meeting has been rescheduled to April 19th at 6:00pm CDT.
B.
Adjourn Meeting
- Cash Flow 022822.pdf
- Budget vs Actual 022822.pdf
- Balance Sheet 022822.pdf
Dr. Shaw has completed her personal evaluation and board members are completing their surveys now. Next step is to share the survey results with all members and craft an ED memo, then share the memo with Dr. Shaw and finalize goals.