F. Hamilton motioned to table approving the minutes from 02-18-16.  S. McFarland seconded.  Motion passed.

No comments

J. Jaroscak  reviewed the passage of legislation: Section 3314.029E)(7). The Sponsor has developed a Governing Authority Annual Disclosure form which MPA will need to complete annually.
 
J. Jaroscak explained that the State of Ohio now requires additional Open Meeting and Public Records training.  New board members must complete an initial 5 hours of training; subsequent years require 2 hours of annual training. All members are currently compliant.
 
Site visit – marked compliant

MPA was paid (back pay) from ODE on the corrected number of students so payments are now up to date.

Budget - monthly and YTD budgets were available to the Board.  F. Hamilton asked for end of year projections based on known income and expenses.  D. Massa offered to give an updated projection at the next board meeting.  As the Board projects income and expenses conservatively, it appears MPA will end the year with an approximate $100,000 surplus.  D.Massa stated that A.Oxley and the MPA Business Office are doing a great job running a tight ship.The largest line item expense this month was for field trips.

MPA's Board stated they are curious to hear about the audit; D. Massa stated MPA should hear back soon.

T.Harrison inquired about budgeting process for 2016-17 school year.  A.Oxley stated the goal was to bring next years' budget to the next board meeting for approval.  A. Oxley and J. Deir updated the Board that the finance committee was working to gauge the budget needs of the various staff members and committees of the board. D.Massa will bring a draft 5 year budget to April's board meeting for approval.

Board reviewed monthly expenses, noting that Miscellaneous Expenses seemed high.  A. Oxley explained this was due to reimbursements to the School Director dating from summer through year end.  A. Oxley is now collecting receipts and processing reimbursements monthly. T. Harrison asked that the board see a break down of these expenses.

School Calendar discussion  - Start of school is earlier than in years past (Tuesday August 23rd, 2016).  Parent/Teacher conferences (no school for students) are scheduled for the first Monday and Tuesday (Election Day) of November due to (parking lot) safety concerns as St. Mel's Community Center is a voter precinct.

The School Director charged Student Council with reviewing, deliberating, and recommending changes to the dress code.  Student Council President and Vice President (Eliana and Lexi) presented Student Council's recommendations. 

MPA's Performance index shows a grade of B, scoring 100.9 points out of 120.  This is due to several factors in addition to the 6.6% of students who opted out of state testing last year.  ODE's  reconfigured numbers increases the grade to an A (scoring 108 points out of 120) when non-tested students are not included.  ODE is not likely to publish the adjusted score. Certain grade level subjects do not have a score as no score is tabulated when fewer than 10 students take the test (due to Federal Privacy regulations). F. Hamilton expressed concern that the scores seems to drop in 6th grade.  T. Harrison requested that the Program Excellence Committee work with the Admin Team to explore this in greater detail (Are MPA students getting tested on what they are learning? Are a few poor testers skewing the results? Etc.)

The State of Ohio Report Card is available on ODE's website.

D. Thompson discussed Team Leads and Teacher Based Teams. He is looking to increase common math time in lower school to better facilitate differentiation through an increased number of (smaller) groups. Implementation across multiple grades will better allow for individual subject acceleration needs as well.

B. Veccia discussed the site visit of some CMSD Gifted Teachers and Gifted Coordinator. She expressed that CMSD is moving away from a self-contained gifted program and moving toward a pull-out program.

A.Ross read Capital Campaign Chair Kelly Nelson's letter to the board asking for 100% Board participation before rolling out the campaign. Goal is to achieve this by the end of the month.

Upcoming fundraisers include Walk-A-Thon and the Spring Concert.

Fowler Foundation site visit 3-18-16. If the visit goes well MPA will be invited to apply for funding during this grant cycle.

There are a few items still being negotiated in the Sublease Agreement.  J. Deir expressed the importance of communicating with MPA families and teachers regarding MPA's 2016-17 school location.  It was strongly suggested that families and teachers be notified as soon as the lease is signed.

The West 53rd property is now asbestos free.

F. Hamilton made a motion to approve payment of $8,678.25 to Mannik Smith Group for environmental work.  A discussion ensued regarding what work was done and why this cost wasn't paid by the environmental grant.  F. Hamilton will ask Mannik Smith Group for more details.  F. Hamilton withdrew his motion.

While MPA is exempt from property taxes, W. 53rd will have to pay he outstanding amounts in order to close on the financing. One of the loans is through the county. Current total is approximately $9,847.95.

Discussion - meeting materials need to be uploaded to BOT no less than 7 days prior to a board meeting. 

Board returned from Executive Session at 10:15pm