Academy of Collaborative Education
Minutes
Governance Committee Meeting
Date and Time
Monday July 14, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Pursuant to Louisiana Open Meetings Law - La. R.S. 42:19, notice is hereby given to the members of the Board of Directors of Academy of Collaborative Education and to the general public that the Board will hold a regular, special, or re-scheduled meeting, open to the public as specified below. To ensure compliance with the Open Meeting Law, recipients of this message should not forward it to other Board members, and Board members should not reply to this message.
Committee Members Present
Amy Marcus (remote), Holly Allen (remote), Joellen Freeman, Kara Maggiore (remote)
Committee Members Absent
None
Committee Members who left before the meeting adjourned
Kara Maggiore
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
C.
Approval of Committee Meeting Minutes
II. Governance
A.
Report: Executive Director Update
B.
Discussion: FY26 EdOps Financial Services Contract
The EdOps contract is for accounting and financial services for FY26 and, if approved by the board, will commence on August 1, 2025.
C.
Discussion: Governance Committee Calendar
The committee discussed the proposed Annual Recurring Non-Exhaustive calendar of objectives and responsibilities.
These are items that will be visited each year by this committee and will be entered into BOT as tasks for this committee.
III. Action Items
A.
Recommendation of EdOps SoW + Contract to Full Governing Board
B.
Approve Governance Committee Content Calendar for FY26
IV. Other Business
A.
Committee Meeting Scheduling
The Governance Committee will request that the board amend the FY26 Board and Committee Meeting Schedule to allow Governance to meet every fourth Wednesday at 3:30.
If approved, the committee's next meeting will be held on August 27, 2025, at 3:30 p.m.
B.
Communication
ACE's Communication Plan was discussed.
ACE utilizes various channels to communicate with parents:
Website
Notes sent home in backpacks
Remind App
J-Campus
Phone
A parent has requested the ACE board's bylaws to establish a Communications Committee and Plan.
It is this committee's opinion that while parents can certainly view the bylaws, the Communications Committee should be composed primarily of ACE staff.
Middle School Expansion:
Joellen is moving forward with the Grace Episcopal Church option for the 6th grade. Upgrades, such as delayed egresses and sprinklers throughout, will be required for safety, security, and compliance.
Most of these upgrades will be reimbursable through the CSP grant.
Legal costs relative to this option may also be reimbursable through CSP.
We will likely request a 3-year lease.
If the upgrades to their building are substantial, Joellen will also request that we pay no rent for those three years.
Student/Parent Handbook:
ACE will be required to enforce the LDOE's absenteeism policy, as stated more plainly in this updated version of the handbook.
The spirit of the policy is that children need to be present, especially for the core curriculum.
Since ACE offers the required therapies, when a student is pulled out of school to go for outside treatment, they must be counted as absent.
Joellen and Karen will send an email explaining the absenteeism policy, along with the new handbook, to all parents.