Academy of Collaborative Education
Minutes
Board Meeting
Date and Time
Wednesday August 20, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Location
The Center for Children and Families, Inc.
622 Riverside Dr.
Monroe, LA 71201
Amy Marcus is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: ACE Board Meeting
Time: This is a recurring meeting. Meet anytime
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86737566368
Meeting ID: 867 3756 6368
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Meeting ID: 867 3756 6368
Find your local number: https://us06web.zoom.us/u/ksFZV05P9
According to the 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 rescheduled meeting, open to the public as specified below. To ensure compliance with the Open Meetings Law, recipients of this message should not forward it to other Board members, and Board members should not reply to this message.
In accordance with La. R.S. 42:17.2, this board meeting will be held virtually. Members of the public can access it through the link on the website. The anchor location for the meeting will be The Center for Children and Families, Inc., located at 622 Riverside Dr., Monroe, LA 71201.
Any individual who wishes to make a public comment on one or more agenda items but cannot attend the meeting must submit their comment to boardchair@aceforasd.org at least 24 hours before the board meeting. The comment should include the individual’s full name and the name of the agenda item on which they are commenting.
Any individual interested in providing a public comment on one or more agenda items who can attend the meeting in person may submit their comments to boardchair@aceforasd.org at least 24 hours prior to the board meeting. Alternatively, they may arrive at the meeting, complete the ACE Board Meeting Public Comment Request Form in writing, and submit it to the board chair.
During the board meeting, once the Board President/Chair calls for public comment on a specific agenda item and recognizes the speaker, the individual wishing to make an in-person public comment on an agenda item should be prepared to speak for no longer than 3 minutes. Before commencing with their public comment, the individual must state their full name.
The names of all individuals submitting public comments in person and via email shall be recorded in the meeting minutes.
It is the practice of the board to hear public comments but not respond instantly. The board will confer with the ED and, depending on the issue, either the Board Chair or ED will respond to you within 24 hours.
Directors Present
Amy Marcus, Anna Grimmett, Davy Mize (remote), Holly Allen (remote), Richard Cannon
Directors Absent
Latner McDonald
Ex Officio Members Present
Joellen Freeman, Karen Roberson
Non Voting Members Present
Joellen Freeman, Karen Roberson
Guests Present
Cody Bourque
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
C.
Approve Minutes
D.
Approval of Agenda
II. Reports
A.
Executive Director Report
B.
Principal's Presentation
Presented by Karen Roberson,
Slideshow re: Discussion of goals, assessments, data collection and accountability practices for ACE students. Presentation of scoring and comparison to prior years, where applicable and information available.
C.
Committee Reports
Finance Committee presented by Anna Grimmett: Preliminary deficit for most recent school year but final numbers to be presented on review by new accounting firm.
Facilities Committee presented by Davy Mize. Currently working on 6th grade expansion and prepared to act if/when School workday successful with lots of parent involvement. Open-ended goal to make sure that facility needed repairs
Academic Excellence Committee presented by Amy Marcus. Currently working to organize parent meetings and recently worked with Karen Roberson to pull together slide presentation provided to Board on 8/20/2025.
III. Action Items
A.
Finance Committee's SY25-26 SMART Goals
B.
Facilities Committee's SY25-26 SMART Goals
C.
Academic Excellence Committee's SY25-26 SMART Goals
D.
Executive Director SMART Goals for FY26
E.
Approval of Paylocity Contract
F.
Vote to amend the October board meeting date.
Meeting moved to October 29, 2025
Time for public comment offered but none provided.
G.
Vote to amend the Board and Committee Meeting Schedule:
Time for public comment offered but none provided.
Amy Marcus will amend and send notice to LDOE.
Joellen discussed the following,
1. Enrollment Statistics
Students: 115 students enrolled; 42 students on waitlist; 50+ students on "interest" list
Capacity: 126 with ability to enroll 20% additional students
2. Staffing Update
Hired final 2 teachers last week
Line Technicians: Need 3-4 additional staff and continue to recruit
Strong Start: Meeting each morning at 7:20 am
3. Updated Financials
CSP Grant: To date, ACE has drawn down $840,099 with remaining balance of appx. $1,159,000.00.
4. Audit Progress
Audit Process: ACE is working with Lori Woodard and team beginning in September. Working with Ed Ops and Mike Dunn to complete first audit.
5. Sixth Grade Expansion
Discussions continue with Grace Episcopal. Focus now is on negotiating the lease structure. Need to settle lease by end of next week with anticipated occupation of students by October 1
6. Paylocity Payroll Contract
Discussion of contract. Identify point of contact and management (Joellen) and discuss measures to do so.
7. Additional Discussion
Parent Meetings (learning opportunities organized by ACE over variety of topics); Fund Raising Events (Sept 20 River Rat Challenge and Sept 26 Golf Tournament)