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Breakthrough Public Schools

Minutes

BPS and School Board of Directors Meeting

Date and Time

Wednesday June 18, 2025 at 5:30 PM

Location

BPSPDLC at Hampden (Boardroom) - 10118 Hampden Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44108

Meeting of the Boards of Breakthrough Public Schools, Citizens Academy Southeast, Village Preparatory School Cliffs, and Village Preparatory School Woodland Hills.

Directors Present

A. Garg, A. KOPIT, A. Lee, C. Lipscomb, G. Burrows (remote), J. Howard, J. Johnson, J. LeMay, L. Mimura, L. Zucca, M. Harris, S. Steinhouse, S. Vyas

Directors Absent

B. Schlang, D. Eisenberg

Guests Present

A. McRae, C. Farmer, H. Perkins, J. Kaye (remote), J. Padlan, M. Sattler, M. Woerner

I. Opening Items

A.

Call the Meeting to Order

S. Steinhouse called a meeting of the board of directors of Breakthrough Public Schools to order on Wednesday Jun 18, 2025 at 5:25 PM.

A. Garg called this meeting to order at 5:25 PM on June 18, 2025.

B.

Record Attendance

C.

BPS and School Boards Vote to Approve the Minutes of the May 21, 2025 BPS and School Board of Directors Meeting

L. Mimura made a motion to approve the minutes from BPS and School Board of Directors Meeting on 05-21-25.
A. KOPIT seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
L. Zucca made a motion to to approve the minutes from School Board of Directors Meeting 05-21-2025.
M. Harris seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.

II. Public Comment

A.

School Boards Public Comment

No one was present to speak

III. FOB Update

A.

FOB Updates

  • Not much to update on right now
  • Golf outing coming up - reminder to sign up online

IV. CEO Update

A.

CEO Update

FY24-25 Reflections

  • Introduced Dr. Keena Day - new CAO

Year In Review

  • Learned a lot about what we need to adjust for different outcomes for next year
  • Launched the year with the Academic Roadmap - high quality curriculum, divided year into arcs
  • As the year progressed, we corrected course and strategically pivoted - staff transitions, external supports, and PD Design
  • Incredibly challenging but we believe we made smart choices and the best decisions we could

How We Set 25-26 Goals

  • Build on Success - Willard and Woodland hills saw the greatest gains (they have strong leadership and stability at the top with the ability to execute the primary play)
  • Gaps Identified - External analysis and Annual Surveys
  • Strong Execution 

Organizational Strengths and Weaknesses

  • Strengths - Unified Vision & Strategic Clarity, Resilient Leadership and Cultural Foundation, Improved Staff Sentiment, Targeted and Scalable PD Programs
  • Weaknesses - Lagging Academic Proficiency, Family Engagement & Retention, Home Office Sustainability, Successor Pipeline Gaps

Organizational Opportunities & Threats

  • Opportunities - Data Driven Instructional Shifts, Scholar Experience Redesign, Professional Learning Acceleration, Fiscal Discipline & Enrollment Strategy
  • Threats -  Persistent Achievement Gaps, School Climate & Leadership Perception, Resource Fragmentation, Readiness for Scale

The Path Forward

  • Gap Identification and Strong Execution
  • Designing the Summer very differently - All Leader Intensives to close gaps (May-July), Leader Curriculum Learning (Late July), New Teacher Summer Institute (Late July), All Teacher Summer Institute (August)
  • All Teacher Summer Institute plan has changed - if we develop leaders in advance, they can drive the development of their schools in their schools from day one with the home office support
  • Glenville and Southeast - we believe that with the support systems we're providing they will be able to succeed since they'll be running the same play as the other schools this year with the summer plan

Progress Monitoring: Scholar Enrollment

  • From last year - re-enrollment is down 358 scholars and new enrollments are down 91 scholars
  • From last board meeting - re-enrollment is up 103 scholars and new enrollments are up 84 scholars
  • We are keeping an eye on these numbers

Progress Monitoring: Staff Hiring

  • We want to keep all of the great people we have. We have fewer vacancies than last board meeting

Racial and Ethnic Balance

  • Discussed key data points pulled from data set regarding the racial and ethnic balance comparing BPS to CMSD

 

B.

Financial Update

CFO Financial Update 

  • 3/6 slightly above budget. One more month to tighten our belt. 
  • Every entity except home office is projected to end FY25 with Net Income above budget
  • Network is projected to end the year with a deficit of $3.9M - feeling positive regarding discipline we implemented this year

C.

NLT Reports

There were no questions regarding the NLT reports

V. Committee Updates

A.

Academic Excellence

  • Reviewed i-Ready and OST scores - did not see the gains we needed across the schools
  • Excited to see progress for this coming year with who we have leading our academic teams
  • Continuing to keep the eye on the ball with any execution gaps
  • Dr. Day talked about how we need to redesign our professional development to handle change management
  • Acknowledging this year was a hard year and there was a lot of energy in excitement for what we believe we can accomplish this coming year

B.

Governance

  • Board Retreat - 7/7 at 9am-1pm - located at the Cleveland Foundation
  • Opportunity for the board to really step back as the board - get to know each other, strengths, and how we channel that in supporting BPS
  • Hear more about CEO goals and goals for next year
  • Celebrated Linda for her time on the board

C.

Finance

  • No questions or concerns
J. LeMay made a motion to approve the BPS May 2025 financial reports as presented.
C. Lipscomb seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
A. Garg made a motion to approve the schools' May 2025 financial reports as presented.
M. Harris seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
A. Garg made a motion to approve the revised five year forecast.
M. Harris seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.

VI. School and BPS Boards Approve Consent Agenda

A.

School Board Vote to Approve Consent Agenda

L. Zucca made a motion to approve the schools' consent agenda.
M. Harris seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.

B.

BPS Board Vote to Approve BPS Consent Agenda

A. KOPIT made a motion to approve the BPS consent agenda.
J. LeMay seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.

VII. Board Resolutions

A.

School Legal Entity Mergers

L. Zucca made a motion to approve the merger of CAS with CLAE.
M. Harris seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
L. Zucca made a motion to approve the merger of VPC with VPW.
M. Harris seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.

B.

Sponsor Contracts

L. Zucca made a motion to approve the CMSD contract and modifications for Citizens Academy Southeast.
M. Harris seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
L. Zucca made a motion to approve the CMSD contract and modifications for Village Preparatory School Cliffs.
M. Harris seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.

C.

Board Appointments

The board acknowledged the June 2025 governance resolutions overview for board appointments, renewals, terms ending, and resignations.

L. Zucca made a motion to approve the Governing Authority of Citizens Academy Southeast to Appoint Official Capacity Director to the Board of Directors of Breakthrough Public Schools (“BPS”).
M. Harris seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
L. Zucca made a motion to approve the Governing Authority of Village Preparatory School Cliffs to Appoint Official Capacity Director to the Board of Directors of Breakthrough Public Schools (“BPS”).
M. Harris seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
L. Zucca made a motion to approve the Governing Authority of Village Preparatory School Woodland Hills to Appoint Official Capacity Director to the Board of Directors of Breakthrough Public Schools (“BPS”).
M. Harris seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
L. Zucca made a motion to approve the appointment of Network Directors of Breakthrough Public Schools.
M. Harris seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
L. Mimura made a motion to vote on the Confirmation of Appointment of Official Capacity and Network Directors.
J. Johnson seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.

VIII. Sponsor Updates

A.

CMSD Updates

  • Only update is that CMSD will visit all four schools during the summer 
  • CMSD will vote to approve sponsor contracts on 6/24 that were presented on 6/10

B.

Buckeye Updates

  • early august will be opening assurance visit - still need to schedule exact date
  • all compliance items have been turned in for the year

IX. Executive Session

A.

BPS Board Vote to Enter Executive Session

A. KOPIT made a motion to enter executive session to discuss personnel matters.
J. LeMay seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
Roll Call
D. Eisenberg
Absent
B. Schlang
Absent
A. Garg
Aye
G. Burrows
Aye
J. LeMay
Aye
L. Mimura
Aye
S. Steinhouse
Aye
A. KOPIT
Aye
J. Johnson
Aye
C. Lipscomb
Aye
A. Lee
Aye
J. Howard
Aye
L. Zucca
Aye
M. Harris
Aye
S. Vyas
Aye

B.

School Boards Vote to Enter Executive Session for the Purpose of Discussing Personnel Matters

L. Zucca made a motion to enter executive session to discuss personnel matters.
M. Harris seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
Roll Call
A. Garg
Aye
M. Harris
Aye
D. Eisenberg
Absent
G. Burrows
Aye
B. Schlang
Absent
L. Zucca
Aye

X. Closing Items

A.

Adjourn Meeting

There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 7:30 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
A. Garg

There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 7:30 PM

 

Respectfully Submitted,
S. Steinhouse