Danielle Eisenberg called the school board meeting to order at 5:00 PM on August 9, 2023

There was no public comment.

FOB Executive Director Susan Ertle shared the following highlights; 

• FOB is hosting a VIP reception after the annual meeting Wednesday, September 20, 2023 
• The Staff Bash will be held on Friday, October 6 at Punch Bowl Social from 5 pm – 8 pm
• FOB team and board members will visit all schools before opening day to introduce themselves and thank everyone for their hard work in preparing for another school year.  BPS board members are also welcome to join in.  Details on the portal to sign up.
• The annual golf outing was held at Canterbury Country Club on July 17. The event was sold out and was a huge success. 
• The biennial state budget was passed at the end of June.  
• Beyond Breakthrough host several events this summer for our alumni.
• We are in the planning stages for the Woodland Hills expansion, which will encompass the former Gaines Funeral Home and property.
• We finalizing a lease with Graystone for the Cliffs campus. The lease will have a 15-year term and will include provisions for improvements.
• Lubrizol volunteers spent a day of service at the Citizens Glenville Campus in June. 
• The new playground at the Southeast campus is complete and ready for scholars.  

Aracelli Jacobs from TNTP was present and shared key findings from the recent Insight survey as presented in the board packet.

• Survey participants answered questions about key aspects of school culture such as Academics, Talent, School Culture and operations.
• Each participating school received an Insight Index score that was used to benchmark against other schools and identify ways to improve, 
• Results from the survey are used to improve school and network culture and support existing priorities. 
• More details can be found in the board packet on Board on Track

BPS CEO Ralph Johnson shared the following highlights;

Readiness: Enrollment & Hiring 

• Current Academic Capacity
  • All BPS schools are ready to open for scholars and families next Wednesday, August 16
• SY24 Scholar Population
  • Our enrollment team continues to register new families every day
    • Total scholar enrollment is currently at 3120 
    • Kindergarten enrollment is 95% full.  
• SY24 School-Based Staffing Updates
  • We are continuing to recruit and hire staff but we continue to receive resignations in the month of August. Human Capital has reached out to 62 teachers that resigned this year, and connected with 31. Several themes emerged as reasons for their decision to leave the organization, including lack of management support, compensation, and workload
    -  Most indicated that they plan to continue teaching in another school.
  • Ongoing Recruitment Efforts 
    
    • On-the-spot hiring event scheduled for August 11
    • Direct sourcing by Principals, including a past Principal
    • Jobs continue to be posted and recruiters attend events
    • Cold sourcing candidates on Indeed and Linkedin
    • Customized social media marketing through Jetpack
    • Individualized recruitment communication to former employees
    • Incentives/Contingencies
    • Signing and referral bonus for hard-to-fill roles (STEM & ESE)
    • Introducing the Intervention Specialist Fellow Program
    • Contractor options; sourcing from Maxim and Soliant to meet needs 

School board members will be asked to vote on the following resolutions;

• Scholar & Family Handbook
• ESE Services & Supports
  • Additional Alternative Placements
  • Transportation for Select ESE Students
• Tuition Assurance for Principal Licensure
• Expired BPS Board and School Terms for Jennifer Howard, Andrew Lee, Alan Kopit, and Joy Johnson 

The BPS CFO and School Treasurer, Celeste Farmer presented the June financials which were provided in the board packet;

• Total BPS Network cash balances are up over the last year
• Cash balances increased in January 2023 due to the receipt of High Quality Funding, and in February due to ESSER funding.
• In total, FTE (full-time equivalent) enrollment for the network remained flat throughout the fiscal year
• Based upon pre-audit financials, 5 of 5 Network entities are projected to end FY23 with Net Income above the January Board Approved Budget
• Given high cash balances due to one-time revenues, we expect that all schools will continue to meet Sponsor Benchmarks in FY24
• As of the most recent Monthly Sponsor Report, all schools are viewed to be financially sound
• Peer benchmarking will continue to be used to evaluate the CMO costs
• Network scholar population was budgeted at 90% of the goal for each campus
• As of July 31st: 4/5 campuses have exceeded budgeted enrollment, but none have reached the goal
• FOB advocacy efforts have helped to close the gap between community schools and local districts

Academic Excellence was presented in the board packet with the following highlights;

• Returning Leader Intensive was held on June 7, 8, and 9. 
• All Leader Summer Institute took place from July 17 - 19
  • Serves as the Academic Team’s opportunity to grow all returning leaders (Principals, Deans, Directors of Operations, Social Workers, and Counselors) in alignment with our priorities, goals, and plans.
• New Leader Summer Institute - the week-long training was held from July 10 - 14
• New Teacher Summer Institute was held from August 1st - 8th
• A unified scholar handbook was created. Revisions were made to our network's discipline policies, including the processes for suspension and expulsion.

BPS Board chair – requested that when the group meets to talk about the impact of teacher shortages in real-time. 

Resolutions for amended code of regulations and expired board terms for Joy Johnson, Alan Kopit, Andrew Lee and Jennifer Howard were presented to the BPS and School boards for approval, adoption, and ratification.

Matt Rado of CMSD was present and presented the following update;

• Kickoff Meeting held on 8.07.2023 with representatives present from all CMSD schools
• Glenville and Cliffs contracts expire at the end of the year on April 30, 2024. An information session will be held on September 29, 2023, from 9 am – noon. It is important that a school board member, a network person, and principals from both schools attend. 

Maureen Barbessi was present to represent Buckeye Hope, sponsor of Village Prep Woodland Hills.