There was no public comment.

Susan, President of FOB gave an update and highlighted the following:

• Fundraising going well 
• The BASH website is ready for registrations
• Golf outing FY25 will be held at Canterbury Golf Club on July 29, 2024
• Donor Appreciation Event was held at The Country Club on February 29, 2024
• School tours – went well. Thanked the principals and staff on how they welcomed guests and created a positive environment. Board members can sign up on the website to join the tours.
• University Hospitals Junior Medical Camp – will take place again this summer thanks to a $5,000 award from University Hospitals
• Nick Hylant, Hylant Group and Ryan Sowers, Hylant Client Executive, have agreed to co-chair the  Emerging Leaders committee and lead the group

Andrew gave an update and spoke to materials presented in the board packet.  

He reiterated his vision of building a high-performing network of student and family-centered schools focusing on joy, love, and excellence. He gave an update on the progress of his entry plan and spoke to the three critical priorities.

He reported that listening and learning sessions were held. They prioritized scholar outcomes and well-being, and employee well-being. Feedback from the sessions will be published and sessions revisited. The goal is to build a network that is best in class, cultivate a system of support, and engage and amplify the voices of families as powerful partners in achieving our mission.

A full set of board metrics was shared in the board packet. 

Juliet spoke to material shared in the board packet and shared the following highlights;

• In-year scholar retention remains stable 
• In-year home office staff retention has dipped due to reorganization
• School-based staff retention has remained consistent

SY25 Enrollment & Re-Enrollment

• Out of 292 applications received, 167 offers have been extended which is on pace with last year. 
• Focus remains on Kindergarten with events at each campus throughout March 
• Enrollment has launched referral campaigns as well as expanded the nurturing campaign

SY25 Enrollment Targets

Enrollment targets have been refined to stabilize the scholar population, retain scholars, reduce mid-year enrollment, reduce budget issues, address the issue of the waitlist, and make data-driven enrollment decisions 

SY25 Re-enrollment

• Out of 444 total scholars at Glenville, 273 indicated they were returning
• Out of 587 total scholars at Southeast 385 indicated they were returning
• Out of 565 total scholars at Cliffs, 442 indicated they were returning
• Out of 456 total scholars at Willard, 396 indicated they were returning
• Out of 574 total scholars at Woodland Hills, 388 indicated they were returning

SY25 Teacher Retention & Recruitment

An informal “Intent to Return” survey was conducted in January. The following has been set in motion to aid our recruitment efforts;

-  Revamped Marketing Materials 

-  Increased advertising

-  Career Fairs

-  School-Based Leader Training

-  Applications for next school year are open on our website

Financial Reports

A full report was shared in the board packet.

Celeste Farmer provided an update and highlighted the following FY24 financial projections:

• Overall the network is expected to end the year with a $3.9M deficit, which is a more favorable deficit than the revised budget
• 4 of 6 network entities are projected to end the year at or below budgeted expenditures – a key financial metric

FY25 Budget Overview

Celeste also provided an update on the FY25 budget and highlighted the following:

• In alignment with the long-term financial plan, the FY25 budget reflects a deficit of $3.7M
• The Network will continue to utilize reserves and reduce expenses to get to a balanced budget in FY27
• The proposed adjustments to the CMO fee for both FY24 and FY25 were also presented
• The FY25 budget continues to reflect creative solutions for enduring organizational challenges
• Compensation adjustments will be made to make sure we can be competitive

Proposal:  FY24 CMO fee be based on % of overall revenue rather than a per-student fee

Board Reports – comprehensive materials from the leadership team were shared in the board packet

Danielle Eisenberg spoke to the materials that were shared in the board packet. Highlighted the following:

The academic excellence meeting was held and Lynesha Richardson attended to talk about scholar experience and her work. The full culture deck presented by Lynesha was shared in the board packet. Highlights areas of focus and continuous improvement.

Linda gave a summary of the materials presented in the board packet.  

• Memos - Celeste reported that the memos were related to management citations that came out of the audit. Board members should expect to receive invitations to the post-audit meetings to discuss memos in detail.

Brad gave the following update:

The governance meeting was held last week. The committee has been working to expand the board to 15 to make sure it is well-staffed for committees. 5 new board members are needed to reach the goal. 13 candidates were identified, 5 were selected and offers will be extended.  3 top choices were identified for backups if need be. The two board chairs had the opportunity to sit in the selections and will allocate who is going to be on which school board and the committee assignments. 

Matt Rado was present to represent CMSD. He reported the following: 

Mid-year check-ins

• The meetings for Willard and Glenville were held in February. Part of follow-ups related to last school year's academic results. Review the newest internal data, gauge how the year is going, monitor progress toward goals, items we can support, etc. Required of all schools that met less than half of academic indicators last year. 
• SPED -we had check-ins with principals and CEO/Board the last few weeks.  Expect additional updates related to SPED after the site visit focus groups

Annual contract meeting

• The meeting was held on March 4, 2024. Danielle Eisenberg attended. Feedback is due March 25. D.E.W. requires, via the sponsor evaluation, sponsors annually review changes in federal and state law, school data, and Ohio’s accountability system to ensure contracts are up to date.

Contract Updates

• Add language for temporary relocation of a school
• Contract lengths unchanged for schools not up for renewal
• New contract length language for renewed schools

Financial Framework updates:

• No major updates in six-plus years
• Received feedback from Doug and Celeste
• Financial consultant reviewed NACSA guidance and compared to others
• Proposed updates to indicators to more fairly assess schools wisely spending reserves.

Please plan to approve between April 23-June 30

Spring site visits

• Begin in late March. 
• Include qualitative data collection. Will discuss this at the May Board meeting. 

Annual sunshine law training – deadline is June 30th 

Emily was present to represent Buckeye Hope, sponsor of Village Prep Woodland Hills. She spoke to the materials shared in the board packet and highlighted the following:

• 98% of items YTD are compliant, which is exemplary.
• A site visit was conducted at Village Prep on February 13 for the second biannual review.  The report will be shared in the next meeting’s materials.
• A notice of concern has been issued due to testing data that has shown that students are not gaining ground. A Corrective Action Plan has been requested from BPS and is due by April 5.