D. Coats opened the floor to public input. No public input was given.

B- Valentine-Watts talked about the preparation for the upcoming tests, we are optimistic about where we are going.  I am challenging myself as well as the board, to be more visible to the schools.   I would like to get more information about upcoming events. 

Dunn – both schools are applying for a teacher improvement grant about $20,000 for each school.  This will help with teacher retention and support the new teachers.  We were very cautious about how much we asked for. 

Miller – I think the grant is great.  I did a pop-up visit and it was very gratifying.  I pulled one of the teachers aside and asked how we could help and she said just being here and saying thank you meant a lot to her.  It made me realize why I am here on the board.  The database (SIS) is a great tool we can use.

Dunn – shared that we sent the database (SIS)  access to the board members.

Frasier -  I know elementary classes are always asking for help, do the middle school classes need that. 

Coats – at each meeting we should have the program list (updated). And add it to the agenda

T. Miller stated that they did have questions about the North financials. 101% over budget on fixed assets.  Rent did go up about $240. We are going to get a projection of what the increase is going to be over the remainder of the contract.
We want to look at how we can grow and use the upper floor and maximize the assets.  There is going to be a 2nd committee meeting to discuss how we can better focus on the items.   The committee had a conversation on our banking relationships, and how much money we are spending on bank fees.  How do we change that and the relationship with them?   They are going to have another conversation with the banks and see what our local options are, we are going to look into the National Bank of Indianapolis.  We are going to have more talks with BMO. 
Halil – we are currently paying about $3,000 per year and if we changed bank we may save about half of that.  D. Coats – how much do we cycle through the bank?  Approximately 12 million.
D. Coats – has a relationship with the founder of the National Bank of Indianapolis.  They will be looking into it with him.

The committee recommends the approval of the financials   
On May 1st we will be having a budget walk thru.

T. Miller – went through the financials and didn’t see anything outstanding. The school is at 73% of Rev. 72% of Expenses – No red flags except the textbooks and we expend that over time.   What could we see in the financial that will help the board to make better decisions?  J. Sparks asked how we can catch the red flags earlier.  The items that are non-instructional are going to be color coded.  We looked at the financial statements and had no questions, the committee approves the financials   

BVW asked about negative cash flow, and we do run in the red for the 1st 3 months of school. 

D. Coats stated that we still do not have a facilitator and Mr. Arslan will work on that either C. Murphy or S. Ucan
B. Valentine-Watts – what is the intent of the retreat? 
D. Coats, looking more long range, and establish some long term goals. 
D. Coats,  Maybe where we want to be in the future.  I think it is good for us to do that to help the schools.    I would like to have the board and the staff come to my house and have a get-together.  Maybe in the fall.

• SAVE THE DATE: Annual Board Member Charter Workshop RSVP Board member RSVPs are live for the OEI Charter Workshop! Historically, OEI’s charter workshop has been open/required for all school leaders and board chairs. This year, OEI will host separate workshops for board members. Note – at least two board members from each board are required to attend the workshop; however, all board members are more than encouraged to attend. Board chairs – please forward this invite to your full board to ensure attendance requirements are met. During the workshop, we’ll discuss the following: Overview of the new OEI governance team/org chart, Charter Board Partners will present/train on the new OEI Core Question 3 Governance Accountability Framework, Overview of new OEI governance accountability policies and practices, Additional OEI announcements and resources for the 2019-2020 school year. We’ve currently held three date options for the board member workshops: June 11, evening; June 12, evening; or June 13 morning in the City-County Building. The two dates with the most RSVPs are times we will host the board member workshops (*note - the same material will be shared during each workshop; you need only attend one). Please don’t hesitate to reach out to Jasmine.Burditt@Indy.Gov if you have additional questions.

D. Coats asked for people to attend, B. Valentine-Watts, D. Pierson and C. Frazier will be attending.  Dunn asked if it would be helpful to send then Core 3 data?  Yes, it would and Brown will send out the information on this. 
D. Coats – Proposed 19/20 budget is due July 1.  What I would like to suggest is that we cancel the May meeting and have a strong showing at the graduation.  It is a great experience.  It is part of Memorial Day weekend, Jim is going to speak to the grads and if as many as you can come it would be great.
J. Sparks – what if we can’t get a quorum,  should we go back to the idea of having a short focused meeting before the graduation?  Brown will send out the information on the changed board Press Release.  Only 1 agenda item “Budget”

J. Sparks -We have spent some time looking at how our website attracts people to donate to our schools. Concept, is going to be surveying their schools asking for input on what we would like to see on the website.
We have talked several times about what is your why? Testimonials would be a powerful resource for our schools. Dunn will arrange the technology if we can get people together.
T. Miller – When our why is activated it aligns us with our other networks and connects us. It came from my experience of walking through the school. I am always talking about IMSA and I don’t even have kids here.
J. Sparks – A future piece of work, is looking at vendors for outside sponsors, one of the things I would like to do is get a list of our vendors.
T. Miller – one way we could get this done,is inviting them to come in to meet us and talk with us. Getting them in a room and thanking them. Maybe they could volunteer or donate their time or resources.
B. Valentine-Watt – How could we bring in more from Lilly?
D. Pierson – I can facilitate that.
M. Dunn – talked about the donations, gave them Dr. Ayyoub’s information so they can contact him regarding the annual donations.
J. Sparks – What about scholarships?
 

O. Secen – Thanked Toby for the Facebook video and then he shared pictures of Showcase.

What can we do and what can we get from the events? are the barriers? I think it would be great to take the conversation further. Some of the amateur basketball teams are using the gym. We installed a washer and dryer so that the athletic teams can wash the uniforms.

D. Coats, I think there are some challenges to making a building like this into a working school. Everybody think about ways that we can do that. What other organizations can assume the responsibility for these things. We do rent out the gym.

T. Miller, there should be some ways we can work with IPL and help us with our bills by billing us differently. I would bet that there are some other resources that we could tap into. We were also thinking about seeing if people would be interested in renting out the 2nd floor and create some revenue. Would love to see how we can make this happen.

J. Sparks, getting more use of the building in the after hours, we would like to look more into that.

O. Secen, enrollment we go over the numbers all the time. Mr. Secen showed the regional mtg. numbers document.

We have Prom May 18th 7 pm  to 11 pm
Grad May 25th @ 10 am
 

T. Miller shared something that he saw on TV (Facebook) a school district in Baltimore.  There were many activities that were available to the students.  When he was a kid the high school was like the community center. Everyone was helpful when the school needed something the parents and community took care of it.  This may be a way to bring the parents and community into the school.  IMSA should take the lead.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1046366365558443&id=141850006010088

B. Valentine-Watts - Yes
C. Frasier - Yes
D. Pierson - Yes
D. Coats - No
T. Miller - Yes
J. Sparks - Yes