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Edison School of the Arts

Minutes

Board Meeting

Date and Time

Tuesday April 16, 2019 at 5:30 PM

Edison School of the Arts's mission is to continue to be an educational and artful resource for all students, parents, community, and staff members by consistent and focused professional development, invitational practices by all, utilizing quarterly and annual reviews.  We will continue to develop our educational and arts aesthetic by expanding our arts experiences, exposure, and partnerships.

Directors Present

E. Disney-Britton, G. Wallis, H. Leck, K. Feeney-Caito, T. Givens, T. Overdorf

Directors Absent

None

Ex Officio Members Present

N. Tuttle

Non Voting Members Present

N. Tuttle

Guests Present

A. Berns, C. Jones, K. Marshall

I. Opening Items

A.

Call the Meeting to Order

E. Disney-Britton called a meeting of the board of directors of Edison School of the Arts to order on Tuesday Apr 16, 2019 at 5:36 PM.

B.

Record Attendance and Guests

C.

Adoption of the Agenda

E. Disney-Britton made a motion to accept the agenda.
G. Wallis seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.

II. Opening Comments

A.

Board Member Comments (2-min each)

There weren't any opening board member comments during the board meeting. 

B.

Public Comment (3-min each)

There weren't any opening public comments during the board meeting. 

III. Consent Agenda

A.

February Minutes

E. Disney-Britton made a motion to approve the amended minutes from the Board Meeting on 02-19-19 Board Meeting on 02-19-19.
T. Givens seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.

B.

March Minutes

E. Disney-Britton made a motion to approve minutes from the Board Meeting on 03-19-19 Board Meeting on 03-19-19.
H. Leck seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.

IV. Board Chair Report

A.

Monthly Board Chair Report

E. Disney-Britton presented the Board Chair report.

Strategic Planning 
  • Edison completed their first audit for the 2017-2018 school year. 
  • The Mind Trust has offered to pay for Edison's strategic planning expense. 
  • The Mind Trust recommended that the board complete their committee goals before beginning their strategic planning. 
  • The academic committee, governance committee, advancement committee, facilities and safety committee and finance committee will complete their goals by the end of the 2019-2020 school year. 

V. Executive Director Report

A.

Progress Report

N. Tuttle presented the Executive Director report. 

Arts Integration
  • Three teachers have been chosen to attend the 2019 Arts Integration: Exploring an Approach to Teaching conference in June 2019. 
    • Cinnita Sayles, Amber Price and Andrea Arms will serve as lead teachers during the 2019-2020 school year by modeling arts integration instruction. 
  • Amber Price will serve as the school's Arts Integration Specialist in addition to her role as the Schools Arts Coordinator. 
    • A. Price will prepare arts integration curriculum and continue to work as the staff liaison for the Any Given Child Indy program. 
Staffing 
  • The school leaders have attended hiring fairs. 
  • The open 2019-2020 teaching positions have been posted on the job search databases including the Indiana Department of Education job search page. 

VI. Academic Excellence

A.

Academic Dashboard

H. Leck presented the academic excellence committee report. 
  • Academic Committee Recruitment
    • The current committee membership is filled with effective members.
    • The committee will continue to invite other people to join.
  •  2019-2020 Staffing 
    • The school leaders have completed their listen tour and have met with teachers to discuss their intent to teach at Edison during the 2019-2020 school year.
    • The Principal and Executive Director have begun interviewing candidates for the open 2019-2020 teaching positions. 
A. Berns presented the academic dashboard. 

Attendance
  • Starting the week of April 15th, the counselors began calling the parents of each student that was not present in school.
  • The counselors will use parent communication to collect information on what is preventing students from attending school. They will then work with the school social worker to create student incentives that will encourage student attendance.
  • Two full time counselors and one social worker are overseeing the parent communication. 
  • G. Wallis posed the question of what is the procedure for parents to inform the school if their child will not be in attendance for the school day. 
    • A. Berns responded that parents are able to call the main office to connect with the counselors to inform them of their child's absence.  
  • G. Wallis discussed the school's attendance history in comparison to the 95% goal. 
  • E. Disney- Britton posed the question of how Edison's attendance compares to other schools within the IPS network. 
    • N. Tuttle responded that Edison will research the attendance data and present to the board during the May 21st board meeting. 
Suspensions
  • A. Berns discussed the fluctuation in suspensions due to student behavior based on factors that affect student behavior. 
    • Factors such as field trips, staff attendance (absence of lead teacher and presence of substitute teacher within classroom) have negatively influenced student behavior. 
  • Restorative practices are being used within the classroom to encourage positive student to teacher and student to student relations.
  • The Second Step curriculum that teaches social and emotional learning is being implemented by the counselors.
ILEARN
  • The 3rd-8th grade students have been pretesting all school year to prepare for the ILEARN test.
    • The ILEARN testing will begin on April 22nd.
    • There is a 4 week testing window.
  • Student data from the test will be presented to the board this summer. 
IREAD
  • IREAD test data will be presented to the board during the June 18th board meeting. 
Arts Integration and Testing 
  • Teachers are establishing strong classroom culture by applying arts integration strategies that can be used for testing. 
  • Kimberli Boyd, Kennedy Center Artist in Residence, will return to Edison for the fall semester of the 2019-2020 school year. She will continue her movement based classroom demonstrations and arts integration professional development for the staff. 

VII. Governance

A.

Employee Problem Resolution Procedure

T. Stuart-Overdorf discussed the problem resolution procedure that was presented to the board during the previous March board meeting. 
  • The governance committee reviewed the problem resolution procedure and made an addition. 
    •  If there is a grievance with the Executive Director, then it will be reported to the Board Chair. The Executive Director will receive a copy of the completed grievance form from the employee.
  • Employee Handbook
    • E. Disney-Britton discussed that the finalized procedure will be submitted to Human Capital Concepts to incorporate in the employee handbook.         
  • Vote
    • E. Disney-Britton made a motion to accept the problem resolution procedure.
    • T. Stuart-Overdorf seconded the motion.
    • The board VOTED to approve the motion.

B.

Board Assessment/ Self Evaluation

T. Stuart-Overdorf discussed the board assessment/evaluations. 
  • The governance committee will review the board assessment/ evaluation and present the results to the board during the May 21st board meeting. 

C.

CEO Evaluation

T. Stuart-Overdorf discussed the CEO evaluation. 
  • The governance committee will review the CEO's evaluation and reconvene with the board for an executive session to discuss the evaluation. 
  • The board will present their CEO evaluation during the May 21st board meeting.

VIII. Advancement

A.

2019 Fundraising Plan Update

K. Feeney-Caito presented the advancement committee report. 
  • The advancement committee is preparing the 2019-2020 school year fundraising plan. 
    • The committee will present the fundraising plan during the May 21st board meeting. 

B.

Board Member Giving Update

E. Disney-Britton discussed the 100% board giving goal this school year. 
  • The students and staff value the support from the board. Edison would like all board members to make a financial contribution by the end of the school year. 

IX. Finance

A.

Monthly Financials (March 2019)

G. Wallis presented the March financials. 

Budget v. Actuals: FY19 Budget - FY19 P&L
  • Edison will bill Indianapolis Public Schools at the end of the school year to receive their second installment of all remaining Title funds.
  • There is a $18,483 substitute teacher expense on a budget of $2,990 for the month. Substitute teachers are running high as a line item but in comparison to salaries and benefits is more favorable as a cost.
  • Edison is $30,144 favorable and will continue to accrue for the last payroll in June.
  • There was a $6,978 net revenue vs. a budget of $34,197 this month. Edison has $44,167 of net revenue for the year on a budget of $95,243.
Statement of Activity by Month
  • The increase in January total salaries/benefits/ taxes was the application of the retroactive teacher salary payment.
  • There was a reclassification of office supplies to classroom supplies in February.
Statement of Activity by Fund
  • Edison has $20,641 of Fairbanks Foundation funds, $85,911 of Walton Family Foundation funds and $545,151 of general operating funds available.

B.

Administration Salary Additions

N. Tuttle discussed the administration salary addition. 
  • Indianapolis Public Schools recently updated their Principal salary scale.
  • The beginning range for a Principal salary is $111,558. 
  • N. Tuttle proposed that Edison's Principal salary be increased to $111,558 times 2% effective July 1, 2019 or January 1, 2019 including retroactive payment. 
  • T. Givens requested to enter executive session at 6:30 pm. The board reconvened at 6:45 pm. 

C.

FY19-20 Budget

N. Tuttle presented the 2019-2020 preliminary budget to the board. 
  •     Edison has a healthy projected budget for the 2019-2020 school year. 
    • The leadership team and accountants researched items and reviewed 2018-2019 school expenses to prepare the 2019-2020 preliminary budget.
    • G. Wallis requested that the preliminary budget format be updated to include this past school years 9 month actuals.  
    • N. Tuttle responded that the accountants will update the preliminary budget format and present the finalized budget to the Finance Committee for review. 

X. New Business

A.

Teacher Appreciation Week

The academic committee will prepare a staff appreciation plan that will be presented to the board during the May 21st board meeting. 
 

XI. Closing Items

A.

Unfinished Business/ Next Steps

T. Givens discussed that the facilitates and safety committee will present the IPS facility rental procedure to the board during the May 21st board meeting. 

B.

Important Board Dates

E. Disney-Britton discussed the upcoming important board dates. 

C.

Adjourn Meeting

There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 7:03 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
E. Disney-Britton