There weren't any opening board member comments. 

There weren't any opening public comments. 

Committee chair Kelli Marshall, began by stating that the Academic Excellence Committee met on Tuesday, December 17, 2019. Marshall provided the committee an update with a focus on teacher morale, attendance, suspension rates, ILEARN testing, and a proposed Saturday School. She also noted that student attendance is only at 91%, and we believe that weather has been a factor in lower attendance and that suspensions rate increased due to behavior concerns nearing Thanksgiving. She added that this attendance trend would likely continue in January and February if the winter weather is bad. Marshall also shared that ILEARN testing will take place the week of March 16, 2020, for students grade 3-8 and that staff will notify parents in January about preparations including a Saturday tutoring. Lastly, she presented a proposal to create Saturday school test preparations for each of the four Saturdays in February. Staff proposes a $5,000 stipend budget for tutors.

K. Marshall presented the attached 2020-2021 academic calendar. 
A. Berns discussed that teachers, staff and families were polled on which calendar option they preferred for the 2020-2021 school year.  

• Calendar option A was the preferred calendar. 

Treasurer Greg Wallis began by stating the Finance Committee met on December 17, 2019. He gave an overview of the Financial Statements for the period ending November 30, 2019, for Edison School of the Arts, and shared that we continue to be on track to end the school year in the black. He also noted that Edison would be billing Indianapolis Public Schools for Title I funds this month. These title funds are a receivable and will be converted to cash as soon as IPS remits the funds to us. Edison has $566,747 of cash-on-hand. 

The Advancement Committee did not meet in December, but committee chair Kay Feeney-Caito shared comments and updates from the Director of Advancement (Penny is out-of-office). Kay reported that staff is preparing to apply for funding from Impact 100 Greater Indianapolis, Fortune Family Fund (Idaho), Glick Fund (Indiana), Lilly Foundation (Lilly Company), Sony USA Foundation (USA), and Indiana Department of Education. The committee has not yet reviewed the scope of those programs or the requirements. Nathan added that the Letter of Intent is due in January for the Impact 100, a charitable-giving women’s circle dedicated to giving $100,000 gifts at a time. Ted added that he’d like to have more information about the Glick Fund request before submission. Greg Wallis recommended that the committee add a grant tracking report, similar to the Academic Committee’s Dashboard, to provide updates on solicitations, requests, and reporting. Lastly, Kay reported that the Director of Advancement considered the proposed Board Policy: #9704 Partnership Development and Management Policy too restrictive, and required unspecified revisions. Ted Givens suggested a 30-day timeline for review. 

Nathan Tuttle began by sharing that student enrollment stands at 619 and that 617 are on-site. He also added that Kennedy Center Teaching Artist Kimberli Boyd (dance) had completed her residency at Edison. The new Teaching Artist is Marcia Daft (music and movement). He also added that more in-depth data tracking had begun on the impact of Arts Integration. Nathan also reported that student suspensions are down 76% from this time last year and that no open staff positions.