David Taylor called the meeting of the Reach Cyber Charter School Board of Trustees to order on Wednesday, August 26, 2025, at 9:00 AM.

There were no comments from the public at this time.

David Taylor, Board President, asked the board to review the agenda distributed prior to the meeting and asked if any changes were needed.

No changes were noted.

Jane Swan, CEO, reviewed the current enrollment numbers for the school noting trends in enrollment. Current enrollment stands at 5,627 students.

In addition, Ms. Swan thanked Board of Trustee Anthony Alexander for attending this year's Beginning of the Year Professional Development. Ms. Swan also welcomed the newly appointed Director of STEM, Danielle Leibig.

Michael Garman, Director of Human Resources, reviewed current staffing levels with the Board, highlighting the authorized complement of 886. There are currently 852 current employees of which 83% are 10-month staff. There have been12 new hires and 14 departures since the beginning of the school year, which started in July.

Karen Yeselavage, Director of Finance, reviewed the school's financial statements with the Board. She reviewed the revenue and expense statements, advising on changes since the previous months' statements. Ms. Yeselavage further reviewed with the Board the school's balance sheet and current forecast.

In addition, JD Smith, Director of Career Readiness, shared a summarized cost for the Career Readiness program under the Consent Items. Marcella Arline, Board Member, requests continued tracking for the Career Readiness programs.

Mr. Taylor asked board members to consider the items from the Consent Items. No questions or concerns were noted.

A. Approval of the Minutes from the July 2025 Board Meetings

B. Approval of Staffing Report

C. Approval to Renew Agreement for ABC West Pre-Apprenticeship Program

D. Approval to Renew the MOU for Pitt Drone Services

E. Approval to Renew Agreement with Taste Buds Kitchen

F. Approval to Renew Agreement with Nail Academy

G. Approval to Renew Agreement with Big Picture Alliance

H. Approval to Renew Agreement with Made Institute

I. Approval to Renew Agreement with level Up Beauty Academy

J. Approval to Renew the MOU with Moore College

K. Approval to Renew Agreement of Evolve Virtual Trades Program

Josh Hicks, Manager of Federal Programs, requested approval of the Parent Policy and Compact, which explains how the school will put into operation programs, activities, and procedures for involving parents in its Title I, Part A programs, consistent with Section 1010 of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).

This update is an addition to the student handbook to reflect the Department of Education's eyes-on "Wellness check" requirements.

Approval was requested for the schoolwide bonuses for the 2024-2025 school year. Staff Bonuses are based on the successful completion of annual school goals in areas of STEM, ELA, Math, and Career Readiness.

Dr. McConnell provided a status update on the school's 2024-2025 goals and requested approval to have the 2025-2026 school goals mirror those of the 2024-2025 school year goals. 

Andy Gribbin, Director of Teaching and Learning, requested approval of this AI tool for our staff and students. This will offer productivity tools, unique options like talking with authors/characters/historical figures, creating reading passages, and special education tools.

This is an organization the Digital Learning Collaborative, that is advancing the digital learning space across the country. This membership would give our school access to over 400 hours of recorded webinars, blogs, Snapshot Reports, special whitepapers, reports, and more. There are monthly community webinars with other learning experiences offered throughout the year.

Board Member, Marcella Arline, would like status updates through out the year.

Jessica Hickernell provided an update on Government Affairs including the State Budget.

The Board entered into an Executive Session at 9:37 AM.

The Board entered into an Executive Session upon a motion being made, seconded and confirmed via roll call vote of all Board members present. 

The Board cited the following for entering into the Executive Session: Pursuant to 65 Pa. C.S. §§ 708(a) (1) – to discuss any matter involving the employment, appointment, termination of employment, terms and conditions of employment, evaluation of performance, promotion or disciplining of any specific prospective public officer or employee or current public officer or employee and 65 Pa. C.S. §§ 708(a)(5) – To review and discuss agency business which, if conducted in public, would violate a lawful privilege or lead to the disclosure of information or confidentiality protected by law. 

Board members present were: David Taylor, Gail Hawkins Bush, Paul Donecker, Marcella Arline, Matt Ryan, Ralph Woodard and Anthony Alexander. Guests present at the request of the Board were: Jane Swan, Rachel Graver and Pat Hennessy. All others left the meeting at this time. 

The Board resumed open Session at 9:59 a.m.