David Taylor asked the Board to review the agenda distributed prior to the meeting. The following changes were made to the agenda:

• Approval to schedule a meeting of the Board of Trustees on March 15, 2023
• Approval to schedule a spring in-person meeting of the Board of Trustees

Jane Swan, CEO, welcomed the Balogun family, Henry, Ronya, and David to the meeting. David recently graduated from Reach CCS at the age of nine. David and his family shared information about the impact Reach had on their family and plans for David's future.

Michael Garman, Director of Human Resources, reviewed current staffing with the Board highlighting the 795 current staff members and 85% of staff who are 10-month staff. Since the beginning of the school year, 93 employees have been hired and 37 have departed which represents a turnover rate of 4.6%.

Karen Yesalavage, 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. Yesalavage further reviewed with the Board the school's balance sheet and current forecast.

Mr. Taylor asked if there were any items from the Consent Items that should be moved to Action Items for discussion, or tabled. No changes were noted. 

• Approval of Minutes from January 18, 2023
• Approval of Staffing Report
• Approval of Pearson Invoice for January

With the recent departure of Dave Biondo, a vacancy was created for the Treasurer position on the Board of Trustees. Ms. Swan shared that Marcella Arline was willing to serve in the Treasurer position. 

Jane Swan presented on new compliance policies. The following new policies were shared in the board packet. 

• Wellness Policy on Physical Activity and Nutrition
• Administrative Search and Seizure Policy
• Corporal Punishment Policy 

Mr. Garman shared an action item seeking Board approval of two revisions to the school’s Tuition Reimbursement Program for staff.  

• The first revision is to expand the eligible programs and courses to include approved Intermediate Unit (IU) courses that are job-related and qualify for transferable college credit.  
• The second revision provides policy guidance on the variety of tuition reimbursement repayment options for staff who separate from school prior to fulfilling their service obligation.

Jane Swan presented a proposal with GDC IT to provide office equipment as included in the board packet. 

Mr. Garman asked for Board approval to enter contracts with three (3) staffing firms, which if approved and executed will provide the school additional services to increase recruitment and staffing efforts.  

• GHR - This contract will provide candidate sourcing for direct placements in exchange for receiving a fee equal to 20% of the annual compensation for all placements filled by a GHR referred candidate.  
• Aspire - This contract with Aspire Educational Service will provide on-demand contracted staff for hard to fill roles at our school such as Special Education Teachers and related services such as Psycho-educational evaluation, functional behavioral assessments, PCA/RBT and paraprofessionals. 
• Soliant - This contract will provide Reach on-demand contracted staff to help with hard to fill roles at our school.  Soliant charges a flat rate of $80 per hour for Special Education teachers. 

Rachel Graver, Chief Operating Officer, shared details of a proposal to replicate the fall gift cards to Reach families each Spring.

Scott Stuccio, Director of Outreach, shared a proposal to continue to partner with Devine Partners for media relations outreach. 

Scott Stuccio, requested funding for a series of high school proms for Reach students in the amount of $55,000 to cover the cost of venues, DJ, and parking.

Rachel Graver shared details of a proposal to contract with Qualitrics for services related to surveying and analytics.

Jane Swan requested to add an additional meeting of the Board of Trustees in March 2023. A meeting was approved for March 15, 2023.

An agreement was made to add an in person meeting to the schedule for the Board of Trustees on May 17, 2023, in Harrisburg.

Laura Johnson presented on behalf of the School Success Partner team and briefly reviewed collaboration regarding the enrollment process. 

Leo Inguaggiato of Board On Track, shared a presentation with those in the meeting highlighting the features and benefits of the Board on Track platform.

Greg McCurdy, Director of Special Education, shared that Reach anticipates exceeding the 1.0 percent threshold for PASA participation for the 2022-23 testing cycle and that the necessary justification information had been submitted to the Bureau of Special Education.

Members of the Academic staff shared an update of the academic highlights so far in the 2022-23 school year. 

• Dr. Kelly McConnell shared an information on the schools benchmark growth and school wide celebrations.
• Principals Cody Smith and Devin Meza-Rushanan shared updates from the high school and elementary school respectively. 
• Katherine Rutkowski, JD Smith, and Andy Gribbon shared updates related to the math initiative, literacy gains, career readiness and STEM opportunities.

Mr. Stuccio shared an update from the Outreach team highlighting the number of activities hosted this school year and the number planned for the rest of the school year. He further shared the recent success of the school's public relations efforts.

Brandie Karpew, Board and Legislative Liaison, shared details from National School Choice Week, January 22-28, including the School Choice rally at the state capitol and the first annual School Choice fair hosted by PA Families for Education Choice.

JD Smith, Director of Career Readiness, reviewed the following MOUS included in the board materials. 

• Approval of MOU with York Culinary Arts
• Approval of MOU with Weary Arts Group
• Approval of MOU with Jason Phillips Realty team

LeeAnn Ritchie, CAO, reviewed the MOU with Walden University included in the board materials for interns.

JD Smith, reviewed details of the MOU with Mercyhurst University for Dual Enrollment.

Andy Gribbon shared a cost proposal for the STEM, Math and OT kits to be used in the 23-24 school year. 

The Board entered into an Executive Session at 10:30 a.m. 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 discussany 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, Paul Donecker, Marcella Arline, and Anthony Alexander. Guests present at the request of the Board were: Pat Hennessey, Jane Swan, Mike Garman, LeeAnn Ritchie  and Rachel Graver. All others left the meeting at this time.

No action was taken during Executive Session. There being no further discussion and upon a motion being made, seconded and confirmed via roll call vote of all Board members present, the Board returned to regular session at 10:51 a.m.

Upon returning to the open meeting, a motion was made for an increase to the salary of High School Principal, Cody Smith.