A regular meeting of the Cold Spring School (CSS) Board was held on Wednesday, September 19, 2018 in the conference room at the school.  Presiding officer was Mr. Bob Albano, Board Chair.

Members present were: Mr. Bob Albano, Mr. Steve Downing, Dr. Cheryl hertz, Ms. Janice Hicks-Slaughter, Ms. Kelly Payne, and Mr. JR Renbarger.

Members Ms. Tonya Tudor was absent.

Chief Operating Officer Mrs. Carrie Bruns, CSS Principal Mr. Cody Stipes, CSS Dean Mr. AJ Barcome, and Mr. Brian Anderson of Options in Education Foundation attended.  

Visitors Ms. LaKimba DeSadier of IPS Portfolio Parentership; Mr. Josh Wise, parent; Mrs. Christine Wise, parent; and Ms. Stephanie Mizen, 3rd grade teacher at CSS also attended.

No community member signed in to provide input at the meeting.

Mr. Bob Albano introduced Mr. Cody Stipes, new CSS Principal and distributed copies of his resume. Board members introduced themselves and Mr. Stipes made brief remarks about CSS goals and his dedication to meeting those goals.

Mrs. Carrie Bruns reported that two teachers had decided to retire soon after school began: a fourth grade and a fifth-grade teacher.  This was a challenging time to find replacements.

Board member Janice Hicks-Slaughter joined the meeting at 5:40pm.

Mr. Brian Anderson from Options in Education Foundation gave the financial report, including the statement of financial position as of August 31, 2018 and statement of activity for July and August of 2018.  After a discussion of the statements, Board Chair Mr. Bob Albano requested that Mr. Anderson provide quarterly grant statements for the Walton Family Foundation grant and year-to-date spending versus total annual budget to ensure that sending is on track.

Mrs. Carrie Bruns distributed copies of the CSS Strategic Plan for 2018-2021.  The plan includes priorities which were ranked by the CSS administrative team and milestones that were created with teacher input.  Board members were invited to join the strategic planning process.  Ms. Alyssa Whitehead of the Education Management from Denver, Colorado, has provided support on the development of the strategic plan.

Mrs. Carrie Bruns distributed copies of the proposal for teacher merit pay for 2018-2019 academic year.  Mr. Stipes provided information on how teachers would be evaluated.  After a discussion, the Board directed that two changes be made to the proposal: 1) that the "Teacher Merit Pay" terminology be changed to "Certified Staff Merit Pay" and "teacher" is replaced by "certified staff". throughout the proposal, and 2) that section 4.b be modified to read, "Certified staff with a final evaluation rating of "Ineffective" will not be eligible for any merit pay, regardless of the academic performance by students.  Mrs. Bruns will make the corrections and will redistribute the document to the Board. 

Mrs. Bruns informed the Board that a teacher had requested maternity leave in accordance with CSS policy previously approved by the Board and already in place.

Mrs. Bruns circulated copies of the Cold Spring School Partnership with Marian University document from 10/30/2015 and invited Board members to suggest revisions.  The Board noted that the first three items under "Facility Management" were not under Board, CSS or University control.  Members discussed the Marian University offer of up to 10 tuition scholarships for IPS students in the 21st century scholars program and how to track which 21st century scholars had attended CSS and were eligible.  Mrs. Bruns will see assistance from the 21st century scholars program to develop a tracking process.  Mrs. Bruns informed the board that a rebranding discussion is taking place with Marian University Marketing and Communication.

Mr. AJ Barcome presented a fully developed Technology Proposal, as he had been requested to do in the June 6, 2018 meeting.  The Walton Family Foundation Grant will fund the purchase of the technology.  Mrs. Bruns will alert the CSS insurance agent of the acquisition of new equipment to ensure its coverage.

Mr. Bob Albano will send governance information about board members and terms to the Board via email.

Mrs. Bruns gave the Chief Operating Office Report to the Board.

Mr. Cody Stipes gave the Principal report

Mrs. Bruns distributed a document with information on Harvard Graduate School of Education Project Zero Online Course Teaching and Learning in the Maker-Centered Classroom.  Board members were asked to review the online course information and determine at the October Board meeting whether this course may be offered to CSS teachers as a professional development opportunity.  The Board will also discuss whether to use Title I or Walton funding for the course.

At 6:52pm Mr. AJ Barcome left the meeting.

The motion to ajourn the meeting carried with 6 ayes and the meeting was adjourned by Mr. Bob Albano, Board Chair.

Recorded by: Dr. Cheryl A. Hertzer

Reviewed and Submitted by: Dr. Cheryl A. Hertzer