Ogden Preparatory Academy
Minutes
OPA Board of Directors Meeting
Date and Time
Thursday January 16, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Location
1487 Lincoln Avenue
Ogden UT 84404
Early Childhood Center Board Room
The Mission of the Ogden Preparatory Academy Charter School is to provide a challenging curriculum where academic excellence, character development, and individual growth are nurtured in a safe and happy environment that involves the active participation of students, teachers, parents and community members.
Directors Present
B. Gerena, B. Lucas, P. Valiente, S. Mejeur, S. Zwygart
Directors Absent
None
Ex Officio Members Present
D. Deem, K. Kennington, S. Lopez
Non Voting Members Present
D. Deem, K. Kennington, S. Lopez
Guests Present
A. McPhee, S. Adams, S. Wright, T. Young, Tasha Gonce
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
S. Mejeur called a meeting of the board of directors of Ogden Preparatory Academy to order on Thursday Jan 16, 2025 at 4:46 PM.
C.
Approve Minutes
B. Lucas made a motion to approve the minutes from OPA Board of Directors Meeting on 11-14-24.
S. Zwygart seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
D.
Opportunity for Public Input
II. Finance
A.
Financial Review
- Discussed the budget and included training presented by Spencer Adams.
- Discussed our plan to get some grants as well as our campaigns to increase our enrollment.
B.
State Auditor and Internal Audit Finance Training for New Board Members
Board members to complete the State Auditor Training
- Pablo
- Brenda
Login issues, so they will try again.
C.
Finance Training
Major Points presented by Spencer Adams
Budget Summary
- Takes the detail and condenses it down.
- Separated into revenues and expenses
- Broken down into big categories
- Revenues
- Local - What the school collects itself. Ex: fees, donations. Mostly unrestricted.
- State - Largest category, majority is restricted
- Federal - all restricted
- Difference is federal will come as an reimbursement. State will come in monthly allotments. (There are few
- Expenses
- 8 major categories, EX: salaries
- Approved budget is what the board approves prior, and Forecast is what we are projecting.
- Revenues to Expenses for each month graphed
- Key Ratios we track
- Where we are vs our goal
- Bond covenants (making sure we don't go below)
- Cash Balance
- Compare restricted to unrestricted
- cash days on hand
- Enrollment
- Majority of revenue is tied to enrollment
- WPU - weighted pupil unit. (differs depending on the grade level).
- ADM - average daily membership (Not attendance, but who is enrolled).
- Oct. 1st Count is important
- Majority of revenue is tied to enrollment
Board will approve the budget two times a year:
- approves prior - the original
- approves final budget at the end of the year
- Then there will be an audit
- Actual expenses cannot be greater than the final approved budget. That is why we add a buffer, in case of any last-minute items that are added in.
Question:
- Any ideas of what the WPU will be in this upcoming legislation season?
- USBE is requesting increase of 6 and Governor Cox in the past has increased it
D.
Panic Buttons
S. Zwygart made a motion to approve the request to purchase a panic button system up to $57,380 pending the grant.
B. Lucas seconded the motion.
New legislation on safety upgrades that schools need to make.
- Funding is included in a grant, but not anticipating that it will cover all the costs.
- We had a Needs Assessment in the Fall
- Application for the funding is due this month
Panic Button cost should go into this grant.
- All employees have to have a wearable panic button
- Discussed the comparison chart
- Major things we wanted
- We wanted location for where the button is
- We wanted it wifi and cell compatible
- Discussed our current recommendation - Kokomo
- Not planning to get it immediately get it - we need to wait for the grant money. But it is one of our higher priorities.
- But would like to have an idea moving forward of what we would like.
- Major things we wanted
Discussed:
- Should we share with our families all the safety upgrades that we have?
- There is a risk of what you publicize, and there are strict rules of what cannot be shared.
III. Executive Session
A.
Vote to enter closed session
S. Zwygart made a motion to enter closed session to protect the privacy of an individual.
B. Gerena seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| B. Lucas |
Aye
|
| S. Mejeur |
Aye
|
| P. Valiente |
Aye
|
| S. Zwygart |
Aye
|
| B. Gerena |
Aye
|
B.
Vote to exit closed session
B. Lucas made a motion to exit closed session.
B. Gerena seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| S. Mejeur |
Aye
|
| S. Zwygart |
Aye
|
| P. Valiente |
Aye
|
| B. Lucas |
Aye
|
| B. Gerena |
Aye
|
C.
Administrative Evaluation
S. Zwygart made a motion to approve the item discussed during closed session.
B. Lucas seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
IV. Administrative Business
A.
Administrative Board Report
Discussed:
- Elementary
- ECC
- Teaching & Learning
- Operations
School Calendar discussion for next year
- End of year Wednesday at home-learning day. It's a hard day for parents and students, so recommend to think about doing it on the Monday or Friday instead.
V. Policy Updates
A.
Policy Updates
B. Lucas made a motion to approve the six policies as discussed.
B. Gerena seconded the motion.
- OPA Bylaws - updated
- Whistleblower - new, will help us on grant applications too
- Audit & Fraud Prevention - updated
- Time & Effort - the State has changed. In the past, we have collected assurances once a month. Red Apple drafted this new one. It only needs to be done twice a year.
- Video Surveillance - updated
- Curriculum Adoption - updated
VI. Other Business
A.
Discussion
Reschedule February Board meeting - moved to Wednesday the 19th.
VII. Closing Items
A.
Adjourn Meeting
There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 6:15 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
S. Mejeur
Comment: