Forte Preparatory Academy
Minutes
Forte Prep Board Meeting
Date and Time
Wednesday October 18, 2023 at 6:30 PM
Location
- 51-35 Reeder Street (Forte Prep)
- CLEAR Offices: 85 10th Avenue, 9th Floor
- Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/94001336885?pwd=K1AvOWN4MWM3U3VoSytQNkU5U1NDZz09#success
Directors Present
C. Padula, E. Winn, F. Lin, K. Mullen (remote), L. Mendez (remote), L. Rodriguez, S. Song, V. Abrams (remote), W. Yip
Directors Absent
None
I. Opening Items
A.
Call the Meeting to Order
B.
Record Attendance
C.
Approve Minutes
II. Finance
A.
Finance Review - Monthly Actuals
Fiona asked Leslie to present on the FPA financials.
Very healthy on the revenue side as the grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies was recently received.
Overall, very healthy dashboard.
III. Governance Committee
A.
Board Retreat - confirm Agenda & pre-retreat assignments
Date has been set for Sunday, November 19th at the new FPA High School Campus.
10am - 2pm
We'll fold the November Board Meeting into the retreat; there will be no meeting on November 15th.
Agenda will be firmed up soon. One activity will include a board self-review/evaluation. (This will be done in Board on Track beforehand.)
Graham is planning some sort of opportunity for us to interact with students.
Catered-in working lunch.
Suggestion to bring laptop/ipad/phone for document review.
B.
Board Secretary vote
IV. CEO update
A.
SY updates; Facilities updates
Overall
Graham shared that overall things are going well at the school.
One leader recently returned from a Building Excellent Schools retreat. G. Browne was at the Charter School Growth Fund CEO event last week. J. Smith is at the Cambiar Fellowship event right now.
NSVF kick-off for the Community of Practice in Nashville November 15-17.
Busy and great opportunities to get perspectives about how FPA is doing in comparison.
10/15 FPA Memorial Service for Amelia Keach was held for family, colleagues, friends, FPA community.
$10,000 fund established for mental health services for FPA students/families in Amelia's honor; created by the Pie Foundation (developer). (SP?)
There will be an all-weather bench placed in the FPA courtyard in Keach's honor.
Assessment Data
State exam data has been officially released and may be discussed. Graham walked us through the exciting data!
Discussion continued with questions from F.Lin and E.Winn
Facilities Update (7:20pm)
LOI with Apex signed.
Initial plans being drawn up; 2026 move-in date.
G.Browne working with real estate broker to ensure adequate space for time before new space is ready.
Current 9th grade class will get to the new space for their senior year.
Hiring/Enrollment/Priorities
Building pipeline via Relay Graduate School Program. Bumps have been smoothed out.
Working to fill remaining vacant roles - Math, Science, Dir. of SPED at HS, Dir of Family Programs.
W.Lin joined at 7:08pm and L.Rodriguez joined at 7:18pm so quorum achieved.
F.Lin moved to approve September Board Minutes; C.Padua seconded. All approved.
F. Lin moved to appoint E.Winn as Secretary. W. Lin seconded. All approved.
F. Lin moved to adjourn the meeting; E.Winn seconded. All approved. Adjourned at 7:20pm.