Mission: The Leadership School exists to grow our students’ leadership capacity through earnest engagement in an academically rigorous, culturally relevant, and relationship-oriented environment.

Roll Call Vote

Status: Goal #10 - Board Engagement

• Average meeting attendance YTD: 82%
• Giving YTD: $2616

Events

• Held the Board/Community Coffee this morning (2.24.26)
• 10 families participated:  3 in person and 7 online.
• Reviewed the key points from the Executive Summary of the Midyear Board Report
• Next Coffee: April - May  with the Topic:  Facilities Expansion

Committees Report on Monthly Activity

Monthly Financials for January

• KPIs: 61Days of Cash; 5% Gross Margin; 18% Fund Balance
• As of 1/31/26 TLS is projected to operate at a $111k deficit as of 6/20/26; however, with the approval on 2/18/26 of the $14M loan for the facilities expansion which allows us to pay mortgage rather than rent on the existing buildings, the school will see savings that will lower this amount.

Long Term Financial Planning

• Have CSP grant fund income through 2026 - 2027.  Plan to expand to Gr 6 will raise total enrollment to 396.
• Will apply for additional funding to address expansion to include Gr. 7 and 8.
• After that the Board will need to consider other sources of income as we will no longer be eligible to apply for CSP monies.

Other Follow Up

• Courtney and JB will add language to vendor contracts about timely invoicing.
• Gary will send out the next Quarterly Controls Questionnaire in March for Courtney and JB to complete by the 3/26 Finance Committee meeting.
• JB will work on coordinating the TLS PayPal Giving account with Synchrony Bank's Deed's platform to facilitate matching fund giving.

ACTION ITEMS

• Discuss monthly financials for January

January Meeting

Reporting

Goal 1 - MAP Achievement

• Reviewed the Beating the Odds in Reading State/School Bright Spots tracker showing how schools did in 2024 using a ratio of reading achievement and poverty level.
• Need to get accurate numbers for TLS's poverty rate to ensure future reporting is based on current reality

Goals 2 & 4 (Progress Monitoring/Growth)

• Kindergarten iReady data was completed in early February
• Results are promising for a strong finish at EOY.
• Need to draft new language to capture growth relative to proficiency in the next set of charter goals.

Goal 5 - Attendance

• .Need to start including tardies in the monthly ED/Board presentation as this affects proportional attendance as well as academics.

Goal 6 - Student Leadership: 

• Need monthly updates on discipline data and community circle activity to track how well the SEL lessons are helping with student self-management/leadership.
• Need to revise the current goal language to align with the data reporting provided by the Wayfarer assessment.  Will add to the Consent Agenda for 2/24. 

Goal 7 - Family Satisfaction

• Family newsletters still need to be posted on the website and shared with the Board.
• Need to know the number of family units to determine what proportion attend TLS events.
• Need a way to incentivize for family engagement in Family University and the PTO.

Goal 9 - Staff Satisfaction

• Content and Planning Development is a continued focus in coaching cycles and lesson internalization clinics, along with effectively responding in the moment to student misconceptions.
• After Spring Break will introduce teaching for rigor (increasing student ownership of the learning, putting the thinking on students)
• Goal 9 language needs to shift to align with the way TNTP data reported.  Keisha will work on this in July for next year, as the survey is only given once a year.
• Data from this year showed the following patterns: TLS is below the average in four areas; at the average for two; and above the national average in 11 of the 17 areas assessed.
• Areas needing attention: School operations and peer collaboration
• Areas of strength: Hiring, learning environment, teacher compensation, observation and feedback, manageable workload - important areas that help ensure teacher retention
• Next Steps: 
  • Schedule in time to allow for grade level PLCs
  •  Peer observations for newer teachers
• Keisha and JB will work on integrating digital literacy/citizenship into the curriculum starting in Fall of 2026.

February Meeting

Charter Renewal Timeline

• Letter of Intent to Renew the Charter to be shared with the Board on 2/22 via Board Memo, discussed, and approved on 2/24.  Due to the Commission on 2/27.
• 4/10 TLS Goals and Metrics for next five years completed
• 4/14 Meeting with available board members, Courtney, and Khalil Graham to align TLS/Board Goals from the January 31 Retreat (see p. 3 yellow highlights)
• 4/14 - Special Board Meeting to review and approve goal and metric recommendations for the next five years.
• 4/21 - Meet with the Commission to test run our goals and review current metrics relative to them for the Charter Renewal application. 

Missouri Charter School Innovation Exchange

• TLS has the opportunity to collaborate with other charter school leaders to develop a plan to innovate around the issue of lack of exposure for TLS students to real life leadership experiences.
• Will take place over the next two months in a series of zoom sessions with other leaders from around the state.

Annual Policy-Aligned Compliance Cadence

• Starting next week JB will update Courtney on the status of drills and trainings required by TLS policies using this tracker.

ED Evaluation

• The team is working on a way to weight the various components within each part of the evaluation to align with the Board's priorities.

ACTION ITEMS:

 Policy Review: 

• School Calendar Policy
• Students with Diabetes Individualized Plan
• Organ/Eye/Tissue Donation Policy 

Discussion of Possible Board Conduct Protocol 

Monthly Report

• 1.27.27 Board Meeting Minutes
• 2.11.26 School Performance Committee Meeting Minutes
• 2.18.26 Governance Committee Meeting Minutes
• 2.19.26 Finance and Facilities Committee Meeting Minutes
• Approve the January Financials
• Approve TLS Operations Director Johnathan Book as the Custodian of Records
• Approve the TLS Board Handbook
• Approve the Onboarding Steps, Introduction to the Board, and Onboarding Ppt

Respond by sharing your response to one or more of the following: (*include evidence, practical examples)

The TLS Board furthered our school mission tonight by ...

* spent____ of our time in the here & now, and ____ planning for the future by... 

* was engaged and stayed on track by ...

* participated in the meeting by ... 

* demonstrated examples of strength during our meeting by ...

* demonstrated opportunities for growth during our meeting by ...

* we upheld our fiduciary (compliance, legal) responsibilities by...

* we honored the need to be strategic (long range planning) by...

* we were generative (brainstorming, sharing new knowledge) when....

1. If not already done, please consider making a monthly donation to TLS via GiveButter. 

2. To promote enrollment and fundraising, if you haven't yet, please post this TLS promotional flyer on your social media and share within your personal networks.

3. TLS Board Professional Development:

• Professional Development Opportunities for Board Committees 
• Professional Development Tracker for TLS ED & Board Members