These were signed by the secretary of the board, Joanna Lopez-Inman. 

B. King informed the board that board member, Carolyn Wald, brought IGS the idea to bring 80 progressive employees to volunteer with IG Schools. This event will be taking place on Wednesday, October 8th, during IGS's fall break. She stated that this is being promoted to parents and they are able to volunteer as well as take full opportunity of the free childcare for the day. She let the board know the volunteers will be bussed to both schools, for 2 hours of service work. She explained that C. Wald and S. O'hara have been crafting an intergenerational project for each school based on their needs. C. Wald asked her landscaper if he would volunteer, and not only is he coming but he will also be donating supplies, staff, and instruction. B. King stold the board there will be donated recess games, lunch from Progressive, PE equipment, and art project supplies curtesy of this project.

C. Wald told the board that she hopes this event will become a model for other schools as well, and will help IGS get more school engagement. B. King told the board she hopes all the individuals will be added to our mailing lists and would like to support further. 

A. Ahmad told the board that the TIS Father's walk was today, and there were a lot of fathers in attendance. He said that there were more fathers than expected, they even ran out of donuts after ordering 100 of them, so it was a great turn out. A. Ahmad explained how TIS created a maze in the playscape and took time for parents and students to ask each other discussion prompts. 

A. Ahmad also shared that Benediction High School came to their school for a high school fair, and following a successful event asked if the 8th grade TIS students would come tour their school. He also mentioned that the Harvey Rice Library, that is next door to TIS, allowed the students to borrow some books for a unit, and they have graciously offered a few other things TIS needed. 

B. King discussed the NW and TIS budget drivers documents with both the FIGS and school board members. B. King informed the board that TIS is now receiving LEVY funds, which will now be shown in the budget. B. King explained to the board that the NW building expenses that were approved last year actually hit this FY, and that this change had to go in the revised budget.  

A. Cascio explained to the board that the IGS health insurance provider increased this year compared to last year, and there’s a bit more of an pocket expense for both IGS and staff to make up the difference. 

B. King explained to the board that TIS lost some students who were enrolled, due to TIS not being able to provide transportation for the LIS students anymore, and she proceeded to go over the enrollment document. She showed the board where the deficits were compared to the approved budgeted goal number of students. 

B. King let the board know that TIS hired a science teacher from an outside contractor. She explained that although there were increases in some areas, there was also some money saved, an example of this was less new staffing needing to be hired at both schools this year. 

B. King let the board know that IGS and Mangen are currently working on the revised 5 year forecast, and that is a discussion that will be happening at the next board meeting. 

B. Nicolay asked where the budget comes from, and he asked if the budget shows us in a difficult spot currently. S. Miller helped explain how the budget is determined and let the board know that IGS needs to redo their 5-year forecast budget before getting a clear picture of where the school is currently financially.

M. Higbee let the board know that the 25th anniversary celebration will be taking place on April 24th, at the Martin Luther King Jr Library and the FIGS board are deciding on certain details of the planning now.  She then presented the development plan and showed our status with grants. M. Higbee explained that we will not be able to apply for the Stocker Foundation grant until next school year. She also mentioned that she met with the Saint Luke’s foundation and presented the IGS model and etc to their team. She told the board she plans to meet with them again once their point person is back in town. She talked with the Nord foundations, and they mentioned that they changing their grant priorities this year. M. Higbee, explained she has a call with Martha Holding Jennings, to discuss applying for a grant this year. She is also reaching out to the Cleveland Foundation, as they gave seed money to start the school 25 years ago. She asked if anyone on the board has any contacts with any of the donors on the list to contact her. She let the board know that she plans to ask all of the contractors for IGS to donate. 

The FIGS board adjourned at 7:15pm 

S. Miller opened the floor for public comment but there were no comments made at this time. 

M. Rado let the board know that the NW SITE VISIT IS September 30th. He stated they will be completing the school's sped file audit, and reviewing enrollment records. He mentioned the debrief in October, will also include the non-evaluative classroom behavior. 

M. Rado explained there are a lot of factors affecting CMSD schools now due to funding being lowered, too many facilities in the district, and expenses being too high. He mentioned many schools only have basic specials and not many sports opportunities for students to participate in. M. Rado said that starting next year, they will be working to have more specials for their schools and more sports. 

M. Rado said that CMSD is looking at all their schools current enrollment, enrollment trends, building condition, building capacity now and potential, community organization relationships and etc. He stated the district wants to have no Kindergarten grades under 250 students. M. Rado told the board that the CMSD meetings will begin going on next week for each region, and they will recommend and vote via the board for next school year.  

B. King asked if there is a place with the CMSD community meeting. M Rado responded that the meeting is taking place next Wednesday, at 6pm, in the Gallagher building. 

The ESCLEW representative, Joyce Lewis, was not in attendance at this meeting. 

This was approved in the consent agenda, see section A. 

TIS

• NEW-BrandPivot (Reanna Karousis and Team)for website migration and redesign and to optimize content and the user experience, as well as reduce the ongoing hosting and content management fees, and to enable the team to manage information more easily with greater consistency. The total cost of this project will not exceed $9600 and is to be split between the two schools ($4800=TIS and $4800=Near West).  This is a budgeted expense to be paid out of general funds.
• RENEWAL BrandPivot (Reanna Karousis and Team) for the execution, management, and coordination of the 2025-2026 Communications Plan through June 30, 2026.  Not exceed $55,000 split three ways (TIS=$18,333.33, Near West=$18,333.33, IGCle=$18,333.34).  This is a budgeted expense to be paid out of general funds or other monies obtained. 
• NEW-Building Blocks of Brilliance (Andratesha Fritzgerald) to provide the Keynote address at the model-wide professional development day as well as virtual in-service, focusing on differentiated instruction and Universal Design for Learning (UDL), and safe practice coaching days throughout the year. Not to exceed $21,000 and split between the schools ($10,500=TIS and $10,500=Near West).  This is a budgeted expense to be paid out of general funds. 
• RENEWAL-LV Consultants (Lisa Vahey), to provide instructional assistance to the Executive Director and Responsive Classroom trainings for teachers.  Not to exceed $8,000 and split between the two schools (TIS=$4,000 and Near West=$4,000). This is a budgeted expense to be paid from general funds or other monies obtained.
• RENEWAL-The Education Policy and Practice Group (Kate Foley), to provide executive coaching on the implementation and progress monitoring of the strategic plan and each school’s improvement plan, for the Executive Director/CEO and Principals at both schools. Not to exceed $45,000 and to be split between both schools ($22,500=TIS and $22,500=Near West). This is a budgeted expense to be paid out of general funds or other monies obtained.
• RENEWAL-KFunk Consulting (Kristal Funk), to provide the planning, execution, and facilitation of the September 12 Annual All Staff Professional Development Day, including two sessions on mastery-based grading, securing and paying keynote speaker, securing and paying math practitioner, and all follow up.  This is not to exceed $7,500 to be split between the two schools (TIS=$3,750 and Near West=$3,750).  This is a budgeted expense to be paid out of general funds or other monies obtained. 
• NEW-Equity in Instruction (Blake Gilliam), to provide two training sessions on equity-facing leadership and Transformative Learning Theory at the model-wide PD day.  This is not to exceed $2,000 to be split between the schools (TIS=$1,000 and NWIS=$1,000).  This is a budgeted expense to be paid out of general funds or other monies obtained.
• RENEWAL- Anthem Insurance--To provide medical, dental, vision, group life, short-term, and long-term disability insurance for eligible employees effective October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2026. The increased cost of the medical and dental plans will be shared between the employer and employee so that the percentage of the total cost attributable to each remains the same as during the prior year. This will result in an average increase of 36.3% in monthly premium cost for the medical plans and a 5% increase in the cost of the dental plans to both the employer and employee, depending on the plan selected. The vision plans, group life, short-term, and long-term disability coverage will continue at the same rates as currently in effect. 

NWIS:

• NEW-BrandPivot (Reanna Karousis and Team) for website migration and redesign and to optimize content and the user experience, as well as reduce the ongoing hosting and content management fees, and to enable the team to manage information more easily with greater consistency. The total cost of this project will not exceed $9600 and is to be split between the two schools ($4800=TIS and $4800=Near West).  This is a budgeted expense to be paid out of general funds.
• RENEWAL BrandPivot (Reanna Karousis and Team) for the execution, management, and coordination of the 2025-2026 Communications Plan through June 30, 2026.  Work will not exceed 40 hours per month for a total of 10 months at $55,000 split three ways (TIS=$18,333.33, Near West=$18,333.33, IGCle=$18,333.34).  This is a budgeted expense to be paid out of general funds or other monies obtained.
• NEW-Building Blocks of Brilliance (Andratesha Fritzgerald), to provide the Keynote address at the model-wide professional development day as well as virtual in-service, focusing on differentiated instruction and Universal Design for Learning (UDL), and safe practice coaching days throughout the school year.  The total cost for these services is not to exceed $21,000 and should be split between the schools ($10,500=TIS and $10,500=Near West).  This is a budgeted expense to be paid out of general funds.
• RENEWAL-IgniteEd (Danielle Eisenberg), to provide principal coaching on specific goals related to instructional leadership for the 25-26 school year, not to exceed $10,000.  This is a budgeted expense to be paid out of general funds or other monies obtained.
• RENEWAL-LV Consultants (Lisa Vehey), to provide instructional assistance to the Executive Director and Responsive Classroom training for all staff.  This is not to exceed $8,000 and to be split between the two schools (TIS=$4,000 and Near West=$4,000).  This is a budgeted expense to be paid from general funds or other monies obtained.
• RENEWAL-The Education Policy and Practice Group (Kate Foley), to provide coaching on strategic planning and school improvement plans (and alignment of these) to the Executive Director and Principals at both schools.  This is not to exceed $45,000 and to be split between both schools ($22,500=TIS and $22,500=Near West).  This is a budgeted expense to be paid out of general funds or other monies obtained. 
• RENEWAL-KFunk Consulting (Kristal Funk), to provide the planning, execution, and facilitation of two sessions on mastery-based grading day of, securing and paying keynote speaker and math practitioner sessions, securing and paying for refreshments for all model staff professional development day.  This is not to exceed $7,500 to be split between the two schools (TIS=$3,750 and Near West=$3,750).  This is a budgeted expense to be paid out of general funds or other monies obtained.
• NEW-Equity in Instruction (Blake Gilliam), to provide two training sessions on equity facing leadership and Transformative Learning Theory at the model-wide PD day.  This is not to exceed $2,000 to be split between the schools (TIS=$1,000 and NWIS=$1,000).  This is a budgeted expense to be paid out of general funds or other monies obtained.
• RENEWAL-Anthem Insurance--To provide medical, dental, vision, group life, short-term, and long-term disability insurance for eligible employees effective October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2026. The increased cost of the medical and dental plans will be shared between the employer and employee so that the percentage of the total cost attributable to each remains the same as during the prior year. This will result in an average increase of 36.3% in monthly premium cost for the medical plans and a 5% increase in the cost of the dental plans to both the employer and employee, depending on the plan selected. The vision plans, group life, short-term, and long-term disability coverage will continue at the same rates as currently in effect.  
• ADDENDUM-Philadelphia Insurance, Addendum to existing policy adding additional coverage, increasing the limit for claims for property damage arising out of or in connection with occupancy of the school premises from $300,000 to $1,000,000 to comply with the terms of the new lease between CMSD and NWIS. The cost of this additional coverage for the 25-26 school year is $829.00. 
• Reinstatement of Lease Agreement, as of August 1, 2025, between the Board of Education of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District and the Near West Intergenerational School for the property known as the Kentucky School for an initial term of one year and to be automatically renewed for an additional one year at an annual rent of $150,000, inclusive of custodian and utility costs. In addition, custodian and utility costs due under the prior lease for 2024-2025 have been waived in exchange for NWIS completing the building improvements specified in the agreement. 

This was approved in the consent agenda, see section A. 

TIS:

• PAYMENT OUTSIDE OF REGULAR SERVICES: Nicola, Gudbranson & Cooper --To provide legal advice in the evaluation of student matters, review of the sponsor agreement with ESCLEW and independent contractor agreements.  This is an unbudgeted expense not to exceed $4448.50 and to be paid out of FY 25 general funds or other monies obtained.
• Approval of Educational Service Center of Lake Erie West (ESCLEW) Contract Modification 1
  • The Intergenerational School (TIS) will no longer be required to submit a Comprehensive Plan outlining Educational Philosophy, financial policies, governing structure, and building leadership 
  • TIS will be required to incorporate training on sexual abuse into in-service training.
  • TIS is required to update its Attendance and Truancy Policy to reflect recent legislation.
  • The contract now states that ESCLEW will exclude the Quality Community School Support grant funds, transportation funds, Student Wellness and Success grant funds, and facilities funds from its collected Sponsorship fee 

NWIS:

• PAYMENT OUTSIDE OF REGULAR SERVICES: Nicola, Gudbranson & Cooper --To provide legal advice in the evaluation of employee matters and renewal of the lease with CMSD.  This is an unbudgeted expense not to exceed $8895 and to be paid out of FY 25 general funds or other monies obtained.

This was approved in the consent agenda, see section A. 

TIS:

• NEW-Education Service Center of Northeast Ohio (ESC of NEO) Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA) Federal Grant MOU Partnership between The Cleveland Clinic, ESC of NEO, Neighborhood Family Practice, The Centers for Families and Children and other mental health providers. The program bridges the gap between school and clinical health services for students and their families. 

NWIS:

• RENEWAL-iSee MOU, to provide free vision screenings and glasses to qualifying students.
• NEW-Education Service Center of Northeast Ohio (ESC of NEO) Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA) Federal Grant MOU Partnership between The Cleveland Clinic, ESC of NEO, Neighborhood Family Practice, The Centers for Families and Children and other mental health providers. The program bridges the gap between school and clinical health services for students and their families. 

This was approved in the consent agenda, see section A. 

TIS:

1. LETTERS OF HIRE

• Kelly Reid, Teacher – Intervention Specialist, effective August 18, 2025, at an annualized salary of $54,000 prorated to $51,888.27 to reflect the reduced number of work days for the 25-26 SY. This is a budgeted expense, payable from General Funds or other monies obtained. 
• Taijia Elder, Assistant Director of Intergenerational Programming, effective August 6, 2025, at an annualized salary of $78,500.00, prorated to $70,004.33 to reflect the reduced number of ork days for FY26. This is a budgeted expense and should be paid out of general funds. This is part of Shared Staff Services to be split across the schools evenly. 
• Tiaundria Mitchell, Day-to-Day Substitute Teacher, at a daily rate of $165, on an as needed basis during the 2025-2026 School Year, effective August 18, 2025 through May 31, 2026. This is a budgeted expense payable from General Funds or other monies obtained. 

STIPENDS AND SUPPLEMENTAL PAY

• Kelly Reid, stipend for 3 hours per week of After School Tutoring for 26 weeks during the 25-26SY, not to exceed $3000. This is a budgeted expense for the 2024-2025 School year, payable from General Funds or other monies obtained. 
• Destiny Pawlus, Professional Development Presenter Stipend, for work related to the presentation of a training session at the All-Staff Professional Development Day on September 12, 2025 not to exceed $250. This is a budgeted expense, payable from General Funds or other monies obtained. 

RESIGNATIONS/TERMINATIONS 

Asma Mujib,  Teacher – Intervention, resigned effective August 7, 2025. These individuals resigned prior to the start of the 25-26 School Year.

NWIS:

LETTERS OF HIRE

• Michael Phelps, Teacher – Title, effective August 7, 2025, at an annualized salary of $52,000 for the 25-26 SY. This is a budgeted expense, payable from General Funds or other monies obtained. 

STIPENDS AND SUPPLEMENTAL PAY

• Megan DeVito, additional per diem pay for attending Summer 2025 Admin Retreat held outside Letter of Hire workdays at a rate of $ 37.75/hour not to exceed 6.5 hours or $245.36. This is an unbudgeted expense, payable from General Funds or other monies obtained.
• Caitlyn Hopkins, Cluster Director (Refining) Stipend, effective August __, 2025, for the 2025-2026 School Year not to exceed $2500. This is a budgeted expense, payable from General Funds or other monies obtained. 
• Jordan North, Cluster Director (Applying) revised stipend, effective August 12, 2024, for the 2025-2026 School Year, not to exceed $3000. This is a budgeted expense, payable from General Funds or other monies obtained, and was revised from the $4000 previously approved to $3000.
• Jordan North, 8th Grade Activities Planning Stipend, effective August 12, 2024, for the 2025-2026 School Year, not to exceed $1000. This is an unbudgeted expense, payable from General Funds or other monies obtained.
• Winter Fraley, Professional Development Presenter Stipend, for work related to the presentation of a training session at the All-Staff Professional Development Day on September 12, 2025, not to exceed $250. This is a budgeted expense, payable from General Funds or other monies obtained. 

This was approved in the consent agenda, see section A. 

NWIS:

• Renewal of Academic Prevention & Intervention Policy
• Renewal of Enrollment and Attendance Policy with Residency Verification
• Revised Harassment Policy 
• Cell Phones in School Policy 

This was approved in the consent agenda, see section A. 

TIS:

IT IS ALSO RESOLVED that The Intergenerational School Board has reviewed and approves the following Financial Action Items:

• July and August Financials 
• Approval of a Revised FY 25-26 Budget
• Approval of the Annual Budget for Submission to the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce
• Approval of the Three- and Half-Year Forecast for Submission to the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce

NWIS:

• July and August Financials 
• Approval of a Revised FY 25-26 Budget
• Approval of the Annual Budget for Submission to the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce 
• Approval of the Three and Half Years Forecast for Submission to the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce

This was approved in the consent agenda, see section A. 

TIS: 

WHEREAS the School reviews and approves the following governance actions;

• Business Volunteers Unlimited, to authorize Bob Nicolay to enter into a contract with BVU to conduct board training for school board members.  This is an unbudgeted expense of $1700 to be split three ways (TIS=$566.66, NWIS=$566.66, IGCle=$566.67) to be paid out of general funds or other monies obtained. 

NWIS:

WHEREAS the School reviews and approves the following governance actions;

• Business Volunteers Unlimited, to authorize Bob Nicolay to enter into a contract with BVU to conduct board training for school board members.  This is an unbudgeted expense of $1700 to be split three ways (TIS=$566.66, NWIS=$566.66, IGCle=$566.67) to be paid out of general funds or other monies obtained. 

B. King let the board know that Near West maintained 4.5 stars, and The Intergenerational School gained a .5 star from their report card and test scores. The board has access to each principals document and B. King explained they can read about each school's current progress, and their plan to improve for next year. 

M. Higbee made an announcement to the board that IGS would like all school board members to complete the pledge form. The board requested the forms to be sent out via Docusign. 

A. Cascio stated that IGS is still working to get sunshine law training for the IGS board via the IGS lawyers. This session would only take 2 hours compared to the virtual option which is longer, but the auditor of state has not approved it yet. A. Cascio hopes it will be reinstated in a week or two, and if it is, then IGS will add it to the agenda for the next board meeting.  

B. Nicolay stated Buisness Volunteers Unlimited (BVU) hosts 2-hour board trainings, and the governance committee would like any new board members to attend it. He mentioned this expense can be split in 3 ways, between the schools and IGCle. 

B. King directed the board to look over the topics that will be included in the next school bord meeting as a preview, this was included on the agenda. 

The topics given:

NWEA nationally normed Beginning of Year (BOY) scores and educational targets for 25-26

School merger decision to pursue to not to pursue