The Neighborhood Charter Network

Minutes

NCN Board Meeting

Date and Time

Tuesday August 13, 2019 at 3:00 PM

Location

Enlace Academy

The Neighborhood Charter Network is hosting a board meeting on the third Thursday of each month.

Directors Present

D. Casey (remote), K. Britt, M. Dezelan, R. Zavaleta, T. Baker

Directors Absent

A. Vigil-Martinez, C. Byczko, P. Castaneda

Ex Officio Members Present

K. Kubacki

Non Voting Members Present

K. Kubacki

Guests Present

Aerionnna Martin, Brain Dickey, C. Whitesell, D. Castellanos, Kevin Kubacki, L. Kuruzar, S. Staples

I. Opening Items

A.

Record Attendance and Guests

Kevin Kubacki is not a non-voting member of the board. 

B.

Call the Meeting to Order

D. Casey called a meeting of the board of directors of The Neighborhood Charter Network to order on Tuesday Aug 13, 2019 at 3:09 PM.

C.

Approve Minutes

Correction to the minutes are to remove Kevin as a non-voting member. 
R. Zavaleta made a motion to approve minutes from the NCN Board Meeting on 05-07-19 with the correction to remove Kevin as a non-voting member. NCN Board Meeting on 05-07-19.
K. Britt seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

II. Public Comment

A.

Public Comment

No public comment. 

III. Academic Updates

A.

Enlace Academy

Enlace held a successful 2-week summer institute. 
  • Staff worked on culture
  • 18 new teachers were welcomed
  • Currently have 62 members on staff
  • There is still 2 positions to fill, a school counselor and a special education teacher

 

B.

Kindezi Academy

Kindezi held a successful 2-week summer institute with Enlace Academy. 
  • Staff had a strong start on instruction and culture
  • They currently have 418 students enrolled, 20 over from last year's start
  • There is still 3 vacancies for co-teachers and an enrichment teacher
  • iLearn results have not been released as of yet but will be available by the next board meeting
Action Item: Kevin send a summary to the board regarding the results
Action Item: Denise to add iLearn results to the next board meeting. 

IV. Finance

A.

Budget Update

Terry gave statement of financial position. The books were closed on June 30. 

Budget vs. Actuals
  • CSDC loan is now paid in full
  • State loan balances 375k at Enlace, 425k at Kindezi
  • All regulatory information for year end has been filed. 
NCN Budget vs. Actual summary
  • The budget shows a net decrease of 193k. We are waiting for IPS Title Grant money which is around $300k
  • Once the actual accrual amounts are in and July and August  
  • We had 757k of additional grant revenue. Salaries and benefits is an allocation of the 757k, Also made a strategic salary decision, salaries that had to be used for the grant, and contractual services. Purchased services was in SPED due to very high needs who needed significantly increased services. We had one student who has moved to IPS. 
  • Part of the SIG grant included transportation 
  • Finance committee will get back to the board with the accrual number. 
  • At Enlace with salary and benefits we were over on enrollment and caused need for additional staff. 
  • Kindezi will go positive once the grant revenue is cleared. 
  • Both schools are currently stable financially.
  • Things to remember is that at Kindezi we are not paying for rent or transportation. 
  • IPS will continue to provide transportation for Kindezi since it is in the contract. 
  • Look at realistic assumptions as a stand alone charter. 
Statement of Financial Position
  • 2,134,812.89 in ending net assets. Large majority is operating cash which continues to be significant and 800k includes the loans. 




 

V. Other Items

A.

Renewal Process Overview

Kevin provided some historical numbers in the board retreat to fill into strategic planning outcome measures. 
Still do not have the majority of academic updates
  • One thing to be excited about is iRead. It is the only consistent assessment students have taken. In the 17-18  Enlace had a 66% passing rate and Kindezi had a  35% passing rate. 
  • For the 18-19 school year the passing rate was 80% at Enlace and 60% at Kindezi.
  • Persistence numbers are currently going down. As we have grown at Enlace we have seen those numbers drop. Enroll Indy for the first time it made enrolling in a school easier, finding other places easier as well. Enrollment retention 5-15% is typical across schools. 
  • Two renewal processes which is the charter renewal. Kevin gave the board an update on the renewal application which is due at the end of this month. 
  • Enlace has 3 not meeting standard indicators. Recent curricular changes will yield better results. We are trending in the right direction. Focus all student are making adequate gains. 
  • For 3 years we were at 38.1% and the OEI portfolio average is 32.1%. OEI  has since changed the indicator. Two big takeaway all EL research shows it takes 7 years. Get the bulk of our kids caught up. Encouraged that from the 2 years to the 3 years we doubled. 
  • Meeting or exceeding both school specific academic goals. The goals by which we were measured were not updated to reflect the current teaching practices. 
  • The innovation agreement is on a five year cycle. They have indicated that they want Enlace at the west side. 
  •  Kevin will follow up if anything else is needed for the renewal meeting. 

B.

Board Calendar

Dennis will send the board a proposed board meeting calendar for the 2020 calendar year. 

C.

Board Committee Structure

  • Dennis would like to structure the new committees around community resources and academics.
  • Human resources will be put under the executive committee.
  • These committees will be put as an active part of governance at each board meeting.
  • In addition community members would be asked to join the committees.
  • The committees will not have any voting rights but will help the board understand the school's inside and out in order to better serve them. 
  • A mission statement and goal summary is needed from each committee chair and Kevin will meet with the different committee chairs. 
  • Dennis will recirculate the committee structures and chairs, and the functions agreed for those committees. 
  • Dennis will work with Kevin to get staff representation for each committee. The board member will drive the focus of the committee. Scheduling would be through staff support. We would include the standing committees on each agenda. 
  • Expect a 5 minute report out from each committee and a featured committee at each meeting

VI. 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 5:00 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
D. Casey

B.

Executive Session