Hope Academy

Open Items

Call the meeting to order

Colleen called the meeting to order at 7:30 am.

Record Attendance and Guests

Approve the Minutes

The minutes are approved with the following corrections: Darren Craig was at the February meeting. He was left off of the attendance. 

Public Comment

Open Comment Period

No members of the public present.

Strategic Planning Approval

Finance

Finance Committee Report

    By June 30, 2023 the board will approve a balanced and fiscally sound budget that aligns with the school program needs for SY 22-23.                                                                        

The 2023-2024 budget will be presented and voted on at the next board meeting on June 22, 2023. 

Financials

Brian Anderson briefly went over the Statement of Financial Position, concluding that as of February assets are in good position. He pointed out that on the Statement of Activity the Net Revenue reflects what was planned for throughout the year as the beginning of the year is mostly positive months, while most other months of the year has losses.  Brian explained that the Budget Vs Actual shows that we are tracking with where we expected to be with revenue and expenditures. He highlighted the transportation expenses are still a challenge.

Goal Progress

Goal Tracker

Academic and Recovery Excellence

  Achieve at least 70% retention rate of eligible students by June 2023.   

Deb Leser reported we are a third of the way through transition meetings and all have been in person and during school hours indicating high parent involvement. As of right now, all students are returning next year and almost all are doing summer school, and possibly 3 new students enrolling for summer school. We have a pool of 31 returning students compared to 32 for ADM at first count this year. We had a high of 40 students enrolled this month, which we haven't had since pre-pandemic. Attendance has been consistent, but lower. We have had an uptick in students who qualify for free and reduced lunch.

Goal Progress

School Leaders Report/Academic Dashboard

W

Development Committee

Hope Academy will raise $660,000 by 2023.

Development Committee Update

Grants and Giving Update

Jon Shapiro briefly reviewed grant revenue and non-grant revenue. We remain ahead of budget with just under $250,000 in committed grants. We are starting to track funding for next fiscal year and we are already in receipt of one grant from the Indy Summer Youth Program and two from CSP. Non grant revenue is still tracking ahead of budget. 

End of Year Appeal

End of Academic year appeal will be hitting mailboxes June 5th, the day after Hope Fest. We will send our annual report in electronic form over summer, most likely in late July. 

Governance Committee

Ratify a strategic plan by March of 2023 that results in a pathway to financial sustainability by 2025 and an aligned direction to inform the next phase of Hope Academy's evolution.

Governance Committee Report

Legislative Update

No update provided.

Slate of Officers

Colleen is excited to present the Slate of Officers for the 2023/24 school year - Janine Shopp as Board Chair, Amy Levander will be remaining as Vice Chair, Darren Craig as Secretary and Jennifer McVey as Treasurer. The Slate of Officers will be voted on at the June board meeting. 

June Board Meeting

Colleen confirmed that the next board meeting is June 22nd from 7:30-9:30. The budget, school policies and procedures and the slate of officers will be presented, so she asked the board members allow themselves the extra time. 

Executive Director Report

Staff Appreciation

Staff Appreciation is May 8th -12th. Marlon Llewellyn stated  Marion University would like to sponsor the week. 

Transportation

We recently purchased 2 twelve passenger vans via the Tom Wood Family Foundation Grant.

SYF Update

Three students are going on SYF civil rights trip May 4th -7th. We have decided on a wall in the cafeteria to be used at the SYF "photo backdrop wall". 

Financial Audit Presentation

Janine Shopp turned it over to Billy McNeely, manager with Blue and Company to present the Financial Audit. Billy also went over the Brief and Comments on the Supplemental Audit Report, noting that there was only one comment: The State Board of Accounts requires the primary user of cash be bonded, which was not done in the transition year but was corrected immediately for the year end of 2023. The outcome of the audit was highlighted in the Governance Letter, with no controlled recommendation or findings to report, no difficulties encountered, no corrected or uncorrected statement, no difficulties in management, etc.

Lease Update

Joel Miller provided an update. The Becker Group has requested that we stay in our current space as they no longer have a retailer lined up and no longer need us to move to the interior space in the building.  

Approval of 2023-2024 School Calendar

Deb Leser reviewed the 2023-2024 school calendar, which is very similar to last year. We have added an e-learning day the Wednesday prior to Thanksgiving to accommodate the later start in the year.