PPHS Board of Directors Meeting

Jan

PPHS Board of Directors Meeting

VIRTUAL MEETING (please use link)

https://meet.google.com/iha-gxvw-tik?authuser=0

Wednesday, January 12 2022

4:00pm - 5:30pm EST

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Opening

4:00 pm EST
1. Call to Order
2. Record Attendance and Guests
3. Approval of Minutes
  
  M.Weber will request a motion to approve the November 10, 2021 Board Meeting Minutes.
Finance
1. Approve Board Financials and APVR
  
  S.Johnson will provide an overview of the Board financials and the APVR for the months of August and September. The Board is required to approve all items by voice vote.
  
  Updated 1/12/2022: Board Financials and APVR for the months of October and November are also provided. S. Johnson will provide an overview.
Operations
1. Human Resources Update
  
  S.Bess will introduce the new principal in South Bend, Justin Zobrosky, and provide an update regarding the principal search at Englewood.
2. Enrollment Update
  
  S.Bess will provide an enrollment overview for each campus.
3. COVID Update
  
  S.Bess will provide an update of the impact of COVID-19 on schools and provide a brief overview of PPHS's COVID response.
4. Legislative Update
  
  S.Bess will provide a legislative update and briefly discuss introduced bills that may have an impact on PPHS.
Governance
1. Board Membership
  
  M.Weber will request a vote to add Dante Cook to the Board of Directors.
2. Development Committee Update
  
  M.Quintana will provide a Development Committee update.
3. IPS Innovation Agreement
  
  S.Bess will provide an update regarding the status of the IPS Innovation agreement.
4. Purdue University Memo Response
  
  S.Bess will discuss PPHS's response to the memo from Purdue University sent to the PPHS Board of Directors shortly before the end of the 2021 calendar year.
5. Strategic Plan & Expansion Update
  
  K.Reier will present a draft of the PPHS Strategic Plan and S.Bess and K.Reier will provide an update regarding expansion.
Academic Excellence
1. Graduation Rate
  
  S.Bess will discuss PPHS's published graduation rate.
Facilities
1. North Update
  
  S.Bess will provide an update on the future plans for the North campus.
2. South Bend Update
  
  S.Bess will provide an update on the future plans for the South Bend campus.
Closing Items
1. Next Meeting Date
  
  The next PPHS Board of Directors meeting is scheduled for March 9, 2022, at 4PM.

Opening

Call to Order

M.Weber called the meeting to order at 4:03 PM.

Record Attendance and Guests

Dante Cook

Attendance

Members

Remote: Lacey Beatty, Gary Bertoline, Scott Bess, Sharnell Johnson, Ken Kobe, Nancy Marchand-Martella, George Pillow, Krista Primrose, Maria Quintana, Kim Reier, Thomas Reives, Jamal Smith, Shatoya Ward, Keeanna Warren, Maureen Weber, Rob Wynkoop, Justin Zobrosky

Approval of Minutes

M.Weber will request a motion to approve the November 10, 2021 Board Meeting Minutes.

T.Reives made a motion to approve the minutes. G.Bertoline seconded the motion.

Approved the November 10, 2021 Board Meeting Minutes.

Voting

Member Votes Yes (7)

Gary Bertoline, Ken Kobe, Nancy Marchand-Martella, Maria Quintana, Thomas Reives, Maureen Weber, Rob Wynkoop

Finance

Approve Board Financials and APVR

S.Johnson will provide an overview of the Board financials and the APVR for the months of August and September. The Board is required to approve all items by voice vote.

Updated 1/12/2022: Board Financials and APVR for the months of October and November are also provided. S. Johnson will provide an overview.

S.Johnson presented Board financials and the APVR for the months of August, September, October, and November of 2021. S.Johnson reported that the audit is still taking place. Revenues appear lower than they should because grant reimbursements have not been submitted.

S.Bess reported that Sharnell took on a herculean task to complete the financials. We are on task to hit all deadlines for the audit.

M.Quintana expressed concern at the length of time it will take to get caught up and posed the question of leveraging talent from other partners for assistance.

S.Bess reported that PPHS received some external assistance. The concern now is the volume of work and we are close to getting caught up and we have a solid handle on our financials.

M.Weber asked to verify whether a large payment was for the Keystone Group. S.Bess confirmed that it was.

R.Wynkoop made a motion to approve the August, September, October, and November Board financials and APVR. G.Pillow seconded the motion.

Approved the August, September, October, and November Board financials and APVR.

Voting

Member Votes Yes (8)

Gary Bertoline, Ken Kobe, Nancy Marchand-Martella, George Pillow, Maria Quintana, Thomas Reives, Maureen Weber, Rob Wynkoop

Operations

Human Resources Update

S.Bess will introduce the new principal in South Bend, Justin Zobrosky, and provide an update regarding the principal search at Englewood.

S.Bess introduced Justin Zobrosky as the new principal in South Bend. Lacey Beatty has been the interim all of this school year and will continue on through the rest of the academic year. S.Bess shared that this is Justin's second week at PPHS. He has a lot of experience as a school leader and many contacts in the communities where we would like to recruit.

J.Zobrosky shared that he is a South Bend native, has spent his entire career serving charter schools, both at Xavier School of Excellence and the South Bend Excel Center where he helped bring the school to an A.

M.Weber thanked Lacey for her work in South Bend and her continued support to the school.

Enrollment Update

S.Bess will provide an enrollment overview for each campus.

S.Bess reported enrollment appears that it will stay consistent. Englewood is at a similar point as they were this time last year and North is ahead of where they were at this time last year. At South Bend, there are 22 new enrollments. Because South Bend does not use a common enrollment system, they will likely get more enrollments through the end of the school year. Justin has a lot of contacts and experience in the community and our ability to increase our student count in South Bend is strong.

G.Pillow noted that PPHS has gone through substantial changes in personnel and shared that it says a lot about the staff that the schools are able to stay strong and keep growing. S.Bess attributed this to the staff staff who have built strong cultures inside the school buildings.

COVID Update

S.Bess will provide an update of the impact of COVID-19 on schools and provide a brief overview of PPHS's COVID response.

S.Bess reported that our schools are operating in-person, but it has been a struggle since returning from Winter Break. A lot of people had a lot of exposure over the holidays and we are feeling the impact. At North, the 1405 building moved to virtual for the remainder of the week due to large numbers of COVID outbreaks. We anticipate students returning to in-person instruction this upcoming Tuesday after Martin Luther King Jr. Day. There is more space to spread out at Englewood and South Bend. We have run out of testing supplies ar more are on order. We are doing everything we can to stay open without compromising anyone's health.

M.Weber asked how families are receiving our COVID response. S.Bess reported that families at North wanted to go virtual due to the high number of positive cases.

R.Wynkoop asked whether PPHS needs help with any supplies. S.Bess responded that testing is the biggest issue. R.Wynkoop said he will connect with others who may be able to help.

Governance

Board Membership

M.Weber will request a vote to add Dante Cook to the Board of Directors.

M.Weber presented Dante Cook as a candidate as a member of the Board of Directors.

S.Bess reported that Dante has been with PPHS from the beginning. Dante works with a company that is headquartered in the 525 building where PPHS was originally located. Dante took on the herculean task of starting a football team and has been the head football coach for the last few years. Dante has taken the football program as a way of helping young men grow as adults. Enough can't be said about Dante as a coach and mentor to our students and adding him to the Board is a natural fit from our perspective.

D.Cook introduced himself and shared that he and his wife have a passion for the community and giving back. His story and background has inspired him to give that same opportunity and insight to other kids. Dante has loved what PPHS has been able to accomplish over the past few years, especially in offering opportunity and access to students who may not otherwise have it.

M.Weber shared that PPHS needs more technology perspective and entrepreneurship on the Board and suggested a vote be taken at the beginning of the next Board meeting regarding Dante's Board membership.

M.Quintana shared that she is impressed with Dante and requested the Board consider taking a vote during today's meeting.

R.Wynkoop shared he has gotten to know Dante and feels he will be a phenomenal fit for this Board.

R.Wynkoop make a motion for Dante Cook to become a member of the PPHS Board of Directors. M.Quintana seconded the motion.

N.Marchand-Martella reported that she has accepted a position of Provost at the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs and will assume the position in July 2022. She will continue at Purdue through May.

Approved Dante Cook as a member of the PPHS Board of Directors.

Voting

Member Votes Yes (8)

Gary Bertoline, Ken Kobe, Nancy Marchand-Martella, George Pillow, Maria Quintana, Thomas Reives, Maureen Weber, Rob Wynkoop

Development Committee Update

M.Quintana will provide a Development Committee update.

M.Quintana reported that the Development Committee had its kick-off meeting on December 1, 2021. The Committee was provided a high-level overview of PPHS and its funding needs. The Committee will work to develop a plan to raise $300K and is brainstorming how that will be accomplished. The Committee agreed to meet quarterly and will be able to collaborate virtually.

M.Quintana invited all Board members to make gifts to PPHS and explained that gifts are not required. Board gifts may be directed towards a Board-funded scholarship, the Dream Big Academy, or as unrestricted. K.Reier will follow-up with the Board on donation instructions.

IPS Innovation Agreement

S.Bess will provide an update regarding the status of the IPS Innovation agreement.

S.Bess reported PPHS is nearing the end of Innovation Agreement discussions with IPS. IPS has indicated they are leaning towards renewing the Innovation Agreement for Englewood and including North as an Innovation school. We have provided feedback to a draft contract provided by IPS. We have asked IPS to include renting space at Broad Ripple High School for one year in North's agreement. We are likely three weeks away from having an agreement and would schedule a special Board meeting to approve the contracts.

Purdue University Memo Response

S.Bess will discuss PPHS's response to the memo from Purdue University sent to the PPHS Board of Directors shortly before the end of the 2021 calendar year.

S.Bess reported that Purdue University has paid special attention to the 37 PPHS graduates who went to Purdue. Looking at the data of how are students are doing while at Purdue mirrors historical data for the past decade. Many students are doing well and 40% of our students are on academic probation. We have always been driven by design thinking and through that process, we respond to data as we receive it. Last year PPHS had its first graduating class and we are now able to take data from that graduating class and look inward to reflect on what we do and how we do it. There are steps that we have already started doing as part of that process: immersion projects, changes our math sequence to better reflect how students learn, increasing science content in Integrate Chemistry & Physics, transitioned one of our strong math teachers to Assistant Director of Curriculum, and hired an experienced registrar. We recognize that the pandemic has not allowed us to connect students to Purdue's campus over the past couple of years. We need to do more to get students connected to cultural centers and other available resources.

S.Bess reported that Purdue made the following recommendations to PPHS: create a single point of contact between PPHS and Purdue, develop a college-going culture, and increase the number of students in the FastTrack program.

S.Bess reported that students spend a lot of time at PPHS doing work that interests them and often have a jarring transition when they go to Purdue and the first semester is a lot of core courses in big lecture halls. We are piloting a college 101 course that will help prepare students for this transition. We also want to start having regular listening sessions with our students who go to Purdue so we can learn from them what we can do better.

S.Bess reported that PPHS made the following recommendations to Purdue: provide more dual credit opportunities, look into best practices of existing programs at other universities that work with low-income students and students of color such as IIU's Groups program, improve communication with PPHS families, increase Purdue's presence at our schools, and improve communication with PPHS regarding student applications to the university and the Summer Experience.

T.Reives expressed concern about not knowing how our other graduates who did not go to Purdue are doing. S.Bess reported that we are working to figure out how to get that information.

B.Bess reported that PPHS staff will share with the Board a copy of PPHS's response to Purdue.

G.Bertoline shared the results of freshmen's first year at Purdue is not unexpected. We reinvented high school ad placed those students into Purdue's biggest freshman class ever in the middle of a pandemic. G.Bertoline reported Purdue has learn some things and the process of the memo and PPHS's response was a good exercise.

G.Pillow agreed and shared this was an interesting 4 years for the first graduating class and the next class will be better and the next class will be outstanding.

T.Reives shared he is hopeful and proud and cares about every outcome of the students that have been with us and asked how we can ensure students' first 6 months on any campus is successful.

Strategic Plan & Expansion Update

K.Reier will present a draft of the PPHS Strategic Plan and S.Bess and K.Reier will provide an update regarding expansion.

S.Bess reported PPHS is not suggesting any expansion prior to the 2023-2024 school year. We recognize we have more work to do. After Englewood finished its first year of operation, we made plans to open a Broad Ripple location and we were able to take the learning we had from Englewood and implement it at the very beginning for North. From an academic standpoint, we are seeing stronger results. We can wait until February or March to decide whether to apply for another charter. S.Bess asked that Board members reach out to him or K.Reier with thoughts, ideas, or concerns in the meantime so that we can make a more structure presentation at the next Board meeting.

M.Weber said the topic of expansion requires more conversation than time permits. M.Weber requested this topic be tabled until the next Board meeting.

Academic Excellence

Graduation Rate

S.Bess will discuss PPHS's published graduation rate.

S.Bess reported our audited graduation rate is 72.66%, which is lower than we wanted. This percentage is artificially low because we had 4 students transfer our who were returned to us during the audit process due to no paperwork or incorrect paperwork. Another student did graduate but did not get added to the GR report and another student had enough credits to graduate, but didn't. Had those students been removed from our cohort or added to the numerator, the graduation rate would have been closer to 78%. Many of our students who did not graduate were virtual the entire school year and they did not do well being virtual students. We are working to improve.

M.Weber thanked Scott for the plans and response.

Facilities

North Update

S.Bess will provide an update on the future plans for the North campus.

S.Bess reported we are trying to get Broad Ripple High School for one year for North. We will know more in a few weeks.

South Bend Update

S.Bess will provide an update on the future plans for the South Bend campus.

S.Bess reported we are working with a developer to move PPHS to another location on the same campus.

Closing Items

Next Meeting Date

The next PPHS Board of Directors meeting is scheduled for March 9, 2022, at 4PM.

M.Weber adjourned the meeting at 6:01 PM.

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