Purdue Polytechnic High School

Dec
07

PPHS Board of Directors meeting

PPHS Englewood - 1st floor conference room

Wednesday, December 7 2022

4:00pm - 5:30pm EST

Illustration of a two people discussing at a table

Nothing to see yet. Check back for updates.

Agenda

  1. Opening Items
    Maureen Weber profile image
    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 September 14, 2022 Board Meeting Minutes. The Board is required to approve the minutes by recorded vote. 

  2. Showcase
    Krista Primrose profile image
    1. Urban Agriculture

      K.Primrose will introduce Coach Dustin Homan who will share and describe the collaborative Urban Agriculture effort with Purdue University. 

  3. Finance
    1. Financial Update
      Keeanna Warren profile image

      K.Warren will provide an update regarding consulting support and present a proposed contract. The Board is required to approve the contract by recorded vote. 

    2. Approve Recasted Budget
      Keeanna Warren profile image

      K.Warren and S.Johnson will review the recasted budget for the 2022-2023. The Board is required to approve the budget by recorded vote. 

    3. Approve Board Financials and APVR
      Keeanna Warren profile image

      K.Warren and S.Johnson will present the Board financials and APVR for August and September 2022. The Board is required to approve both by recorded vote. 

    4. Reconstitute PPHS's Finance Committee
      Maureen Weber profile image

      M.Weber will lead a brief discussion to reconstitute the PPHS Finance Committee. 

  4. Operations
    Shatoya Ward profile image
    1. Traffic Patterns Update

      S.Ward and J.Pactor will provide a brief update regarding traffic patterns at Engelwood. 

  5. Governance
    1. Board Reorganization Update
      Maureen Weber profile image

      M.Weber will share a Board reorganization update.

    2. Development Update
      Maria Quintana profile image
      Kim Reier profile image

      M.Quintana will provide a brief Development Committee update and K.Reier will provide updates regarding philanthropy and grants. 

    3. Charter Application Update
      Kim Reier profile image
      Scott Bess profile image

      S.Bess K.Reier will provide a brief update regarding the status of pursuing a new charter. 

  6. Academic Excellence
    1. School-Level KPIs Update
      Krista Primrose profile image
      Shatoya Ward profile image

      S.Ward and K.Primrose will provide an update regarding school-level KPI discussions and review high-level outcomes. 

    2. Approve Curriculum Contract
      Krista Primrose profile image

      K.Primrose will discuss a conflict of interest statement for an SEL curriculum contract. M.Weber will request a motion to approve the Board chair to sign the conflict of interest form to submit to SBOA. 

  7. Facilities
    Scott Bess profile image
    1. Broad Ripple High School Update

      S.Bess will provide a brief update about PPHS moving permanently into the former Broad Ripple High School. 

  8. Public Comment

    The Board shall hear public comment. The Board shall prioritize comments related to agenda items, followed by other topics.

  9. Closing Items
    Maureen Weber profile image
    1. Next Meeting Date

      The next PPHS Board of Directors meeting is scheduled for January 11, 2023 at 4pm. 

Minutes Tab

PPHS Board of Directors Meeting Minutes

Wednesday, December 7, 2022

Opening Items

Call to Order

M.Weber called the meeting to order at 4:05 PM.  

Record Attendance and Guests

Directors Present:

M.Weber, R.Wynkoop, K.Kobe, M.Quintana (phone), G.Bertoline (virtual), J.Smith (virtual until 4:13 PM), D.Cook (joined at 4:08 PM). 
Staff Present: 
S.Bess, K.Reier, K.Warren, S.Johnson, K.Primrose, S.Jordan, J.Zobrosky (virtual), J.Pactor (virtual), D.Homan

Approval of Minutes

M.Weber will request a motion to approve the September 14, 2022 Board Meeting Minutes. The Board is required to approve the minutes by recorded vote. 

 K.Kobe made a motion to approve the September 14, 2022 Board meeting minutes. M.Quintana seconded the motion.


DECISION: The Board voted unanimously to approve the motion.
Roll Call:
M.Quintana     Aye
J.Smith            Aye
G.Bertoline      Aye
R.Wynkoop     Aye
K.Kobe             Aye
M.Weber         Aye

Showcase

Urban Agriculture

K.Primrose will introduce Coach Dustin Homan who will share and describe the collaborative Urban Agriculture effort with Purdue University. 

D.Homan, coach at PPHS North, introduced himself to the Board. D.Homan teacher history and agriculture. D.Homan highlighted some of the collaborations he has done with Purdue through a presentation. 


Slides featured Dr. Cooper in the Department of Anthropology working with stutdents as well as Dr Knobloch and Dr. Wang teaching students about hydroponics on campus. During that time, students were exposed to different aspects of agriculture besides farms. Students also learned about the water quality of Fall Creek by studying bugs. D.Homan reported that the water quality was good. D.Homan continued to share other work students did with getting to visit the state fair, Cottingham to see large-scale hydroponics, and the Patachou Foundation's urban garden. Students also did a project with coffee and tea, learning about fermentation with Dr. Lindemann, professor in Purdue's Department of Food Science. 
D.Homan shared that the students are selling private label bags of coffee from Tinker Street Coffee to help raise money to take a group of students to Philadelphia and Washington, DC. 

Finance

Financial Update

K.Warren will provide an update regarding consulting support and present a proposed contract. The Board is required to approve the contract by recorded vote. 

K.Warren discussed a proposed scope of work presented to the Board. As part of PPHS's due diligence work with the Charter School Growth Fund (CSGF), a big part was going through our financials, looking through our financial systems, and budget. CSGF suggested we get more capacity in our finance department. CSGF will be paying for the contract with financial consultants and PPHS will own the contract.


K.Warren reported that she and S.Bess met with two finance consultants. One consultant will support with accounting and back office work and one consultant will provide CFO support and strategy in what PPHS is doing. The first contract term is from December - January and will start as soon as tomorrow if the contract is approved tonight.

J.Smith asked to clarify the timeline of the contract. K.Warren responded that the contract term is December 2022 through January 2023. The goal is to get reliable finances to the Board, update financial policies and procedures, and help PPHS make a strategy for our financial team, determining what work should happen in-house and what should be outsourced.  The price range of the contract is $25-35K and CSGF will cover the cost. 

S.Johnson shared that this is a welcome opportunity that is appreciated.

K.Kobe asked where the consultants are located and whether they will be onsite. K.Warren responded that the consultants will be virtual. 

M.Weber requested that the consultants provide regular updates to the Board. 

R.Wynkoop asked for a review of scope B. K.Warren responded that all of the work will not be completed by the end of this contract. Once the emergency items are underway, the next scope of work will continue. The next part will be financial models and projects to make sure we are sound while growing. R.Wynkoop clarified that the goal is to get on top of all items in A, B, and C, and then work with the consultants to see where we are and then cover the rest. K.Warren responded that is correct. 

K. Kobe asked whether there is a cap on CSGF's support. S.Bess responded that their goal is to see PPHS successful. They know we are not set to expand until our finances are in order. 

R.Wynkoop made a motion to approve the contract as presented. J.Smith seconded the motion.

DECISION: The Board voted unanimously to approve the motion. 
Roll Call:
G.Bertoline      Aye
M.Quintana     Aye
D.Cook            Aye
J.Smith            Aye
R.Wynkoop     Aye
K.Kobe            Aye
M.Weber        Aye

J.Smith asked whether there is anything fiduciary that may pop up and trigger something else and asked what PPHS is most worried about. S.Bess responded that we found some significant errors in the budget. Generally, the errors were favorable. We do not anticipate there will be any more significant issues but expect to find some errors that will be corrected. 

Approve Recasted Budget

K.Warren and S.Johnson will review the recasted budget for the 2022-2023. The Board is required to approve the budget by recorded vote. 

K.Warren reported that within the due diligence process, errors were uncovered regading our budget. Enrollment numbers for South Bend are also short of where we budgeted and ICSB requires that we recast our budget if enrollment is below a certain threshold. 


K.Warren reported that the major errors in the budget include that revenue for South Bend and North only showed revenue for half of the year and project expenses were not accurate compared to where we had spent to date. 
J.Smith asked if we underestimated expenses. K.Warren responded that we overestimated expenses. 
M.Weber asked if it was the combination of errors that made it so that we didn't catch them. S.Bess responded yes because the bottom line looked reasonable.
S.Johnson added thatPPHS had some vacancies in positions and those positions were removed from the budget. 
J.Smith added that it would be nice to have a side-by-side comparison of what was previously approved compared to what has been recasted. 
K.Kobe asked whether the new budget needs to be submitted to anyone. M.Weber responded that it does. ICSB requires an updated budget. 
K.Kobe reported that there are additional concerns that need to be addressed. Fees from schools need to be addressed. K.Kobe recommended reconstituting the Finance Committee to figure out how the schools should do this. K.Kobe shared that the beginning cash does not make sense which triggers everything else. S.Bess responded that this is one of the things that we will uncover and shared that he does not believe the beginning cash is accurate.
M.Weber asked what the motivating factor is to get the recasted budget approved now. S.Bess responded that the recasted budget needs to be turned around to ICSB. 
D.Cook stated that there is a conversation going on about the lack of transparency in charter school budgets and finances and asked whether there is a potential that this could be used and leveraged in that conversation. S.Bess responded that he does not think it will become an issue. The people most likely to raise that issue would be a local school district, but IPS feels like they have a strong partnership with PPHS. S.Bess said that if we do not get this straight and have the same issue next year, it will be a problem with our authorizers. S.Bess added that this cannot and will not happen again.
M.Weber requested that the cash at the bottom of the budget is removed and that the budget notes that it has been recasted.
M.Quintana expressed concern regarding the state of finances and stated it presents a risk to the organization and that we need to put as many resources into it as possible. M.Weber responded that everyone is in agreement and we need to stay very close to this until we move ahead. M.Weber added that the team is committed to correcting the issue. 
J.Smith made a motion to approve the recasted budget with M.Weber's recommendation that the cash at the bottom of the budget is removed and that the budget notes that it has been recasted. D.Cook seconded the motion.
DECISION: The Board voted unanimously to approve the motion.Roll Call:
M.Quintana     Aye
G.Bertoline      Aye
K.Kobe            Aye
R.Wynkoop     Aye
J.Smith            Aye
D.Cook            Aye
M.Weber         Aye

Approve Board Financials and APVR

K.Warren and S.Johnson will present the Board financials and APVR for August and September 2022. The Board is required to approve both by recorded vote. 

K.Warren presented Board financials and APVR and reported that the budget vs actualys for Q1 show where we are through September 30 with the new budget.


K.Kobe asked how 85% of the transportation budget has already been spent. K.Warren responded that the majority of transportation expenses is the purchasing of bus passes which are bought at the beginning of the school year. 

M.Weber asked for an update on the fraud issue. S.Johnson responded that we have no new information. S.Johnson reported that she send an email to someone from the post office, but has not heard back.

K.Kobe made a motion to approve the August and September financials and APVR. J.Smith seconded to motion. 

DECISION: The Board voted unanimously to approve the motion.
Roll Call:
M.Quintana     Aye
G.Bertoline      Aye
K.Kobe             Aye
R.Wynkoop     Aye
J.Smith            Aye
D. Cook           Aye
M.Weber         Aye

Reconstitute PPHS's Finance Committee

M.Weber will lead a brief discussion to reconstitute the PPHS Finance Committee. 

M.Weber discussed the need to have a regular finance committee meeting in advance of regular Board meetings and asked for volunteers to participate in the finance committee.


K.Kobe volunteered to chair the finance committee. G.Bertoline, and J.Smith volunteered to join the finance committee. M.Quintana offered to help. 

Operations

Traffic Patterns Update

S.Ward and J.Pactor will provide a brief update regarding traffic patterns at Engelwood. 

S.Ward explained that the last time the Board met, a parent expressed concerns regarding traffic patterns and Englewood. S.Ward reported that staff met with the concerned parent and the parent appreciated being heard. S.Ward further reported that a vehicle was purchased for the School Resource Officer. In the meantime, PPHS has partnered with the Shepherd Community Center which has supported us with their Resource Officer. S.Ward added that PPHS has been having ongoing conversations with Paramount Englewood to figure out dismissal patterns and how to best support each other. No other parents have expressed complaints since the concern was raised by the parent at the last Board meeting. 


M.Weber asked if things have settled down since the beginning of the school year. S.Ward responded that the climate and culture of the schools have calmed down and expressed appreciation to the school administration teams because they have done their due diligence to make sure students are safe. There have been no additional incidents across the network. J.Pactor reported that Englewood has not had a suspension of a student for any reason since Falll Break. 

Governance

Board Reorganization Update

M.Weber will share a Board reorganization update.

M.Weber reported that PPHS has been working with Purdue to fill their open positions on the Board. It is important to get the Purdue positions filled first so we know the skills needed to round out the Board. Rob will continue serving on the Board. 

Development Update

M.Quintana will provide a brief Development Committee update and K.Reier will provide updates regarding philanthropy and grants. 

M.Quintana reported that the Development Committee met last week and has recommended that the Board adopt a gift policy. The Gift policy will be shared with the Board to formally approve at the January meeting. M.Quintana also reported that PPHS is working on an end-of-year appeal and PPHS will send it to the network contacts that were shared with the Development Committee. The Development Committee continues to discuss holding an annual event. 


K.Reier reported that PPHS received $325K from NewSchool Venture Fund to assist with our partnership work. PPHS also received a $150K Digital Learning grant from the Department of Education. K.Reier shared that PPHS will hear soon about our application to the Charter School Growth Fund and PPHS is also having conversations with XQ and Fairbanks about funding opportunities. 

K.Reier also shared that PPHS has been named as a semifinalist for the Yass Prize, which awards PPHS with $200K. Next week, finalists will be named for six $500K and a winner will be named for a $1M prize. 

Charter Application Update

S.Bess K.Reier will provide a brief update regarding the status of pursuing a new charter. 

S.Bess reported that the charter application submitted to OEI to replicate in Pike Township was not approved. Pike brought many people associated with the district and local teacher's union to the hearing to speak against our charter. S.Bess also shared that Education One, the authorizing arm of Trine University reached out to us to apply as a preferred provider. Through this process, PPHS may be granted multiple charters. Staff have begun the application process with Trine. Scott and Keeanna will meet with President Daniels and President Chiang next month and, if they give their approval, we will apply for a charter through Trine. 


S.Bess shared that the push back we received was because we wanted to locate in Pike Township. We may consider opening on the west side of Indianapolis, in IPS. IPS is open to talking about an innovation agreement and co-locating at Northwest Middle School. 

J.Smith shared that he believes PPHS will recruit students from Pike and wants to ensure we are careful that we do not shift the demographics of the population we intend to serve and that we have discussion to make sure we are improving education. 

J.Smith left the meeting at 5:41 and rejoined the meeting virtually.

K.Kobe asked why Purdue University is not our authorizer. S.Bess responded that the process of becoming an authorizer is extensive and time-consuming and there may be difficult optics with Purdue only authorizing its own schools. 

M.Quintana asked whether the staff has been doing community outreach. K.Reier responded that staff have been doing outreach.

Academic Excellence

School-Level KPIs Update

S.Ward and K.Primrose will provide an update regarding school-level KPI discussions and review high-level outcomes. 

S.Ward reported that all of the schools have had KPI meetings and the technology team has worked diligently to make sure everyone has the data needed. These KPI discussions were the first iteration of the data we presented. We learned quickly that there is more data the schools want to see. The schools would like to see more data disaggregated by demographics. The discussions focused on credit attainment, attendance, and school culture issues like student discipline. 


S.Ward reported that the biggest lessons learned are that there is more work to do with our math curriculum and practice. Credit attainment across the network is an average of 60%. In 2020, the pass rate for Algebra I was at 16% and it has been great to see growth. We are headed in the right direction by moving away from 75% of our curriculum being in Edmentum. There was a 5% increase in credit attainment and attendance as a whole compared to last year. In South Bend, they are having to lean more heavily on Edmentum due to staffing, so the conversation was different regarding how to best support students. The data also supports expanding pathway options. S.Ward added that we are excited about the discussions and look forward to seeing how they impact the success of our students. 

M.Weber shared that the KPI discussions sound like a terrific project and asked what we expect the Board to see and with what regularity. S.Ward responded that the KPI discussions are related to the list of KPIs discussed with the Board a few months ago and we want to move the data into a dashboard. 

M.Quintana left the meeting at 5:50 PM.

J.Smith asked whether there is a way to begin capturing kids on the margins and asked how we capture incremental success of how students are improving. S.Ward responded that those were the first questions asked and e are working o what that looks like. We can look at that in terms of credit attainment and we are looking at what that looks like with SAT.

Approve Curriculum Contract

K.Primrose will discuss a conflict of interest statement for an SEL curriculum contract. M.Weber will request a motion to approve the Board chair to sign the conflict of interest form to submit to SBOA. 

K.Primrose shared that part of students' Advisory period each day, students are working on social emotional learning (SEL) content. We had a grant that provided us with a SEL curriculum. We are officially out of that grant period. Our staff have reviewed the SEL curriculum that was created by another staff member and the staff would like to use that curriculum. 


M.Weber asked whether we need a moonlighting policy and added that it would be good for us to have. K.Primrose responded that from a price perspective, the SEL curriculum is competitively priced. Most of the SEL curriculum being sold to schools are like Edmentum for SEL. This is not that and it is tailed to the needs of diverse student groups. 

R.Wynkoop asked what students are doing. K.Primrose responded that students are learning interpersonal skills and how to have conversations. SEL looks at the holistic view of the whole child and the curriculum is relating to the school culture in making sure students feel like they have a place where they belong. 

D.Cook asked whether we need to talk through our policies so that we do not set a precedent. K.Primrose responded that the curriculum was created several years ago and created external to PPHS. The PPHS counselors asked for the curriculum. S.Ward added that creating the curriculum is not part of a job duty for anyone that is in PPHS. K.Warren further added that all of these questions have been vetted with an attorney.

K.Kobe made a motion to approve the Board Chair signing the SBOA conflict of interest form. G.Bertoline seconded the motion.

DECISION: The Board voted unanimously to approve the motion. 
Roll Call:
J.Smith            Aye
G.Bertoline      Aye
K.Kobe             Aye
R.Wynkoop     Aye
D.Cook            Aye
M.Weber         Aye

Facilities

Broad Ripple High School Update

S.Bess will provide a brief update about PPHS moving permanently into the former Broad Ripple High School. 

S.Bess reported that IPS passed their Rebuilding Stronger plan last month. Part of that plan is for PPHS to have a long-term presence in Broad Ripple High School. Our existing Innovation contract covers us through the end of the school year. Once we get into February, we will start more details of the contract moving forward including which parts of the building we will have access to, facilities, and cost. IPS wants to have the Innovation Contract by April or May. 

Public Comment

The Board shall hear public comment. The Board shall prioritize comments related to agenda items, followed by other topics.

There is no public comment. 

Closing Items

Next Meeting Date

The next PPHS Board of Directors meeting is scheduled for January 11, 2023 at 4pm. 

M.Weber adjourned the meeting at 6:04 PM 

powered by  

Take mission-critical meetings from friction to focus with Boardable.

Get Started