Purdue Polytechnic High School
PPHS Board of Directors meeting
PPHS Englewood - 1st floor conference room
Wednesday, December 7 2022
4:00pm - 5:30pm EST
Nothing to see yet. Check back for updates.
Agenda
-
Opening Items4:00 pm EST
-
Call to Order
-
Record Attendance and Guests
-
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.
-
-
Showcase
-
Urban Agriculture
K.Primrose will introduce Coach Dustin Homan who will share and describe the collaborative Urban Agriculture effort with Purdue University.
-
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
Reconstitute PPHS's Finance Committee
M.Weber will lead a brief discussion to reconstitute the PPHS Finance Committee.
-
-
Operations
-
Traffic Patterns Update
S.Ward and J.Pactor will provide a brief update regarding traffic patterns at Engelwood.
-
-
Governance
-
Board Reorganization Update
M.Weber will share a Board reorganization update.
-
Development Update
M.Quintana will provide a brief Development Committee update and K.Reier will provide updates regarding philanthropy and grants.
-
Charter Application Update
S.Bess K.Reier will provide a brief update regarding the status of pursuing a new charter.
-
-
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.
-
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.
-
-
Facilities
-
Broad Ripple High School Update
S.Bess will provide a brief update about PPHS moving permanently into the former Broad Ripple High School.
-
-
Public Comment
The Board shall hear public comment. The Board shall prioritize comments related to agenda items, followed by other topics.
-
Closing Items
-
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:
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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
Take mission-critical meetings from friction to focus with Boardable.
Get Started