Purdue Polytechnic High School

Jan
11

PPHS Board of Directors meeting

PPHS Englewood - 1st floor conference room

Wednesday, January 11 2023

4:00pm - 5:30pm EST

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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 December 7, 2022 Board Meeting minutes. The Board is required to approve the minutes by recorded vote.

  2. Showcase
    1. South Bend Community Action Meetings
      Justin Zobrosky profile image

      J.Zobrosky will share an update regarding the Community Action meetings and community engagement efforts taking place in South Bend. 

  3. Finance
    1. Finance Committee Update
      Ken Kobe profile image

      K.Kobe will provide a brief update from the Finance Committee with the support of PPHS's financial consultants, Linsday Phillips and Bryan Adams. 

    2. Audit Update
      Keeanna Warren profile image

      K.Warren will provide a brief update regarding PPHS's annual financial audit. 

  4. Operations
    1. HR Update
      Keeanna Warren profile image

      K.Warren will provide a brief HR update. 

    2. Enrollment Update
      Shatoya Ward profile image

      S.Ward will provide a brief enrollment update. 

  5. Governance
    1. Board Reorganization
      1. Officer Positions

        M.Weber will accept nominations for Board officer positions. The Board is required to approve new officer positions by recorded vote. 

      2. Purdue Appointed Board Position
        Gary Bertoline profile image

        G.Bertoline will introduce Shane Hageman, Purdue University's selected appointee to the PPHS Board. The Board is required to approve the appointment by recorded vote. 

    2. Charter Application Update
      Scott Bess profile image

      S.Bess will give a brief updating regarding PPHS's charter application. 

    3. IPS Referendum Sharing Update
      Keeanna Warren profile image

      K.Warren will give a brief update regarding discussions with IPS about referendum sharing. 

    4. Development Update
      1. Gift Policy
        Maria Quintana profile image

        M.Quintana will present a gift policy that the Development Committee recommends be adopted by the Board. The Board is required to approve the policy by recorded vote. 

      2. Funding

        K.Reier will provide a brief update regarding PPHS's philanthropic support. 

  6. Academic Excellence
    1. Graduation Rate
      Keeanna Warren profile image

      K.Warren will discuss PPHS's 2022 graduation rate. 

    2. Growth

      K.Primrose will present PPHS student growth data. 

  7. Public Comment

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

  8. Closing Items
    1. Next Meeting Date

      The next PPHS Board of Directors meeting is scheduled for March 8, 2023 at 4:00 PM.

Minutes Tab

PPHS Board of Directors Meeting Minutes

Wednesday, January 11, 2023

Opening Items

Call to Order

M.Weber called the meeting to order at 4:04 PM.

Record Attendance and Guests

Directors Present:

M.Weber, G.Bertoline, J.Smith, K.Kobe, M.Quintana, R.Wynkoop, D.Cook (virtual), T.Reives (virtual)

Staff Present:
S.Bess, K.Reier, K.Primrose, S.Ward, K.Warren, J.Pactor, R.Benberry (virtual), J.Zobrosky (virtual)

Guests Present: Shane Hageman, Lindsay Phillips (virtual), Bryan Adams (virtual)

Approval of Minutes

M.Weber will request a motion to approve the December 7, 2022 Board Meeting minutes. The Board is required to approve the minutes by recorded vote.

J.Smith made a motion to approve the December 7, 2022 Board Meeting minutes. R.Wynkoop seconded the motion. 


DECISION: The Board voted to approve the motion. 
Roll Call:
G.Bertoline      Aye
J.Smith              Aye
K.Kobe              Aye
M. Quintana    Aye
R.Wynkoop     Aye
D.Cook              Aye
T.Reives            [not present]

Showcase

South Bend Community Action Meetings

J.Zobrosky will share an update regarding the Community Action meetings and community engagement efforts taking place in South Bend. 

J.Zobrosky reported that the South Bend Community Action meeting initiative is multifaceted. There is a prevalent anti-charter stigma in South Bend and the goal is to get everyone to work together. J.Zobrosky explained that he had an idea of how to get schools across South Bend to collaborate. South Bend schools have lost several thousand students over the last decade. Community Action meetings have been presented as a way for all schools and stakeholders to work together. The idea is that if we support teachers and make PPHS known as the best place to support teachers, we'll get teachers and then we'll get students. The initiative has gotten a lot of local press. A student panel was held on November 29th. The next meeting is in March which will include a teacher panel. The last meeting is scheduled for May and the goal is to have a focus group convene to put together tangible ideas based on previous discussions throughout the year to create a playbook for what teachers need in the classroom and how to implement those ideas. 


J.Smith asked whether South Bend is losing a lot of students and where students are going. J.Zobrosky responded that South Bend has lost 7,000 students since 2005 and students are using school vouchers to go to neighboring and more rural schools.
R.Wynkoop asked about St. Joe's enrollment in the same time frame. J.Zobrosky responded that enrollment is down and diversity in private schools has increased. 

S.Bess added that PPHS was launched in South Bend during the middle of the pandemic and there was an adversarial relationship with the school district which led to a rough start. Justin didn't approach these community action meetings from a "we need to ramp up enrollment" perspective which would have been met with animosity. These conversations have started to change the relationship between the school and the community which has increased both visibility and trust. 

K.Warren added that after the last meeting, she had an opportunity to speak with a Board member and a member of the chamber. Justin has been doing great work and at each meeting, the number of people who attend the meetings has increased and so have the number of supporters. Justin recently received a Hidden Hero award for innovation in education. Justin is doing incredible work in the community and the community is recognizing him for it. 

Finance

Finance Committee Update

K.Kobe will provide a brief update from the Finance Committee with the support of PPHS's financial consultants, Linsday Phillips and Bryan Adams. 

K.Kobe reported that he, Jamal, Gary, and Maria met with the financial consultants approved by the Board at the last Board meeting. The consultants are evaluating our financial structure and providing support to get us up to speed so that the transactions in the first half of the year are accurate. They dove into that work in the middle of December and have helped us get going. 


L.Phillips and B.Adams presented to the Board. L.Phillips shared that after discussions about grants and reimbursements, another grants manager will support the work to get caught up. B.Adams reported that he has been working closely with PPHS's controller. There has been a lot of turnover in the PPHS accounting department and staff is trying to figure out how to do things like import payroll. There are a lot of steps the consulting team is still learning about. The consulting team is helping to process bills, reconcile accounts, record deposits, and be able to give really accurate financials and actuals through December is their main goal. They will also train new staff hired. 
L.Phillips reported she will be working on cash flow management and budgeting, working on multi-year projections, strategic planning, and long-term financial model development. The consultants will try to be PPHS's full back office. They are working on the best strategy for outsourcing certain functions versus what will be kept in-house. The consulting team is making progress and trying to close the last quarter (October - December) with the goal of doing that by early to mid-February. The consultants are meeting regularly with Scott and Keeanna. L.Phillips reported that the biggest risks are PPHS needs to develop a good system for reviewing and reconciling transactions and making sure we can do so in a timely manner. 

M.Weber asked for situational analysis. Did we outgrow our previous processes? B.Adams responded that it is unclear how things were being recorded previously. The consulting team along with the controller is trying to figure out how these things were done before others left. PPHS uses old accounting software that should be replaced soon and the consulting team has ideas on best practices for accounting software.  

K.Kobe stated that PPHS contracted financial services for most of our early history and suspects the handover wasn't ideal. L.Phillips responded that it is compounding the nature of the loss of knowledge. B.Adams added that there is a lot of new software for processing bills and it is good for having a paperless environment which is more and more the trend. New software will save a lot of time, make things more accurate, and save some manpower in the long run. 

M.Weber asked if the consultants will continue to assess the appropriate balance of what should be in-house versus outsourced. B.Adams responded that there is a shortage of good accountants. 

L.Phillips summarized that the big push right now is getting all of the information into the accounting system from the first half of the year and resubmitting reimbursement for several grants. L.Pillips added that PPHS needs better cash flow management and will make decisions on what will be outsourced, and need to improve the cadence for regular accounting processes. For strategic planning, consultants will help deep-dive into the first half of the year, create actuals on the month-by-month budget, begin meeting with school principals with some regular cadence, and use actuals to start the budget process for next year.

K.Kobe reported that the finance committee decided to meet once a month for the next few months to stay on top of everything. M.Weber requested that if the finance committee finds anything that needs to be shared along the way to let the rest of the Board know. 

Audit Update

K.Warren will provide a brief update regarding PPHS's annual financial audit. 

K.Warren reported that PPHS is still working with the auditing firm to make sure they get all of the information needed to do the audit. We are behind schedule and the financial consultants are supporting getting the information the auditing firm needs. The auditors have reached out to the State Board of Accounts to get an extension through the end of the month and we anticipate needing one more extension. 


J.Smith asked how the team feels about the audit. K.Warren responded that we are not where we want to be but the additional support is helping us get to where we want to be. 

L.Phillips and B.Adams left the meeting at 4:42 PM.

Operations

HR Update

K.Warren will provide a brief HR update. 

K.Warren reported that the open accounting specialist position has been backfilled by Fernanda Bucio who has been with the organization since 2019.  Fernanda started as an instructional assistant, then office manager, and is now the accounting specialist. 


K.Warren also reported that K.Primrose has been promoted to Chief Academic Officer and added that Krista's appointment is exactly what is needed to move PPHS forward. We have reinvented high school and created more equitable outcomes and her work will allow us to sustain those outcomes. K.Warren explained that Krista has done a great job with grant proposals which has made some of this innovative work possible. 

Enrollment Update

S.Ward will provide a brief enrollment update. 

S.Ward shared a report of PPHS's current enrollment numbers at each campus and shared that we are right where we want to e budget-wise. S.Ward reported that a count day is coming up in February and Englewood will probably be turning away students next year which may help to build up numbers at North and West. South Bend is slightly ahead of where they were at this point last year and North is doing well but is a little below where they were last year. 


D.Cook asked how we feel about Englewood's enrollment numbers. S.Ward responded that the staff have had a lot of conversations about what feels comfortable in the Englewood space. We like to start with a higher enrollment at the beginning of the year, knowing that there will be some attrition between the first count day and the second count day. 

J.Smith asked to clarify whether 550 students is feasible or whether adjustments need to be made. J.Pactor responded that the numbers make sense based on two classes that have started at the building.
R.Wynkoop stated that the original goal was for the school to have 600 students and asked whether we have a building that can fit 600 students. S.Bess responded that we've always been aiming for 550-600 students. We can't go below 550 students on a budget basis and the school actually budgeted for 545 students. When going above 600, the building starts to feel really full and if we have more than 600 students, we would have to choose to use the space differently. S.Bess added that if we had access to local property taxes, we could add more physical space. We will need to start next school year with 600 or more students, knowing that the enrollment will drop off some. 

K.Kobe asked what the full build-out of Broad Ripple will look like. Scott responded that after we get past January, we will start to figure out the details with IPS. 

M.Quintana asked whether we are landlocked in the Englewood building and whether there is room to develop. S.Bess responded that yes, there is room, but it takes capital. M.Quintana suggested there may be an opportunity to buy residential properties. M.Weber suggested property acquisition e discussed at the next meeting. 

S.Hageman asked who owns the building now. S.Bess responded that there are 12 different LLCs and the owners are Englewood Development Corporation and the John Boner Center. 
M.Quintana asked how long is the lease. S.Bess responded that we have a 10-year lease with the option to renew.
S.Hageman asked whether PPHS is the sole tenant. S.Bess responded that Paramount is also a tenant. S.Bess added that we need a good financial advisor to help us plan long-term. The good news is that we have no debt and the bad news is that we are paying rent. Currently, PPHS uses Howe athletic facilities which may go away and this hurts PPHS's ability to have full-scale athletic teams.  
R.Wynkoop stated there was a cleanup agreement for the backside of the property and asked whether there has been any progress. S.Bess responded that the contamination on that part of the property is significant. They've sunk some holes and are doing some testing. We had a call with the owner of the property before Christmas and they are making progress; there are a number of insurance companies that are in disagreement over who is responsible for the cleanup.
J.Smith suggested we think through a potential strategy for acquiring land that is immediately adjacent to the campus. S.Bess responded that we are good for a couple more years. J.Smith asked whether there has been a correlation between the space feeling tight and disciplinary issues. S.Ward responded yes. S.Bess added that part of the disciplinary issues was that there were a handful of students that caused 95% of the issues. 

Governance

Board Reorganization

Officer Positions

M.Weber will accept nominations for Board officer positions. The Board is required to approve new officer positions by recorded vote. 

M.Weber stated that two things have contributed to PPHS's success and those include the involvement from Purdue and the independence we have had at the same time. As we started to think about what the future might look like, especially given changes happening at Purdue, Purdue felt this was a good time to strengthen the Purdue University presence on the Board. M.Weber proposes co-chairs of Gary and Jamal who are two of the three longest remaining Board members and for Ken to become treasurer. M.Weber asked for nominations for officers. 

M.Quintana asked which officer positions are open. K.Reier responded that the secretary position is open. PPHS's bylaws state there shall be a chair, treasurer, secretary, and any other officer positions that may be appointed.
R.Wynkoop stated that he supports the approach and it is smart and good as we work to ensure a good partnership with Purdue University and the academic pieces. 
M.Quintana asked to confirm co-chairs are not a requirement of our bylaws. M.Weber confirmed.  
M.Quintana stated her only concern is how we respond with why we have co-chairs from a funder perspective and added this is an opportunity to try this approach. 
R.Wynkoop responded that it is a good question and with the transition at Purdue University, this is a good way to assure funders we are making the organization steady. 
G.Bertoline stated that he agrees this is an experiment. We are reinventing high school and we are in partnership with a university this is a way of showing that true partnerships start at the Board level. There is a lot changing at Purdue and there are a lot of unknowns. PPHS was President Daniels' passion and we need to earn this with the next president. 
M.Quintana asked whether we need to change the bylaws and requested that we have a response ready for why we have to co-chairs. S.Bess responded that we do not need to change our bylaws and added that people are in awe of the relationship PPHS has with Purdue. People (funders) ask if we are controlled by the university and if it is an equal balance of the two. He suggested starting there for the message because of the unique nature of the relationship between PPHS and Purdue. 

J.Smith added, "I am pro-kid." As a board, I want to continue to hold the school accountable for how we are supporting young people and hold Purdue accountable for how they are going to receive the young people we send their way. I am looking forward to the conversations with Purdue. Everyone involved is responsible for each student. You should know that if that is the kind of co-hair you want. 
M.Quintana asked when the new officer positions would be effective. M.Weber responded that the effect would be immediate. 
T.Reives stated that he appreciates Purdue's strategy and asked whether the Board has a strategy around other people that we appoint. 

M.Quintana made a motion to approve G.Bertoline and J.Smith as co-chairs and K.Kobe as treasurer of the Board. T.Reives seconded the motion. 

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

K.Kobe thanked M.Weber for her extraordinary service. 

Purdue Appointed Board Position

G.Bertoline will introduce Shane Hageman, Purdue University's selected appointee to the PPHS Board. The Board is required to approve the appointment by recorded vote. 

G.Bertoline introduced Shane Hageman as Purdue's nomination as a Purdue-appointed Board member. G.Bertoline reported Shane will be a very valuable member of the Board. S.Hageman reported he is happy to be here. S.Hageman explained he has a degree from IU but went to Purdue first and has a background primarily in agriculture on a farm in Remington, Indiana. He has gone to public school throughout all of his education until recently beginning to take classes at Notre Dame. He currently works in agriculture and commercial real estate.


M.Weber made a motion to approve S.Hageman to the Board. R.Wynkoop seconded the motion.

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

J.Smith welcomed S.Hageman to the Board.

Charter Application Update

S.Bess will give a brief update regarding PPHS's charter application. 

S.Bess reported that PPHS was notified Monday afternoon that we received a charter to open a school on the west side of Indianapolis. A real estate broker shared a list of potential school facilities and the team will begin diving into those options to figure out what can be converted into a school. S.Bess reported that we have the staff and infrastructure to support another school; we need to make sure the operational things are progressing. S.Bess added the thing he is least confident about is the building because there are few options in that area of the city.

K.Reier added that the charter approval provides 5 charters as we think about statewide expansion.
K.Kobe asked whether there will be any blowback from the public. S.Bess responded that he doesn't think so because the approval was for outside of Pike Township. 
J.Smith asked if the school will be open to 9th graders. S.Bess responded that the school will open with mostly 9th graders and there will always be some students in other grades.
T.Reives stated that we're still building the plane as we fly and asked if we have the curriculum solid. S.Bess responded that we are no longer building plane parts but are putting touch-up paint on it. From an academic and curriculum standpoint, we are in a good place. The infrastructure is done. We are making modifications; the main building blocks are all there. 
T.Reives asked whether we are taking staff from existing schools. K.Warren responded that we learned from South Bend that it makes sense to pull staff from existing schools. We have created a leadership development program to be intentional about it. 

IPS Referendum Sharing Update

K.Warren will give a brief update regarding discussions with IPS about referendum sharing. 

K.Warren reported that IPS hopes to pass two referendums: one for operations and one for capital. The capital referendum has already been passed by IPS's Board and IPS is trying to get the new Board to pass the operations referendum. K.Warren has been part of the conversation on what referendum sharing might look like. Currently, PPHS receives $500 per student that lives in the UPS district. Currently, IPS has created a formula that would give a minimum of $1,200 to K-8 schools and a minimum of $600 to high school partners. Innovation schools are largely not excited about the referendum-sharing plans and The Mind Trust is very much opposed to it.


R.Wynkoop left the meeting at 6:00 PM.

S.Bess added that from a community perspective, IPS has funds from its current referendum and if this new referendum doesn't pass, IPS will not have the money needed to operate all of its current teaching staff and will likely have to close schools. IPS needs community support for the referendum to pass. 
J.Smith asked what doesn't PPHS like about it. K.Warren responded we prefer to get the same amount everyone else gets. S.Bess added that IPS is bringing in a couple of thousand dollars per student and, from an equity perspective, our parents are paying property tax dollars and they are getting much less than what their neighbors might be getting. This referendum is on top of the $7000 difference that we do not get. 

K.Kobe asked what IPS wants PPHS to do. K.Warren responded that IPS wants us to support the referendum and mobilize our families. 

Development Update

Gift Policy

M.Quintana will present a gift policy that the Development Committee recommends be adopted by the Board. The Board is required to approve the policy by recorded vote. 

M.Quintana presented  gift policy that was reviewed and recommended by the Development Committee to approve. M.Quintana shared that the gift policy was developed by looking at several non-profit gift policies and the template created is fairly standard. 


K.Kobe made a motion to adopt the gift policy. M.Weber seconded the motion.

DECISION:  The Board voted unanimously to approve the motion.
Roll Call:
G. Bertoline     Aye
J.Smith              Aye
K.Kobe              Aye
M.Quintana     Aye
D.Cook              Aye
T.Reives           Aye
S.Hageman    Aye

Funding

K.Reier will provide a brief update regarding PPHS's philanthropic support. 

K.Reier reported that in December, PPHS was not selected as a Yass Prize finalist. Being a semifinalist provided PPHS with a significant amount of press and national attention and also provided the organization with $200,000. 

PPHS received $300,000 in Charter School Program funds for PPHS West.
PPHS received $1.8M from Charter School Growth Fund to support three new schools. 
PPHS submitted a $1.75M grant to the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation which includes $250,000 for opening West and $1.5M to support partnerships. 

Academic Excellence

Graduation Rate

K.Warren will discuss PPHS's 2022 graduation rate. 

K.Warren presented disaggregated graduation rate data and explained that disaggregated data are only available for Englewood due to n sizes. K.Warren reported that what we are proud of is that we exist to serve students who have been historically marginalized and our graduation rates are the same across all subgroups. Compared to the state average, we are outpacing the state graduation rate for Black students. We are closing the opportunity gap for students who haven't historically had access to a great education.


M.Weber asked what the graduation rate was last year. K.Warren responded that it was 72% last year and added that we are significantly outperforming all the IPS high schools.

M.Weber left the meeting at 6:25 PM and rejoined virtually at 6:26 PM.

T.Reives asked whether we will find out soon whether students are on track to go to Purdue. K.Warren responded that students will know by January 15. 

Growth

K.Primrose will present PPHS student growth data. 

K.Primrose presented data student growth. We are able to say that across the Board, students are hitting the growth levels that would be expected and reaching at least 1 academic year of growth. The trends we are seeing are that in English, students are generally reaching anticipated growth levels but are still struggling in Math. Math coaches are reporting that students are coming to the school needing remediation. We are looking at scheduling options to make sure students have additional math time, as needed. 


T.Reives asked that if we are a STEM school, should we expect to see more growth in math and asked whether the school should take a more traditional approach to math to make sure it is stronger. K.Primrose responded that PPHS has extended the learning time for precalculus and calculus is being offered this year. Once we see what that extended time does, we are bringing up additional math time for all students. 

S.Bess added that all of our students are growing in math and growing as expected but the problem is that students are coming in low and have a hard time getting up to speed because they have more ground to make up. S.Hageman asked whether students and families know that. S.Bess responded that students come from a lot of different middle schools whether they have been told that they are good but the reality is that they are nowhere close and families do not know they are at a deficit. 

G.Bertoline asked if there is anything we can do the summer before freshman start. S.Bess responded tat there are a couple of schools that provide summer school.

J.Smith said he would like to see data a little more disaggregated such as by race and gender. K.Primrose reported that the growth reports and provided year-over-year and are only available at the aggregate level. 

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 March 8, 2023 at 4:00 PM.

G.Bertoline and J.Smith adjourned the meeting at 6:50 PM.

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