FRONTIER CHARTER ACADEMY
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Meeting minutes the Regular Board Meeting on November 27, 2023 @ 6:00 p.m.
A Regular Meeting of the Board was held at the FCA office at 10653 NE 71st St Brooks, Oregon and via videoconference
I. PRELIMINARY
A. Call To Order and Pledge of Allegiance
The meeting was called to order by Director Winning at 6:00 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance.
B. Roll Call
Directors Englehart, Hardesty (arrived at 6:04 p.m.), Winning, and Wolfer were present at the meeting.
Others Present: Joanne Johnson, Beau Neal, Todd Schweitzer, and Melissa Wolfer
C. Approval of Previous Board Minutes (Action)
Motion: Director Winning moved and Director Wolfer seconded that the Frontier Charter Academy Board of Directors approve the August 14, 2023 minutes as presented. The motion carried 3-0 (Director Hardesty absent).
II. COMMUNICATIONS
A. PUBLIC COMMENTS:
None
No individual comment shall be for more than three (3) minutes and the total time for this purpose shall not exceed fifteen (15) minutes Board Members may respond to comments however no action can be taken The Board may give direction to staff following the comment
B. PRESENTATIONS:
None
C. BOARD CHAIR DISCUSSION AND RECOGNITION
None
D. BOARD/STAFF DISCUSSION
Reports:
1. Executive Director
i. Todd reported that the current enrollment is 388 students which is better than budgeted but ultimately he would like the enrollment to be over 400 and stay at that level the rest of the school year. Families continue to reach out for enrollment information. Continued enrollment interest for this point in the school year is very good. Todd believes that the school’s social media and marketing campaign has helped.
Director Wolfer asked about historical enrollment numbers.
Todd responded that at the height of Covid the school had around 600 students but that was unusually high
FRONTIERCHARTERACADEMY
Todd stated that the Academy has contracted with Rob Hess to conduct a performance audit of the 22-23 school year. This independent contractor will review student and school information against performance indicators. Staff are gathering evidence for him now. He will also be meeting with staff and parents as part of the process. He will present his findings in a report to both the FCA and Gervais Board Members. Todd alerted the Board Members that they may be contacted to do a survey.
Todd briefly reviewed an annual report that will be presented to Gervais School District at a Board Meeting in December. The report included the Academy’s mission statement, an example of curriculum and lessons, student demographics, placement of students around the state, staff classifications, student membership and average daily membership, financial information, forecasting information, percentage of regular attenders, student performance and attendance data The report also included some current year information including current student enrollment, percentage of students in special programs, number of staff members, and technology information
The report also included the 23-24 Frontier Day schedule which included 11 locations Todd discussed the student clubs which are driven by student interest Todd finished the annual report by saying that FCA is doing good things for kids and serving a purpose of alternative learning options for students FCA helps students that wouldn’t graduate otherwise
Director Winning agreed that the school is doing good.
2. Financial/Business
Melissa provided a written report and reviewed it during the meeting.
Director Englehart commented that there is more revenue projected due to higher enrollment.
Melissa confirmed that the reason that revenue is expected to be higher is because of the enrollment but also stated that she is waiting on updated estimates from the Oregon Department of Education which could change the revenue projections.
There was also discussion about the current spending level.
Director Hardesty asked how the school staff projected student enrollment
Melissa said that she talks with both Todd and Joanne who have more experience with virtual education and with the exception of the Covid bubble plans for 3-5% growth However, she would like to see a higher rate of growth due to rising staff costs
Todd emphasized that it is difficult to project in the current environment, but that we have been pretty successful getting our projections close to actual enrollment
Melissa also informed the Board that the school has separated its mailing address from the District and has a new post office box.
Melissa stated that the 2023 audited financial statements are ready and will be emailed to the
Board prior to the next meeting to review. The auditor will have a presentation at the February meeting and the Board can vote to accept the audit at that time.
3. Principal Update
Beau updated the Board on Prom which is expected to be May 18 in Gervais from 5-7 p.m. He is anticipating that the National Honor Society students will help. It is a fun event that is well attended by FCA students.
Beau also gave a status update on the licensed staff formal evaluations which are ahead of schedule. He is over half way through the evaluation process for licensed staff.
III. CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS
All matters listed under the consent agenda are considered by the Board to be routine and will be approved/enacted by the Board in one motion in the form listed below Unless specifically requested by a Board member for further discussion or removed from the agenda, there will be no discussion of these items prior to the Board voting on them The Executive Director recommends approval of all consent agenda items
1. New Employees: None
2. Resignations / Terminations: None
3 Employment Changes:
None
IV. SCHEDULED FOR ACTION
A. Personnel
None
B. Business
Action Item 2023.11.27 - 01: Appoint new Board Vice-Chair
Information: Jack Gallagher had the position of Vice-Chair and has resigned from the School Board.
Motion: Director Winning moved and Director Wolfer seconded that the Frontier Charter Academy Board of Directors appoints Travis Englehart to the Vice-Chair position on the FCA School Board. Motion carried 4-0.
Motion: Director Winning moved and Director Hardesty seconded that the Frontier Charter Academy Board of Directors appoints Jason Wolfer to the Secretary/Treasurer position on the FCA School Board Motion carried 4-0
C. Instruction and Curriculum
None
FRONTIERCHARTERACADEMY
V. ITEMS SCHEDULED FOR INFORMATION
1. Todd and Melissa discussed the Gervais policy updates listed below. The Gervais School District Board packets and versions of the policies for consideration can be found here. These policies reflect recent changes in Oregon Law. FCA will follow these updates as they apply to virtual education.
● GCBDA/GDBDA - Family Medical Leave - language revised to include and accommodate the new Paid Oregon leave program. Application to FCA is limited because we use the State’s plan and the District uses an equivalent plan.
● GCBDF/GDBDF - Paid Family Medical Leave Insurance - See above
● LBE - Public Charter Schools - Revision reflects updates to the State Law regarding calculation of the percentage of students attending virtual schools and location of the charter.
● LBEA - Resident Student Denial for Virtual Public Charter School Attendance - Revision includes updates to the law in which virtual charter transfer requests can be denied, how the district calculates the percentage of students in virtual charters, and updates to the approval process
● BD/BDA - Board Meetings - Updates language to reflect changes in the public meeting law and executive sessions Language also reflects changes to the Ethics Commission oversights and requires Board Members to receive annual public meeting training
Director Englehart asked if the FCA Board would be doing training in compliance with policy BD/BDA.
Todd mentioned that the Oregon School Board Association has annual Board training available that FCA would pay for our members to attend. Additionally, the Board could do the training as a group or at Board meetings. Todd and Melissa will review the options and get back to the Board Members.
2. Parent Notification Handbook - The notifications in this handbook represent Gervais SD and Frontier Charter policies that require annual notification to parents.
3. Process and Procedures Manual - This internal control document is updated annually to reflect current practices to minimize risk and maintain fiscal integrity.
4 Todd would like to purchase a nominal gift ($50) for Jack Gallagher to recognize his service as founding Board member The Board Members agreed with this purchase Todd will get the gift and he will sign for staff and Director Winning will sign for the Board
VI. EXECUTIVE SESSION
None scheduled
VII. ADJOURNMENT
Director Englehart moved and Director Hardesty seconded that the Frontier Charter Academy Board of Directors adjourn the meeting at 6:35 p.m. Motion carried 4-0.