FRONTIER CHARTER ACADEMY
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Meeting minutes the Regular Board Meeting on February 26, 2024 @ 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 6:02 p m with the Pledge of Allegiance
B. Roll Call
Directors Englehart, Hardesty, Winning, and Wolfer were present at the meeting.
Others Present: David Beldsoe, Nicole Darcy, Beau Neal, Todd Schweitzer, and Melissa Wolfer
C. Approval of Previous Board Minutes (Action)
Motion: Director Englehart moved and Director Wolfer seconded that the Frontier Charter Academy Board of Directors approve the November 27, 2023 minutes as presented. The motion carried 4-0.
II. COMMUNICATIONS
A. PUBLIC COMMENTS: 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:
1. 22-23 Financial Statements - Auditor Report
David Bledsoe from Pauly Rogers presented information on the 22-23 audited financial statements stating that the audit process went well and that there were no findings Mr Beldsoe outlined several best practices including the amount of fidelity insurance coverage, government body monitoring of the finances, and information technology controls Additionally, Mr Beldsoe reviewed several current and upcoming Governmental Accounting Standard Board changes Some of these do not apply to the academy because of its cash basis of accounting Mr Beldsoe also outlined the drop in the ending fund balance which was due to a variety of factors
Director Englehart thanks Mr Bledsoe and Melissa for their work on the financial statements
Director Winning stated that he was good with the information made available by the auditors and comfortable with what Melissa was doing.
Mr. Bledsoe also said that the State will begin to handle unemployment claims differently which may result in schools needing to budget for more claims. He also confirmed that he didn’t anticipate any changes in the relationship between Pauly Rogers and FCA.
Director Wolfer asked for clarification regarding the drop in the ending fund balance.
Mr. Bledsoe referred to the MD&A portion of the audit which provided additional information.
Melissa stated that the spend down of the ending fund balance was purposeful to get more money into the classrooms The previous year’s ending fund balances were inflated due to the “covid enrollment swing”
2 Art Department Presentation - Board Appreciation
Todd presented a slideshow from FCA art students showing appreciation for the School Board and their work on behalf of the academy
C. BOARD CHAIR DISCUSSION AND RECOGNITION
None
D. BOARD/STAFF DISCUSSION
Reports:
1. Executive Director
Todd noted that the enrollment was increasing and close to 390. The trend has been to gain students but also lose some. He would like to see the enrollment increase to 400 by the end of the school year.
Todd also stated that a performance audit is currently underway and being performed by Rob Hess, an outside consultant. Todd anticipates that Rob will reach out to the School Board members for interviews.
Todd informed the Board members that Gervais School District is presenting a bond to the community There are members of the Gervais School Board that have said that the district will close if the bond does not pass Todd has reached out to an attorney about the possibility of FCA moving to a different sponsoring district depending on Gervais’ status If the district does close, their last day would be June 30,2025 Melissa has reached out to several small districts in the area to gauge if they are interested in sponsoring FCA
There was further discussion on this topic and the implications to FCA
2 Financial/Business
Written report
Melissa stated that since June 2023, the academy’s available cash has remained relatively stable, which is a positive. Additionally, our budget versus actual projections are in line with expectations for this point in the school year. This shows consistency in our projected spending and forecasting. She stated that FCA’s financial position remains strong and we are on track to meet our budgetary goals for the fiscal year.
3. Principal Update
Beau said that semester one is complete. He stated that there were a few grade issues, but that those have been fixed. Beau also noted that May 28 will be FCA’s third prom and that students will be taking more leadership roles in the planning and execution of the event. The theme will be “Into the Forest”.
Todd noted that state testing will be conducted in May The testing will be mainly online but there will be an in person option if requested by a family
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.
Information: We expect all stipend offerings to remain relatively the same between school years.
Motion: Director Wolfer moved and Director Hardesty seconded that the Frontier Charter Academy Board of Directors approve the consent items en masse. The motion carried 4-0.
1. New Employees:
None
2. Resignations / Terminations: Mills, Megan - Special Education Teacher
3 Employment Changes:
● 2024/25 Employee Renewal and Extensions
Frontier Charter Academy Board of Directors approves the renewal of all current administrative, managers, and classified for the 2024/25 school year, extension of all non-probationary teachers and renewal of licensed probationary staff with the exception of those staff listed in resignations and terminations
● All three classified staff will move from a 217 day calendar to a 236 day calendar IV.
Motion: Director Hardesty moved and Director Wolfer seconded that the Frontier Charter Academy Board of Directors accepts the 22/23 audited financial statements as presented by David Bledsoe from Pauly Rogers. The motion carried 4-0.
Discussion: Melissa reviewed the assumptions used to build the budget noting that there were no major changes The assumptions included:
a Estimating a 2% per pupil increase from the State of Oregon for 24-25 and 3% for 25-26
b All staff receive a COLA and Step
c. Student enrollment projections of 15% between 23/24 and 24/25
d. Ending fund balance (June 2025) 6.9% of expenses represented as contingency within the budget document
Motion: Director Englehart moved and Director Wolfer seconded that the Frontier Charter Academy Board of Directors approve the 24/25 Budget as presented. The motion carried 4-0.
Action Item 2024.02 - 03: Approve the 24/25 Salary Schedule
Discussion: Melissa stated that all staff will receive a COLA and Step
Motion: Director Hardesty moved and Director Englehart seconded that the Frontier Charter Academy Board of Directors approve the 24/25 Salary Schedule as presented. The motion carried 4-0.
Action Item 2024.02 - 04: Approve the 24/25 School Calendar
Discussion: Todd noted that the proposed calendar is very similar to the current year school calendar except that this year the administration did not put the professional days on the calendar because there isn’t a need for those days. However, the leadership reserves the right to put in a professional day if needed.
Motion: Director Wolfer moved and Director Winning seconded that the Frontier Charter Academy Board of Directors approve the 24/25 School Calendar as presented. The motion carried 4-0.
C. Instruction and Curriculum
None
V. ITEMS SCHEDULED FOR INFORMATION
1 Notable Gervais policy updates that applied to FCA for review Gervais School District Board packets and versions of the policies for consideration can be found here
Discussion: Todd referenced these policies and noted that the changes were listed
● AC-AR Discrimination Complaint Procedure - Clarifies complaint timeline and more closely aligns with legal requirements.
● EH-AR Record and Data Management - Updated to better align policy and administrative regulation language with statute and revised language to reflect current terms and practices. Document also adds hyperlinks to state law for each activity.
● GCPA-AR Reduction or Recall of Licensed Staff - HB 2001 (2021) requires districts to consider cultural or linguistic expertise when implementing a reduction in staff.
● JFCF-AR Harassment, Intimidation, Bullying - This policy helps districts establish norms and procedures around cybersecurity.
2. Board Training
OSBA Material (not all items apply to a virtual charter Board)
Discussion: Todd indicated that the Board could receive training through conference and encouraged the Board to review the linked OSBA material
There was further discussion about the status of the Gervais School District and the bond they are attempting to pass
VI. EXECUTIVE SESSION
None scheduled
VII. ADJOURNMENT
Motion: Director Wolfer moved and Director Hardesty seconded that the Frontier Charter Academy Board of Directors adjourn the meeting at 6:41 p.m. The motion carried 4-0.