10.28.20 Board Meeting Minutes

Oregon Charter Academy (ORCA) APPROVED 11.18.2020 MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Wednesday, October 28, 2020 at 12:30 p.m. PT Held at the following location: Via Zoom due to State Precautions regarding Public Health and Safety During COVID-19 Pandemic Zoom: ​https://oregoncharter.zoom.us/j/91035080370

I.

Call to Order – J. Kropf With only two board members present initially, Ms. Galvin began the School Leader Report while waiting for other members to join. Mr. Kropf called the meeting to order at 12:50 when quorum was reached. The meeting was open to the public and held via teleconference due to state precautions regarding public health and safety during the COVID-19 pandemic.

II.

Roll Call – J. Kropf Board Members Present: ​Jeff Kropf, Joe Brown, Becky Badger, Bobbie Jager, Kim Thatcher.

Board Members Absent: Guests Present: ​ Allison Galvin, Executive Director, Todd Schweitzer, School Staff, Mary Ellen Mansfield, School Staff, Lori Walter, School Staff, Jason Horton, School Staff, Rachel Kazmierski, School Staff.

III.

Public Comment None.

IV.

Routine Business A. ​Approval of Agenda Mr. Kropf asked if any changes need to be made to the Agenda as presented. A typo on item V was noted; the board will be reviewing the 2019-20 School Year Financial Audit Report. With that change, a motion was made and seconded as follows.

The mission of Oregon Charter Academy is to prepare all students for success in a global society through an inclusive, rigorous, academic environment where students have daily live interaction with highly qualified teachers and continuous access to curriculum. Oregon Charter Academy staff partners with families in a transparent, collaborative school environment to support all students in their academic journey.

RESOLVED, that the Agenda for the October 28, 2020 meeting of the Board of Directors of Oregon Charter Academy, as corrected, is hereby approved.

The motion passed unanimously.

V.

Audit Committee, Committee of the Entire Board A. Review/Acceptance of the 2019-2020 Financial Audit Report ​ – M. Mansfield and G. Corkran The exit interview took place this past Friday with two minor “best practice” suggestions made. 1) The auditors were unable to obtain an SSA16 Report form Pearson OBL. This report is a suggested internal control from any contractor with access to an organization’s sensitive information. 2) It was noted that ORCA’s bank balance is above the fidelity insurance coverage currently held. These two infractions have been noted on all recent audits. The Post Field Work Memo that was reviewed at the exit interview was emailed to board members during the meeting.

[Kim Thatcher joined the meeting at 1:02 pm] Mr. Corkran reviewed some of the key points on the financial statements, including a fund balance that grew almost $1.8M from June 30, 2019.

In response to a question by a board member, Mr. Corkran promised to do some additional research around the PERS entries made by the auditors on the financial statements.

Two edits were requested to page two of the financial report; Mr. Kropf’s name should be listed as “Jeff Kropf” and Ms. Badger’s term expiration changed to 2023.

When no further questions were put forth, a motion was made and seconded as follows.

RESOLVED, to ACCEPT the 2019-2020 audited Financial Report, with requested edits.

The motion passed unanimously.

VI.

Oral Report A. School Leader’s Report​ – A. Galvin 1. State of the School Report Ms. Galvin reviewed the completed school report which outlines current data in a historical context, reviews progress on school goals, evaluates the current educational environment and looks forward to challenges and opportunities.

2. School leader report

The mission of Oregon Charter Academy is to prepare all students for success in a global society through an inclusive, rigorous, academic environment where students have daily live interaction with highly qualified teachers and continuous access to curriculum. Oregon Charter Academy staff partners with families in a transparent, collaborative school environment to support all students in their academic journey.

Today’s enrollment: 4863. There are a small number in the pipeline, but with the 3% caps on districts it is unlikely that many will be able to transition to enrolled status.

Ms. Galvin highlighted a few items on her monthly report. Most notably, amidst all the challenges this fall, the student engagement has been better than ever. Some of this can be credited to new learning platforms which are dynamic and include more live teaching. These improvements make participation more rewarding for the students.

Teachers are also feeling the benefit, with one emailing a thank you to the ORCA Leadership for restoring “the joy of teaching”.

B. Financial Report ​ - M. Mansfield 1. September financials Ms Mansfield explained in more detail the “Working Budget” on the Income Statement. This new column represents an ADMr increase from 4,000 to 4,500 students, a per pupil increase from $8,300 to $8,500, and an actual High School Success award that came in $900,000 higher than predicted last spring. The additional $5.0M in revenue will be spent in part on salaries for additional staff (25 new teachers, 1.5 new clerical staff) but will also allow the establishment of two reserve funds (facilities and rainy day).

VII.

Consent Agenda Mr. Kropf asked board members if there were any items in the Consent Agenda that should be moved to Action items for discussion. There being no changes noted, a motion was made and seconded as follows: RESOLVED, the Consent items: A. B. C. D. E. F.

Approval of Minutes from the September 23, 2020 Board Meeting Approve of Minutes from October 14, 2020 Special Board Meeting Approval of Staffing Report Approval of School Invoice(s) Approval of Legal Invoice(s) Approval of Bank Reconciliation

The motion passed unanimously.

VIII.

Action Items A. Insurance brokerage: Workers compensation ​- A. Galvin

The mission of Oregon Charter Academy is to prepare all students for success in a global society through an inclusive, rigorous, academic environment where students have daily live interaction with highly qualified teachers and continuous access to curriculum. Oregon Charter Academy staff partners with families in a transparent, collaborative school environment to support all students in their academic journey.

Ms. Galvin explained that the broker who prepared and sold Oregon Charter the initial insurance packages has changed offices. She proposes a move of school business to the new office as policies reach their expiration and are ready for rollover.

Mr. Kropf asked board members if there were any questions or discussion needed. There being none, a motion was made and seconded as follows: RESOLVED, the school may move its insurance business to their broker’s new office.

The motion passed unanimously.

B. OAR 581-022-2312: All Students Belong. Handbook update​ - L. Walter, A. Galvin Ms. Galvin walked the board through a proposed change to the Student Handbook which adds language to incorporate All Students Belong into the current Gender, Title IX, Civil Rights and Bias Incidents Policy. While the new language is quite specific, the overarching goal is to provide a safe environment for learning and the school’s overall mission to be neutral moderators who encourage critical thinking ​remain unchanged.

Mr. Kropf asked board members if there were any questions or discussion needed. There being none, a motion was made and seconded as follows: RESOLVED, the update to the Student Handbook is ACCEPTED as written.

The motion passed unanimously.

[Bobbie Jager left the meeting at 1:45 pm] [Becky Badger left the meeting at 1:45 pm] IX.

Information Items A. Outreach and events Update​ - J. Horton 1. iHeart analytics and SYS online outreach analytics Mr. Horton highlighted some key data points from the analytics provided by school partners. From Radio, to video, to email campaigns and social media, all benchmarks were positive, especially as compared to national averages. While this was expected due to the general interest in online learning, it was good to see expectations validated.

B. State relations update ​- J. Horton No committee meetings recently.

The mission of Oregon Charter Academy is to prepare all students for success in a global society through an inclusive, rigorous, academic environment where students have daily live interaction with highly qualified teachers and continuous access to curriculum. Oregon Charter Academy staff partners with families in a transparent, collaborative school environment to support all students in their academic journey.

Mr. Horton and Ms. Galvin met with the new board lobbyist this week to discuss priorities (raising district enrollment cap to 5% topping the list).

C. Annual Report ​- A. Galvin Ms. Galvin shared the annual report that will be submitted to ODE and Santiam Canyon S.D. The board had a question about High School graduation predictions for this year (numbers and rates). This will be a moving target as ODE adjusts graduation requirements, and student-drop policies due to COVID-19. Enrollment in the senior class, and all levels, will continue to be affected by the availability of in-person instruction at brick and mortar schools.

X.

Adjournment and Confirmation of Next Regular Meeting Date The next meeting is scheduled for November 18, 2020 at 12:30 p.m. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 1:59 pm.

The mission of Oregon Charter Academy is to prepare all students for success in a global society through an inclusive, rigorous, academic environment where students have daily live interaction with highly qualified teachers and continuous access to curriculum. Oregon Charter Academy staff partners with families in a transparent, collaborative school environment to support all students in their academic journey.