October 28, 2024
Board of Directors Minutes
Present: Alexis Smith, Alisha Crutchfield, Brian Kelahan, Carly Osborne, Jeff Carter, Karen Jenkins, Liz Cox, Michelle Sepulveda, Terri Snell.
Staff: Amanda Byam, Ana Rosa, Audrey Nefores, Deborah Greig, Elena Augusewicz, Joel Tolman, Monique Frasier, Rebecca Holcombe.
Public: N/A
Welcome
Alexis called the meeting to order at 5:34 pm.
Public Comment (5:34): No public comment
Business Requiring Approval (5:34)
Approval of September 30th minutes: Brian moved. Jeff seconded. All in favor. None opposed.
Motion for Certified Resolution: N/A
Appointment of Clouds Mutale and Heaven McCrea Brown as Student Representatives
Powerpoint Presentation by Gary Russett, Manager, and Margaret Randle, Associate of Your Part-Time Controller (YPTC) (5:40)
Safety & Security Update (5:59)
Invoices Needing Approval (6:01)
Invoices that are not part of the budget and are requiring approval are:
- Corporate Systems Consulting $5,600 – Chromebook insurance *Unbudgeted expense, CGHS has exceeded its hardware budget.
- Edgility $25,000 – ED Search firm *Unbudgeted expense
- Total Unbudgeted Expenses $ 30,600.00
Consent agenda invoices that are part of the budget total $ 40,587.39
Jeff asked if there are any questions.
Sarah asked about the scope and sequence of this. Is this outside of what students pay towards insurance?
Elena stated that kids pay a flat rate of $40 per chromebook, and it’s part of the insurance. The purchases for all the chromebooks for the year were outside.
Liz asked how the actual expense is allocated.
Elena stated that the Common Ground & NHEP budget for the Interim ED is split.
Sarah asked if the Interim ED line is budgeted separately.
Elena stated that the monthly fee for Karen Jenkins was budgeted and the search firm was not budgeted.
Jeff asked if there were any other questions. Liz motioned to approve the invoices listed above. Alexis seconded the motion. All in favor. None opposed.
Jeff shared that there are applicants. He shared that it’s possible for Karen to be on through November and December, and into January.
Interim Executive Solutions –
Karen’s services $8000 per month. Was approved for payment for 6 months (May-Oct). Please approve payment from Nov. through Dec. 31
We only budgeted for 6 months. The November & December fees are Unbudgeted.
Jeff motioned to approve the $8,000 for CG’s Interim Ed. Brian seconded the motion.
Executive Director Report (6:10) (Karen)
Link to October Director Reports
Deb stated that the biggest thing coming up is the annual conference, with about 11 people attending – learning about planting mushrooms, herbal medicine, etc.
Committee Reports (6:12)
Minutes of all Committee Meetings will be Posted on the Board of Directors Webpage by the end of each month
Audit/Finance Committee (Jeff)
The regular meeting of the finance committee was held at 4pm on October 24th.
The meeting agenda and notes from the Audit/Finance Committee can be found HERE.
Jeff shared that they are working with Margaret and that the audit is nearly complete. He expressed that they are really excited about working with YPTC.
Elena shared the September Budgets vs. Actuals in the format that the Board is used to seeing. She shared that Margaret and Gary will be sharing the progress reports each month now. Elena stated that the Quickbooks transition went really well and expressed that things are moving in a very positive direction. Working with YPTC will enable them to answer questions more quickly and efficiently than usual.
Alexis asked if there were any questions for Elena and Jeff. No questions.
Development Committee Report (Brian + Committee)
The regular meeting of the Development Committee was held on October 8 at 10:30AM. The agenda and minutes can be found here – Development Committee Minutes.
Brian stated that Audrey shared progress with the Great Give over the past couple of years. The info she shared clearly showed the power of board involvement in the Great Give. Brian stated that he believes we will get some help from Prose, sharing with over 100,000 people. Brian explained that it’s important that the Board creates a Great Give committee, which the Development team will be a big part of.
Brian reminded the Board that we spoke last month about Board expectations with Jackie. The committee would like to bring in another speaker for November to talk about the responsibilities of Board members. He was not available for this meeting. For now, Brian will share slides from Andy about “Designing your best Board.” Brian stated that he talked about finding the best people to fill the Board, including identifying skills. Brian assigned the Board homework to come up with the matrix of the current board and think about additional board members to determine where they might fit.
Alexis asked if this matrix is talking about board members in terms of development and fundraising or is it talking about general qualities that make up the board?
Alexis stated that typically a matrix is used for Board recruitment and that this technically is done in the governance committee.
Brian stated that he agrees and shared that he thinks this is mostly to give some background and help the governance committee. Brian then shared a matrix worksheet.
Audrey shared a clarification around the Prose plan, stating that they are focusing their campaign on Giving Tuesday. She shared that they will be sending targeted asks to very large networks of people, encouraging them to give on Giving Tuesday. We will want to support by subscribing to their newsletter, following them on Facebook, and sharing them out to different people.
Audrey also shared that the Gratitude Report will be going out tomorrow. She informed everyone that they will be printing out several copies without addresses so that the Board can hand them out.
Liz asked if Audrey will be sharing with Board members.
Audrey asked if and stated that she will be open to having those conversations. She shared that it would be most helpful if Board members come to her with questions and that she will advise based on their individual networks.
Search Committee (Jeff)
Jeff shared that he and the Search committee are meeting with the Edgility team on a weekly basis.
Brian asked when we would be able to see names.
Jeff said that people have been feeling ill or have needed to take time away. Preliminary phone calls started last week.
Jeff shared that many potential candidates have extensive nonprofit experience and that some have education backgrounds.
Governance Committee Report (6:35) (Alexis)
The governance committee met on October 24th and discussed the draft of the NHEP board agreement policy.
Governance Committee Meeting Minutes
Alexis shared that the committee will have the student reps who were approved tonight join the next meeting in November. She stated that they have held virtual training sessions in the past and they will hold two sessions with the students.
Sarah has agreed to join the governance committee.
Alexis also spoke to the committee about the process where her and Jeff evaluated Karen. This was a good first step to think about how this can be revised so that this can be done with the new incoming ED.
The committee will discuss changes to the board agreement policy and then submit in November.
They talked about Board members letting the Board Chair know when they cannot attend meetings. One thing they wanted to make sure to flag is who’s responsible for these things, like training. The final thing is a proposal to take out or change the financial commitment. The committee was okay with it. They hope to be able to adopt something like this at the November meeting.
School Committee Report (6:39) (Liz)
The School Committee met on October 23rd.
- Common Ground High School Annual Report – to be submitted to the Connecticut State Department of Education, on behalf of the Board.
- Board approval is not required. If board members have questions, they can ask them during the School Committee report.
Minutes from the School Committee Meeting can be found HERE.
Liz encouraged everyone to take a look at the CGHS Annual Report and stated that it gives the board a good idea of what the school is accountable for, for the State.
Assistant Director Dr. Nash has still not returned to the school.
The school has administered two major tests – the PSAT and the first round of MAP testing, a testing tool that will be used to monitor academic achievement improvement through two years in the CAP. They expect to have a summary of how students did on those two tests soon.
Monique shared that currently there is still an open Math position. She stated that there is a strong candidate who is coming in tomorrow to meet the math coach and Jeremy Stone. She expressed that she can’t have someone come in and not stay. There was a nurse candidate that was good but it did not pan out.
She stated that the revised version of the CAP was accepted by the state. The state is looking at Reading and Math improvement. They are looking for how Professional Development with teachers is affecting student achievement. Another thing the CAP will outline is certification. Out of the three situations where teachers had emergency CERTS, two will be moving to get into DSAP programs and will hopefully move onto full certification.
PSAT make-ups will be on Wednesday. Overall, it was a good showing for students on attendance and completing the test.
Alexis asked if there were any questions. No comments or questions.
New Business (6:46)
Executive Session (6:47)
Jeff moved. Carly seconded the motion.
Adjourn (8:00)
Next Meeting: Monday, November 18th.
Public Comment:
In order to comply with Connecticut Open Meeting laws, any member of the public wishing to participate in the meeting must sign up on the Public Participation Sign-up Document. Sign-ups for Public Participation will open at 5 pm on the last business day before the meeting (Friday, November 15th) and will close at 5:00 pm on the day of the meeting (Monday, November 18th) Public Participation is limited to 2 minutes per person up to 30 total minutes. Anyone wishing to make a statement to the board can also submit testimony in writing to Alexis.Smith@nhep.com by 5:00 pm on the day of the meeting. All submitted documents will be included in the publicly shared meeting minutes.
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