December 16, 2024
Board of Directors Minutes
Present: Alexis Smith, Alisha Crutchfield, Brian Kelahan, Carly Osborne, Clouds Mutale, Jeff Carter, Karen Jenkins, Liz Cox, Peter Ludwig, Sarah Field.
Staff: Amanda Byam, Ana Rosa, Audrey Nefores, Crystal Fernandez, Deborah Greig, Elena Augusewicz, Joel Tolman, Monique Frasier, Rebecca Holcombe.
Public: Frank Ward, Margaret Randle, Wayne Nadorf
Welcome
Alexis called the meeting to order at 5:33 pm.
Public Comment (5:33): N/A
Business Requiring Approval (5:34)
Approval of November 18th minutes: Jeff moved. Peter seconded. All in favor. None opposed.
Motion for Certified Resolution: N/A
Development Committee Report (5:35) (Brian + Committee)
The Development Committee will give a verbal update.
Brian urged the Board to submit names of people they know for letter signing, shared that he is looking forward to seeing everyone at the letter signing party and reminded everyone to RSVP.
Audrey shared Giving Tuesday results and thanked everyone for being involved and highlighted Amanda for stepping into a leadership role and taking on relationship-building with our major sponsor Prose. Audrey expressed appreciation for Brian and Colleen providing a large donation and match from their employer. Although Prose posted at 4pm, we got a good number of donors, including a percentage of those being new. Prose has also offered to share another post and Audrey will let everyone know when that is scheduled to go up.
Audrey would like to share the progress of our overall goal, at each board meeting, of our many different fundraising categories. She will share two different numbers – what was awarded this fiscal year (a confirmed amount given by a donor or organization that came in at a specific date) versus what was secured for this fiscal year (multi-year grants and multi-year donations that span across different years, which is accounted for in our budgets). In the Executive Report, you’ll see the overall revenue that Development, the Board, and overall organization has approved that we need to raise. Audrey has also included our anticipated net loss in these numbers.
Audrey divided these goals by the following categories:
- Individual Giving – We are 44% towards our goal. Audrey listed out the campaigns left to reach our goal, including the End of Year appeal coming up. With many of our donors giving on a calendar year basis, we hope to see these numbers changed by next month’s board meeting. There is ongoing board prospecting, along with individual prospecting done by Audrey and her team. Audrey also shouted out Karen’s introduction of Liberty Bank staff members, who will connect us with their foundation leader – they had lunch together at Hotel Marcel today, including Jeff and Elena. Audrey expressed how wonderful this momentum of partnerships and potential prospect donors is. The Great Give will be talked about later, where Brian will share about the Board-led approach with the Development team’s support.
- Fundraising Events – We are 80% towards our goal, having raised $98,000, which is a great place to be at this point in the fiscal year. To reach the overall goal, we have Rock to Rock in April and a small board-held event or gathering – which the board should be thinking about. Audrey shared that Jeff Carter mentioned that his home is available. We are always looking for small, intimate spaces where a board member can host this event towards the end of the fiscal year – when we know how much we have left to raise and any deficits – to help us reach our goals.
- Brian asked about how much we raise in Rock to Rock.
- Audrey answered that we had a match last year and we typically raise between $20K and $40K.
Audrey shared that she is very grateful for the work that Elena has been doing with Margaret from YPTC. In preparing these numbers, she noticed the need to figure out how to capture these goals efficiently. Audrey also thanked Tash, Joel, and anyone else who’s been involved with a grant recently for the improvements in understanding our revenue sources and what grant revenue is available this fiscal year.
- Grants – This is where we differentiate what has been AWARDED this fiscal year (shown in the first graph) vs. what has been SECURED. Audrey discussed the details and numbers shown in the graph titled “Specific Context,” which contains a list of foundations that we have submitted requests to. Those saying awarded $0 shows that we have applied but haven’t heard whether or not we have received them yet. Audrey shared that there are many more applications not included in this graph.
- Peter asked to clarify if the “Specific Context” graph is showing that we have received $400K out of $1.4M and if we are waiting to hear back about the balance or if we have been rejected from some.
- Audrey answered that the balance shows what we have allocated as grant money that will be spent, in our budget; however, the next graph shows what’s been secured this fiscal year (including what came in during past fiscal years). Audrey explained that it is complicated, and she will seek Margaret’s assistance to make it more clear for the next Board meeting.
Brian asked about when the board approved the budget that showed revenue sources – which number in the graphs reflect what the Board approved for FY ‘24-’25 revenue sources?
Audrey shared that the top number, the “Overall Development Revenue Board-Approved Goal,” takes into account the fact that her team has taken on all state funding applications, which is why the number has grown so much (towards $5M).
Brian asked if the non-competitive numbers include the $13K per pupil that CGHS gets based on enrollment and if that includes special education funding.
Elena stated that Special Education funding is not handled by the Development team, but is based on IEPs, and that the State per Pupil funding is not an application or considered a grant, but is based on the number of students attending CGHS.
Brian asked if the goal that’s part of Development that says $3.3 million includes the State per pupil funding.
Audrey answered that this includes all the different title grants and competitive government grants, but not the per pupil or Special Education funding. Audrey also shared her goal to work in conjunction with the Development committee, Elena, and Margaret to reinvestigate how these goals are captured around grants, in order to share more clearly the percentage towards goals in the next meeting.
Brian added his goal to discuss and clarify which of these goals the Board could have an impact on.
Audrey responded that Board participation in fundraising events and individual giving are the two main focus areas for the Board.
Brian asked if Dorothy Hurt’s donation match is included in the overall goal of $400K.
Audrey answered yes, Dorothy’s match of $125K to board fundraising is included.
Brian concluded that the Board has about $212K left to raise from the approved goal, in addition to fundraising events, and a half million dollar deficit to close.
Karen added that some federal government funding may not be available going forward with the new presidential administration coming in, which the Board and new ED should be aware of.
Audrey agreed that we have grown our federal support, and that this could change drastically soon.
Jeff asked if that change in federal funding would apply to the 2025-2026 fiscal year budget.
Audrey answered yes and emphasized the importance of being on time with the new drawdown schedules, which have been put in place by our grant manager Tash. Consequences of not drawing down funds could result in losing federal funding, if there are drastic changes in offices like the EPA.
Audrey concluded by encouraging everyone to reach out to her and Brian separately with questions about all of the numbers discussed and reiterated that they would love to see everyone on Wednesday for snacks and letter signing.
Presentation by Frank Ward and Wayne Nadorf of Benefits Architects (6:03)
Ana introduced Frank and Wayne, our lead architects from Benefits Architects, which is the company that administers the benefits for NHEP and Common Ground.
Wayne and Frank shared their presentation about the benefits offered to staff, the costs, and how the benefits are used in comparison to other similar organizations.
Frank shared about self-funded insurance, how much was spent vs. what was projected, and how it compares to fully funded. He explained that the good thing about it is that they don’t use an insurance company, instead they are the insurance company, and they can keep money that isn’t used fully.
Wayned discussed fully funded insurance, where the insurance money consumes all of the risk. He explained that one similarity regarding self-funded is that high utilization causes high renewal rates.
Peter asked what stop loss insurance was.
Wayne explained that it’s when a member has a high amount of claims and goes over the $30K per person threshold, so the stop loss carrier pays for the claims that go above that amount. Frank added that it’s basically risk mitigation.
Brian asked for clarification on the fully funded vs. self-funded chart where it shows employee claims and employee payments. Since CG agreed that it will cover a certain amount, Brian asked if we have a predicted amount going into the year to help set up a budget or if it’s something we do on our own.
Frank answered that annually we do have a predicted number. They project a high amount – in a worse case scenario, calculate the renewal plan, and then compare that to the actual amount used. Frank explained that a healthy group should have less than 80% utilization so, the way self funded works, since we didn’t use all of the money, that gives us a surplus which the employer can do whatever they want with.
Frank and Wayne concluded that utilization was about 72%.
Brian asked if the revenue that goes to the insurance company comes from Common Ground and deductions taken from employees.
Frank answered that if we had a fully funded plan it would. But, in this case, we are the insurance company. He explained that when you add all the fixed costs and the claims being paid, the actual number includes what comes from Common Ground and the 20% collected from CG employees.
Liz asked if they can explain how rates are established for the next year and what drives increases.
Wayne and Frank shared what causes rates to be higher: if we were over 80% of utilization, increases in stop loss insurance, the aggregate number – risk adjustment among the pool of companies we are part of under ParetoHealth, medical inflation, and mental health.
Wayne and Frank concluded that, if the 967K ACTUAL number for the current plan year from October 1st to September 30th is not exceeded, they recommend keeping the self-funded plan.
Brian asked if there is a reason that this has to be done on Oct. 1-Sept. 30 and cannot match the fiscal calendar.
Elena answered that it’s directly related to the school calendar year.
Sarah asked if there is a way to mitigate the gap that happens for new employees, since they start work in August and coverage starts on October 1 – causing an employee to be uninsured for 6 weeks.
Frank answered that they are eligible for insurance the month after they’re hired, so there should be no gap and, if anything, he is there to help.
Sarah also asked about what happens with money that isn’t spent from our insurance budget, and if that money goes back to the organization in some way – whether through the budget or as rollover.
Wayne answered that the money is retained in our general accounts and the difference between what was spent from their projections then helps the next renewal, so employees would see a lower renewal rate in that case.
Frank stated that there was also a year that the increase was not passed over to employees and we still need to catch up, so employees are actually paying a lot less than they should be.
Karen reminded everyone that the employees eligible for benefits include all staff across NHEP and CG, not just school staff.
Liz shared that what she’s been hearing is that employees’ salaries cannot keep up with cost of living and insurance increases.
Sarah added that she didn’t change her benefit options at all this year and she is taking home less per paycheck this year than she was last year.
Wayne suggested that they may need to consider coming up with a lower plan than their base plan, since people are worried about their take home, so they will talk more with Elena and Ana.
Peter asked if there is any data from staff surveys or intel about people’s perceptions of this plan, like the high out-of-pocket costs, etc.
Sarah added that she has no issues with the coverage, copays, or quality of benefits with the plan we’re under – just the difference in her take-home paycheck amount between this year and last without changing her benefits, and the cost of living increase in the contract not covering benefit cost increases.
Karen suggested that the board pays closer attention to the benefits plan so that better informed decisions can be made.
Peter asked if they handle just health insurance or all benefits.
Frank answered that they handle all the benefits aside from the 403B (401K equivalent for nonprofits).
Rebecca clarified to the board and other staff that most of her team members are part time (PT) staff, and only a few are eligible for benefits. Of the four PT employees who are eligible, Rebecca expressed that the current plan offered to them is completely unaffordable.
Karen thanked Rebecca for bringing this up and suggested that the benefits are always reviewed. She shared her hope that this discussion will inspire everyone to think about the benefits offered and making NHEP an attractive place to work.
Alexis asked if the benefits coverage for the farm staff is the same case as the Community Programs.
Deb answered that their PT staff are not eligible for benefits, and the rest are 4 full time employees.
Karen concluded that the Urban Farm and Community Programs have the most PT staff and, thus, the most number of ineligible people.
Alexis added that this conversation will continue in the coming months.
Invoices Needing Approval (6:48)
- Nappesoul Inc. $7,315.00 – GJC Supervision of Students at worksite, fully funded by EPA EJ CPS Grant *Budgeted – Fall invoice repaid by an existing grant.
- New Haven Urban Resources Initiative $17,682.00 – GJC Supervision of Students at worksite, fully funded by EPA EJ CPS Grant *Budgeted
Peter moved to approve the above invoices. Liz seconded. All in favor. None opposed.
Executive Director Report (6:50) (Karen)
Link to December Director Reports
Rebecca stated that children’s programs continued through the winter and they had 100% attendance in programs today, despite the weather, plus 50% of her staff called out. She shared two winter break programs coming up, the Solstice event and free nature playdate, linked in the ED report. Rebecca informed the board that she started to work on summer camp budgets and is currently making decisions on the cost of camp – taking into consideration labor costs and a reasonable fee increase. The site will be updated in early January and camp registration begins in February.
Deb shared that this is the farm’s time to rest and half of her team is off. They are also still working on crop planning and ordering seeds for next season. This is the last chance to purchase handmade wreaths and treats, available at the virtual farm store linked in the ED report. Deb explained that, usually, their holiday stands do pretty well – but sales are low, possibly due to the weather. They also, for the first year, have produced enough compost to sell to the community – which was their goal in 2017. Deb encouraged everyone to stop by and visit the goats.
Karen added that the general manager of Hotel Marcel was happy to see the farm staff at their Farm Friendsgiving Dinner.
Deb expressed that it’s special to see their food eaten and enjoyed in beautiful ways, like at the Friendsgiving and the CG holiday party.
Karen encouraged everyone to visit, utilize, and eat at the restaurant at Hotel Marcel, as they are very supportive of CG. She suggested writing a postcard from the front desk to the general manager, Ben Webster, letting them know about the visit and how appreciative CG is of their support.
Committee Reports (6:57)
Minutes of all Committee Meetings will be posted on the Board of Directors Webpage by the end of each month.
Audit/Finance Committee (6:57) (Jeff/Elena)
The regular meeting of the finance committee was held at 4pm on December 12th.
The November fiscal report can be found here. This document was shared with the board in an email from Jeff Carter on December 12th.
The meeting agenda and notes from the Audit/Finance Committee can be found HERE.
Jeff shared that the audit is being wrapped up and should be completed pretty soon. He also explained that Elena and Margaret are working on developing improved financial systems – better ways to track grants, report, and access information. They have also been converting from Quickbooks Desktop to Quickbooks online.
Jeff assured everyone that we will continue to get better and more accurate information. He shared the tracking deficit, and encouraged everyone to read through the fiscal report and ask questions. This will help them refine the report and highlight major numbers, as the report contains a lot of information. Jeff suggested that looking at the budget and the report could help understand the new systems that Margaret and Elena are working on.
Jeff thanked Karen for strengthening the finance team and urged the board to continue getting better – raising money, always be prospecting, and be aware of what has to be done as a board.
Liz asked if program directors are getting revenue and expense reports that show their tracking, and asked the overall board how we will approach the deficit.
Margaret answered that the program directors see periodic revenue and expense reports that they go through with Elena. She shared that the goal is to provide that level of detail on an ongoing basis, rather than a quarterly process. They are working on improvements to the current system so that information is more readily accessible and can be easily shared.
Elena informed Liz that they had their first quarter check in with budget managers in October, then the conversion to Quickbooks online finished on Nov. 30th, so Margaret is now able to compile data from both sides of the org. She explained that past grant tracking in Quickbooks was not considered best practice, but they plan to make this process easier once they are able to start tackling that. Elena concluded that Margaret was able to give an update on the status of the deficit and where we stand in comparison to the budget, and now we can figure out what to do. As of now, there’s been no programmatic changes.
Liz shared her appreciation for all of Margaret and Elena’s work on this.
Margaret thanked Elena, Jeff, Karen, and the finance committee for their help and contributions.
Jeff added that they’ve been monitoring what the team has been doing, they have some numbers, and shared his belief that managers will have the tools to look at their budgets in January to see what areas they need to restrict spending. Then the board has to continue looking at ways to raise money, starting with the upcoming postcard writing, plus the new ED will also be taking on this responsibility.
Peter shared his thoughts on scenario planning to see how realistic different strategies might be.
Jeff followed up with a possible plan to gather and present ideas to see what they come up with, which is a potential ED’s thought on how to address a lot of the issues at CG.
Search Committee (7:11) (Jeff)
The Search Committee report can be found here.
Jeff shared that the committee had their last interview today and they are confident that there are multiple candidates who will be coming to campus for a final interview. Friday, they will be selecting those 2 or 3 candidates. Jeff will send calendar invites to the board for the January 7th and 8th interviews, where the board and different CG team members will get to meet the candidate. The committee is currently flushing out that schedule, which will be ready and presented to candidates a week from today. Each candidate must also provide an artifact specific to coming into CG, they will spend that full day on campus, and also get to meet CGHS students. Jeff will reach out to Ana to help organize and coordinate the day.
Jeff concluded that he has to address Karen’s question about the timing for the transition of the current interim ED and the new ED.
Governance Committee Report (7:13) (Alexis)
The governance committee met on December 12th at 2pm.
Governance Committee Meeting Minutes
Alexis highlighted that a communication went out about identifying a new parent representative for the board, and they are taking applications for that – a resume and bio can be emailed to her. She urged to let her know of any potential parents from the CGHS community that would be interested.
Alexis shared that Shelly Hicks has resigned from the board. Shelly will remain on the governance committee as a non-board member through the end of this school year.
Alexis stated they are actively accepting applications for new board members. The board is currently down a number of people, and will most likely still be at the end of school year. If you know of anyone interested in serving on the board, they can email Alexis directly and the governance committee will go through the vetting process.
School Committee Report (7:15) (Liz)
The School Committee met on December 11th.
Monique shared Climate Survey Results directly with Board Members, and will be providing a summary of those results during the School Committee report-out at the Board meeting. Monique will also touch briefly upon PSAT results found here.
Minutes from the School Committee Meeting can be found HERE.
Liz shared that the Curriculum & Instruction subcommittee of the school committee, which they had last year, was asked to be reinstated by the person who does C&I at the school. She informed everyone that the school committee will be meeting twice a month for the next few months. Given this request, Liz assumed there are a lot of C&I issues that need attention.
The school committee spent some time talking about the climate survey and they touched on student enrollment at every meeting – discussing the marketing team that Karen has pulled together and the marketing plan she’s launched, which emphasizes the organization-wide responsibility to market CGHS.
Liz stated that she is conducting the evaluation of Monique and has just concluded wrapping up Monique’s goals for the year – her focus is improving student achievement and her professional goal will focus on strengthening her staff team that is doing this work.
Monique shared enrollment numbers, average daily attendance, and chronic absenteeism as stated in the ED report. She also shared about the school’s Fall Staff Climate Survey, which was administered on December 9th, and will be done 2 more times (winter and spring). Monique stated that student and parent climate surveys will also be done in the spring.
- Staff highlights include: teachers & staff feel that they belong and matter to the school, overall they believe that they’re seeing changes in academic expectations & rigor since the start of the school year, staff are comfortable to share their thoughts most of the time and feel that they can share their problems with at least one member of school leadership most of the time, staff feel school leadership communicates well with staff most of the time, feedback given from coaches & school leaders is considered helpful to improving instructional practice, and staff generally feel physically safe on campus.
- Areas for growth include: consistency in enforcing policies & procedures, consistency in setting/implementing clear procedures & roles regarding student behaviors, behavior expectations for students that are consistent across teachers & classrooms, fair & consistent application of policies & student behavior expectations, and overall staff are feeling overwhelmed with the demands of their position often.
For next steps, Monique shared that the teachers, the Culture team, and the school leadership team (SLT) are going to set some goals around the climate survey. Today, the SLT looked at the results, which Monique will share with staff at the next staff meeting. The SLT will continue to look at the staff calendar and build in more staff collaboration time, create staff opportunities to norm around rigor, as teachers need support holding students to high standards/supporting students and meeting those standards. Monique stated that staff want more opportunities to come together for bonding and community building. At their meeting, the SLT was able to identify some trends and next steps, which Monique will go over in the next staff meeting next Wednesday.
Jeff shared that he is glad to hear that staff want more opportunities to bond and get together outside of the school. Jeff expressed his gratitude for being able to join the staff holiday party, to see older and new staff celebrating each other, and shared that this energized him as a Board member and reminded him why they volunteer. He is thankful for being included and embraced in celebrations like these.
Liz shared another CG celebration, stating that she saw the Shakespeare production at Naugatuck Valley and it was incredible and well done. She applauded and thanked the high school.
Karen stated that running a secondary school is hard work and that we don’t say that enough. She expressed her gratitude for Monique and school leadership.
New Business (7:26)
Karen welcomed the new student representatives onto the board.
Joel shared that Heaven could not make it due to a conflict and that Clouds, who’s a returning board member for last year, was present. The board greeted and thanked Clouds for being there.
Alexis stated that she would be in touch with Clouds about the opportunity to give a short presentation, a couple times throughout the year, about the pulse of what’s happening on campus – which Heaven and Clouds can coordinate.
Executive Session (7:28)
Brian moved to go into executive session. Sarah seconded.
Adjourn (8:00)
Next Meeting: Monday, January 27th.
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 5:00 pm on the last business day before the meeting (Friday, January 24th) and will close at 5:00 pm on the day of the meeting (Monday, January 27th) 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.
Leave A Comment