Odyssey Academy
Board of Directors
Regular Meeting
6201 Noble Avenue North
Brooklyn Center, MN 55429

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 20, 2009
6:00 P.M.

Odyssey Board Mission:
The purpose of the Board, on behalf of Odyssey Academy membership, is to create sustainable conditions in which Odyssey Academy achieves desired results for students, parents and staff in a financially responsible manner.

Membership in Attendance: Mike Auld, Heather Wincek, Jodi Hardenbrook, Jessica Driscoll, Roshelle Amundson. Meeting Notetaker: Sheila Prokott. The following Board Members arrived after call to order and roll call had been taken: Dorothy Washington, Rochelle Gredvig, John Sedey. Absent members: Tim Hedberg

1. Call to order and roll call at 6:05 p.m. by Mike Auld.

1.5 Mike Auld reminded Board Members that the role of Notetaker was approved during the December 17, 2008 meeting.
Mike Auld and Board Members welcomed Sheila Prokott in this role.

2. Additions to agenda made at Board Meeting: No additions were made to the agenda by any Board Member.

3. Approval of Agenda: Jessica Driscoll approved the proposed meeting agenda and Heather Wincek seconded the approval.

4. Approval of minutes from December 17, 2008 Board Meeting. Date correction of January 11, 2009 to January 12, 2009 was
noted under items 9.3 and 11.1 in the December 17, 2008 Board Meeting Minutes. No other revisions or corrections were noted.
Roshelle Amundson approved the December 17, 2008 Board Meeting Minutes and Jodi Hardenbrook seconded the motion.
All were in favor of motion.

5. Community comments: None

6. Closed Meeting as needed. No Closed Meeting items presented or discussed.

7. Reports:

7.1 Odyssey School Building Organization (OSBO): Jessica Driscoll reported for OSBO.
A. Discussion is still taking place with people from the purchasing company located in Colorado.

B. Osseo is giving $10,000 earnest money back to Odyssey. OSBO needs to set up a new purchase agreement.
Greg Gredvig, a member of the OSBO group, is working on developing a new building purchase agreement.

7.2 Community Action Committee (CAC): Mike Auld reported for CAC.
A. Profits from the Choice Foods sales were $1817.00. Decision had not been made as of January 12, 2009 by school staff
about how this profit will be used.

B. Pancake Breakfast and Health Fair is scheduled for Saturday January 17, 2009 from 9 – 11 a.m.
Booths will be set up in the School Gym by local professionals with knowledge and expertise related to
health and wellness issues.

C. Winter Carnival is scheduled for Friday February 6, 2009.
Some gift certificates from local businesses have already come in for the Silent Auction.
Letters to classroom teachers to create “theme baskets” for the Silent Auction were given to teachers this week.

7.3 Finance: Mike Auld distributed copies of current financial report to all School Board members for review. He mentioned
the need to get Board Members trained in how to read financial reports. Board Members were told this was a rough draft of
the current budget. Staff salary cuts the Board approved last month have not been all calculated yet and included in the
financial report reviewed during this meeting. Mike Auld brought the following information to the group:
a) utilities expenses (not sure of dollars available or set aside for this
b) rent dollars for lease are set aside
c) money is set aside for lawn and grounds maintenance ($5,000 to $10,000 add in)
d) furniture and equipment line items were reviewed

Additional information about current School Budget was presented by John Sedey as part of the Interim Director’s Report.

8. Interim Director Report: John Sedey distributed a written transition report to all Board Members. He stated that he would be
out of town for a few weeks, but plans on returning on February 19, 2009.

8.1 School Assessment: There are 278 students currently enrolled. John stated that Jeoffrey Reed, Odyssey’s Dean of Students
is working well with handling student issues. Student issues have had slow, but steady progress. A few new students have
started attending Odyssey after December’s Winter Break.

8.2 Special Education: A written report was received with recommendations from the Special Education Director we contract to
receive services from through “Innovative Special Education Services of Minnesota” for Charter Schools. (ISES of MN).

John stated that he will be meeting with the English Language Learner (ELL) Coordinator from Columbia Heights Public
Schools on January 13, 2009 to get information about how we can build an English Language Learner (ELL) Program to
better meet the needs of this population enrolled at Odyssey.

One paraprofessional has resigned. John Sedey stated that if we don’t fill this person’s position, we gain financially even
if another paraprofessional currently working at Odyssey is reassigned this person’s duties. We need to decide whether
there is a need to fill position of the paraprofessional who resigned.

School Psychologist is leaving March 1, 2009 and we need to fill that position.

8.3 Budget:
A. Enrollment as of January 12, 2009 is 278. State aid is currently based on 299 students and will be adjusted to 290.
Budget scenarios are based upon an average of 280 students.

B. Staffing Adjustments and Changes have impacted current Odyssey Budget. Three paraprofessional job descriptions and
3% adjustment of salaries and hourly rates have been made. The Technology Coordinator position was eliminated. The
Technology Coordinator was kept on payroll until January 9, 2009. John Sedey reported there have been no major problems
since December holiday break with the maintaining of computer and technology systems at Odyssey. Dave Rand has been
hired on an “as needed” basis for technology support at this time.

C. Rental Fees for Use of Building Off Hours: Arrangements to rent space at Odyssey is now made with the Director of
Operations, Kari Mitchell. We have increased revenue by instituting a $50 an hour use fee. We have one church group
renting space at Odyssey on a weekly basis.

D. Osseo Schools and Utilities: The utilities involved are gas, electric, and phone services. According to John Sedey, we
have money in the bank once we receive bills for these services.

E. Purchase freeze is in effect.

F. Mid-Year adjusted budget will be presented by John Sedey and Lorrie Semelink at the February 25, 2009 Board Meeting
for review, revision, and passage by the School Board.

G. Brief discussion was held about the December 2008 expenditure documents provided to the Board by the Business
Manager. Concern discussed was whether the amount of reductions will meet the goal expectations. Odyssey saved $1000
last month on bus transportation due to a refund of surcharges received in December.

8.4 Recommendations:
A. Transition Leadership Team is working well. We will continue to build on this model.
B. Revise job descriptions for Board Review.
C. Observe/evaluate all staff, primarily in March
D. Survey community: Teachers, parents, staff, community members in March 2009 to get information on positives,
perceptions, and issues.

Review of Recommendations regarding planning for leadership and its impact on budget.
Discussion was conducted around the question: “Can Odyssey run without a Director”, “Can Odyssey function
with the current Leadership Team?” Key concerns about Leadership Team Model talked about by the Board:
1) Leadership Team Model needs to be developed more including Leadership Training according to John Sedey.
2) Leadership Team should be running the school by next fall.
3) Leadership Team needs representatives from Specialists and Special Education staff pools. Leadership Team needs
representation from all departments.
4) Currently there are no funds in the budget to hire at Full Time Director
5) When the Leadership Team gets too big, it is problematic
6) Leadership Team may need to be restructured and have an application process
7) Consider co-directors as part of a Leadership Team Model
8) Clear communication about school’s Leadership Model and who within the leadership team has responsibility and
authority to make final decisions in certain areas is needed. Many current teachers and staff are still most familiar
and used to a single Director model of leadership and need specific orientation about how a team model would
work at Odyssey.
Jessica Driscoll offered to contact Rod Haenke, EdVisions, and other resource people to find out what other charter
schools do for leadership models. A request to have Leadership Model Planning on the February Board Meeting agenda
was made.

8.5 FY10 Budget Planning Assumptions:
A. Enrollment Considerations.
Grade configurations were discussed. K-9 grade range has posed problems in the past. K-8 is current configuration and
many agreed Odyssey should stay with this configuration.

Grade level size: 2 full sections per grade level and development of a waiting list were discussed. Grade level
targets the Board talked about were 18 for Kindergarten, with a goal of retaining and maintaining 3 sections of
Kindergarten. A maximum of 22 students per class in grades 1 through 8 was discussed. Once we maintain our
enrollment, then we can focus on retention of students over time. Jessica Driscoll commented that we need to work on
student and staff retention and getting Odyssey’s Grade 3 class groups larger for next year since they are below the
maximum number this year. Grades 6, 7, and 8 student enrollment needs to be maintained. We need to work to retain
who we have already. There was some discussion about whether Odyssey needs to increase class sizes from 22 per class
in order to reach needed enrollment in the future.

B. Other Budget Planning Considerations.
Jodie Hardenbrook brought up the idea of the possibility of joint purchasing of supplies with other schools or groups to
use budget monies efficiently.

Brief discussion was held about Specialists and how do we plan for them. Currently we try to hire specialists full time
as much as possible.

Staff Compensation: John Sedey indicated we have some staff that need salary adjustments. Best scenario would be to
restore 3% salary cut put in place in January 2009 for the FY10 Fiscal Year.

C. Marketing. Jessica Driscoll commented that teachers in the past have been asked to assist with marketing Odyssey to
increase enrollment. Board discussed the importance of marketing grades 3, 4, and 5 for the 2009-2010 school year since
these grades are not currently at their maximum possible enrollment. Discussion included comments related to the
importance of marketing and advertising clearly what is offered to potential new parents and students who enroll at
Odyssey.

9. Consent Agenda:

9.1 Payment of bills, including payroll. Heather Wincek motioned for payment of bills including payroll to occur. Dorothy
Washington seconded the motion. All Board members were in favor of the motion, none opposed.

10. New Business: None.

11. Old Business: Mike Auld stated that Board Meetings needed to be kept on Wednesdays for the rest of the 2008-2009 school
year. There are other meetings and school activities on the calendar that make it difficult to change the day of the week for the
School Board to meet as was discussed during the December 17, 2008 meeting. School Board Meetings will continue on the
fourth Wednesday of the Month. The next School Board Meeting will be on February 25, 2009 at 6 p.m.

The expulsion hearing scheduled for January 12, 2009 as part of the School Board Meeting was cancelled. Parent of student
decided to enroll their student in another school rather than go through the expulsion process.

12. Action to adjourn meeting at 7:40 p.m. occurred. Jessica Driscoll motioned adjournment of Board meeting and Jodie
Hardenbrook seconded this motion. The motion was voted on and passed.