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

WEDNESDAY MARCH 25, 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, Roshelle Amundson, Jessica Driscoll, Heather Wincek, Tim Hedberg, Jodi Hardenbrook, John Sedey, Notetaker: Sheila Prokott

Absent members: Dorothy Washington, Rochelle Gredvig

Guest Visitor/Consultant in Attendance: Steve Dess

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

2. Additions to Agenda at the Board Meeting.
John Sedey requested an addition of item 11.2 “Special Education Director Contract”.

3. Approval of Agenda.
Jessica Driscoll motioned to approve Board Agenda with additions.
Motion was seconded by all Board Members and was carried.

4. Approval of Board Minutes from February 25^th, 2009 meeting.
Tim Hedberg requested that at the top of page 5, the phrase “Tim Hedberg accepted the
motion and” to be deleted because it was repetitious of information given at the bottom of
page 4. Board Members present were in agreement with this recommendation.

Tim Hedberg motioned to approve the February 25, 2009 Board Meeting Minutes with the
one deletion of text. Roshelle Amundson seconded the motion. All Board Members
agreed and the motion carried.

Mike Auld, Board Chair, recommended that Board Members read Board Meeting minutes
prior to attending Board Meetings. The majority of Board Members were in agreement
with this recommendation, but no motion was made regarding the reading of Board Minutes
by members prior to the next Board Meeting.

5. Community comments.
No community members were in attendance at this Board Meeting. No community
comments were addressed.

6. Closed Meeting as needed. No closed meeting was needed or held.

7. New Business.
7.1 Kendall Mines (Grant Writing for Odyssey library.)
Ms. Mines was not present at the Board Meeting and no information was shared or
discussed regarding Grant Writing for Odyssey’s library.

7.2 Introduction of Steve Dess. (Board Training.)
Steve Dess has agreed to work with Odyssey’s Board as a Consultant. Mr. Dess
distributed an information sheet to each Board Member with information about his
background, experience, and a brief plan outlining areas of consultation assistance he
would provide to Odyssey’s Board.

Brief discussion was held with Mr. Dess about how Odyssey’s Board currently is
managing and monitoring finances of the school. Mr. Dess indicated he met with
Odyssey’s current leadership team chairperson and sat on the Finance Committee
Meeting held on 3-25-2009.

7.3 Jodi Hardenbrook. (Motion on Odyssey’s 2 snow/cold weather days.)
Ms. Hardenbrook requested the Board to approve not needing to make up the
2 snow/cold weather days that occurred on January 15 and 16, 2009. Jodi indicated that
Odyssey’s Director of Operations, Kari Mitchell, indicated that the School Board has to
give approval for not needing to make up these two school days. The School Board
determined that Odyssey had enough completed school days in place on the calendar
to not need to make up the two closed days due to weather.Mike Auld asked if
Odyssey is chartered to have one more attendance day than Osseo Schools.
A certain response to this question was not provided by any Board Member present at
the meeting.

Jodi Hardenbrook motioned that the Board approve not having to make up the two
missed school days in January 2009 due to severely cold weather. Jessica Driscoll
seconded the motion. All Board members agreed with the motion and the motion was
passed.

8. Reports:

8.1 Odyssey School Building Organization (OSBO):
Jessica Driscoll reported on behalf of OSBO.
This group is currently working to set up another one year lease with Osseo. The Osseo
School District wants to continue working with Odyssey.

The Colorado organization OSBO has been working with (Himark) has lost their
funding and won’t be working with Odyssey any longer.

OSBO is now working with another company based in Idaho, D.A. Davidson. Greg
Gredvig has been making the contacts for OSBO with this organization. D.A. Davidson
is waiting for Odyssey’s five year budget in order to move to the next stage of working
with Odyssey. OSBO has been told that schools with best credit ratings are getting
9-10% interest on bonds.

John Sedey commented that D.A. Davidson from Idaho is a financing organization and
Odyssey would lease directly from OSBO in the future.

Jessica Driscoll and John Sedey reported that we are in a holding pattern right now
regarding financing related to purchase of the current school building. Greg Gredvig has
been helping Odyssey with building purchase work during the past two years.

Mike Auld stated OSBO has been looking at other school sites. Osseo Elementary has
been looked at and has too many repairs for Odyssey to consider this site as an option.
Mike Auld stated there is one other available school site that may be an option.

The Board Members present made a consensus agreement that Odyssey wants a
structurally sound building for future leasing.

8.2 Community Action Committee (CAC):
Heather Wincek and Mike Auld reported on behalf of CAC.
Heather reported that a “Flower Sale” is the next fundraising event. It will take place from
3-30-2009 to 4-15-2009.

Mike Auld stated that CAC needs the school calendar for 2009-2010 to set next year’s
fundraisers.

Variety Show and International Fashion Show held on 3-20-2009 was a success.
Roshelle Amundson reported that the international approach taken this year with this
event was successful and positive for participants and those who attended. The addition of
an international/cultural fashion show as part of the annual Variety Show was well
received.

Some discussion was held by the Board about how planning for the international aspect
of this year’s Variety Show came to be considered. Mike Auld stated that the Board may
have stepped out of its boundaries by telling a staff member that a Festival of Nations
event was going to happen. This set up a standard that some type of Festival of Nations
event had to occur this year. The Festival of Nations expectation communicated by the
Board to a staff member as an event that would happen this spring created a challenge of
incorporating an international angle as part of the Variety Show.

Discussion was held about the Board’s need to be careful to direct community members to
the school Leadership Team and appropriate groups to handle events being planned and
provided during the school year at Odyssey.


8.3 Finance.
Tim Hedberg and John Sedey reported on behalf of the Finance Committee.
Current budget is based on 299 students. Current enrollment at Odyssey as of 3-23-09
is 268 students. Odyssey lost two more families due to moves these families made away
from the local community. John Sedey reported that Odyssey started the current school
year with 282 students. John Sedey stated the latest deadline to make enrollment numbers
adjustments to our budget with the Minnesota Department of Education passed.

Tim Hedberg asked if Odyssey has been attracting new students. John Sedey indicated
he would email information about the number of students who came in during the current
school year. John reported that Odyssey lost about 30 students from the start to the end of
2007-2008 school year and we’ve lost 14 students since the start of the 2008-2009 school
year.

February balance sheets were distributed to Board Members and discussed. Tim Hedberg
stated that the maximum amount of money Odyssey could borrow right now to assist with
budget expenses and issues is $125,000, which is 4% of the current budget.
Tim Hedberg stated that he has reviewed all journal entries and he motioned for approval
of all financial journal entries for the past month. Jodi Hardenbrook seconded the
motion. All Board members were in favor of the motion for March journal entries to be
accepted. The motion was carried and approved.

9.0 Adoption of FY 09 Revised Budget.
John Sedey reported on the FY 09 revised budget.
A copy of the proposed revised budget was distributed to all Board Members to review.
Title I money has an increase. The bottom line on the revised budget is a projected
+$2,200 balance by the end of the current school year.

The Leadership Team worked on the revised budget. Sources of additional monies were:
-- revenues collected for Special Education Transportation. John has received assurance
on this budget item being paid with special education funds.
-- Paid Time Off (PTO) for non-teaching staff was taken out of budget.
Non-teaching staff have been encouraged to use the PTO days available to them.
Teachers would need to have paid substitutes for them, so encouraging teachers to use
their available PTO would not be a cost savings. The current Teacher Contract
expectation is that unused PTO would be paid to teachers at a rate of $50 for each day
not used.
--reduced “supplies” budget line. There is a purchase freeze in place and that has helped
save expenses for supplies.
--reduced fees. Board Member fees and other fees were reduced where possible.
Dues, memberships and stipends were reduced in the budget revision.
--Transportation Costs. Odyssey has been getting back money for fuel cost savings
each month from our transportation provider. This has reduced the amount of money
Odyssey is spending monthly on transportation costs.
--cut back staff costs related to supervision in the Food Services Cost portion of the
budget.

The result of all the budget cuts and savings mentioned above was for Odyssey to at least break even by the end of the current school year. John Sedey stated that caution should be taken with the proposed revised budget because everything has to align by the end of the school year in the way the revised budget has been planned to make the revised budget a reality. John Sedey stated the budget revision planning a team effort with Leadership Team and staff input.

Jessica Driscoll commented that maintenance dollars has been removed from the budget on the assumption Odyssey would own the building. Mike Auld posed this question for discussion,
“Are we happy with just breaking even or do we want a bigger fund balance?” Jessica Driscoll and Jodi Hardenbrook responded that all line items have been gone through and both of these Board members felt the revised FY 09 budget has been cut back as much as possible. They stated this isn’t an ideal budget, but considering the situation for the current school year, the revised budget is a good scenario. Tim Hedberg stated that breaking even this year would be a win for Odyssey. Board Members stated the next place to cut would be people and staff.

John Sedey recommended that the Board pass the budget and then consider and do staff reduction based on performance of staff. All Board Members were in favor of approving the revised FY09 budget. There was no opposition. The revised budget for the 2008-2009 school year was approved.

10. Interim Director Report:

10.1 General Comments.
Bus incident on 3-23-2009. Person across the street tried to get into school and couldn’t
so they tried to get into one of Odyssey’s school buses through a window. The bus driver
drove off. Mr. Reed is checking on the incident report. The person who tried to get into
the school bus was not charged or arrested.

Boiler/Building Overheated on 3-24-2009. Steam was pouring out of boiler so students
were evacuated from the building for about 30 minutes. The local church was Odyssey’s
evacuation location but the building has been bought by another organization. The
current owner of the church has liability concerns with our use of the building. Osseo staff
came out and fixed the problem with the boiler. They agreed to do maintenance work over
spring break in April.

10.2 Parent Meeting
A Middle School Parent meeting has been held. Fifteen parents were invited and six
attended. This group discussed what they liked about Odyssey and issues/concerns they
have with Odyssey. John Sedey stated he would prepare a written report with information
gathered at this meeting. John reported the general consensus from this parent meeting
was the following:
--Parents are attracted to Odyssey because of small class sizes, project based learning,
Science Fair, and encouragement of student leadership in the school community.
--Parents are frustrated with electives. The prefer them to be published in the fall so
students can choose them at the start of the school year.
--Parents expressed frustration with wanting more communication, including more
on-line, portal type system for all classes. Parents stated they were frustrated with
substitute teachers and expressed concerns about “fluff” type activities when substitutes
are covering classes.
--Parents indicated frustration over being told certain programs were going to be in place
this year and they aren’t happening. They specifically stated frustration with being told
band and after-school activities would be available but have not been provided this year.
--Lunch program concerns were shared. Parents stated the food was not very good and not
enough food is being served. Some parents expressed concerns about the amount of
time provided for lunch and that some students run around during lunch in the cafeteria.
--Concerns were raised by parents about student discipline, specifically that students are
removed from the classroom, are allowed to return to the classroom and then disrupt
classroom activities again.
--Parents asked where Health and Physical Education are provided in the school day.
Odyssey recognizes a need to get more into a Health curriculum. Jodi Hardenbrook
commented that the MN Physical Education Teaching License doesn’t make a Physical
Education Teacher licensed to teach Health. Jodi stated she has tried to include some
health topics in Science classes she teaches students in grades 6-8 at Odyssey. Jessica
Driscoll commented that Kari Mitchell, Director of Operations, is organizing a wellness
committee.

John stated that a Caravan Kids staff person attended this meeting. This is the company
Odyssey currently contracts with to provide Food Service. John stated the Parent
Meeting was an overall positive meeting.

10.3 Structure in Odyssey Culture
John Sedey shared the following observations with the School Board.
A. There is a viewpoint among some Odyssey staff that things are good for my program
but I don’t worry about how my program affects others.
B. There seems to be a knee-jerk reaction to problems rather than process and structure
to solve problems.

John told the Board he has been frustrated. He stated that he has helped establish a budget
process and has worked to keep Odyssey going forward. John stated that he recognizes a
need to move on in dealing with staffing issues. He stated there is a need to plan for what
Odyssey needs to do for next year. John said he has been involved with OSBO
conference calls with investors when the investors have asked for the School Director to
be present.

John Sedey made the following recommendations to the Odyssey School Board.
1. John needs to resign from the School Board because it is too difficult to oversee and
run the school and do leadership as a Board Member at the same time.
2. John needs to leave the Odyssey School Board to have effective planning of future
leadership at Odyssey take place.
3. John offered to stay and assist Odyssey with leadership until December 2009 and
until the bonding company gets money in place. He is willing to continue to assist
with leadership including schedule and staff structure. John offered to do these
leadership tasks for a fee. John is willing to continue as Interim Director and
continue to attend Board Meetings.

Mike Auld indicated a need for a motion tonight on whether to accept John Sedey’s
resignation from the School Board. Tim Hedberg made a motion to accept John Sedey’s
resignation from the School Board. Roshelle Amundson seconded the motion. All Board
members were in favor of motion. No one opposed it. The motion to accept John Sedey’s
resignation from the School Board was accepted and passed.

John stated he would get a letter of resignation to Mike Auld, the School Board Chair.

A second motion was made by Heather Wincek for the School Board to have John Sedey
prepare and present a job description and compensation plan to provide services as
Odyssey’s Interim Director for the next 6-9 months. Tim Hedberg seconded the motion and
all Board members were in favor of it. No one opposed it. The motion to accept a
proposed job description and compensation plan for Interim Director work from John
Sedey was accepted and passed.

Heather Wincek made a motion to amend the motion for John Sedey to provide the School
Board with a proposed job description and compensation package to state that the proposal
from John should be given to the School Board two weeks from this Board Meeting date
so Board Members could review it prior to the next Board Meeting. Tim Hedberg made
a motion to accept this amendment to the Interim Director Job Description and
Compensation motion. Jessica Driscoll seconded the amendment. All Board members were
in favor. No one opposed. The amendment to have John Sedey submit a proposed Interim
Director job description and compensation package two weeks from this March 25, 2009
Board Meeting for the Board to review was passed.

10.4 FY 2010 Preliminary Budget
John Sedey distributed a copy of a preliminary FY 2010 budget to the Board.
Discussion about projected 5 year enrollments was conducted. Projections discussed are
based on 54 Kindergarten students each year and 22 students in all grades 1-5. Enrollment
projections are based on a 10% increase each year and a no increase assumption for grades
6-8.

John Sedey stated that enrollment numbers impact all budget planning. Currently student
enrollment and recruitment for 2009-2010 is in full swing. John stated we have 26
Kindergarten students registered as of 3-23-2009 for next fall. Targeted information cards
were mailed out to specific communities this week. Open Houses are set up for March 26,
April 2, April 16 and May 7. A Kindergarten Round-up was held in February and is
also part of the March 26 Open House.

John distributes a document titled “Addendum to Budget Projections” to Board Members.
John highlighted these points on it.
--End balance is projected based on enrollment projections happening and programs
in place now at Odyssey stay the same.
--Budget proposal doesn’t include costs for leadership or increased staffing.

Tim Hedberg asked about whether Odyssey is doing Summer Camps again this year.
Jodi Hardenbrook commented that Odyssey did not get many new students as a result of
participating in summer camps and we lost some students because of summer camp
experiences. Jessica Driscoll commented that it isn’t worth it to do Summer Camps.
Sheila Prokott commented that the plan last year was to have Odyssey students help
with Summer Camps to introduce potential new students to current students and Odyssey’s
community culture. Student helpers for last year’s summer camps were not Odyssey
students. Roshelle Amundson commented that summer camps could be successful if they
are structured better and included academic programming. Jessica Driscoll commented
that Odyssey needs get out more in the community at libraries and other places.

No recommendation or decision were made by the Board to offer Summer Camps at
Odyssey for Summer 2009

Discussion was held about the percentage of fund balance growth per year and the level
the Board wants to work toward. Tim Hedberg commented that Odyssey wouldn’t want
to work toward a 10% fund balance at the end of a school year until we have staff decisions
and leadership monies in place as part of the budget. Through discussion, most Board
Members indicated greatest comfort with working toward a 5% fund balance at the end of
FY 2010.

Tim Hedberg motioned for the targeted fund balance for the 2009-2010 fiscal year be 5%.
Heather Wincek seconded the motion and all Board Members were in favor. No one
opposed. The motion for Odyssey’s targeted fund balance for the 2009-2010 school year
to be 5% was carried and passed

10.5 Staffing
Board members had brief discussion about the impact of staffing on current and upcoming
FY 10 budget. John Sedey stated the proposed FY 2010 budget has money in it for hiring
a full time Media Specialist to run and oversee school technology and the library.
No other specifics about current staffing or planning 2009-2010 staffing was discussed.

10.6 5 year Budget Projection
John Sedey distributed another proposed budget based on older enrollment projections.
and a 5 year enrollment projection plan. Board Members reviewed and discussed this
proposed 5 year projection plan. Jessica Driscoll stated that she thought the safest thing to
do was budget at 296 students and then consider 5% plus leadership costs. She also stated
that Director of Operations, Kari Mitchell, was researching and shopping around for better
health insurance prices and programs for 2009-2010.

Jessica Driscoll motioned to adopt an enrollment projection of 296 for 2009-2010 budget
planning from the 5 year budget projection presented. Jodie Hardenbrook seconded the
motion. All Board Members were in favor of it and no one was opposed. The motion to
adopt an enrollment projection of 296 for the 2009-2010 budget was approved and passed.

10.7 Adopt a process for establishing leadership model for future.
The following statements were made by John Sedey as part of Board discussion about future
leadership model:
A. Odyssey needs to invest in people who lead at Odyssey and invest in the process
B. There is a need to think about roles, responsibilities, and job descriptions.

Jessica Driscoll presented a one page handout to all Board members that had information
about different leadership models she and Kari Mitchell, Director of Operations put
together. Information about five different models for Odyssey’s Board to consider for
future leadership structure were described on the handout. Jessica Driscoll stated that
discussion about information on this handout and the leadership structure at Odyssey
needs to be done by the School Board. Jessica Driscoll had an information brochure about
leadership training being offered by the Center for School Change. The training brochure
was titled, “Minnesota Leadership Academy for Charter and Alternative Public Schools.”
Application deadline for current Minnesota Leadership Academy is April 1, 2009. This
may be leadership training to consider in the future for those involved with leadership at
Odyssey.

John Sedey stated that the School Board needs to make decisions about leadership and the
direction the school is going toward by using a deliberate process set out by the School
Board. John made the following comments and recommendations to the Board regarding
leadership model development.
--legitimacy of Leadership Team needs an established process for how people can
participate in the Leadership Team
--John is confident and comfortable with the people currently on the Leadership Team but
it needs to be an inclusive group. Representation from the Specialists and Special
Education Departments isn’t happening on the current Leadership Transition Team
--roles and relationships are critical for a Leadership Team

Mike Auld shared the following input about development of a leadership model at Odyssey.
--There are concerns about where leadership is going currently. Board can’t postpone
discussion about leadership at Odyssey.
--Mike sees a need for significant changes to happen between now and the start of the new
school year in the fall and he is finding it difficult to envision a full Leadership
Team functioning now to make needed decisions for the next school year.
--Leadership Team Model requires training for its membership.
--Concern was expressed about a need for handling difficult decisions to make Odyssey
what it used to be. Mike Auld specifically mentioned the work and role of teachers to
develop and work for building Odyssey. Mike stated there is a group of parents
considering pulling their children and leaving Odyssey next fall.

Jessica Driscoll stated the job description and responsibilities of Leadership Team
members is key. She stated that people on the current team could make decisions now
but don’t have the authority now from the School Board to make decisions. She stated that
looking at the budget there is money available to hire an Interim Director. She stated a
priority for John would be to have top quality staff.

Tim Hedberg stated he is confident John Sedey is able to make hard decisions. He stated
hiring an outside person to do what is needed during the next 2-3 months is difficult.
Tim stated that John knows the current situation and throwing a leadership team together to
make tough decisions in the next 2-3 months isn’t the best idea.

Roshelle Amundson stated that people are willing to share their concerns with John Sedey.

No motions or decisions were made by the Board related to adopting a process for establishing
a leadership model at Odyssey.

11. Consent Agenda

11.1 Payment of bills, including payroll.
Roshelle Amundson motioned to pay all bills including payroll. Jodi Hardenbrook
seconded the motion. All Board members approved the motion. The motion to pay all
bills including payroll was passed and approved.

11.2 Special Education Director Contract for 2009-2010.
John Sedey indicated a need for Board approval to renew our contract for Special
Education services with Innovative Special Education Services of Minnesota (ISES) for
the 2009-2010 year. Sheila Prokott stated contracted services with ISES include training
and support services and access to a group of Special Education Directors and consultants
as part of the Special Education Director services contract.

Jodi Hardenbrook motioned to renew contract for Special Education Director Services
with ISES of MN for the 2009-2010 school year. Jessica Driscoll seconded the motion.
All Board members agreed with the motion and no one was opposed. The motion to
renew Special Education Director services contract with ISES of MN was approved and
passed.

12. Old Business:

12. 1 Adoption of FY 2009-2010 Calendar.
Jessica Driscoll stated that proposed calendar sample #2 was the calendar the majority of
school staff preferred. This calendar coincides with the Osseo School District calendar
for 2009-2010.

Jessica Driscoll motioned to approve the Sample 2 proposed 2009-2010 School Year
Calendar as the official calendar used by Odyssey Academy for the 2009-2010 school
year. Roshelle Amundson seconded this motion. All Board members approved the
motion. The motion to adopt Sample #2 calendar as Odyssey’s official 2009-2010 school
calendar was approved and passed.

13. Action to adjourn meeting was made by Heather Wincek. Tim Hedberg seconded the
motion. The School Board Meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m.