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, Jodie Hardenbrook, Dorothy Washington, John Sedey, Notetaker: Sheila Prokott

Absent members: Rochelle Gredvig

Community Members in Attendance: Jessica Grabe, Third Grade Teacher, Chris Nordmann, Middle School Social Studies Teacher, Dorothy Allbellaid, parent

Consultant in Attendance: Steve Dess

1. Call to order and roll call at 6:14 p.m. by Mike Auld.

2. Additions to Agenda at the Board Meeting.
John Sedey requested the following additions the agenda:
7.3 Bus Video/Camera Policy
13.3 School Bus Driver Verification
14.1 Setting a Board Work Session

3. Approval of Agenda.
Jodie Hardenbrook motioned to approve Board Agenda with additions.
Dorothy Washington seconded the motion.
All were in favor of the motion and it was carried.

4. Approval of Board Minutes from March 25^th, 2009 meeting.
Dorothy Washington motioned to approve the March 25, 2009 Board Meeting Minutes.
Jodie Hardenbrook seconded the motion. All Board Members agreed and the motion
carried. Board Minutes for March 25, 2009 were approved.

5. Community comments.
A parent of students attending Odyssey, Dorothy Allbellaid, addressed the School Board
with the following comments and concerns. She indicated that even though she is sharing
her concerns toward the end of the year, she wanted the School Board to be aware of the
following issues. Ms. Allbellaid stated she wants to be part of the solution to improve
Odyssey and partner to help other parents of Odyssey students feel more connected.
-- This parent wants to be more connected with the school specifically through more and
better communication. She stated feeling that she doesn’t fully know what is really going
on at Odyssey. She stated no concerns or issues with communication for her between
teachers and staff, just a feeling of disconnection with what is happening at Odyssey.
This parent stated they thought they might not be the only parent feeling some level of
disconnection with Odyssey.
--This parent wanted to know if parents should expect their child to bring information
home about school events.
--This parent wanted to know how they can be more engaged with Odyssey and is open
to suggestions.
--inquired about whether Odyssey has a Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO) or Parent-
Teacher Association (PTA). This parent wants opportunities to connect with other
Odyssey parents and feels she wants to know more about what’s happening.
--expressed concern about whether her Middle School student is being prepared enough
to compete and is getting a high enough challenge with their education at Odyssey.
--wants the school to be a community where her children and others can grow and she’s
currently feeling that is not happening at Odyssey to the fullest way possible
--This is the first year this parent has sent their children to a charter school and thought
they’d get something different than what is offered from a traditional public school.
This parent stated she hasn’t noticed a big difference this school year at Odyssey
compared to her family’s experience in a traditional public school.
--Parent stated she is interested in Kindergarten Screening since she has a 5 year old
who will be starting Kindergarten next fall at Odyssey.
Board members listened to this parent’s input but did not provide specific responses or
solutions to this parent.

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

7. New Business.
7.1 Wellness Policy.
Jessica Driscoll reported that a policy has been distributed to all Board Members via
email prior to this Board Meeting. Print copies were available and discussed at this
meeting. Jessica Driscoll stated that the MN Department of Education requires Odyssey
to have a Wellness Policy in place.

Issues of concern with the proposed written Wellness Policy were:
--information about health and a Health Program is being provided at Odyssey.
Jodie Hardenbrook asked if money has been budgeted for a Health Program next year.
--Item #14 Nutrition Quality. Heather Wincek asked about limiting celebrations.

7. New Business.
7.1 Wellness Policy
Questions raised were: Should Odyssey set standards for food at celebrations?
This point seemed vague in the proposed written policy.
--Consensus from discussion was that guidelines need to be developed for
point #14 “Nutrition Quality” and that communication to parents about
guidelines, particularly related to celebrations is needed.
-- Tim Hedberg indicated that point #10 related to beverages sold at school in the policy
needs some adjustment.

Jessica Driscoll stated that work has begun to start a Wellness Committee at
Odyssey. She offered to set up a wellness task force to review the current written policy
and give more input on this policy for discussion at the next Board Meeting. Jessica
Driscoll agreed to organize people to work on a Wellness Task Force

No action or motion was made on the proposed written Wellness Policy. Board
Members decided to have a task force look at the policy and get input from this
task force at the next Board Meeting for further discussion.

7.2 Kindergarten Screening.
John Sedey reported that Odyssey has had parents enroll 4 year olds for Kindergarten
who weren’t ready. Issue is related to students who are not age 5 by September 1^st.
There is a need for a written policy for screening 4 year olds to enter Kindergarten.
Jon Sedey stated that a written policy is not available for review yet but will be
included in the May 2009 Board agenda for review.

7.3 School Bus Video/Camera Policy
John Sedey presented Board Members with a written “School Bus Video/Camera
Policy” for review and discussion. The proposed policy would start being active at the
start of the 2009-2010 school year.

John Sedey stated that the current bus company providing transportation services to
Odyssey is willing to install cameras and at some point in the future will eventually
put cameras in all buses.

Board Members discussed concerns they had about this proposed written policy.
Concerns discussed about this policy were:
--issue of sacrificing student freedom for safety
--point #4 Length of Time video would be held
--Board members concerns about protecting student safety while they are on the bus
particularly in light of the attempted boarding on one of Odyssey’s buses last month
by an unauthorized adult from the community
--Students riding the bus being more aware of what they do because they have been
told a camera is on while they ride the bus. This might improve student bus
behavior and be a deterrent for students who do act up on the bus.

7.3 School Bus Video/Camera Policy
--Do we have money to hire bus paraprofessional instead of using cameras
--Currently issues with students riding the bus are dealt with daily by school staff
--Student safety and liability issues the school has related to bus transportation
safety need to be considered.
--cameras help maintain the safety of the bus driver so they can do their job to drive rather
than deal with behavior

Jodie Hardenbrook made a motion to pass the “School Bus Video/Camera Policy”.
Roshelle Amundson seconded the motion. Tim Hedberg abstained from voting.
All other Board Members voted in favor of adopting the “School Bus Video/Camera
Policy”. The motion was accepted and the “School Bus Video/Camera Policy:”
was approved and passed by the School Board Majority.

8. Reports:
8.1 Odyssey School Building Organization (OSBO):
Jessica Driscoll reported on behalf of OSBO.
No new information from last month’s meeting was reported.

John Sedey reported that Greg Gredvig continues to work on financing issues
for OSBO. Jessica Driscoll stated we have an extension on the current building
lease with Osseo Schools and there are no other parties she is aware of interested
at this time to purchase the school building nor have there been any new actions taken
toward purchase of the school building since the last Board Meeting.

8.2 Community Action Committee (CAC):
Mike Auld reported on behalf of CAC.
Scheduling of events and fundraisers on the 2009-2010 school calendar is currently
being worked on by this group.

8.3 Finance
Tim Hedberg reported.
He stated the current cash flow is positive and that the fund balance is $718.
A copy of the current budget and finance report was given to all Board Members.
Mr. Hedberg stated that the current projected budget is built on 278 students and there
are currently 266 students enrolled at Odyssey.

Mr. Hedberg stated school lease payments are caught up through January 2009 and this
means lease payments are three months behind.

John Sedey added some additional information about finances. He stated that Odyssey
is getting paid based on a rate for 299 students, which is faster than we deserve from
the state. John also stated that Federal Stimulus Package money is a possible wild card
for the Odyssey 2009-2010 budget.

8.4 Professional Learning Communities (PLC) Reports:
Grades K-2. Jessica Driscoll, Grade1/2 Teacher reported.
This group of teachers began meeting November-December 2008. They are working
on improving students decoding skills by the end of the school year from 10% of
students being at risk with not mastering beginning decoding skills to having only
some students being at risk of not mastering decoding skills. This group is using
“Dynamic Indicators of Early Literacy Skills” (DIBELS) data to measure student
growth. The end of the year goal result of working on decoding skills intensely with
students in these grades is to have 98% of students in grades K-2t be at no risk of
mastering decoding skills.

This PLC has been teaching using reading strategies that focus on decoding. This
group of teachers have added components to curriculum focusing on decoding.
Jessica Driscoll reported that this PLC uses agendas, and rotates duties during meetings
among the members of this PLC. K-2 teachers have experienced a successful start in
developing and using a PLC this year.

Grades 3-5.Jessica Grabe, Grade 3 Teacher reported.
This group of teachers has been working to increase student test scores as a goal.
This PLC has discovered this has been too broad a goal and improving reading
comprehension skills of students has been the hardest area. The Grade 3-5 teachers
have taken the most current NWEA scores, past NWEA scores, and DIBELS
information available for some students from Jeni Holm, the Title I teacher, to
increase awareness of which students need to make significant improvement with test
scores.

This PLC has been teaching students strategies related to how to take tests well such as
how to fill in answer bubbles, and doing practice tests with questions formatted
similarly to those on the state MCA II. Students have been taught and given practice
with reading questions, staying with the asked for response and support with data and
information from the text when writing answers. Grade 3 is the first year students
take the MCA IIs.

Teachers in this PLC attended a series of training days related to “Sheltered
Instruction” and shared what they learned with the rest of the group. These teachers
learned and have been applying new teaching strategies to help all students especially
those who are English Language Learners (ELL) increase their academic language
skills. Teachers in this PLC have been focusing on teaching students the “12 Most
Powerful Words” in the classroom. Hands-on learning strategies and activities such
as “Pair-Share” have been used to help students learn the “12 Most Powerful Words”.

Organization of the Grade 3-5 PLC needs improvement during the next school year.
PLC meetings have been inconsistent this year due to schedule changes and conflicts
with staff meetings. More training is needed for the organization and members of the
|PLC to be more effective.

8.4 Professional Learning Communities (PLC) Reports:
Grades 6-8. Chris Nordmann, Middles School Social Studies Teacher reported.
The goals this group of teachers has been working on is to increase the student
passing rate on the MCA II Reading test. Middle School PLC has consulted with
Jan Pepelnjak from Metro ECSU and a consultant to the Minnesota Department of
Education to get organized. Middle School Teachers in this group have found it
hard to figure out the best strategies to help improve students reading
comprehension skills. Teachers have been focusing on “The 12 Powerful Words”
from” Sheltered Instruction”. They have been teaching about these words in groups
of 3 at a time encouraging students to learn the meaning of these words.

Use of non-fiction articles at different reading levels to focus on building reading
comprehension skills of Middle School students has been a key approach. Some of
the non-fiction text sources have been newspapers, and science texts. Verbal and
written questions about text where responses have had to be given immediately
after reading a selection and then delayed the next day to build comprehension
over time are approaches Middle School teachers have been using. Middle School
Teachers have been working to make data gathering for goals related to reading
comprehension measurable. Being able to measure goals set by this PLC has been
challenging.

Specialists (Art, Music, Spanish, Physical Education):
Roshelle Amundson, Spanish Teacher reported.
This PLC has been trying to incorporate targeted skills into their instruction
but it is not the same as the classroom teachers are doing in academic classes.
Specialists have been trying to incorporate targeted skills for grade levels into the
content each of them teaches students. Members in this PLC feel like they need more
training to learn more strategies and ways to incorporate goals into their content and
reach everyone.

Additional input shared about PLCs after team reports by classroom teachers present included:
--cross-grade PLCs as a future possibility such as having a PLC include a Specialist teacher,
an elementary teacher from grades 3, 4, or 5, a Middle School Teacher, and a Special
Education Teacher.
--PLCs should meet at least once a month
--with PLCs teachers are noticing students have grown in their skills but more training is
needed so PLC efforts of teachers can be better in the future. Staff relationships are built
in a positive way through PLC work.
--Teachers plan on sharing their PLC goal with students (K-2 group) at the end of the year to
help students see and know they have grown during the current school year in specific ways.
--goals in PLCs need to be more specific with data collection that is valid and usable gathered
throughout the school year.

9.0 Interim Director Report:
9.1 General Comments. (open houses and staff meetings)
Two Open Houses were held in April and one Open House is scheduled for May.

Swine Flu Information: A letter was given to teachers and students to take home on
4-29-2009 with information about the recent national outbreak of Swine Flu.
A copy of the letter was given to all Board Members.

9.2 Activity calendars for FY 2010 (add board meetings, work sessions, etc.)
Shel Auld is working to set up fundraising and event dates on the calendar with input
from a variety of people in the Odyssey community.

John distributed a calendar dated May 2009 to October 2009 with a schedule plan for
to all Board Members. All events were not on this calendar distributed to Board
Members. School Board needs to schedule their meetings on the calendar including
Board Work Sessions. John mentioned that a “Curriculum Advisory/School
Improvement Committee is on the calendar draft.

Proposed Middle School and K-5 schedules for 2009-2010 were distributed.
Representatives from all grade levels were involved in developing these schedules.
The proposed school master schedule included information about daily Middle
School core classes, recess and lunch times for all grades and Middle School elective
time blocks. The propose K-5 daily schedule did not include specifics about when
academic subjects (core classes) would be taught during the school day. John stated
that the schedule is a work in progress. The only time that is sacred and untouchable
on the proposed schedules is Advisory/Morning Meeting time.

Current school start time for 2009-2010 will be the same time as this year.
The bus company is able to do pick-up at the end of the day at 2:40 p.m.
The 2009-2010 budget has money placed in it for a part-time health teacher and
the utilization of a Media Specialist to work with students.

9.3 Current Enrollment for FY 09 and FY 2010
John Sedey distributed an enrollment chart indicating current enrollment
and specific numbers of students actually signed up and enrolled for 2009-2010
as of 4-27-2009. Current total school enrollment is 264. The number of total
students enrolled for 2009-2010 is 266.

Kindergarten for 2009-2010 is filling up fast. John projects we’ll have a
waiting list for this grade level. Discussions have begun about grade 2/3 and
grade 3/4 combinations depending on enrollment as we acquire new incoming
students.

9.4 5 year budget projections including preliminary FY 2010 Budget
John Sedey distributed a 5 year projected budget with FY 2010 budget information
included. The budget presented is based on a 5% balance forward and allows for
hiring a half-time Health Teacher who would work 25% of the time with Middle
School students and 25% of the time with Elementary students.

The presented FY 2010 budget is based on no increase of salaries for staff, but returning
to the salaries in place at the start of the 2008-2009 school year before a 3% salary
reduction was put in place in January 2009. John Sedey stated the presented budget
includes an 8% increase for health benefits.

This presented FY 2010 budget proposal is based on the same level of staff that is
currently in place at Odyssey. Additional staff included in this budget proposal ate
-- full time Technology Coordinator/Media Specialist who would work with students
to teach keyboarding and computer skills as part of their job
--half-time Health Teacher for all students in the building

The Director of Operations is one position but has two spots in the budget because their
work is divided between general and special education duties. Budget amount for
maintenance reflects the salaries of one full-time Custodian and one assistant.

No action or motions were made by the School Board on the presented and proposed 5 year and FY 2010 budgets.

9.5 Staffing Process for 2009-2010.
John Sedey stated he will be taking care of some of this in the next week. He is
finding out which teachers are interested in returning and getting input from them.

9.6 Leadership Model.
John Sedey stated that Leadership Team in place now was to get us through the
current school year and that the current team has given much good guidance.

The question of “What does the School Board want?” was raised by John Sedey.
He stated a formalized process of setting up a Leadership Team should be considered
including an application and interview process for this team.

No action or motions were taken by the School Board regarding what the Board wants for a Leadership Team or a process of selecting persons to be on this team in the future.

10.0 Action on first year staff.
John Sedey distributed a list of current first year staff and a draft of a letter he wants
to give them on 4-30-2009. Mr. Sedey’s plan is to get School Board guidance and
meet individually with all first year teachers.

The proposed process by John Sedey for first year staff would involve asking all of them
to reapply for their positions. Mr. Sedey proposed this process because some hasty
hiring decisions were made this year. There was no real interview process used last
summer even though some good hires were made. Asking first year teacher to reapply
gives Odyssey an opportunity to see who is out in the community to fill positions. John
stated that is first year people are doing a really good job; we want them to return and
continue at Odyssey.

Board Members held discussion and brought up the following concerns about the
hiring process:
--what process will be used to look at candidates
--interest expressed in having candidates be observed teaching as part of the process
before school year is over
--involvement of parents in interviewing
--important to insure the mission and vision of Odyssey. Concerns discussed
about how staff and teachers who have been at Odyssey more than one year are
supporting the Odyssey vision and mission.
--Leadership Team did not want to have everyone re-apply for this year.
--Teacher and staff evaluation process is part of the long-term “School Improvement
Plan” submitted to the MN Dept. of Education according to John Sedey.
--Jessica Driscoll and Kari Mitchell have been researching an evaluation process for
teachers.
--John Sedey stated we need to look at job descriptions and expectations at Odyssey.
-- discussion about whether staff evaluations would take place before the start of the
next school year and whether an evaluation process will be in place and done
before the start of the next school year. John Sedey stated that expectation have to
be set forth clearly before the evaluation process is put into place and that the
evaluation process of staff and teachers is part of the “Professional Development”
activities for Fall 2000. John Sedey mentioned the possibility of using the Charlotte
Daniels process as one possibility for teacher and staff evaluation.
--questions were raised about the process being used for rehire of non-first year
teachers for 2009-2010.
--Dorothy Washington asked if Odyssey has a tenure policy. John Sedey responded
that Odyssey does not have a tenure policy and that hiring is “at will” for charter
schools.
--important for Odyssey to be as stable as possible with staff for next year.
--Tim Hedberg stated consideration should be made for the rehire process to use at
team and training of the team members before interviewing especially about what
can and can’t be asked at interviews would be important.
--Concerns were raised about confidentiality and liability concerns related to the
hiring process
10.0 Action on first year staff
--Mike Auld stated Odyssey has used set questions in the past for all staff hiring

Tim Hedberg motioned to approve the first year teacher rehire process letter presented and discussed by the School Board including permitting John Sedey to make any working changes on the proposed letter as needed. Dorothy Washington seconded the motion. All Board Members were in favor of the motion and no one abstained. The motion to send a letter to all first year teachers at Odyssey telling them they need to reapply for their positions was

11.0 Post position vacancies.
John Sedey stated that vacancy descriptions will be posted as we get specific
enrollment numbers in. No specific vacancy posting dates have been determined.

12.0 Action on Lunch Contract for 2009-2010
John indicated Caravan Kids, the current lunch service Odyssey is using, is the
recommended company Odyssey contracts with for next year. Kari Mitchell made the
final recommendation decision for continuing with Caravan Kids because of their
willingness to improve services following input from a team of staff and parents who
researched fool services caterers.
Jessica Driscoll motioned to approve a lunch contract for 2009-2010 with “Caravan Kids”.
Mike Auld seconded the motion. All Board Members were in favor. No one opposed or
abstained from voting on this motion. The motion to approve “Caravan Kids” Lunch
Contract with Odyssey Academy for 2009-2010 was approved and passed.


13.0 Consent Agenda

13.1 Payment of bills, including payroll.
Tim Hedberg motioned to pay all bills including payroll. Heather Wincek seconded the
motion. All Board members approved the motion. The motion to pay all bills
including payroll was passed and approved.

13.2 Receipt of Toyota Tapestry Grant (Jodie)
Jodie Hardenbrook, the Middle School Science Teacher, received grant money related
to an educational project she is doing with students related to alternative energy and
recycling that incorporates literacy skills in the project for grades 6-8. The three week
program Ms. Hardenbrook received grant money to conduct is being set up for students.

13.3 School Bus Driver Certification
John Sedey presented the School Board with a written “Bus Driver Certification” letter
from American Student Transportation. Certification of school bus drivers is a new
requirement and the MN State Patrol provided driver certification.

John Sedey distributed a letter and a copy of the bus driver certification document to
Board Members for review and discussion and approval.

13.3 School Bus Driver Certification
Questions raised about the certification document were:
-- Do these documents change Odyssey level of liability because we have bus
driver certification?
--The document presented for approval does not have any reference on background
and criminal checks in it.
--Board members stated concerns about liability Odyssey has in accepting the presented
Bus Certification Documents.

Tim Hedberg motions to accept as record the “Bus Driver Certification” documents provided to Odyssey from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. Dorothy Washington seconded the motion. All Board members were in favor; no one opposed or abstained from voting on this motion. The motion to accept as record the “Bus Driver Certification” documents was passed and approved.

14.0 Old Business:
14.1 Setting School Board Work Sessions
Jessica Driscoll stated that she and Rick Fletcher, another charter school teacher, attended a
Minnesota Charter Schools Association (MACS) Leadership Training last week. She
stated MACS may be willing to work with Odyssey’s School Board. Jessica Driscoll
agreed to make contact with MACS for Board Training. She also stated the Odyssey’s
Board needs to “get on the same page as what a non-profit’s Board’s goals are.”

15. Action to adjourn meeting was made by Jodie Hardenbrook. Heather Wincek seconded the
motion. The School Board Meeting was adjourned at 8:33 p.m.