Odyssey Academy
Board of Directors
Regular Meeting
6201 Noble Avenue North
Brooklyn Center, MN 55429
WEDNESDAY JULY 29, 2009
7:00 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: Tim Hedberg, Mike Auld, Rochelle
Gredvig, Heather Wincek,
John Sedey, Roshelle Amundson, Jodie Hardenbrook, Notetaker: Sheila Prokott
Absent members: Jessica Driscoll, Dorothy Washington
Community members/Guest Visitors: None
1.
Call to order and roll call at 6:15 p.m. by Mike Auld.
2.
Additions to agenda made at Board Meeting.
John Sedey requested an addition to the end of the Board Meeting Agenda of
discussion about changing August 2009 Board Meeting date and time.
3. Approval of Agenda.
Tim Hedberg motioned to approve July 29, 2009 Board Meeting agenda.
Jodie
Hardenbrook seconded this motion. All Board members present
agreed. No one
abstained or objected. The motion to accept the presented Board
Meeting agenda with
the addition of discussion about date and time of the August 2009
Board Meeting was
approved.
4. Approval of minutes from June 22, 2009
Board Meeting.
A copy of minutes for June 22, 2009 was distributed to all Board Members
for review.
Mike Auld motioned to approve the June 22, 2009 Board Minutes. Roshelle
Amundson
seconded the motion. All Board members present agreed. No one abstained
or objected.
The motion to accept and approve submitted June 22, 2009 Board Meeting
Minutes was
passed.
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.
7.0 Board positions.
Mike Auld reviewed the current status of active Odyssey Academy
Board members.
Brief discussion was held about adjusting the group some current
Board members
represent and vacancies that will be occurring and open during
November 2009
Board Elections. A consensus agreement was made by Board Members
present to
immediately shift Roshelle Amundson from being a staff to a
community member
representative and to keep Rochelle Gredvig as a parent
representative until November
2009 Board elections take place.
8. Reports:
8.1 Odyssey School Building Organization (OSBO):
Mike Auld and John Sedey reported on OSBO activities during
the past month.
Mike stated he heard from the bonding group from Utah during the
week of
July 20-26, 2009. This is a group Odyssey has been working with
to secure
funding for purchase of the current building the school is leasing
from Osseo
Schools. Contacts from the Utah group told Mike Auld they have
available monies
and are going to look at Odyssey’s situation for building purchase
funding again.
John Sedey reported that Greg Gredvig from OSBO heard from Osseo
School
District Representatives that two other groups have expressed
interest in the building
Odyssey is leasing. Osseo District staff told Mr. Gredvig that
Odyssey is currently
the most interested and first preference of Osseo Schools to
purchase the building.
John stated Odyssey currently has a month-to-month lease agreement
with
Osseo Schools. He said that in order to lock in the current lease
agreement until
June 2010, Odyssey may need to set up a new building purchase
agreement with
Osseo Schools. John told Board Members present that he will
follow-up with Osseo
Schools regarding the current lease agreement and setting up
another purchase
agreement.
8.2 Community Action Committee (CAC): No
report was presented.
8.3 Finance: John Sedey reported. He stated Odyssey has not
needed to use
or take money from the school’s line of credit up to this time. He
indicated Odyssey
is currently using and working down funds in the reserve account
to pay bills. John
stated as of July 1, 2009, Odyssey will experience a 27% State
funding hold back
because of new Minnesota legislative school funding budget laws
that went into
effect July 1, 2009, the start of the new fiscal year for
Odyssey. The level of state
funding received will impact Odyssey’s cash flow during the
2009-2010 school year,
since the Minnesota State funding hold-back by law will not be
received until
October 2010, when the Minnesota Department of Education provides
Odyssey with
hold-back money for the previous year based on actual student
enrollment during the
2009-2010 school year.
8.3 Finance continued:
Copies of the May 2009 Balance Sheet and Year to Date
(YTD) Profit/Loss Reports
were distributed to all Board Members present. John Sedey
stated 2008-2009
enrollment numbers are being used for June, July and August
2009 budgeting. John
indicated Odyssey has had to contact Osseo Schools about
lease payment bills
because they have not been billing Odyssey regularly. John
stated Odyssey owes
lease monies because of billing delays from Osseo Schools.
Information was shared with the Board on Odyssey’s current
Profit/Loss Report.
John Sedey stated that student enrollment of 278 is what the
current active budget is
based on and actual end of year school enrollment was 271.
The discrepancy
between actual student enrollment numbers and the number of
students the current
budget is based on affects Odyssey negatively: $40,000 in
the general education
budget and $10,000 in the lease aid budget for the 2008-2009
school year budget.
John identified and discussed three areas of concern in the
budget report for 2008-
2009 ending on June 30, 2009. The three areas of concern
identified are: Substitute
Teacher costs specifically related to use of substitutes for
classroom teachers when
they are out of the building for Professional Development,
School Administration
related to SUTA expenses, and Maintenance costs. John
reported Odyssey overspent
on utilities and maintenance supplies from what was
budgeted, but under spent on
school Food Service expenses by the end of the 2008-2009
school year.
John reported the 2008-2009 school year budget has a fund
balance of negative
$97,000. He is working with the School Business Administrator
to review, fine-tune,
and make sure dollar amounts are appropriate and accurate in
all budget categories in
the final 2008-2009 budget. John indicated that during the
2009-2010 school year,
Odyssey needs to address and create solutions for how we use
substitute teachers
particularly related to covering classrooms for teacher
out-of-building for
professional development days to reduce costs related to
professional development
for staff. One solution presented was to bring professional
development
opportunities and presenters on-site to Odyssey for teachers
and staff rather than
sending so many staff out of the building for training.
John stated one issue in
developing a solution to reducing substitute costs related
to teacher professional
development is the set of requirements the Minnesota
Department of Education has
related to a school’s Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) status
and required teacher
professional development tasks based on a school’s AYP
status with the MN
Department of Education.
9. Interim Director Report: John Sedey updated the Board on a variety of issues.
9.1 School Enrollment: John
distributed two charts with enrollment numbers
for each specific grade level. Data on one chart gave enrollment
projections that
have been used for planning for the 2009-2010 school year. The
second chart
presented data based on actual number of students whose parents
have completed
and submitted enrollment papers on file for the 2009-2010 school
year. John
reported a problem was discovered on Monday July 27, 2009 with the
computer
9.1 School Enrollment continued:
software system being used to keep track of enrollment numbers
for each grade. John
reported student enrollment numbers the School Board has been using
for budget
planning for the past three months is inaccurate because the
computer system for
enrollment did not exclude students who were not returning to
Odyssey and were
placed in the “inactive student data base.” The correct student
enrollment total for
2009-2010 as of July 27. 2009 is 258. The budget adopted by the
School Board in
June 2009 is based on a total enrollment of 303 students.
John distributed a draft list of potential solutions to
adjusting Odyssey’s budget
for 2009-2010 based on accurate, actual student enrollment
numbers. These
proposed solutions were briefly discussed by School Board Members.
Actions to increase enrollment have been planned. John told Board
members a
large, targeted mailing will be sent out during the week of August
3rd. An Odyssey
Information table with school staff will be set up August 3rd at
Brooklyn Center
Central Park as part of a community National Night Out Kick-Off
event. Open
Houses at Odyssey on August 10 and 12 from 6:30-7:30 p.m. are
scheduled with an
emphasis on reaching families who are part of the targeted mailing
group. John stated
a total actual enrollment of 274 students for 2009-2010 is
potentially attainable at this
time.
John stated that he and Kari Mitchell, Director of Operations, will
meet on Thursday
July 30, 2009 to review and study the computer enrollment system
issues and discuss
other ways to increase enrollment. Another process for increasing
enrollment
mentioned during Board discussion is to call parents of students
who attended during
the 2008-2009 school year to find out if they have changed the
school choice for
their child or children and want to re-enroll at Odyssey.
Board members indicated a need for John Sedey and Kari Mitchell to
get a clear
and accurate grasp of current correct enrollment numbers as soon
as possible. Board
members through discussion agreed a need to adopt a new, adjusted budget
for
2009-2010 based on accurate, current enrollment numbers will
probably need to
occur before the start of the 2009-2010 school year rather than
delaying budget
adjustments until students arrive and the school year has begun.
Following discussion, Mike Auld, Board Chairperson
suggested the scheduled
August Board meeting be moved to an earlier date based on
issues the School Board
has to address related to student enrollment and budget for
2009-2010. Mike
proposed to move the scheduled August 26, 2009 School Board
Meeting at 6 p.m. to
August 12, 2009 at 5 p.m. and ending at 6:30 p.m. because of
the Open House
scheduled the evening of August 12th. Mike proposed that a
new draft budget will be
looked at during this meeting. John Sedey indicated actual
student enrollment may
change by this date. A motion to change the date and time of
the next School Board
Meeting was made at the end of the Board Meeting.
9.2 MCA II 2009 School-Wide Testing Results:
John distributed an information sheet about the
Minnesota Comprehensive
Assessments-II (MCA-II) that students in grades 3-8 at
Odyssey completed in April
2009. One side of the information sheet was a Minnesota
Department of Education
“2009-NCLB-AYP Calculation and Functional Requirements”
chart. The other side
of the sheet had a chart with specific MCA-II results from
April 2009 for Odyssey
Academy students in grades 3-8 in Reading and Mathematics.
Odyssey students
need to continue improving their levels of skills
proficiency in Reading and Math in
all grades from third through eighth based on MCA-11 2009
test results data. John
shared a few solutions that he has discussed with the
current Odyssey Transition
Team. The solutions shared to help students increase their
skills proficiency are:
A. Northwest Educational Achievement Tests (NWEA) will be
completed by
students in all grades three times during the school
year( Fall, Mid-Year, Spring)
so student academic progress can be monitored and
instruction adjusted to
increase student achievement. The NWEA tests will
help teachers see progress
with individual students and the school as a whole
that is more immediate
throughout the school year. Collected NWEA data
during the school year may
also be used to show the Minnesota Department of
Education that students at
Odyssey are making a year or more than a year’s
academic progress despite
not making MCA-II Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) goals
B. Looking in to updating the edition of the “Every Day
Math” curriculum
used in grades K-5 so Odyssey teachers and students
are using the most current
edition of this math curriculum.
C. Development of an action plan to improve Odyssey’s
AYP status will
take place and Jan Peplinjak from Metro ECSU will
continue to help Odyssey
teachers with improvement of Professional Learning
Communities (PLC)
process and AYP improvement plans.
D. Addition of Middle School Electives classes designed
to help build
and develop stronger academic skills. Middle School
teachers have
increased the rigor and challenge in electives
classes for 2009-2010.
John said the Middle School Team of teachers has
been working this summer.
He distributed a one page document with brief, one
line descriptions for eleven
Middle School Electives classes for 2009-2010. John
stated full descriptions
of Middle School Electives classes will be posted on
Odyssey’s website before
start of the year all student Open House so parents
and students can learn about
electives and be ready to choose and register for
these classes at the start of the
school year.
Tim Hedberg and Mike Auld commented that the increases in
student enrollment
and diversity affects Odyssey’s MCA results, even with the different
subgroups
of students whose data is looked at by the Minnesota Department
of Education.
9.3 Transition Leadership Team Update:
John Sedey reported the Transition Team has been meeting
during the summer
with him. The Transition Leadership Team group has looked
at schedules, electives,
student and staff handbooks and tightening expectations for
the 2009-2010 school
year. The Transition Leadership Team members are expected
to help and be present
on one of the two new teacher training days August 24 and
August 25, 2009.
10. Consent Agenda
10.1 Payment of bills, including payroll.
Mike Auld motioned to approve payment of current
bills, including
payroll. Rochelle Gredvig seconded the motion. All
Board members present
agreed. No one abstained or objected. The motion to pay
Odyssey’s
current bills was passed and approved.
10.2 Personnel Action:
John Sedey distributed a list of three licensed
teachers and one full time staff person
who have recently been
interviewed, offered a work agreement, and hired. He
shared brief information about the background and experience of
these new Odyssey
staff. John said he thinks we have good matches and the right
people for Odyssey.
The new staff positions that have been filled are a Grade 1/2
Classroom teacher,
Middle School Math Teacher, Title I Math Teacher, and
Technology
Coordinator/Media Specialist. John stated he has completed
reference and legal
background checks for this group of new staff.
Roshelle Amundson motioned to accept the four new staff hires
John presented
to the School Board. Jodie Hardenbrook seconded this motion.
All Board Members
present agreed and were in favor of the motion. No one
objected or abstained.
The School Board approved and passed John Sedey’s request to
provide work
agreements for 2009-2010 school year to the four persons on the
list presented to the
School Board.
John reported that JaLene Rosengren, the staff person who has
been setting up student
testing such as NWEA during the past school year, is not
interested in being in
charge of setting up student testing during the 2009-2010
school year.
10.3 Contracts for Services: No Contracts for Services were
presented or discussed.
11. Old Business:
11.1 Executive Director contract:
John Sedey distributed an “Agreement of Services” and
“Leadership Proposal-
Executive Director Performance Expectations” documents to all
Board Members
present. He stated that task number three on the “Leadership
Proposal” page
is an addition to the Executive Director’s Proposal submitted
to Board Members
in June 2009.
11. Old Business continued:
11.1 Executive Director Contract:
Mike Auld motioned to approve and accept the
“Agreement for Services” and
“Leadership Proposal-Executive Director Performance
Expectations” contract
presented to the School Board. Rochelle Gredvig
seconded this motion.
Mike Auld asked Board Members present for discussion.
No discussion about
the proposed Executive Director Contract Agreement was
held. All Board
Members present were in favor of and agreed to the
motion. No one was opposed
or abstained. The motion to approve and accept the
Executive Director
“Agreement for Services” and “Leadership
Proposal-Executive Director
Performance Expectations” for 2009-2010 was passed and
accepted by all
School Board members present.
12. Change in August 2009 Board Meeting:
Following discussion of current student enrollment and
budget decisions during John
Sedey’s report and Mike Auld’s suggestion to move the
scheduled August Board
meeting to an earlier date, a motion was made at the end of the
Finance Report from
John Sedey. Jodie Hardenbrook motioned that the August 2009
School Board Meeting
should be changed to August 12, 2009 and be held from 5 – 6:30
p.m. , prior to a
scheduled Open House event. Tim Hedberg seconded this motion.
All Board
Members present were in favor. No one abstained or objected.
The motion to change
the August 2009 School Board Meeting to Wednesday August 12,
2009 from
5 – 6:30 p.m. was approved and passed.
13. Action to adjourn meeting was made by
Rochelle Gredvig. Jodie Hardenbrook seconded
the motion. All members present were in favor. The Board Meeting
adjourned at 8 p.m.
Next Board Meeting is scheduled for Wednesday August 12, 2009 from 5-6:30 p.m.