Board of Directors
Regular Meeting
Brooklyn Center
Odyssey
Board
The purpose of the Board, on behalf of
Membership in Attendance: Tim Hedberg, Mike Auld, Heather Wincek,
Jessica Driscoll, Dorothy Washington,
Notetaker: Sheila Prokott
Absent members: Roshelle Amundson
Community members/Guest Visitors: HighMark
Representatives: Dana Jackin, and Ms. Nichols
OSBO Representatives: Norm Chaffee and Greg Gredvig
1. Call to order and roll call at
2. Additions to agenda made at Board Meeting. No additions requested or made to the agenda.
3. Approval of Agenda.
Jessica Driscoll motioned to approve
one abstained or objected. The motion to accept the presented Board
Meeting agenda
was approved.
4. Approval of minutes from
A copy of minutes for
is an ex-officio member because of
his role as Odyssey’s Executive Director.
Mike Auld motioned to approve the
or objected. The motion to accept and approve submitted
Meeting Minutes was passed.
5. Community comments.
Greg Gredvig from the OSBO group indicated
that $356 has been designated as a
donation to
Event. School Board Members accepted and thanked
Mr. Gredvig for this donation.
6. Introduction of Guests.
assisting OSBO with purchase of
Odyssey’s current building. The visiting
guests toured
the building during school hours
on
visit at Odyssey was to get a good
picture of the school and its workings so the
representatives could go back to
the HighMark group to make recommendations about whether
Odyssey is a good investment risk
for their organization.
The two visiting HighMark
representatives stated they enjoyed the full day school visit.
They stated appreciation for the
level of information sharing and transparency Odyssey
leadership has provided to them.
developing a good relationship
with the HighMark organization.
7. Closed Meeting as needed. No closed meeting was needed or held.
8. New
Business. No New Business was
discussed or presented for discussion.
9.
Reports:
9.1
Greg Gredvig reported. He stated that the HiMark organization now
has funding
available and is interested in
investing in
HighMark’s first
the building or a 25 year lease at this time. OSBO is looking to buy back the building or
lease in two years if an improved
bond market reopens.
Mr. Gredvig stated that the
the building Odyssey is currently
leasing so if we want the building, acting on our interest
at this time is critical. The next step for OSBO is to get an updated
appraisal and
purchase price. OSBO is interested in making a deal using the
current available appraisal
price. Osseo representatives think the price for
appraisal of the building may be higher now
than the last one done. HighMark’s organization will soon be doing
an appraisal on the
building as well.
OSBO expects the price of the
building plus the cost for upgrades to the building (bathroom
fixtures, “smart” teaching
technology, kitchen repairs and upgrades to meet required codes,
door changes to courtyard area,
and a security system) will be at or lower than the dollar
amount given for the last building
appraisal completed. Cost of building
upgrades will be
included as part of a HighMark
organization investment in Odyssey’s building.
9.1
Mr. Gredvig reported that HighMark would
use their own contractors to do building repairs
and the cost of repairs would be
added to the purchase price of the building.
District
of the building. Mr. Gredvig stated HighMark has management
resources to help Odyssey if
HighMark purchases the current
building.
Board Member discussion followed
Mr. Gredvig’s OSBO report. The
following
concerns and questions were
presented during discussion.
--Who has input into what
building upgrades will be done? Discussion response was that
OSBO, School Board Members,
and school leadership staff will have input.
--Will teachers have input
into the development of building upgrades?
No clear decision has
been made on this issue. Board did
discuss the
importance of being clear
about who will have input and decision making power
with teachers, staff, and
the Odyssey community.
--What happens to OSBO if
HighMark funds building purchase and does upgrades?
HighMark would form an LLC. OSBO was initially develop as a bond group,
but won’t
be shut down if HighMark currently funds building purchase and
upgrades. OSBO won’t
be dissolved, but will
change. A Bonding Process Plan would be developed and put in
place by OSBO.
Fund Balance monies related to
purchase of the building could include reimbursement
for expenses related to building
upgrades such as computers that were made last year
(2008-2009) by previous Odyssey
Director, Ken Wright.
School Board Members thanked Greg Gredvig for all his efforts over the last few
years related to his work with OSBO and the school building purchasing process.
9.2
Community Action Committee (CAC): Mike Auld reported on behalf of
CAC.
A recap of events CAC has
organized and led during September 2009 was given.
On
successful, quiet evening pair
of events and activities.
CAC is working on
preparations for future winter events:
Pancake Breakfast
in January 2010 and Winter
Carnival in early February 2010.
9.3
Finance:
A current Cash Flow report and Balance Sheet
were distributed to all Board members
and visiting HighMark investment organization
representatives present at this
meeting for review and
discussion. In reviewing the “Cash Flow”
report, John
stated that Odyssey
continues to operate without having to go into its line of credit.
A 27% hold-back of funds by the Minnesota
Department of Education that
was authorized by the Minnesota
Legislature is in effect. John stated
the effect of
this new funding hold-back
on Odyssey isn’t fully known. John stated
Odyssey’s
IDEA payments have been
helping with the cash flow process.
In reviewing the “Balance Sheet” report, John
stated a projection of 270-271 WADM’s
will probably be the actual number needed for
the budget. He stated that Special
Education Transportation
Revenues for last year in an amount around $25,000 was not
noted on the Balance Sheet
presented to the Board.
Mr. Sedey highlighted some
specific items on the “Balance Sheet” report for Board
Members. These were:
--Food Service and Kid’s
Club on page three. It was stated that
money from general
funds have had to be
transferred into these two accounts in the past. John
stated budgets will
be tightened in these areas during the current school year.
John stated that the budget deficit for
the 2008-2009 school year which was projected
to be around $80,000 at the
end of June 2009 now looks like it will be between $40,000
9.3
Finance: continued:
to $50,000 once all financial information is
reviewed and finalized for the previous
school year by the Business Manager and School
Director. John stated for the 2008-
2009 school year, Odyssey
collected monies part of the school year on 290 students
before adjustments were made to the
budget. He indicated the state funding
hold-back
of 10% during the 2008-2009
school year was different at the start of the school year
than at later times during
the school year due to budget adjustments made
based on student enrollment
changes.
Mr. Sedey stated that Odyssey’s Auditors will
be coming during the first week of
October 2009 to review financial information
and records. John stated Odyssey should
adopt a revised 2009-2010
budget based on current enrollment numbers.
John
recommended that the Board
review, adjust, and adopt a revised 2009-2010 budget
in October 2009.
10. Director Report:
10.1 Enrollment.
As of
adopted in June 2009 for
the current school year is based on 303 students. Mr.
Sedey stated some students
are still trickling in and 270 students is a number
Odyssey would like to
reach. John restated that an October
2009 revised budget
should be adjusted based
on the best, most realistic enrollment Odyssey has at
that time. John stated September is not the best time
of year to do more
enrollment
recruitment. Current staffing is based
on what the actual student
numbers were expected to
be at this time. John stated he will
work on a new 5 year
projection for enrollment
when the new budget revision takes place.
10.2
staffing needs are still being figured out for
Special Education Students. John
stated paraprofessional staff positions are
100% reimbursed.
10.3
Opening Workshops: Jessica Driscoll reported.
Three new staff members were given orientation
and a warm welcome to Odyssey.
The first full day training
attended by all staff was “ Non-violent Crisis Prevention
Intervention” (CPI) training at Capitol View
in
gathering was held after this training
day. Jan Peplinjak from Metro ECSU
held two half day workshops for
all staff. One focused on setting
school-wide
“SMART” goals for improvement
of student achievement. The other half
day workshop focused on establishing
“Professional Learning Communities”
(PLC’s) building-wide for the current school year.
Jessica Driscoll reported that staff felt
cohesive and together at the start of the school
year. She stated it has been a generally
stress-free, positive start to the school year.
10.4
Opening for students.
Jessica Driscoll reported.
On the days students arrived during the first
two weeks of school, routines
and events when smoothly. Open
House on
A representative from our transportation
provider was expected to come and
10.4 Opening for students
continued:
answer questions at an information station
during Open House, but they did not
arrive.
Questions parents had about transportation issues were gathered and
handled
after Open House by our
Director of Operations, who works with Odyssey’s
transportation provider.
An All-School Assembly was
held two weeks ago. Student and staff
enthusiasm was
fantastic and
noticeable. This assembly was a great
kick-off to the school year.
Ms. Driscoll stated she
has been checking in with the new teachers in K-2,
and the Middle School
Math and Long-term substitute Middle School Language
Arts Teacher during the
first few weeks of school.
The two Title I
Teachers, Mrs. Pouliot and Ms. Holm, have tested many students
to help determine who needs extra reading and
math support. NWEA testing for
students in grades K-8
to get baseline data for the current school year about reading,
math, and language
usage skills will be finished by the end of the week (
2009
Mike Auld, Board Chair,
stated he has heard many positive comments about the new
School Technology Coordinator.
2009-2010 school year
start has been fantastic. He stated the
theme for this year is
“No excuses, it’s all
about the students”. School staff are
willing to look at results
of student
progress.
talented charter school
teachers.
10.5
Response to HINI.
sent home to all parents of
Odyssey students about Odyssey will be responding to this
community health
concern. The goal of the letter is to
inform and not alarm parents.
John stated school maintenance,
teaching and support staff have been working to
practice more sanitizing in
the school building. Maintenance staff
has been making
sure there is soap in all
dispensers in the building. Teachers
encourage students to wash
their hands. Information will be posted on the improved
Odyssey website as needed.
John stated the MN Dept. of
Health and the CDC information being distributed about
HINI is being
monitored. Odyssey’s School Nurse will
be monitoring student’s
coming into the Health
Office who are ill and those whose parents call to state their
child is sick and cannot
come to school. The School Nurse has
been very good about
sending sick children home
and telling parents to keep ill children at home. John
stated that School Board
members will be kept informed about the impact of HINI as
needed.
10.6 NWEA Testing. All students in grades K-8 will be taking NWEA
academic tests in
a computer presented format
three times during the current school year to monitor
student progress and assist
teachers with adjusting instruction in the classroom. NWEA
tests will be given in September,
during late January-early February, and in May.
John stated data results are
being used primarily for planning instruction and decision
making.
10.6
NWEA Testing continued:
of Middle School students at Mr. Sedey’s
request. Ms Hardenbrook shared a brief
PowerPoint
presentation with data about the total group of Middle School students in
grades 6-8.
Ms. Hardenbrook stated the Middle School teaching team has agreed on a
hypothesis about the current total Middle
School NWEA scores. The
School
Math
test scores will go up too.
Jessica Driscoll commented that Odyssey did
get a computer technology grant to
purchase computers for use with a new
supplemental reading program, “Read About”
which will be used by many of Odyssey’s
students with special education and remedial
reading skills needs. Amy Kline, Special Education Teacher, and
Technology Coordinator, received confirmation
of the grant on
A
variety of ideas and plans of action were discussed by Board Members following
information sharing about NWEA testing for the
2009-2010 school year. Key points
and ideas discussed were:
--need for review of
curriculum used at Odyssey with State Standards to be
sure students are
being taught what they need to know based on State Standards.
--Monthly Library Trips
for Middle School students in monthly to five week intervals
should be considered
to encourage students to read and use the library. Free
transportation to
get to the local library is available.
--use of NWEA data to help with
developing enrichment classes to help struggling
and excelling
students.
times
a year because of the school’s current Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) status with
the
MN Dept. of Education based on student MCA II test scores. Because of Odyssey’s
current AYP status, Odyssey is required by the
MN Dept. of Education to do specific
things to improve student achievement. John stated that getting off of Odyssey’s
current
AYP
status is a process involving making 10% gains to get off the AYP problems
list.
Some
of the tasks Odyssey is required to do by MDE due to current AYP status
include:
--using 10% of Title I
money to provide after school enrichment and tutoring for
students. Tutors need to be paid tutors.
--School Administration
is required to attend workshops and meetings to find out what
Odyssey needs to do
to provide AYP services. John stated he
would be attending
a required workshop
next week.
--School improvement
plan with specific school wide goals and levels of improvement
for student
achievement has to be developed. Jessica
Driscoll commented that
during the first week
of teacher workshops in August, school-wide goal setting and
student achievement
targets including SMART goals were developed and agreed on
by all teachers for
the 2009-2010 school year. PLC groups
are working on
these goals all year
long.
Jessica Driscoll indicated that the adoption
of doing NWEA testing and use of the
AIMSWEB Reading and Writing assessment
program this year to get more data to
plan
instruction for students will be helpful.
Ms. Driscoll indicated the AIMSWEB
program has progress monitoring and
instructional ideas that teachers can use with
struggling learners.
10.7 Leadership Team composition.
He stated that representation
needs to be adjusted so there is one representative from each
PLC and one representative from
Support Services department.
10.8 Professional Learning
Communities (PLC’s):
Jan Peplinjak, a consultant
from Metro ECSU, working with Odyssey on AYP concerns
suggested for 2009-2010 that
three PLC groups be formed. Currently
there are three
PLC’s organized by grade level
clusters. The PLC groups are: K-2, 3-5
and 6-8.
PLC’s meet every other week on
Wednesdays. Each PLC arranges to post
meeting
minutes on the “common” area of
Odyssey’s intranet site. PLC information
might be put
the school’s public website in
the future.
10.9 Disproportionate representation
compliance.
Department of Education last
spring, an overrepresentation of African American students
are being referred for Special
Education services at Odyssey according to MDE guidelines.
10.9 Disproportionate representation
compliance continued:
MDE is requiring Odyssey to adopt a
corrective action plan. An MDE
Consultant,
Leslie Laub and our Special
Education Director, Bonnie Carlson have been working
with Odyssey administration to
develop a corrective action plan.
John stated the following are
part of the corrective action plan at this time to deal with
disproportionate representation:
--establishing a comprehensive
data based for referral and assessment for behavior
by ethnic group and
including in the data base information about student attendance
and absenteeism and identifying
students at-risk.
--need to establish Cultural
Liaison Services for African-American and Liberian/
Liberian-American
populations attending Odyssey.
--need to put into place
English Language Learner (ELL) services at Odyssey.
10.10 Board
Committees
Activating on-going Board
Committees will occur after elections of new Board Members
takes place. The Board Committees to be set up are:
Community Action Committee
(CAC), School Improvement,
Wellness, Technology, and Finance. A
Committee
organizational meeting is
scheduled for
after Board Member elections
will have taken place.
11. Consent Agenda
11.1 Payment of bills, including payroll.
Rochelle Gredvig motioned to approve payment
of current bills, including
payroll.
agreed.
No one abstained or objected. The motion to pay Odyssey’s
current bills was passed and approved.
Tim Hedberg motions to
approve journal entries for July and August 2009. Jodie
Hardenbrook seconded the
motion. All Board members present were
in favor.
No one abstained or
objected. The motion to approve journal
entries for July and
August 2009 was passed
and approved.
11.2 Personnel Action:
11.2.1 Special
Education, Spanish, Long Term Substitute for Language Arts and Music
These are teaching positions that were filled
since the August 2009 Board
Meeting.
11.2.2 Special
Education Paraprofessionals.
Four full-time paraprofessionals have been
hired to work with Middle School
students with special education needs since
the August 2009 Board Meeting.
Grade 6 – 8 Middle School PLC.
Jessica Driscoll motioned to accept contracts for employment for the
above named
full-time teaching positions
and the four paraprofessionals. Tim
Hedberg seconded
the motion.
All Board Members agreed to the motion.
No one abstained or objected.
The motion to accept work
contracts for a Special Education Teacher, a Middle School
Math Teacher, a Music
Teacher, a Long Term Substitute Language Arts Teacher, and
four special education
paraprofessionals was approved and passed.
11.3 Contracts for Services: No Contracts for Services were presented or
discussed.
11.4 Approval to transfer from general fund to
Food Service and Kid’s Club to cover deficits.
A
request was made by
Service Fund. A request was made by
fund
to Kid’s Club Fund.
Tim
Hedberg motioned to approve both of these funds transfers.
seconded this motion.
Brief
discussion was held about the need for fund transfers and what they cover. Concerns
about
the viability of Kid’s Club were raised since this program has required fund
transfers
from
the general fund in the past. A small
number of Odyssey children use the Kid’s Club
before and after school child care
program.
be monitored carefully.
Following discussion, a Board vote on the
motion to approve fund transfers was taken.
All
Board Members present were in favor of the motion. No one abstained or were
opposed.
The motion to approve transfers of funds from the general fund account
to
the
Food Service and Kid’s Club accounts was approved and passed.
12. Old Business:
12.1 Board Elections
Heather Wincek has organized Board
Election process and documents. The
Board has
openings for two Community
Members, two Parent Representatives, and two
There will be a large
School Board membership turn-over after this election.
Current Board Members who
are resigning, or their term is up are:
Dorothy Washington
(Community Member) –resigning position
Tim Hedberg (Community
Member)--leaving position
Heather Wincek (Parent) – elected term is
ending
Open Community Member
position due to
Odyssey’s Executive
Director
12. Old Business continued:
12.1 Board Elections
Election Process Time Line shared with Board
Members:
12.2 Fundraising
Policy
CAC Fundraising
Policy was presented.
Mike Auld motioned to
approve the proposed Fundraising Policy.
Tim Hedberg seconded the
motion. All Board Members present
agreed. No one
abstained or
objected. The motion to accept the
Fundraising Policy presented to the
Board by CAC was
approved and passed.
13.0 Establish Board Work
Session to establish performance goals for Executive Director.
Discussion was conducted and decision
was made that this work session and establishment
of
performance goals for the Executive Director needs to be done before the
November
election is completed. A Work Session date, time and work session
participants
were established.
Work Session will be on Weds.
Meeting.
Work Session Group Members and those who
will be involved with meeting with John
Sedey to discuss goals and performance
review process:
Mike
Auld, Board Chairperson
Jessica Driscoll,
Heather Wincek, Parent Representative
Brief discussion was held about researching the long term School Leadership
Model that would be best for Odyssey.
Suggestion was made that as part of the October Board Meeting Agenda,
looking at information about different school leadership models might be a
starting point.
Jessica Driscoll suggested the Board may want to create a task force to gather
and review information about School Leadership Models for the Board to use and
discuss. No decision was agreed on or
made by Board Members at this Board Meeting about next steps in studying a long
term Leadership Model for Odyssey.
HighMark representatives stated they want a leadership succession plan from all
the schools they invest in.
14. Action to adjourn meeting was made by
the motion. All members present were in favor. The Board
Meeting adjourned at
Next Board Meeting is scheduled for