Board Meetings

Board of Directors Meeting Minutes - Wednesday, August 16, 2023

Attending: D Burton; Sheri Catron Cooper; Sylverna Ford; Lisa Jackson; Arlender Jones; Rhonda Lee; Daryl Leven; Marcus Newman, Kenneth Robinson; Marilynn Robinson; Cecilia Sawyer Guest: R. Troy Wilkins

1. The meeting was called to order by Board Chair Daryl Leven at 12:03 pm.
2. Approval of the minutes from the last meeting was moved by Kenneth Robinson and seconded by Cecelia Sawyer. The motion was approved unanimously. Approval of the financial report was put on hold as Wayne Palmer has been working on the financial report for last year which is due today.
3. Report from the CEO – Sheri Catron Cooper Compliance
• Annual Financial Report is being submitted today.
• Emergency Management Plan was submitted. Has been approved.
• Annual site visit is scheduled for October 2023.
• Auditor - there is a possibility that another auditor will have to be selected. Current auditor is planning to cease doing charter school audits.
• Authorizer – this topic should actually be Sponsor. Sponsorship is no longer required for charter schools as of July 1st. COSLA is no longer under the sponsorship of The Works. COSLA is now a stand-alone 501C3 entity.
• Line of credit –has been renewed for this year. August is the only month the line of credit has had to be used this year.

Academics
• TCAP Scores - met success rate; exceeded anticipated success rate by 8 points.
• TCAP/3 grade retention –all 3rd grade students promoted to the 4th grade. This was the result of a combination of retesting, summer school participation, and two successful appeals.
• Summer Learning Program – 125 of 240 eligible students participated; primarily for 1st through 4th graders; met 90% attendance rate.
• Back to school night – August 22nd


Updates
• Enrollment – currently 243 students
• School Nutrition Audit - Likely to occur in January or February 2024
• TISA Funding - currently set at $6800 per student (TISA stands for Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement). Current basis for establishing student funding.
• Fire Marshall Compliance - painting has been done, floors have been addressed; exposed wires have been covered. We should be in better shape for the next inspection.

4. Governance
Prospective member profile – Governance Committee will be evaluating to determine what skills we need to add to our board and developing a prospective member profile that can inform the search for additional board members.
5. Other Business
Magnolia Project
There has been no additional movement on the Magnolia project at this time. There have been 2 meetings with Pastor Thomas, but no resolution has been reached so far. The possibility of an amenable resolution seems likely at this point.
• It was suggested that it would be helpful for the Board Members to know what is on the table for consideration at this time.
• No other bids have been made on Magnolia so far so, we can use this time to resolve the matter with the church before entering a new bid on the school.
• It is possible that COSLA could be able to be in the building for the start of the 2024 school year.
Status of COSLA
• A number of the long - standing maintenance issues have been addressed.
• It was noted that at this point, there has been no turnover in the school staff for the start of this school year.
• Attitudes and spirits seem to be positive and encouraging.
Marketing Opportunity
• Kenneth Robinson suggested that it would be helpful to draft a document that highlights the good things that are going on with COSLA.
• This could help with Board member recruitment as well as being used to inform the church congregation and the community of the strengths of COSLA.
• Daryl indicated that he and Sheri will get together to begin to work on drafting such a document.
6. Closing business • Next meeting is scheduled for September 20th
• Marilyn Robinson moved, and Marcus Newman seconded the motion for adjournment. The meeting was adjournment at 12:58 pm.

Minutes recorded by Sylverna Ford, Secretary of the Board