Board of Directors Meeting Oregon Building Congress Academy for Architecture, Construction And Engineering Tuesday, May 10, 2011, 4:00 to 5:35 p.m. Executive Session: 5:35 to 6:25 p.m. Governing Board Minutes ACE Academy Conference Room __________________________________________________________________________________________ Present: Dale Campbell, Board Chair (Construction Industry) Jeff Wheeler, Treasurer (PGE) Bob Evenson (Architecture Industry) Jim Schlachter (GBSD) Clif Davis (IBEW)

Karen Gray, Vice Chair (Parkrose School District) Dan Graham (Northwest College of Construction) Rich Shultz (filling in for Steve Rector) Mark Singleton (Parent Representative) Joyce Henstrand (RSD)

Absent: Steve Rector (CSD), Dick O’Connor (OBC) Others in attendance were: Michael Taylor (ACE Academy Director); Rick Larson (Centennial Business Manager) Official Business: 1.0 Call To Order—Meeting was called to order by Chair Campbell at 4:20pm in the Cowlitz Conference Room of the Pacific Northwest Carpenters Institute 1.1

Determination of Quorum It was determined that there was a quorum in attendance.

1.2

Adoption of Agenda Agenda was approved.

1.3

Adoption of Minutes of April 12, 2011. th

The board reviewed the minutes from the April 12 meeting. Director Gray moved that the minutes be adopted as amended. Director Graham seconded the motion. Voting in favor—Chair Campbell, Directors Gray, Wheeler, Graham, Singleton, Shultz, Evenson, & Davis. Minutes adopted. 2.0 Discussion Items/Confirmation Items/New Business: 2.1

Financial Reports Mr. Larson reviewed the financial and cash flow statements as of April 30th. The ending projection for cash flow is approximately $63,563. The difference in this amount from the previous month is due to the Taste of ACE spring break program. Some of the supplies used for this program were from out of stock. There are still grants coming in so the ending cash balance may end up a bit higher than projected. Director Wheeler asked if the donations from the banquet were included in this report. They are not included as they are still being calculated; however it is in the range of $5-6k. This will be included in next month’s reports. Director Wheeler also asked if any fundraising is still in limbo. Mr. Larson reviewed the grant update sheet, summarizing what has come in and what is still pending. CAF will talk about their donation to ACE in June. Director Wheeler asked for clarification on the grant amounts and cash flow. Mr. Larson explained the numbers and that some of the funds cannot be expensed yet due to accounting procedures. Director Wheeler moved to accept the financial statements; Director Davis seconded the motion. Voting in favor—Chair Campbell, Directors Gray, Wheeler, Graham, Singleton, Shultz, Evenson, Davis & Schlacter. Financial statements approved, with the request that financial donations from the banquet be included in the June reports.

2.3

Recruiting Update Mr. Taylor reported that recruitment is currently at 156. They have been recruiting, with students, at Reynolds High School and Gresham High School. This includes the possible addition of 5 students

at GHS. The board asked if there were any additional opportunities for more students to sign up. Mr. Taylor reported that indications from the past two years show that from this point on it is a wash. Some students move, additional students sign up, however the numbers remain about the same. The issuing of a high school diploma is still an issue when ACE looks at home school students. The question arises about “How do I graduate from high school?” Some of the students are coming from other charter schools or online schools. Right now there is an arrangement with Alpha High School for the students graduating from ACE. This is a year to year arrangement which needs to be renegotiated each year. Arrangements for graduation are made with each student individually. There are two parts to issuing diplomas. The first is that the board would need to approve the graduation requirements. The second is that the charter would need to be amended to provide for diplomas and graduation. The supplemental piece is to seek accreditation. If ACE is not spending the money for a year of doing an evaluation, those funds could be used to do the site visit required by the accreditation commission. This should not be very expensive. The potential upside is that this will lead to clean recruiting of home school or directly enrolled students. Three students is the equivalent of 6 students as this is full-time enrollment. The second half doesn’t cost as much to deliver. The students work with a tutor, which is partially funded through grants. They use PLATO (which ACE is provided from unused time at Alpha). If these spots fill, ACE can go to M ESD to buy slots. Director Gray made a motion for ACE to move forward in the process of becoming a school that grants diplomas and also to seek accreditation. Director Graham seconded the motion. Discussion followed regarding the upside of this motion that would open doors for recruiting. Currently the school is locked into the four partner schools as ACE didn’t anticipate going outside the districts to seek students. There is not much of a downside. Accreditation guarantees the portability to peer level high schools. Some colleges will challenge credits that are not from accredited schools. Director Gray mentioned that NW Accreditation will pass ACE as a special school (this is a less rigorous process) and it also legitimizes the program. Vote was taken. Voting in favor—Chair Campbell, Directors Gray, Wheeler, Graham, Singleton, Shultz, Evenson, Davis, Schlacter, & Henstrand. ACE will move forward with the process of accreditation and looking at granting diplomas. Chair Campbell asked about the plan to approach other school districts. Director Gray reported that she had talked with David Douglas and asked if they wanted a tour—they said “No”. The question was asked about going across the river to Washington. Funds can’t be transferred across the state borders. Director Wheeler asked if there is any energy around having the CAL & ACE Engineering programs combine. Director Schlachter said at this time it is not being considered, but might be discussed in the coming year. The CAL board is discussing CTE for future agendas. 2.4

Rent Negotiations Chair Campbell reported that a lease has been executed by the tenant for two years. This is the same lease that the board did not see last year. The agreement is for $6000 per month for two years (with no rent being collected for July and August each year). This is a $10k increase from last year. The reason for the two year term length is that this is the remaining contract between Reynolds and ACE for the charter. Director Wheeler asked about the exit clauses if the board decides to shut ACE next year. Chair Campbell stated that both the landlord and tenants are supporters of ACE and the idea isn’t to damage ACE or the districts. He suspected that they would turn their heads if ACE had to close. Mr. Larson went over the lease termination and explained it to the board. Discussion followed of possible scenarios if ACE were to close. Director Davis moved to accept the lease; Director Graham seconded the motion. Vote taken—Voting in favor: Chair Campbell, Directors Gray, Wheeler, Graham, Singleton, Shultz, Evenson, Davis, Schlacter, & Henstrand. Lease accepted. The process will be that there will be one invoice issued by PNCI. A purchase order will be put into the system. ACE will pay rent like anyone else. Last year during negotiations, no one took notes as they didn’t want notes. No bills were supposed to be sent after the $50k was paid. This information was not shared with the people who issue invoices.

2.5

2011-12 Budget

Mr. Larson reviewed the budget and discussed the small group meeting that he had with members of the board. The three options that he presented represent what this group asked for: 1) Different hiring scenarios—New Director, keeping Jan Wierima; New Director; Mr. Taylor staying with Jan Wierima 2) No cost of living increase for staff 3) $50 Health insurance increase for staff 4) Enrollment of 180 students Mr. Larson reviewed the numbers that make up the 180 students. The COLA adjustment was left at $0 due to cuts in other districts. The new rent contract of $60k was in these budget scenarios. The only difference in the three scenarios is what is done with hiring. Discussion followed regarding the wages for both the director (how it was figured) and the COLA decision. The budget will be voted on in June. Caution was given to not consider the ending fund balance and some board members said they could not support Option 1. Discussion followed regarding procedures for determining who decides who works for ACE and if the budget will support Jan Wierima and where that decision lies. The average cost to have a new director spend time with Mr. Taylor would be approximately $9,800 for a month. 5.0 Future Agenda Items Business Services Agreement; Officers & Members of Board of Directors; 2011-12 Budget; Director Position decision. 6.0 Adjournment Chair Campbell adjourned the meeting to Executive Session at 5:35pm to discuss the Director position. ____________________________ Notes: Kathy Kollenburn

******************************************************************************************************************************* Executive Session After a deliberative discussion it was determined that the Board would make an offer to Andrew Beyer. It was also determined that a request would be made of Mike Leone for another opportunity to have an additional sitdown visit with Board members. This meeting would take place, if necessary, subsequent to the response from Andrew Beyer. The meeting concluded at 6:25 p.m. ____________________________ Notes from Executive Session: Chair Dale Campbell

Next regularly scheduled meeting: Tuesday, June 14, 2011 4:00pm