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OCN > 2405 > Monument Academy School Board, April 4, 11, and 25 – Vinchattle named executive director

Monument Academy School Board, April 4, 11, and 25 – Vinchattle named executive director

By Jackie Burhans

Monument Academy (MA) held two special and one regular board meetings in April. The special meeting on April 4 was a public interview of executive director finalists. At its regular meeting on April 11, the board questioned board candidates, discussed the employee handbook, and presented committee reports. At its April 25 special meeting, the board announced its executive director decision, reviewed financials, and heard a proposed budget for FY24-25. The board also considered updating its organization chart and moving employees into different positions.

Executive director

MA had planned to interview all the finalists for its executive director position at its April 4 meeting. Board President Ryan Graham noted that 278 applications came in and that the hiring committee had narrowed it down to fewer than 10, and the board narrowed it down to three: Joshua Yancy, Colin Vinchattle, and David Stanfield. He said that Yancy and Stanfield had withdrawn their applications. Graham said the community voice matters, so the board should proceed with the interview.

Vinchattle thanked the board for the opportunity to be part of the process and team, saying that MA was important to his family, with two children attending and his wife working as an elementary teacher. He spoke of his 17 years in education, including his time as MA’s middle school principal for the last two years. He has a teacher, coach, principal, school board member, and superintendent background. He has worked in charters and traditional public schools in small communities and large school districts. He looks forward to working with the board to care for staff, students, and families.

In response to board questions, Vinchattle said his leadership style was that of a shepherd, prioritizing resources to benefit students and providing the tools teachers need. He said meeting academic growth goals boils down to quality instruction and that he would hire teachers based on their love for children and, if necessary, teach them to teach. He felt it essential to get principals in the classroom and allow them to coach the teachers. Vinchattle said the MA community already wants to invest and that he would build relationships with the district and get out in the community to make connections.

He said his strengths are passion, loyalty, and hard work, adding that his weaknesses are an inability to say no, learning to make tough decisions and have tough conversations, and pausing to celebrate the wins. MA’s biggest challenge, Vinchattle noted, is ensuring it is fiscally sound and invests in its strategic growth. He closed by saying that public speaking is not his greatest strength but that he is a man of action.

The board went into executive session to receive legal advice on specific legal matters related to an employment investigation and for personnel matters regarding school administrators. When it returned, the board did not take action on the executive director position. It announced that Vinchattle would be the interim building principal for both the middle and high school until the end of June in light of the unexpected recent resignation of the high school Principal David Kennington.

At its April 11 meeting, the board unanimously approved having the HR subcommittee and legal counsel enter contract negotiations with Vinchattle.

At the April 25 special meeting, the board went into executive session for legal advice regarding administrator contract matters and advice to negotiators regarding executive director contract and consultant contract matters, and related discussion of personnel performance and evaluation. The board returned after an hour and unanimously approved the employment agreement, a proposal by Lis Richard of Helping Schools Thrive for mentorship services, and decided to have Vinchattle start as executive director on June 1.

Note: Lis Richard served as principal at Monument Academy until 2017, when she left to become superintendent at Creede, Colo.

Graham noted that Interim Executive Director Kim McClelland had been brought on initially for six months but had served for 18 months. Graham said it was a blessing to have her and that MA has been a family to her.

Board election

At the regular meeting, board member Matt Ross announced that there had been six candidates for the two open board seats, but one had pulled out. The remaining candidates are Lindsay Clinton (current board vice president), Jelinda Dygert, Jeffrey Henry, Christina McLuckie, and Wendi Pacheco.

The candidates introduced themselves in opening statements and answered questions from the board, with each candidate getting a chance to answer first. Candidates fielded questions about how long they had been at MA and why they wanted to run; MA’s greatest challenges and strengths; how they would support current school policies and board resolutions with regards to parental rights and student privacy; what strengths they would bring to the board; ideas for additional funding to support MA; how to balance board decisions with teacher and parent input; their view of classical/core knowledge programs; and how to find unity when facing a difficult board decision.

Candidates also answered what their top three goals were; the primary role of school administrators and to what degree they should be free to make decisions based on MA’s philosophy and policies; whether they believed parents have a fundamental right to direct the upbringing of their children; what was their moral standard; a time when they were attacked for an unpopular decision; the role of schools in providing for the mental health of their students; and whether they were prepared for the pressure of public life.

The questions and answers are available on YouTube at https://bit.ly/ma-special-04Apr2.

At the end of the questioning, Ross thanked the candidates. He said he would solicit additional community questions for the candidates to answer in writing. The MA board election opened on April 22 and closed on April 30, listing the candidates randomly. The board clarified that each stakeholder in a household would be able to vote for up to two candidates, and the top two vote-getters would fill the open seats.

Financials and budget

At the April 11 meeting, financial consultant Glenn Gustafson had Laura Polen, secondary campus registrar, present the February financials. He noted that MA had collected $15,000 of $47,000 in delinquent student fees.

Gustafson said he had met with three bond firms that could refinance MA’s bonds and cross-collateralize both campuses if needed. The bad news, he said, is that interest rates are high at 6.9%, but MA has until 2026, and he feels interest rates will come down. He noted that MA could refinance its 2019 debt structure for the East Campus, free up some money to acquire a parking lot for the West Campus, and add an academic wing on the East Campus and possibly some athletic facilities.

Gustafson noted that he is working with Operations Director Jake Dicus to get requests for proposals (RFPs) for copiers, IT support, snow plowing, and more. He noted that it cost MA $28,000 for snow removal at the East Campus after the big storm in March.

Polen reported on the General Fund, Preschool Fund, Facilities Corporation for the West Campus Bonds, Foundation Corporation for the East Campus Bonds, and the Student Activity Fund. She noted that MA is awaiting five revenue streams: Gala fundraising; Federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) funds of $12,000; an IRS Refund from FY21-22 of $120,000; the shared Mill Levy Override (MLO) funds from D38; and the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC) funds of $1 million. Gustafson noted that the ERTC funds were in limbo, citing a Gazette article about the IRS dealing with fraudulent applications.

At the April 25 meeting, Polen presented the March financials as well as the Q3 financials. Gustafson noted that MA paid some big bills in April. He thanked Polen for her work, saying she continues to grow and do more of the process as he does less.

For the draft proposed FY24-25 budget, Gustafson said most districts and charters use incremental-based budgeting, showing the difference from the past year. He noted that the School Finance Act is still pending, but he is projecting per-pupil revenue (PPR) at $10,791, nearly $700 more per student. His best guess on enrollment shows a big drop of 40 students due to the bubble at fifth grade, which is moving to sixth grade and, hopefully, to the East Campus. He noted that $10,000 per student represented about $400,000 in lost revenue. He expects MA to stabilize and gently grow. Middle school is very steady, and MA is looking at an increase of 22 students in high school. He expects an overall decline of 12 students, but MA must account for each school separately according to bond agreements.

For expenses, Gustafson noted that previous pay raises were big, but MA would have to dial back to hit its bond targets. He said MA is looking at an average 3% salary increase, which will cost $181,000 plus another $211,000 in benefits. MA will have to deficit spend about $10,000 on its new home school enrichment program for the first year, but he expects it to break even in the long run and become a pipeline to bring kids into the school. MA will reallocate expenses for administrators, information technology (IT), and human resources (HR) between the West and East Campus as enrollments shift.

Next, he added requests from administrators and principals on the West Campus and other necessary items. He added another one-half school resource officer (SRO) and expects the cost from the Town of Monument to increase significantly. MA expects to lose two teachers at West Campus from attrition due to the drop in enrollment. Gustafson added funds for professional development and to acquire land for a parking lot on West Campus, which is critical.

The “big gorilla” in the budget for West Campus is the failing heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) units. There are nine units, and each will cost $100,000 to replace. He is requesting to add funds to replace two of them in next year’s budget, asking for a thumbs up so he can get started with a formal vote at the May meeting. The West Campus budget has a surplus of $118,000 without the HVAC units. Gustafson, noting that the Preschool Fund has $100,000, proposed moving a significant portion to the General Fund to cover the HVAC units.

The budget increases snow plowing and maintenance, adds a school psychologist, increases marketing, and adds money to improve board technology. The new budget hopes to spend less on legal and to account for software subscriptions and supplies used by HR. MA is also considering adding classes such as physics and teacher assistants to take the load off Middle School teachers who teach during their planning period, which is not a best practice, he said.

Other expenses include half of a custodial assistant, additional instructional supplies, restoring professional development to East Campus, and a budget for Title 9 investigations. The total costs at West Campus are $1.1 million, and there is only $900,000 in new revenue, so the difference would have to come from reserves, Gustafson said.

For East Campus, Gustafson said he wanted to make it a priority to start building MA’s bond compliance reserve. MA should budget 10% as its debt service coverage ratio is 1.1. With $7 million in revenue, the reserve should be $700,000. MA has never made that ratio and hasn’t had any pushback yet, but it needs to start being a good steward and meeting its bond covenant agreement. Gustafson proposes to budget $200,000 as a start that the bond company would applaud.

Clinton asked why the budget prioritizes a social worker/psychologist over a teacher. Vinchattle noted that the responsibility fell on him and Assistant Principal Angela Duca in some areas where they lacked the skills and time. He said that a mental health professional is needed to help with a threat assessment or a suicide assessment.

Finally, Gustafson said he hopes to lower the school’s contribution to insurance by leveraging Peak Benefits. He said the total premium could drop for employees and save up to $1,000 monthly. The transition will be gentle, so people won’t be required to change their primary care physician, but if they go to the Pinnacol Group, there will be several benefits. It is hard to break away from the current broker, but this seems a win-win as staff would get better health care at a lower cost. It moves from being fully insured to having employees more invested in their health care. It is not self-funding but is heading that way to cut out the middleman. He hopes to bring a contract to the May meeting to be approved.

Gustafson said MA needed to get its budget to D38 a month ahead of D38’s June deadline and will ask the board to approve the budget at its May meeting.

Reorganization

McClelland said that the most significant change to the organizational chart was not having two principals at the secondary campus but having one principal, one assistant principal, and one dean to save money. Graham said a parent asked at a recent coffee chat if that was a good idea. Vinchattle said it would result in one vision, one line of communication, and one resource for teachers and students. He also said it avoided competing interests and noted it made sense from a fiscal standpoint, but that might change as MA gets to full capacity. McClelland said MA should post the secondary principal position as soon as possible and could decide the structure at the May board meeting.

Gustafson asked if the board needed to approve other organizational changes involving current employees, such as moving Polen into the finance director position. Vinchattle said hiring a principal might require filling other positions if internal staff applied, saying the new principal would decide who to hire for assistant principal and dean. After some discussion, Graham and Clinton emphasized their concern that the process be legally compliant. Director of People Operations Krista Pelley said she would review the posting requirements with legal counsel.

Highlights

Board meeting highlights include:

  • The board approved updates to the Employee Handbook, which designates the executive director as the approver and sets a schedule for paying out unused leave.
  • Graham said the road in front of the school would be completed in the fall and would create a second loop in front of the building. MA will remove the temporary fence, and the gates to the back part of the school will be closed during the school day.
  • Ross reported for the School Accountability and Advisory Committee (SAAC) on the West Campus that Colorado Measures of Academic Success (CMAS) participation had increased from 60% to 80%. The PTO has been busy and has many volunteer opportunities, and the end-of-year survey was closed on April 29.
  • Clinton reported that the SAAC East surveys would be out shortly.

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The MA School Board meets at 6:30 p.m. on the second Thursday of each month. The next regular board meeting will be on Thursday, May. 9, at 6:30 p.m. at the East Campus. See more information at https://bit.ly/ma-boe.

Jackie Burhans can be reached at jackieburhans@ocn.me.

Above: After a lengthy search, the Monument Academy (MA) school board selected Colin Vinchattle from a pool of 278 applicants to be its next executive director. Vinchattle (left), who has served as MA’s Middle School principal for the last two years, will step into his new role on June 1. The board interviewed Vinchattle on April 4, followed by a meet-and-greet event with parents. Photo by Jackie Burhans.

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