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OCN > 2602 > Monument Academy School Board, Jan. 15 – Board passes mid-year budget, selects bond counsel

Monument Academy School Board, Jan. 15 – Board passes mid-year budget, selects bond counsel

Highlights

  • The Monument Academy board met on January 15 to address a mid-year budget, refine its marketing structure, appoint bond counsel, discuss self-evaluation and election processes, and update curriculum evaluation policies.
  • In the budget update, Finance Director Laura Polen was absent due to illness, and the team narrowed costs for stipends and staffing between the middle and high schools, reducing the projected deficit from 180,000 to 130,000 dollars, with the board approving related budget resolutions.
  • The marketing plan was reorganized by splitting the Marketing and Communications role into two part-time positions to handle the high level of activity in January, and that change was approved unanimously by the board.
  • Bond counsel was selected, with Casey Parrot LLC engaged for the refinance work on the 2019 East Campus bonds, and the board approved the engagement letter after review by MA's legal counsel, with final sign-off pending the CFO's review.
  • Policy and elections were discussed, including self-evaluation forms for board members to be reviewed at a February work session, and an election process for two open seats with a February 1–March 31 application window and a possible community Q&A if there are more than two applicants; a related curriculum policy update and exhibit were also approved unanimously, outlining how instructional materials are reviewed and how out-of-cycle changes are handled.
  • In closing, meeting highlights noted impacts from snow on finals and events, ongoing bond refinancing work, and upcoming information nights and fundraising activities, with the next board meeting scheduled for February 12 at the East Campus.

By Jackie Burhans

The Monument Academy (MA) board met on Jan. 15 to adjust its mid-year budget, modify its marketing position, select a bond counsel, discuss its self-evaluation and election process, and update a policy on curriculum evaluation.

Mid-year budget

Executive Director Collin Vinchattle apologized on behalf of Finance Director Laura Polen, who couldn’t attend due to illness. Since the last presentation, there have only been a couple of changes, he said. They met with Director of Preschool Kirsti Hays to narrow the budget, lowering the salary they had budgeted for an additional stipend. They also modified the allocation of costs for stipends and staffing changes between the middle and high schools. The bottom line went from a deficit of $180,000 to a deficit of $130,000.

The board unanimously approved resolutions on the mid-year budget appropriation, use of beginning funds balance, fund balance change, and interfund borrowing for FY25-26.

Position adjustment and creation

Vinchattle said MA had reviewed its Marketing and Communications position and felt it was tough to do both jobs at the same time, so they are splitting the role into two new part-time positions for communications and marketing, to achieve better results in this high-demand time. He noted that MA has five to six events in January. The board unanimously approved the change.

Bond counsel selected

Vinchattle introduced an engagement letter for Casey Parrot LLC, a law firm that has been asked to serve as bond counsel to the Colorado Educational and Cultural Facilities Authority (CECFA) in connection with the issuance of bonds for Monument Academy during the refinance of its 2019 East Campus bonds. He said the engagement letter was with Hester Parrot and that MA had already begun working with her in good faith. He noted that the document was reviewed by MA’s legal counsel and that Tim Farmer would be taking on the bond refinance work and this was a standard agreement.

President Ryan Graham asked if Chief Financial Officer Glenn Gustafson had reviewed it. Vinchattle said Gustafson had been on vacation and hadn’t seen it yet. Graham noted that Vinchattle, Polen, and Farmer had reviewed it, and it looked like boilerplate template language, so he had no concerns but wanted Gustafson to have a chance to look at it. He noted that the fees and expenses were contingent on bond funding.

The board unanimously approved the engagement letter.

Board self-evaluation and election

Graham said each board member should have received a self-evaluation form from Director of People Operations Krista Pelley. The idea is that the board will review the results at the work session on Feb. 26 at 6:30 p.m. Vinchattle asked that board members complete and return the form on Feb. 20, so Pelley has time to put it into a presentation.

Vice President Lindsay Clinton reviewed the board election process, noting that two positions would be open as both Graham’s and board member Matt Ross’ terms would end on June 30, 2026. Graham is term-limited and will not be on the ballot. The application process runs from Feb. 1 to March 31.

Applicants will have the opportunity to meet with one or two board members to ask about the position, confirm their intent to run, and attend as many board meetings as possible. They will get information about the time commitment and see if it is a fit. If there are more than two applicants, the board will schedule a community Q&A, and there will be a formal five-day election in the last week of April. Winners will be announced in May and sworn in at the June board meetings. There will be a background check and board training. The three-year board terms begin on July 1.

Policy update

Board member Jilinda Dygert introduced the IJ-MA Selection of Instructional Material Textbook and Policies Procedure and its related exhibit. She explained that the policy goes through the process of how primary instructional material and textbooks are reviewed and approved. The Governance Committee wanted to tweak it and add community feedback. One key area was the procedure for out-of-cycle needs, so that when a publisher releases a new edition, the administration may conduct an abbreviated review to see if there are substantive changes. Non-substantive changes can be approved without board approval. Dygert said the policy clarified that any change in curriculum needs to be communicated to parents.

IJ-MA(E) is the related exhibit to the above policy. Dygert said the exhibit is the form that the curriculum committee uses to evaluate curriculum, and only editorial changes had been made.

The board unanimously approved both the policy and its exhibit. Board policies can be found at https://tinyurl.com/ma-policies.

Highlights

Board meeting highlights include:

  • Executive Director. Vinchattle noted the impact of snow on finals, projects, and concerts. NWEA testing was going well and would be input into bond refinancing reports. High school and elementary information nights were rescheduled, and there would be kindergarten, homeschool, preschool, and high performance program nights to come.
  • Finance Director. Vinchattle reported on behalf of Polen that November financials represent 41.55% of the budget, and the total loss was $155,000 because of $708,000 in deficit spending. He reviewed general, facility, foundation, and student activity fund balances. MA continues to work on capital construction of the track and field area, refinancing the 2019 bonds for the East Campus and will be mailing W2s and 1099s shortly.
  • Curriculum East. Clinton reported the committee met on Jan. 8 to review the draft proposal for field trips and to review progress on curriculum mapping.
  • Student Accountability and Advisory Committee (SAAC) West. Clinton reported 128 survey respondents, not enough to get participation rewards. Results were being reviewed, she said.
  • SAAC East. Dygert reported that the survey was released in December with the most effort to advertise it, but it did not meet the participation threshold. She said the committee would meet Jan. 26 to review results.
  • Resources and Development. Clinton said that gala tickets were on sale and the theme is a “Going All In for MA” casino night.

**********

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 Feb. 12 at 6:30 p.m. at the East Campus. The agenda and packet are available at tinyurl.com/ma-boarddocs.

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

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