APPROVED Minutes, as drafted by Board Secretary, Corinne Teller Barraza

RIO GRANDE ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS 
GOVERNING BOARD MEETING 
June 17, 2025 

GOVERNING BOARD MEMBERS 
Kathy McClendon, President 
Dr. Susan McConnell, Vice President 
Oren Ran, Treasurer 
Corinne Teller, Secretary 
Amer Child, Member 
Dana Flores, Member 

____________________________________________________________________________ GOOGLE MEET virtual meeting 
Topic: RioGAFA Governing Board 
RioGAFA Board Meeting 
Tuesday, June 17, 2025 6:30 – 8:00pm 
Time zone: America/Denver 
Google Meet joining info 
Video call link: https://meet.google.com/btz-iihn-hms 
Or dial: (US) +1 318-414-0157 PIN: 410 268 284# 
*Denotes potential action items for the Board 
NOTE: Agenda items can be added to the agenda for discussion, but they are not actionable. The Governance Board attempts to follow the order of items as listed, however, the order of specific items may vary from the printed agenda. 
Public Comment: 
a. Members of the public who wish to speak at the Governing Board meeting, must sign-up prior to the meeting on the Public Comment sign-up sheet. The Governance Board President will set the time limit per presenter at the beginning of the meeting based on the number of persons signed up to address the Board. Persons from the same group and having similar viewpoints are asked to select a spokesperson to speak on their behalf. Multiple and repetitious presentations of the same view will be discouraged and may be ruled out of order. 
b. If the meeting is held virtually, public comment will be allowed during the meeting via Zoom. To speak during public comment, please email your request to speak with your name to up to twenty-four hours prior to the meeting to kathy.mcclendon@riograndeacademyoffinearts.com - Speakers will be unmuted in order to address the Governance Board. Public comments will be limited to 3 minutes or based on the number of speakers. The public may also email comments to Kathy McClendon at kathy.mcclendon@riograndeacademyoffinearts.com - Emailed comments will be kept with the records of the meeting. 
The following format is not indicative that each thing is up for discussion, but a framework in which to fit the Board’s business for meeting purposes.

AGENDA
 
A.	WELCOME AND CALL TO ORDER  (turn ON recording) (Amer) 	President
B.	 ROLL CALL of Board Members & Welcome Staff and Guests 	Secretary 
a.	Kathy McClendon, President 
b.	Dr. Susan McConnell, Vice President 
c.	Oren Ran, Treasurer 
d.	Corinne Teller, Secretary 
e.	Amer Child, Member - not present
f.	Dana Flores, Member 
g.	Visitors/Guests
i.	Sammy Marquez- Business Mgr
ii.	Eliza Quintero- Asst Business Mgr
iii.	Kelsey Pike- Legal
iv.	Dan Hill at 7:25pm
C.	*Review of and Action regarding June 17, 2025 AGENDA 		Governing Bd
a.	Motion to approve
i.	1st- Susan McConnell
ii.	2nd- Kathy McClendon
iii.	All others in favor
b.	Discussion
i.	Finance action items listed twice.  First instance removed.

D.	Governance - Governing Board Items Part 1
a.	*Review of and Action regarding Renewal of Governing Board Member Term for Kathy McClendon						Governing Bd
i.	Motion to approve
1.	1st- Kathy McClendon
2.	2nd- Susan
3.	All others in favor
b.	*Review of and Action regarding Renewal of Governing Board Member Term for Dr. Susan McConnell						Governing Bd
i.	Motion to approve
1.	1st- Kathy McClendon
2.	2nd- Oren Ran
3.	All others in favor
c.	*Review of and Action regarding Renewal of Governing Board Member Term for Amer Child							Governing Bd
i.	Motion to approve
1.	1st- Kathy Mclendon
2.	2nd- Corinne Teller
3.	All others in favor
d.	*Review of and Action regarding Renewal of Governing Board Member Term for Dana Flores							Governing Bd
i.	Motion to approve
1.	1st- Kathy McClendon
2.	2nd- Susan McConnell
3.	All others in favor
e.	*Review of and Action regarding Open Meetings Act (OMA) Annual Resolution									Governing Bd
i.	Motion to approve
1.	1st- Susan McConnell
2.	2nd- Dana Flores
3.	All others in favor
f.	*Review of and Action regarding the MINUTES of May 20, 2025 	Governing Bd
i.	 Motion to approve
1.	1st- Amer Child
2.	2nd- Oren Ran
3.	All others in favor
E.	Governance - Governing Board Items Part 2
a.	*Review of and Action regarding election of GB President for the new school year   									Governing Bd
i.	Motion to approve
1.	1st- Kathy McClendon
2.	2nd- Susan McConnell
3.	All others in favor
4.	Discussion
a.	Nomination of Kathy McClendon by Susan McConnell and Dana Flores
b.	*Review of and Action regarding election of GB Vice President for the new school year 									 Governing Bd
i.	Motion to approve
1.	1st- Kathy McClendon
2.	2nd- Amer Child
3.	All others in favor
4.	Discussion
a.	Nomination of Susan McConnel by Kathy McClendon and Dana Flores
c.	*Review of and Action regarding election of GB Secretary for the new school year 									Governing Bd
i.	Motion to approve
1.	1st- Kathy McClendon
2.	2nd- Susan McConnell
3.	All others in favor
4.	Discussion
a.	Nomination of Corinne Teller by Kathy McClendon
d.	*Review of and Action regarding election of GB Treasurer for the new school year Governing Board						Governing Bd
i.	Motion to approve
1.	1st- Kathy McClendon
2.	2nd- Susan McConnell
3.	All others in favor
4.	Discussion
a.	Nomination of Oren Ran by Kathy McClendon
e.	*Review of and Action regarding FY26 Bus Contractor Contract  	Sammi Marquez
i.	Motion to approve
1.	1st- Susan McConnell
2.	2nd- Oren Ran
3.	All others in favor
4.	Sammi Marquez- Presented contract. Same vendor as current year.  Pricing went up slightly to correspond with increased award.  
f.	*Review of and Action regarding IDEA B application  		Sammi Marquez
i.	Motion to approve
1.	1st- Kathy McClendon
2.	2nd- Susan McConnell
3.	All others in favor
4.	Sammi Marquez- $28k award. Pays for part of one SpEd teacher salary.                                                     
g.	*Review of and Action regarding Cash Reserve item		Sammi Marquez
i.	Motion to approve
1.	1st- Corinne Teller
2.	2nd- Kathy McClendon
3.	MOTION- Oren- $250k to $600k of cash reserve to be used as directed by Directors, Sammi, Oren.  All others in favor.
4.	Discussion
a.	Sammi Marquez- In the event there is a cash sweep, this determines what these funds are intended for.
i.	LPA/New building expenses- if swept, may hinder this.
b.	Susan McConnell- is Facilities too broad or should it be more specific? 
c.	Sammi- we can establish it is for the new building.  Recommended amount by Sammi $250k.  Cash balance is currently $706k.  Amount set aside can be changed in the future.  
d.	Kelci- an amount may need to be included in the approval.  Oren- suggested to approve for $250k
e.	Corinne- is any of this year’s cash expected to be used next year?  Sammi- no unless the projected enrollment is not met
f.	Corinne- suggested we include other moving expenses (IT, furniture, installations, etc).
g.	Jordan- suggested approving a range for Admin to specify
h.	Corinne- suggested including expenses that may not be met, if enrollment projections are not met.  Jordan- suggested also to include furniture expenses for current classrooms, to be spent the upcoming school year
i.	Kelci- a range would be appropriate, per Dan Hill
j.	Corinne- if these funds end up being spent, as requested by Admin, what would that process look like?  Sammi- LPA begins FY27 so not much will be spent this upcoming year.  PO’s would reflect how those funds would be spent, if any.
k.	Jordan- suggested range of $250k to full amount.  Oren- suggested $50-100k less than full amount.  Corinne- suggested setting aside up to full amount and revisit if we do not meet projected enrollment.  Sammi- she would need to monitor that we have the ‘range’ available as financial reports are prepared.  Jordan agreed.
l.	Dan Hill- if have the numbers for range, include them.  
h.	*Review of and Action regarding Evaluation Approval for Michele Platis	Governance Committee
i.	Motion to approve
1.	1st- Kathy McClendon
2.	2nd- Amer Child
3.	All others in favor
4.	Discussion- Susan McConnell- Process is the same for both Directors by the Governance Committee using a template.  Directors do a self evaluation and propose goals for next year.  They are scored on template.  Has sections decided into curriculum, instruction, operations and financial.  Michelle scored exemplary.
i.	*Review of and Action regarding Evaluation Approval for Jordan Franco	Governance Committee
i.	Motion to approve
1.	1st- Kathy McClendon
2.	2nd- Corinne Teller
3.	All others in favor
4.	Discussion- 
a.	Susan McConnell- Same process as for other Director.  Jordan scored exemplary.
b.	Kathy McClendon thanked the Directors for their commitment and performance
j.	Review of and Action regarding Renewal for Director Michele Platis	Governance Committee
i.	Motion to approve
1.	1st- Susan McConnell
2.	2nd- Kathy McClendon
3.	All others in favor to offer 
4.	Discussion- Susan McConnell- they are in a three year contract, subject to renewal each year.  Dan Hill- this is essentially a continuation of the three year contract.  Admin’s are essentially at-will employees.
k.	Review of and Action regarding Renewal for Director Jordan Franco	Governance Committee
i.	Motion to approve
1.	1st- Kathy McClendon
2.	2nd- Susan McConnell
3.	All others in favor
l.	*Review of and Action regarding 4%  pay increase for Michele Platis	–Governing Bd 
i.	Motion to approve
1.	1st- Dana Flores
2.	2nd- Corinne Teller
3.	All others in favor
4.	Discussion- what was average increase for staff on salary schedule, with mandated increase of minimums.  Sammi- there were a few that were a little more than 4% but most around 4%.
m.	*Review of and Action regarding 4% pay increase for Jordan Franco —	Governing Bd
i.	Motion to approve
1.	1st- Kathy McClendon
2.	2nd- Amer Child
3.	All others in favor
F.	FINANCIALS REPORT 							Ran/Runyan/Marquez
a.	*Review of and Action regarding May Financial Report incl. BAR’s
i.	Motion to approve
1.	1st- Kathy McClendon
2.	2nd- Oren Ran
3.	All others in favor
4.	Discussion
a.	Sammi- Finance reports presented. No unusual expenses.  BARs submitted to true up revenue with expenses.  JE’s presented.  No BARs this month.
b.	*Review of and Action regarding Blanket Bar			Sammi Marquez
i.	n/a- not needed
G.	INSTRUCTIONAL and OPERATIONS 					RioGAFA Directors 
a.	Waltz Construction Information				RioGAFA Directors
b.	Topics to Consider 
i.	Jordan Fraco 
1.	Facilities- first Neighborhood Association meeting.  Members wanted to vent on some subjects, including traffic.  Jordan and Michele listened and addressed them.  Most members seemed happy in the end.  Doing traffic study to ensure conditions can meet traffic needs of future site.  Architect, Waltz Constr- gave cost estimates- high estimate of $10.7 million, which exceeds budget.  Went line by line to get to $8-9 million for wiggle room. Architect team to update weekly.  Shooting for December for site work to start.  In pre-construction activities now.  If construction goes over schedule, Connie Dove may be used to find a temporary space.  Not much wiggle room for completion date, as schedule stands now.  Do not start paying on LPA until the space is complete. Target move-in date- July, 2026.  Presented renderings of building, land and phases. Phase 2 an additional cost, to include parking and theater.  Phase 3, at additional cost would be for PreK.
ii.	Michele Platis
1.	1st grade class exceeded their goal- 100% met Math goal (goal was 85%) No 1st grade had students below level 1.
2.	Grades 3, 6-8 had double digit growth.
3.	Mission specific goals- exceeded standards across the board!
a.	All students have multiple access to arts integration assessments
b.	Events- Elementary students attend at least 1 event, Middle School students attend at least 2 events. Had average 90% attendance at each event.
iii.	Kathy commended Michele and Jordan for working so well together as a team and their performance this year.

c.	Facilities Update if needed						Facilities Team
i.	n/a
d.	Documents Notice (if needed)
i.	Kelly’s Policy Review Discussion to be held with Governance Committee and Directors at future date

H.	Comments from Board or Directors 
I.	NEXT Scheduled Meeting July 15, 2025 
J.	ADJOURNMENT (turn OFF the recording (Amer)
If you are an individual with a disability in need of a reader, amplifier, qualified sign language interpreter, or any other form of auxiliary aid or service to attend or participate in the hearing or meeting, please contact Jordan Franco at jordan.franco@riograndeacademyoffinearts.com at least one week prior to the meeting or as soon as possible. Public documents, including the agenda and minutes, can be provided in various accessible formats. Please contact Jordan Franco at the phone number or email address above if a summary or other type of accessible format is needed.

APPROVED July 15