CHARTER SCHOOL REVIEW COMMITTEE

200 E. Wells Street City of Milwaukee Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202 Meeting Minutes CHARTER SCHOOL REVIEW COMMITTEE KEVIN INGRAM, CHAIR Joyce Mallory, Vice-Chair Ruben Burgos, Samuel L. Coleman, Desiree Pointer-Mace, Raynetta Hill and Aycha Sawa Staff Assistant: Linda Elmer, (414) 286-2231 Fax: 286-3456, lelmer@milwaukee.gov Gayle Peay, 288-1540 Tuesday, March 30, 2021 5:00 PM City Hall, Room 301-A This is a virtual meeting. Those wishing to view the proceedings are able to do so via the City Channel - Channel 25 on Spectrum Cable - or on the Internet at http://city.milwaukee.gov/citychannel. Members of the public wishing to comment may e-mail lelmer@milwaukee.gov or call 414-286-2231 prior to noon the day of the meeting to attend virtually. 1. Roll call. Meeting convened: 5:02 P.M. Members present: Ruben Burgos, Kevin Ingram, Desiree Pointer Mace, Aycha Sawa, Raynetta Hill, Sam Coleman and Joyce Mallory 2. Review and approval of the minutes of the February 25th meeting. Ms. Pointer-Mace moved, seconded by Ms. Sawa, for approval of the minutes. There were no objections. 3. 201610 Communication relating to The Institute for Preservation of African American Music and Arts (IPAMA) Sponsors: THE CHAIR Dr. Floyd Williams - Chief Education Officer Bishop Sedgewick Daniels - Holy Redeemer Church - IPAMA initiative started in 2017 with an intentional plan to provide educational opportunity to our community through exposure to arts, science and math. They intend to provide a rigorous educational experience. IPAMA is not a religious concept or a particular culture, but it does have the thread of the African culture. Within IPAMA, there are 10,000 young people within an acre and they also have the opportunity to connect people with nature. They have board members from across the country. There will be a Board of Directors and there will be a Chief Education Officer as a 501(c)(3) as well as a number of deans. Tam Orlazando - Chief Financial Officer - Wisconsin funds schools in 2021 at a lower level than it did in 2011 so they will need to use their funds wisely. They have City of Milwaukee Page 1 CHARTER SCHOOL REVIEW Meeting Minutes March 30, 2021 COMMITTEE researched budgets of other schools. They have over $200,000 worth of musical instruments and over $150,000 invested for visual arts. There will be three campuses, with 18 classrooms, computer lab, multi-media library center and a dedicated Fine Arts Campus. Patricia Windine - part of the educational team. The curriculum is inter-discipline and actively engages students as they work on real-world challenges with individualized learning plans if needed. Dr. Nixon - national expert - TLab, a high-performance learning laboratory and offers their services virtually. The focus is on African American students and works with HR Educational Consortium. IPAMA shows the struggles of yester years and how to over come those struggles and how far people have come. Many individuals on the IPAMA team have more than 25 years in education, some as many as 40 years. Annette Lenox - Board member - she has worked with special needs students and there is a correlation of arts and academic success. Dr. William Rogers - board member - great opportunity for exposure to the arts in Milwaukee Calvin Scott - board member - attorney Ms. Mallory asked about the school governance. IPAMA does offer wraparound services. The Board will meet monthly. Ms. Mallory encouraged the school to involve parents as a learning opportunity for the parents and a governing council of parents. Ms. Sawa asked about financial worst case scenarios (they do have a line of credit). Management fees are indirect administrative costs, but IPAMA is listed as independent, but it is part of a consortium. The school will add one additional grade each year and begin with k-8th grade. The buildings are in good shape physically and mechanically. The school did calculate a break-even number of 300 students and are also assuming that word-of-mouth and enthusiasm will spread and increase their student numbers. Classroom size will vary from 20-25 students. Ms. Pointer-Mace had an issue, as did Ms. Hill, in being able to ascertain what a typical day would be like for learners. Ms. Pointer-Mace also asked about the school's plan to retain science teachers that can fit the cultural/demographic/arts emphasis of the school. They do have guidelines for recruiting teachers and plan to recruit from local colleges and universities. The school wants its students working at a high level at a young age to accelerate the learning model and get students to work 6-14 additional hours per week on educational pursuits with coaches, tutors and mentors being provided. Mr. Coleman does like the Saturday Academy. Ms. Mallory encouraged the school to make a differentiation between "enrichment" and "remediation". Mr. Coleman also asked how transportation between campuses affects instructional hours. Bishop Steadman did note that on page 61 a "typical day of a student" is detailed. Ms. Pointer-Mace also questioned who teaches the teachers how to integrate the arts into curriculums. Members did have suggestions on how to amend their application to make it more sell-able to the Council as being a unique school to serve Milwaukee students. Mr. Ingram asked how teachers will be evaluated in terms of their meeting the mission and goals of IPAMA. IPAMA also believes in peer mediation and they believe in de-escalation. A Board members would sit in on any expulsion hearing; the school may look at distance learning rather than suspension and laptops will be provided to all students. Ms. Pointer-Mace asked about using technology for special needs students and to include that in the application. Ms. Pointer-Mace said the school needs to think creatively on how to recruit and mentor teachers. Ms. Mallory asked about what outcomes will be City of Milwaukee Page 2 CHARTER SCHOOL REVIEW Meeting Minutes March 30, 2021 COMMITTEE achieved by special needs students and what support will be provided. Members will provide IPAMA with suggested additions/changes to the application. Meeting adjourned: 8:20 P.M. Linda M. Elmer Staff Assistant This meeting can be viewed in its entirety through the City's Legislative Research Center at http://milwaukee.legistar.com/calendar. City of Milwaukee Page 3