The Academy

Board of Directors

Board Meeting

Monday, May 18, 2026

6:00pm

Agenda

I.                     Open Meeting

The Academy’s mission is to help all students grow into college ready, exemplary citizens by combining academic mastery with personal empowerment to drive lifelong success. We serve our full community by intentionally developing a school culture that embraces diversity, equity, and inclusion. With this in mind, the Board of Directors welcomes all members of our community to this meeting and invites each person to begin our time together in whatever way will help ground you for thoughtful and productive discussion - a few deep breaths, a prayer, a moment to organize your thoughts, or whatever meets your needs.

II.                   Consent Agenda

a.       Approve Agenda

b.       Approval of April 27, 2026, minutes.

III.                    Public Comment

The chairperson will recognize anyone who signs the request form before the meeting time. Public comment and input shall be limited to fifteen minutes total, ten minutes per topic, and 2 minutes per speaker.  Neither Board members nor Academy staff is obligated to respond to comments or input.  The Board will provide written responses as deemed appropriate.

IV.                Reports from Directors, Principals, and Committees

a.       Executive Director Report – Expectation: The ED will update the Board on progress toward financial and operational strategic priorities.

b.       Chief Academic Officer Report - Expectation: The CAO will update the Board on progress toward instructional and cultural strategic priorities.

c.       Committee Reports – Expectation: Committee Chairs will update the Board on progress with each committee.

                                                               i.      Finance – See meeting minutes.

                                                             ii.      SACademic – No meeting this month.

                                                           iii.      PTO – See meeting minutes.

V.                  Presentation and Discussion

a.       First Read of FY 26-27 Budget – Expectation: The Executive Director will present an outline of the draft budget for FY26-27.

b.       Draft Strategic Plan – Expectation: The Executive Director will present a final draft of the new strategic plan.

c.       Final Review of the Admissions & Enrollment Policy - Expectation: The Executive Director will lead a final discussion of proposed updates to the Admissions & Enrollment Policy ahead of a vote.

d.       Final Review of the Postsecondary Enrollment Policy - Expectation: The Executive Director will lead a final discussion of proposed updates to the Postsecondary Enrollment Policy ahead of a vote.

e.       Executive Session C.R.S. §24-6-402(4) – Expectation: As needed, the Board may call an executive session for one of the specific topics identified below via a 2/3 majority.

                                                               i.      Discussions regarding buying or selling property;

                                                             ii.      Conferences with an attorney to receive legal advice;

                                                           iii.      Matters required to be kept confidential by state or federal law (e.g., student academic records);

                                                           iv.      Security arrangements or investigations;

                                                             v.      Determining contract negotiation strategies;

                                                           vi.      Personnel matters;

                                                          vii.      Consideration of documents protected from disclosure under the Open Records Act; or

                                                        viii.      Discussion of individual students where public discussion would adversely affect the student involved.

f.        Work Session Summary – Expectation: The Board Chair will summarize the topics discussed during the work session prior to this formal meeting.

VI.                Executive Summary

a.       Approval of the Admissions & Enrollment Policy - Expectation: The Board will vote to approve the proposed updates to the Admissions & Enrollment Policy.

b.       Approval of the Postsecondary Enrollment Policy - Expectation: The Board will vote to approve the proposed updates to the Postsecondary Enrollment Policy.

VII.               Adjourn Meeting

Board Meeting Minutes

Monday, May 18, 2026

Board Members Present:                                                             Also Present:

Sarah Drewlow                 Chairperson                                       Brent Reckman                 Executive Director          

Dan Klenjoski                     Treasurer                                          Sarah Gramarossa            Chief Academic Officer

Autumn Coffee                 Board Member-online                        Andrea Foust                     Director of Finance

Jen Halford                         Board Member-online                      Stacy McCleskey              Exec. Admin. Manager

 

Minutes of the regular Board meeting of The Academy held at 11800 Lowell Blvd, Westminster, CO 80031 in Adams County on May 18, 2026.

I.          Open Meeting

 A quorum being present, Sarah Drewlow called the meeting to order at 6:04 pm.

II.       Consent Agenda

a.       Sarah Drewlow moved to approve the April 27, 2026, minutes. Seconded by Kevin Sanchez.

Discussion:          None

Ayes:                     Dan Klenjoski, Autumn Coffee, and Jen Halford                  

Nays:                     None

III.     Public Comment

There was no public comment this month.

IV.    Reports from Directors, Principals, and Committees

a.       Executive Director Report

                                                               i.      Finance – The committee did a second read on the 2026-27 draft budget.

                                                             ii.      Operations – The team continues to look for unspent money to use towards facility repairs.

                                                           iii.      Facilities – Construction of the addition is complete and the Certificate of Occupancy will be given soon.

b.       Chief Academic Officer Report

                                                               i.      Graduation – The 2026 cohort had 99% of its students graduate. One student will graduate in August and one Gateway student will not graduate.

                                                             ii.      Attendance – Data shows that we are slightly higher than this time last year at 92%.

                                                           iii.      Principals are working on their end-of-year data and will present it at the June meeting.

c.       Committee Reports

                                                               i.      Finance – The second read of the 2026-27 draft budget was completed.

                                                             ii.      SACademic – No meeting this month.

                                                           iii.      PTO

1.       The core group of members needs a break. They all volunteer in various groups and no new volunteers have joined PTO.

2.       PTO will operate at a minimal level during the 2026-27 school year, in accordance with the bylaws and funding.

3.       There won’t be a major decrease in events, as the school will help support and take over some of the larger events.

V.      Presentation and Discussion

a.       First Read of FY 26-27 Budget

                                                               i.      The budget has been through two reads with the Finance Committee.

                                                             ii.      It is a very conservative budget as the State budget is in dire straits. Big increases in school funding are not expected. 

                                                           iii.      The State legislature temporarily dropped its reserves so they could create a PPR increase for next school year. 

                                                           iv.      Student enrollment is based on 1,825 students.

                                                             v.      There was a decrease of $600,000 in revenue. This is due to less earnings on investments and the loss of bingo money.

                                                           vi.      In November, a mill levy equalization was approved and $2.3MM went towards our budget. Divided over 3 years, it will cover the revenue loss and allow the school to give $1500 pay increases to teachers, 3% increase to support staff, and cover insurance and utility costs.

                                                          vii.      This budget was created using a zero-based budget and uses industry best practices.

b.       Draft Strategic Plan

                                                               i.      The plan being presented is the complete draft.

                                                             ii.      The mission statement includes DEI language. Change in the language was discussed a couple of months ago but this is embedded in the school culture and the way that is worded does not bring it to the forefront.

                                                           iii.      The celebrations and highlights are from the previous strategic plan.

                                                           iv.      The new theme is “Elevating Learning and Community”.

                                                             v.      The introduction of “Elevating Learning” includes Prepare, Explore and Empower. Each section goes on to give specific Goals, KPI, and the Action.

c.       Final Review of the Admissions & Enrollment Policy

                                                               i.      There were very minor updates to be made on this policy.

1.       It was put on the new school letterhead template.

2.       The section about class placement of incoming students was removed.

3.       The verbiage of CEO was changed to ED.

d.       Final Review of the Postsecondary Enrollment Policy

                                                               i.      There were major updates done on this policy.

1.       The new version was updated to match our current practices and program structures with the idea that every student should create a  post-secondary plan.

2.       Details are given regarding concurrent enrollment.

a.       The school pays the tuition for CE classes.

b.       The school will not pay for transportation or text book fees per state statute.

c.       It Identifies how we grant academic credit towards graduation requirements.

e.       Work Session Summary

                                                               i.      Monthly Board communications were reviewed.

                                                             ii.      Board self-evaluation was discussed

                                                           iii.      Toured the new addition

 

VI.    Executive Summary

a.       Approval of the Admissions & Enrollment Policy

            Kevin Sanchez moved to approve the Admissions & Enrollment Policy.  Seconded by  Sarah Drewlow.

                        Discussion:          None

                        Ayes:                     Dan Klenjoski, Autumn Coffee, and Jen Halford

                        Nays:

b.       Approval of the Postsecondary Enrollment Policy

            Kevin Sanchez moved to approve the Postsecondary Enrollment Policy. Seconded by  

           Dan Klenjoski.

                        Discussion:          None

                        Ayes:                     Sarah Drewlow, Autumn Coffee, and Jen Halford              

                        Nays:

VII.   Adjourn Meeting – Sarah Drewlow adjourned the meeting at 7:01 pm.