Crescent Leadership Academy will present the school’s budget at the board’s June meeting.
Chief Financial Officer C.J. Bower said in May that the school is still fine-tuning the budget and will continue working on it through July.
When presenting the financial report, Bower stated that charter operator Rites of Passage had advanced Crescent Leadership Academy funding to cover some expenses until it receives a federal i3 grant valuing $575,000.
The school expects to be on target with the budget, and does not expect to lose any money in the upcoming school year, says Bower.
Crescent Leadership Academy planned to meet with the Recovery School District officials to request additional funding for dealing with students referred to the school after being expelled elsewhere. They usually require more services than traditional students, education director Tracy Joseph said.
Beginning in May, school leaders said they planned to start meeting every Wednesday to develop a two-year strategy work plan. The school’s principal, dean of students, behavior mentor, guidance counselor, and director of facilities for Rite of Passage will participate in the meetings, Joseph said.
“It’s a two-year plan to focus on where we’re going as a school and what’s our vision as we move forward, and everything that we need to have in place at CLA in order to meet the expectations we have for our school,” Joseph said.
“We want to break down each component of the school from the master schedule to orientation, to transportation, making sure that we have everything well defined and in place so when our staff returns in July, they have a full plan and they step in at the beginning with the end in mind,” Joseph said.
The board voted and approved to have Carr, Riggs & Ingram accounting firm provide services for Crescent Leadership Academy’s annual audit at a cost of about $15,000.
There was no update since the last meeting on the school’s potential partnership with Dillard University.
The meeting was held by teleconference and board members that were said to be present were Anthony Doty, Judge Helen Berrigan, Maurice Lightfoot, Jim Letten, and Marlon Ford. Letten and Ford joined the phone call late.
Education Director Tracy Joseph, principal Chauncey Nash, and Rites of Passage Board liaison Nancey Carter also joined the teleconference. Berrigan said the board plans to recruit two more members.
The meeting was adjourned at 5:05 p.m. and the next board meeting will take place on June 18 at 4:30 p.m.
