Keystone board advised NHA plan to refinance is ‘indefinitely suspended’

A proposal by National Heritage Academies to refinance its agreements with its 100 schools has been “indefinitely suspended,” NHA representative Andrew Roth told the Keystone Academy board of directors at its regular meeting Sept. 8.
NHA manages and runs the charter schools in its program, including Keystone.
Roth said that the refinancing is “dead” mainly because interest costs are up and there is too short a window to address concerns.
Roth said some schools are happy and some aren’t happy with the news. He said some schools like Keystone would profit by $100,000 or more through the refinancing.
In other business at the one-hour meeting on Sept. 8, the board:
• Approved the Teacher Evaluation and Employee Certification Warranty Resolution, guaranteeing that all the teaching staff is actively certified or on the way to certification and staff maintains appropriate certifications. This resolution is required by Bay Mills Community College, which charters Keystone, to fight notions that uncertified teachers are on its charter school staffs;
• Approved the Cardiac Emergency Response Plan as required by the state. The state used to require it every three years and now it’s every year. Basically, it is to state where the AED (automated external defibrillator) is and the activation of a cardiac emergency response plan. Principal Jorvanna Drain said the AED is on the wall in the hallway across from the gym and they just installed a new battery;
• Approved the Reading Assessment System Selection Resolution. Roth said the state wants schools to state which system it uses to assess third-grade reading skills and NHA uses aimswebPlus. He said the NHA team decides this and the boards echo their decision. Principal Drain said two students qualified for retention, but their parents/guardians appealed the retentions as allowed by law and so they both were promoted. This was because they qualified and are in intervention programs for the next year as required by law;
• Approved allowing a blanket system for electronic signatures as proposed by NHA, based largely on trust, and used only on documents reviewed and approved by a quorum of the board at a public board meeting. Roth said during the shutdown NHA used electronic signatures and it was very efficient. He said they found FedEx and the U.S. Postal Service were not dependable and sometimes items go completely missing. He said information sent through FedEx on a student’s disciplinary action never was delivered. Roth said another option would be allowing “wet signatures” to be taken and then scanned in for delivery. Or, he said, they could do nothing and continue as they are;
• Discussed the fourth quarter financial statements and federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds. ESSER I closed in September 2022 and next is ESSER II, which will close next September. Board president Vesta Losen said the ESSER funds, providing the grants to teachers, “… might be one of the reasons we have our teachers,” referring to retention;
• Learned all the board members present planned to attend the 2022 NHA Board Symposium on Oct. 24 and 25 at The Henry in Dearborn. President Losen said she would check with board secretary / treasurer Charlene Derrick on her plans. Derrick was absent from the meeting because of the health of her mother;
• Heard Roth say at the next meeting on Oct. 13, he will ask for a change of the date for the November meeting because he will not be available to attend and no other replacement would be available because of something scheduled through NHA;
• Heard Roth explain the 2021-22 Board Satisfaction Survey. He said satisfaction with academic performance remains stable at 74%, satisfaction with their school leader remains very high, satisfaction with the Moral Focus program remains exceptionally high at 94%, and respondents continue to express high levels of satisfaction with the board relations coordinators and representatives. But also there are calls for improvement, such as ESSER investments and financial reporting. He said NHA’s top priority is addressing the “unfinished learning” resulting from pandemic-related school closures;
• Heard Losen announce that all the current board members either have or have had students at Keystone. She said this was the first time that has happened. Losen also asked staff members to come up with ideas for the Christmas Marketing project they have each year. This involves items with the Keystone logo on it that goes to all staff members and members of the board; and
• Heard Drain report that currently there are 628 students enrolled this school year, with five more students expected to start by Sept. 12. She said they had about 462 students attending the recent Family Fun Night and she thanked the board for its donation of $1,500 which helped pay for the rock wall, face painting, laser tag, Kona Ice truck, and other games. She reported they hired a new 7/8 science teacher and a LTS (technology) teacher and still need a social worker and a special education paraprofessional.