MONUMENT ACADEMY BOARD: MAis governed by a seven-member Board that is elected by the parents of MA students and staff. The Board members volunteer their time and serve without compensation. The Board bears ultimate responsibility for oversight of the school.
THE ADMINISTRATION: The day-to-day operations of MA are managed by a staff of professional administrators who report to the Board through the Chief Operating Officer of the school.
SCOPE OF BOARD DECISIONS AND ADMINISTRATIVE DECISIONS: During the early years of the school, many detailed, hands-on decisions were handled directly by the Board. However, as the school grows and matures, the Board is becoming more focused on governance issues and matters related to the mission, strategy, and leadership of the school. The administration, under the leadership of the school’s Chief Operating Officer, is focused on the operation and administration of the school. Matters should be brought to the attention of the Board with this allocation of decision-making and responsibilities in mind.
PUBLIC MEETINGS: Generally, all meetings of the Board are open to the public where everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend. Board meetings, by Colorado statute, are held in public in order for the community of parents, students, staff, and other interested parties may observe the proceedings, discussions, and decisions.
PUBLIC COMMENT/PARTICIPATION IN MEETINGS: Board meetings are generally a time for the Board to conduct official business and hear from the Chief Operating Officer, Principals, and other staff representatives on selected topics. Colorado law prohibits the Board from discussing public business other than during public meetings or executive sessions. Board Policy 1520 allows for a comment period at each regularly scheduled Board meeting. Parents, staff, and students are afforded the opportunity to address any matters of importance. Since Board meetings are intended to provide a time for interaction between Board members and administration in an effort to reach decisions on a wide variety of issues, with rare exception, comments will be heard, noted, and may be referred to the Chief Operating Officer or scheduled to be discussed in detail at a later Board meeting.
OTHER VENUES FOR IDEAS AND SUGGESTIONS: Some of the best new ideas and suggestions come from our parents and staff. These ideas and suggestions are often best handled by contacting the Chief Operating Officer, Principals, or the appropriate administrator (Principals, Chief Financial Officer, etc.). In addition, there are a number of other venues where interested individuals are encouraged to bring forth ideas and suggestions. These include, but are not limited to, the Parent Teacher Organization (PTO), scheduled parent meetings, or any of the Board Committees. Administration will help organize suggestions to be presented to the Board, if appropriate, for their consideration and discussion.
EXECUTIVE SESSIONS: While the law requires that most Board meetings be open to the public, the Board may meet in a private, “executive” session to consider the following types of matters: (i) purchase or sale of real estate; (ii) conferences with an attorney for the purpose of receiving legal advice; (iii) matters required to be kept confidential by federal or state laws or regulations; (iv) specialized details of security arrangements or investigations; (v) determination of positions relative to contract negotiations; (vi) personnel matters; (vii) consideration of documents protected by the Open Records Act; and (viii) discussion of most individual student matters. Some executive sessions will involve only the Board, while others may also include senior administration representatives and other individuals who are involved in the matter to be discussed. Generally, the Board will adjourn to executive session following the regular public session. By law, the Board cannot take action while in Executive Session and will reconvene back to an open meeting in order to take such action.
The MA Board conducts much of its work through authorized committees of which are assigned a Board member as the committee liaison. Currently, the Board has authorized the following committees:
Curriculum Committee – Emily Belisle and Lindsay Clinton
Finance Committee – Craig Carle and Ryan Graham
Governance Committee -Karen Hoida and Emily Belisle
School Accountability & Advisory, West Campus – Matthew Ross
School Accountability & Advisory, East Campus – Emily Belisle
Building and Facilities – Ryan Graham and Karen Hoida
Highway 105 Project Committee – Ryan Graham and Craig Carle
Resource Development Committee – Lindsay Clinton and Craig Carle
The Monument Academy Board of Directors holds regular monthly board meetings at the school. MA Board Meeting agendas are posted below 24 hours in advance of our meetings.
Board Meeting Details
The next regularly scheduled monthly meeting will be held on May 9th at 6:30pm in the East Campus Gym.
The board will hold a special meeting on April 25th at 6:30pm in Room 2023 at the East Campus.
Meetings are held in-person and we highly encourage our families to attend.
If you would like to make a public comment, you must attend in-person. A sign-up sheet will be available until the meeting is called to order.
Board Meeting Minutes
Minutes of Board meetings are posted after formal approval by the Board, usually within 48 hours of that approval. Minutes of one month’s meeting are reviewed and approved at the next scheduled meeting. This will mean minutes of a Board meeting in one month will be approved the following month. To view previously approved minutes, click on one of the dates below for the approved minutes of that meeting.
Board Meeting Highlights
Since there can be as much as a 30-day delay in the posting of approved minutes, a summary of a meeting’s business items, discussions, public comments, and actions taken by the Board are posted as highlights usually within three business days after the meeting.
Monument Academy, under its charter with District 38, may use any or all of the published policies of the District unless it chooses to create its own specific policies. Below are those policies which have been approved by the Board and are currently active:
The School Accountability Advisory Committee (SAAC) is a committee consisting of predominantly MA parents and guardians along with faculty and staff and an MA community member.
The committee is an advisory body only; however, serves an important role by making recommendations to the Monument Academy School Board in the areas of academics, budgets and safety based on the interpretations of MA Community surveys and advising the Principal/Chief Operating Officer in the development of the Unified Improvement Plan (UIP).
SAAC meets at least quarterly, but usually meets on a monthly basis. Our next Secondary SAAC meeting is scheduled for February 12th beginning at 1pm in the East Campus Admin Conference Room. Please contact the MA Board’s Elementary SAAC Liaison Michael Geers or Secondary SAAC Liaison Emily Belisle if you would like to attend a meeting; they are open to the public. The SAAC Chair and two other committee members also serve on and represent Monument Academy to the D38 District Accountability Advisory Committee.
The Board approved a revision of the school’s strategic plan on January 14, 2016. The stated mission of Monument Academy is to provide a challenging, content – rich, academic program offered within an engaging, caring, and positive learning environment. Established on a solid foundation of knowledge, Monument Academy emphasizes academic excellence, respect, responsibility, character and exemplary citizenship. Its vision is to provide top quality academic and individual development opportunities for our students through a collegial atmosphere of learning to ensure Monument Academy is a premiere institution of learning in Colorado. Traditionally, the Board reviews, modifies and updates the strategic plan every two years or as needed. To view the complete strategic plan click: Monument Academy Strategic Plan
In order for any strategic plan to be meaningful, the goals of that plan should be measurable and the progress towards those goals documented. The Board is in the process of developing meaningful and measurable outcomes for each of the Monument Academy Strategic Plan’s Goals. As each measurement is approved by the Board, it will be posted below. Click on the link below to view each goal and its metric:
Information concerning Monument Academy’s growth since the 2007/2008 school year. The data provided includes the per pupil revenue, total number of Full-Time Equivalents (our student count) and the average number of students per class. To view MA’s historical growth click: 2018 Growth
State Board of Education Waivers
In 2017, the Colorado legislature enacted a new law known as HB-1375. This new law is primarily known for its provisions that will alter how school districts share local mill levy override revenues with charter schools. However, there are requirements applicable to charter schools within the law which deal with waivers granted by the Colorado State Board of Education.
New Requirements Under HB-1375
Starting July 1, 2017: Each charter school must post on its website, in a location and format that can be easily accessed and downloaded for free by the public, a list of the statutes for which the school has received a waiver from the State Board of Education. For each waiver that is not an automatic waiver, the school must also post a copy of the Rational and Replacement Plan (RRP).
