Dear Great Hearts Texas Community–
On November 7th, 2024, Great Hearts Texas held its Board of Directors meeting at Great Hearts Prairie View. We are grateful to all parents, faculty, staff, the PSO leadership, and other community members who joined us. We appreciate the leadership at Great Hearts Prairie View (GHPV), who partnered with us to host the meeting.
Opening
James Rahn, Chair of the Board, opened the meeting by sharing his experience of spending time with the faculty, leadership, and families at GHPV earlier in the day.
Headmaster Highlights
Lower School Headmaster Dr. Menetra Milligan highlighted new family engagement opportunities within the ESL department, the growing Parent Service Organization, and the fine arts classes offered to first-grade scholars. Mr. David Lapointe, Headmaster of Upper School, introduced the Upper School’s new house system and the academic intervention designed to aid students behind on work.
Public Comment
Community members shared their perspectives during the public comment portion of the meeting.
Conservator’s Report
Paul Pastorek, the TEA Conservator, provided a brief update on his review of Human Resource processes. He is collaborating closely with Human Resources and other leadership team members.
Superintendent’s Report
Interim Superintendent Dr. Wade Dyke announced the appointment of Jason Doughty as Interim Executive Director of Academies, as well as the expansion of Monet Lessner’s Executive Director leadership to include, on an interim basis, the Academic Team in addition to her responsibilities for Special Education.
Lisa Zerbonia, Vice President of Operations, updated the Board on the construction progress at the Arlington Phase 2 development and the new permanent Irving Lower School campus. She reported a solid start to the year’s Open Enrollment process, with over 3,000 new applicants in the first four days of enrollment for the 2025-2026 school year.
Monet Lessner, Executive Director of Special Education, updated the board on compliance improvements, including enhanced timeline oversight, training, and additional staffing. Compliance has shown significant improvement in the first quarter.
Audit and Financial Report
The auditor presented findings from the annual 2024 audit. Kevin Byrne, Vice President of Finance, discussed follow-up and corrective measures. The Board approved the audit report.
Mr. Byrne also shared the financial report from the first quarter, discussing average daily attendance, cash on hand, and challenges presented by the lack of increases in state funding since 2019. The organization met its budget in the first quarter.
Charter First Hearing
Kevin Byrne moved to share the official Charter First ratings, a score awarded by the state to charter school systems based on 21 financial indicators. The current rating is a B (86). The public asked questions and made comments.
Conclusion
After an executive session, the board made resolutions to apply to the TEA to move Great Hearts Irving’s Lower School next year to the new building at 3580 Story Rd West Irving, Texas, to approve the homebound instruction request for a student, and to authorize Dr. Dyke as a signee for Great Hearts Texas banking and investment accounts.
Mr. Rahn announced that at the end of this calendar year, Shannon Sedgwick Davis, founding director, and former board president, will depart the board after 11 years of service. Members of the board offered their deep and sincere appreciation.
The Governance Committee will implement a process by which the board will potential new directors. It will be early spring when the board will evaluate interested candidates. The Governance Committee will provide an update about the process for the public at the January board meeting.
