Communities in Schools of Georgia

“During the reporting year, the organization outsourced its finance and accounting function to JKA Associates, LLC. Services provided to the organization included staffing the CFO role, oversight of the financial reporting (weekly, monthly and quarterly), reconciliation of balance sheet accounts, supervision of accounting operations and grant reporting, preparation of accounting department management report, policies and procedures and staff training.”

“Copy of 990 is presented to the finance committee and board of directors to review before filing.”

“Procedures for addressing the conflict of interest --- a. An interested person may make a presentation at the board or committee meeting, but after such presentation, he/she shall leave the meeting during the discussion of, and the vote on, the transaction or arrangement that results in the conflict of interest. --- b. The chair of the board or committee shall, if appropriate, appoint a disinterested person or committee to investigate alternatives to the proposed transaction or arrangement. --- c. After exercising due diligence, the board or committee shall determine whether the corporation can obtain a more advantageous transaction or arrangement with reasonable efforts and without unreasonable delay from a person or entity that would not give rise to a conflict of interest, in the case of a financial interest, or whether the corporation should seek alternative grantees or affiliates, in the case of a grantee interest. For example, it may be more advantageous for the corporation to obtain professional services or supplies from an interested person due to such person's detailed knowledge of the objectives and activities of the corporation rather than to seek alternative providers of such goods or services. --- d. If a more advantageous transaction or arrangement is not reasonably attainable under circumstances that would not give rise to a conflict of interest, the board or committee shall determine by a majority vote of the one or more disinterested directors or committee members, as the case may be, whether the transaction or arrangement is in the corporation's best interest and for its own benefit and whether the transaction is fair and reasonable, or beneficial, as the case may be, to the corporation and shall make its decision as to whether to enter into the transaction or arrangement in conformity with such determination. In such case, if the disinterested directors or committee members decide to cause the corporation to enter into the proposed transaction or arrangement, the conflict of interest shall not prohibit the proposed transaction or arrangement.”

“The compensation determination process includes a salary study, comparable data review, approval by board, comparison to other 990s and more.”

“Financial statements and other documents are distributed to funding organizations and government agencies and made available upon request.”

“Please see the form 990, part iii, line 4c narrative detailing the new program service.”

“Comprehensive student dropout prevention initiative - doe - communities in schools of georgia receives funding through the georgia department of education to provide dropout prevention support to youth in grades k-12 through our network of local cis affiliate organizations. During fy2024, communities in schools (cis) of georgia provided training and technical support to 16 cis local cis affiliates and 15 cis of georgia subsidiary organizations located throughout the state. These cis organizations provided services to students in 42 school districts across 38 counties in georgia. Cis of georgia provided support to our state network in development and implementation of the proven cis model of wraparound services for schools and students. In addition, cis of georgia provided technical support to affiliates and subsidiaries in the areas of nonprofit management, board development, resource development, communications, and evaluation for the purpose of enhancing affiliate partnerships and improving outcomes for the schools and students they serve. In total, cis of georgia staff recorded 527 technical assistance and training contacts. This work included 189 site visits and 256 more formal support services taking place through events, formal trainings, meetings, and webinars. During fy2024, local cis affiliates provided services to a total of 110,188 georgia students (unduplicated) at 199 school and community-based sites, including providing intensive sustained services to 8,659 at-risk students in need of on-going support, and whole-school prevention services and short-term intervention services to 107,908 students. Affiliates helped 33,332 parents become more involved in local schools through parent engagement activities and provided over 25,000 hours of community volunteer support to schools and student through 3,557 community volunteers and an additional 13,300 hours of volunteer tutorial services from cis of georgia americorps volunteer members. During fy2024, cis affiliates achieved the following results for the at-risk students they served: 72.8% of students with attendance problems improved their attendance; 69.8% of students with disciplinary problems improved their behavior; 76.1% of students struggling academically improved their grades in core subject areas; 98.6% of at-risk elementary school students were promoted; 99.1% of at-risk middle school students were promoted; 98.7% of at-risk high school students stayed in school or graduated; 556 (98.4%) cis case managed students graduated.”

“THE COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF GEORGIA AMERICORPS FOUNDATIONS TUTORIAL PROGRAM SUPPORTS THE CIS MISSION TO HELP STUDENTS STAY IN SCHOOL AND GRADUATE. THE CIS AMERICORPS PROGRAM TARGETS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CASELOAD STUDENTS WHO ARE NOT READING AT GRADE LEVEL SO THEY CAN IMPROVE THEIR ACADEMIC SKILLS, ADVANCE TO THE NEXT GRADE LEVEL, AND GRADUATE. CIS OF GEORGIA PLACED 19 AMERICORPS MEMBERS IN 9 CIS COMMUNITIES TO PROVIDE TUTORIAL SERVICES TO HELP STUDENTS BUILD THEIR SKILLS IN READING AND MATH. EACH AMERICORPS MEMBER PROVIDES READING AND/OR MATH TUTORING FOR 16-18 STUDENTS IN GRADES KINDERGARTEN-5, 3 TIMES PER WEEK FOR 30 MINUTES. THE 2024 SCHOOL YEAR MARKS COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF GEORGIA'S 24th CONSECUTIVE YEAR IN THE AMERICORPS PROGRAM, COMPLETING OVER TWO DECADES OF TUTORIAL SERVICE TO GEORGIA STUDENTS. THE NINETEEN CIS AMERICORPS TUTORIAL MEMBERS WORKED WITH STUDENTS AT OUR AFFILIATE ORGANIZATIONS IN ALBANY/DOUGHERTY COUNTY, BURKE COUNTY, CLAY COUNTY, DODGE COUNTY, DOOLY COUNTY, FITZGERALD/BEN HILL COUNTY, GLASCOCK COUNTY, MARIETTA/COBB COUNTY, LAURENS COUNTY, NEWTON COUNTY AND TROUP COUNTY. OUR SERVICE GOAL WAS TO REACH AT LEAST 400 STUDENTS WITH TUTORIAL SERVICES. THE AMERICORPS MEMBERS EXCEEDED THE GOAL, PROVIDING TUTORIAL SUPPORT TO 462 STUDENTS DURING THE 2023-24 SCHOOL YEAR. FOR STUDENT OUTCOMES, OUR GOAL WAS FOR 75% OF STUDENTS PARTICIPATING IN THE AMERICORPS TUTORIAL PROGRAM TO SHOW INCREASED INTEREST IN ACADEMICS, DEMONSTRATE ACADEMIC IMPROVEMENT AND BE PROMOTED TO THE NEXT GRADE LEVEL. OVERALL, 100% OF STUDENTS PARTICIPATING IN THE AMERICORPS TUTORIAL PROGRAM WERE PROMOTED TO THE NEXT GRADE AT THE END OF THE SCHOOL YEAR.”

“The community schools model, of which communities in schools is an example, has four pillars: integrated student supports, expanded and enriched learning time and opportunities, active family and community engagement, and collaborative leadership practices. Cis of georgia chose the high-poverty rural schools priority and committed to extra programs to address mental health and juvenile crime prevention. The grant allows cis to serve 12 new schools and expand services in three previous sites.the schools represent seven districts (ben hill, berrien, candler, dublin city, laurens, troup, and twiggs) in six counties. Cis began serving these schools at the beginning of the fy2024 school year. Through the acres project, cis of georgia provided 589 tier i support services over 1,294 sessions reaching an unduplicated count of 8,931 students. This accounted for 164,548 total contacts with students, 12,195 with parents and family members, and 1,141 with community members. 872 caseload students received 1,659 tier ii services representing 11,242 total contacts. 571 caseload students received 1,092 tier iii services representing 2,838 total contacts. Of the 195 caseload students who were considered chronically absent at the start of the year, 157 (80.05%) improved their attendance with 107 (54.87%) achieving an attendance rate at or above 90% in the 2023-2024 school year. At baseline, chronically absent caseload students maintained an average attendance rate of 81.59% compared with 88.43% at the end of the year. Among the 42 12th-grade case-managed students, 40 graduated and 2 transferred out of the grant school before the end of the year. Thirty-nine of the 40 graduating students were on-time graduates. Average student grades among case-managed students improved in english, math, and history between the first and second semesters. On average, student survey responses found that students agreed they improved their grades, attendance, behavior, focus on school work, and they developed new goals. Families benefitted from engagement with activities, support, and resources and improved family-school engagement. Schools and communities benefited from convening and collaborating in several ways including improved finances, reduced teacher burnout, and expanded partnerships.”

“Communities In Schools of Georgia provides a variety of types of services following best practices and proven interventions in dropout prevention. There services available at a particular school site will depend on the needs of the student and the school, as well as resources available to meet those needs. CIS services fall into the following categories: case management, basic needs and resources, academic assistance, life skills/social development, family engagement/strengthening, physical health, mental health, behavior interventions, college/career preparation, community service/service learning, and enrichment/motivation. During FY 24, in addition to receiving funds from CIS National, foundations, and local school districts, Communities In Schools of Georgia also received funding from the Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (US Department of Treasury) and the Title V State Sexual Risk Avoidance Education Program (Georgia Department of Human Services).”