BOD Meeting Minutes- August 14, 2018

BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING

ABS 7th Street Building

Winston-Salem, NC

Tuesday August 14th, 2018

Attendees:

Also in Attendance: Robin Hollis, Paige Raper, Mary Siebert, Becky Dickson

AGENDA

*Board Orientation for new members – 4:30pm (Meet in the 7th Street Building) *

1. Meeting Called to Order – 5:45pm – Meeting called to order by Kevin Nunley at 5:45.
2. Introduction of New Board Members – Our four new board members are Tomisha Gladman, April Ruffin-Adams, Amber Dalholt, Lara Hanes Pierce
3. Approval of June Minutes – ACTION REQUIRED – Motion to approve the June minutes made by Julia Toone and seconded by Chrissy Hardy, Brian Cole abstains, all are in favor with no one opposed. The minutes are approved.
4. Review of June/July Financial Results (Brittany) – ACTION REQUIRED – June is fiscal year end. YTD revenue $4.2M, expenses $4.3M, Net loss of $111,000 for the year. $81,000 of Forsyth Co funds came in in July which brings us to $30,000 there will also be a $14,000 reimbursement from our landlord. Margaret says we knew we were starting a building project and this is better than we thought it would be. We also have a reserve. Professional development, contracted services, and contracted arts were over budget. We were under budget on technology. The fiscal year ‘19 budget has been adjusted to reflect this. Audit is due in to the state by October and we usually have that back for the board retreat in January. Motion to approve the June financials made by Brian Cole and seconded by Kyle Barnes. All in favor with no one opposed. The June financials are approved. July financials – Month column is correct. YTD revenue: $273,000, net loss of $124,000. Included is $42,000 to Brinker which we will receive back from the landlord. Overall, July is what we would expect based on funding and beginning of year expenses. Motion to approve made by Kyle Barnes and seconded by Brian Cole. All are in favor with no one opposed. The July financials are approved.
5. Committee Updates (Facilities, Strategy, Marketing, Development, Others) – Facilities – We saw the construction update outside. The problem with construction included a need for more soil and additional work on footings. There were some weather delays this summer and also the fact there is a shortage of workers. Roof materials are here but the workers are behind on other jobs due to rain. Strategic – Afterschool Program is up and running. Almost 100 students enrolled. Some five days, some three, some walk-ins. Almost ready with a new 501C-3. Griff Morgan has been working on that along with Amber Koger from Kilpatrick who is doing this pro bono. Margaret asks about staffing. We have a lot of interest from teachers. There is a slight problem with staffing from 2:30-3:45 when our teachers are still working for ABS. Outfitters 4 can handle the accounting for us. When we have the tax ID, we can get up with Outfitters 4. There will be a separate set of books for the foundation/afterschool program. This is a type 1 support organization purely for the benefit of The Arts Based School. Development – New Development Director has been hired. Ellen Coble and Leah Lavin officially begin after Labor Day. The board approved a full-time position, but two part-times worked well for us.
6. Principal’s Report (Robin) – Our finances depend on enrollment for the first 20 days of school. We make sure our classes are full and start before the school system, so we can pull off the waiting list before students have started school somewhere else. There is still a waiting list at each grade level. There were a lot of shifts and changes in staffing this year. Robin does all hiring and firing but the board must approve the roster. We are looking at these as positive opportunities. It’s hard for staff because we enjoy the people we work with. We all attended A+ training in Greensboro last week and it was fun and energizing to have those new people with us. With construction delays, we spent the summer coming up with plans for 5th grade locations. Ms. Leni and Ms. Koza will team teach for some of the time in the Alex Ewing Theater. Mrs. Frazier’s class will be in the dance studio. The computer lab will also be available when Ms. Leni and Ms. Koza need to be separate. Mrs. Adams is being displaced for a while, so she will start the year in classrooms. Second grade performance and Friday Sing may need to be placed somewhere else. Mrs. Frazier will be out for recovery from surgery. Mrs. Hollis and Mrs. Raper will teach. We looked at subs but with a new space and beginning of the year, it is best if we step and serve in this role. Kevin is excited about the new changes and thanks Robin, Mary, and Paige for all of the work this summer. Mrs. Hollis reports that the Kooken Family Foundation toured last year, and their foundation has donated $5,000 to the school. It is nice having a development director who can now keep up with this connection. We got another letter from the Strickland Family Foundation. Cinny Strickland toured last spring. They have pledged a $25,000 donation and we received a $10,000 check to start that out. We are still waiting to hear about a grant from the state for a possible second school counselor. The state was supposed to announce that last Friday. They received a lot more interest than expected so they will take another week to announce. We have a donor who knows we have a need for another counselor who has agreed to give a gift to cover that.
7. Approval of Faculty and Staff Roster – ACTION REQUIRED – Motion to approve made by Margaret Taylor and seconded by Julia Toone. All are in favor. The roster is approved.
8. Approval of procedures conforming to new state guidelines for BTSP – ACTION REQUIRED – Paige Raper reports that the Beginning Teacher Support Plan is required by the state of NC. It ensures that all teacher in their first three years of teaching have a mentor. We have a handful of beginning teachers each year and plenty of great teachers willing to mentor. Mentors must be rated proficient or higher on evaluations. Mentor teachers meet with beginning teachers regularly and help with classroom management, lesson planning, writing professional development plans, etc. Chrissy Hardy makes a motion to approve. Cheryl Hicks seconds the motion. All are in favor and the BTSP is approved.
9. Other Business – Parent Council – Becky Dickson reports that PC is using a new app to help facilitate carpooling for parents. We also have some new signs up for no parking along certain streets. 7th Street is still closed due to the sinkhole. We were told it would be fixed back in December. We haven’t heard any new updates on that. Margaret says 40 closing will add more traffic to MLK. MLK is a state road which restricts what can be done to help reduce the people crossing with children.
10. Adjournment – 6:45pm – Motion to adjourn made by Amber Dalholt and seconded by Kelly Carswell. All are in favor. The meeting is adjourned.

Looking Ahead:

●      IMPORTANT DATES … MARK YOUR CALENDARS:

○      NEXT Board Meeting – Tuesday September 11th