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Board Meeting Minutes Archive » BOD Meeting Minutes – October 8, 2013

BOD Meeting Minutes – October 8, 2013

BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING

ABS 7th Street Building

Winston-Salem, NC

Tuesday, October 8, 2013.

 

Members: Renee Semones, Eric Prior, Robin Hollis, Kathy Goliszek, Alex Ewing, Mary Benton, Amy Lanning, Frank Wood, Gayle Anderson, Joan Marie Belnap, Brooks Jones, Leigh Cameron Atkins, Bill Wright, Chad Cleveland, Heather Smith, Hal Johnson

 

Guests: Liz Green, Paige Raper, Julie Nunley,

AGENDA

  1. Meeting Called to Order – 5:45PM

The meeting was called to order at 5:46pm.

  1. Approval of September 2013 Minutes – ACTION REQUIRED – 5:45-5:47

Leigh made a motion to approve the minutes. Alex seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

  1. Approval of AIG planACTION REQUIRED – 5:47-6:05PM

Robin discussed the AIG plan proposal. Robin noted that the reason we are beginning one is that the state just now said that charter schools can have AIG programs. We don’t want parents to feel like they have to leave in 2nd grade to go to an AG program in 3rd grade somewhere else. We always serve all children’s needs, but now we will have individualized plans for all the gifted children. We can identify students and their needs better. Mary asked if we will accommodate K-8 or start at 3rd? We will officially begin the AG program in 3rd grade. Some teachers will be getting their AIG certifications. There will be 2nd grade teachers with that certification. Curriculum will be similar in K-8. Mary B. asked if the students would be taught separately and ABS would need another position. Robin noted that teachers already use ability grouping, but in the plan AG students will work 1x a week on advanced work with the AG certified teacher on that grade level. There is no additional funding for AG programs. Eric asked if there are any schools that currently have AG and non-AG students in the same schools? Robin noted that H (highly) AG students are all in Brunson and Hanes. At other schools, regular AG is done in the same school by someone AG certified. Brooks asked about the identification process. Robin said that we did not want to add another layer of testing. We will use MAP testing, which is already in place. The state recommends that you also use aptitude testing. We will see how the state responds to our plan. Aptitude testing would cost ABS money. WSFC does aptitude and achievement. Leigh asked if it would be based on their EOG scores. Robin noted that 3rd graders take BOG (beginning of year), but that AG certification will be based on MAP. Mary B. asked if it would be staged or if we would start all students at the same time. Robin responded that we would begin with all the grade levels at once. There will be no formal AG placement in K-2. Our goal is not to disrupt the way we do classrooms now. We still want to have heterogeneous groups. We don’t want to track students into separate classrooms. Eric commented that he has reservations about now formalizing two tracks of students. He thinks AG kids can learn just as much from non-AG kids, and vice versa. Brooks noted that if we are formally serving AG kids that could be good for recruiting AG students and their families. Leigh noted that the form says Arts Based Elementary. Paige said that was automatically pulled in a system that hasn’t been updated yet. Plan requires board approval before we can submit to the state by October 15. We will hear back from the state in January. We plan to implement in 2014. This initial plan is a 3 year plan. We have to complete a self assessment for renewal after the first 3 years. We specifically kept it vague until we can determine our needs (ex: no mention of how many minutes each child will be served). Chad made a motion to approve the AIG plan. Leigh seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

  1. Written Committee Report Questions/Discussion 6:05-6:15PM

Committee reports were discussed. Brooks spoke about the ribbon cutting. We got great media coverage—front page on WS Journal and their website; WFDD aired a story and put photos up on website. City leaders and board members attended the ribbon cutting.

Principal’s Report October 2013 Board Meeting

Student Achievement

Students in grades 3-7 will complete MAP testing next week. Results are used by teachers to identify student’s strengths and challenges and to develop lesson plans that address those areas. Results will be sent to parents upon completion of testing.

The State has again delayed release of the 2012-13 End of Grade test results. These results were expected in October but will not be released until November at the earliest.     Once released, test results will be sent to parents.

 

Local AIG (Academically or Intellectually Gifted) Plan

The local AIG plan is due to the state on October 15th and we will hear back from the state about our status in the spring. Several meetings have been held with teachers from a wide variety of grade levels and subject areas to get feedback and suggestions. This subject has been discussed at School Leadership Team meetings and Parent Council meetings as well.   ABS will not receive any additional funding for an AIG program or AIG students.   This plan requires Board approval before submission to the state. The complete application is attached.

Highlights:

  • The plan is written using MAP test and EOG test results to identify AIG students. These are tests already administered at ABS with no additions.
  • Students are considered for the program beginning in third grade.
  • All grade levels beginning with 2nd grade will have an AIG-licensed teacher on staff. We currently have two AIG-licensed teachers and 6 more completing licensure requirements this academic year.
  • All homeroom classes remain heterogeneous. At certain times during each week all students will be put into different groups so that AIG students can meet with the AIG-licensed teacher.
  • Each AIG student will have a Differentiated Education Plan (DEP) that outlines the number of minutes per week and subject areas where the student receives AIG services.
  • There will be an AIG Handbook outlining how students are identified and served in the program as well as how parents should handle grievances about the program.
  • There will be an AIG program coordinator who serves as a contact for parents, community members, and DPI and an annual meeting will be offered to answer questions about the program.
  • There will be a focus on professional development in the area of gifted education so that all teachers at ABS are familiar with gifted education.
  • AIG students are taught based on the Common Core and Essential Standards and through an arts integrated approach like all students at ABS. The AIG focus will be on projects involving high levels of communication, collaboration, critical thinking and problem solving.

Upcoming Events:

2nd – Cohen – African Tales Performance October 22, 12:15pm – 12:45pm

2nd – Davis – African Tales Performance October 23, 12:15pm – 12:45pm
2nd – Broughton- African Tales Performance October 24, 12:15pm – 12:45pm

SLT report – October

The School Leadership Team has discussed the following items recently:

Parking: A few changes have been made with regard to faculty and staff parking. This allows more parking spots to remain open in the 7th Street building lot for parents to use during afternoon dismissal times.

Charter Renewal Process: Members of the School Leadership Team will most likely be asked to participate in the site visit next spring. Team members represent a variety of grade levels, subjects taught, and years of experience at ABS.

Afternoon Dismissal Procedures: This was discussed at the September Parent Council meeting. The process is running smoothly now that most parents know where to go and how to navigate the car line. We are considering dismissing K-3 at 2:30 next year (K-2 currently dismisses at 2:30) to equalize the number of students at both dismissal times. Right now there are considerably more students dismissing at 2:45, which makes the later carpool line much longer than the first. We will continue to discuss this in future meetings.

Minutes from the last Parent Council meeting were distributed to the board.

  1. Approval of Amended Budget ACTION REQUIRED – 6:15-6:20PM

The board reviewed the amended budget which is based on the number of children in attendance on the 20th day of school. We had 5 more children than we had originally budgeted: 451 . The per child DPI allotment was lower than originally budgeted by about $94 per child, which made for a reduction in revenue. We adjusted the budget to reflect actual cost of insurance for this year. We had over-budgeted. It is ~$46,000. There was an error in the cell code for #6 “contracted student services” ($55,000). We had to reduce our reserve to account for variation. The reserve was originally $243,000, now we will have a reserve of $212,000. Worker’s compensation is rolled into general liability. We pay $5,000 a year in key man life insurance. The reduction in DPI resulted in reduction of about $42,000. Robin noted that 451 is the maximum number that we are allowed to have by the state. The state will not pay us for more than 451 students.

Mary B. moved to accept the amended budget for 2013-2014. Brooks seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

  1. Update on Capital Campaign (Joan Marie) – 6:20-6:25PM

Joan Marie updated the board on the capital campaign. We now have $201,375 pledged. BB&T has pledged funds, and we have received two foundation grants. We have $100,000 still out in requests. The parent group got together twice last week. They did a prospect evaluation and are calling specific parent donors in advance of sending out the pledge cards to all families. Heather commented that for the next 3 years ABS will be the primary source of their philanthropy. She wants to ask people to make ABS a priority in their annual giving. We’ve received grants from the Richard and Marie Reynolds foundation, and the James G. Hayne foundation.

  1. Other Business – 6:25-6:30PM

No new business.

  1. Adjournment – 6:35PM

Chad made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Leigh seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned at 6:20.

Next full Board meeting TUESDAY November 12th @ 5:45PM

Looking Ahead:

 

  • IMPORTANT DATES … MARK YOU CALENDARS:

○      Next Board Meeting; Tuesday November 12, 5:45PM