BOD Meeting Minutes – March 10, 2015
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
ABS 7th Street Building
Winston-Salem, NC
Tuesday, March 10th, 2015
In Attendance – Renee Semones, Margaret Taylor, Doug Punger, Kevin Nunley, Joan Marie Belnap, Charles Cleveland, Amy Lanning, Alex Ewing, Paige Raper, Robin Hollis, Leni Fragakis, Eric Prior, Chad Cleveland, Heather Smith, Laura Luykx, Leigh Cameron Atkins
AGENDA
- Meeting Called to Order – 5:45PM – Meeting called to order at 5:45 by Eric Prior.
- Approval of February 2015 Minutes – ACTION REQUIRED – 5:45-5:47PM – Motion to approve the February minutes was made by Laura Luykx and seconded by Charles Cleveland. All are in favor and no opposed. The motion passes and minutes are approved.
- Review and Approval of School Calendar – ACTION REQUIRED – 5:47-6:00PM – Hollis mentions that the big difference this year is the inclusion of make up days for inclement weather embedded in the calendar. The first three days missed due to inclement weather will be forgiven. The major breaks (winter break, spring break) are still the same. Margaret Taylor makes the motion to approve the calendar, Alex Ewing seconds the motion. All are in favor and no opposed so the motion passes.
- Review of YTD financial statements (Renee) – 6:00-6:05PM Materials were included in the agenda packet by email. We are in the 8th We are getting an extra $7500 from the state due to an increase in the per pupil allotment. We are on track with revenue (a little ahead). Student activity fees are coming in nicely. Community Creates hasn’t occurred yet so that money hasn’t come in. Year to date positive variation is $190,000. We will get together soon to start the budget for next school year.
- Parent Council updates (Michelle) – 6:05-6:10PM – Movie Day raised $1480 last Friday.
- Community Creates! Update – 6:10-6:15PM – There are some exciting new artists and leaders involved this year including Lindsay Bierman and Duncan Lewis. The date is May 2nd in the 7th St courtyard. We are altering the name slightly to “Community Creates Auction to benefit The Arts Based School”. This might give new people a different view about it. Kevin Nunley and Heather Smith went to a meeting to talk about corporate sponsorship. Ticket price covers food and drink. Eric Prior asks if there is a way to circulate the invite list for board members to add. Heather says they will take names and addresses at the next board meeting. Margaret Taylor asks if there will be a social media invitation and Heather Smith says that is a great idea.
- Principal’s Report – MAP results – Mrs. Hollis reports that ABS students are still achieving above the national norm at each grade level. The admissions lottery was very successful. There are 422 students on the waitlist.
- Other Business – 6:15-6:20PM Replication of charter information – Mrs. Hollis wants to know the process so if that’s something we want to consider in the future, we know how it works. We might start with K-3 and grow them like we did with the current school. There is some advantage financially because part-time staff could possibly work in both places. Margaret Taylor thinks it’s something to keep on the agenda. Mrs. Hollis thinks about the Children’s Home location. Doug Punger wonders if there would be enough space. Eric Prior asks if the charter replication would be easy. Mrs. Hollis thinks it would. Doug Punger mentions JDL Castle as someone who might be able to help with buildings. Hal Kaplan is someone else who may be able to help. He builds school buildings and leases them back. Alex Ewing asks what the incentive would be. Robin says to provide this education for other kids who want it. Alex says sometimes when you start a second thing it is not as successful. Alex asks if we have the problem here where we test too much. Robin says the state dictates most of the tests we administer. Joan Marie Belnap discusses the Annual Campaign. She has pledge cards and board members may take them tonight. The Parent Campaign will begin after spring break and we always aim for 100% participation. We’ve done a great job over the past three years.
- Adjournment – 6:20PM The meeting is adjourned at 6:20.
Looking Ahead:
● IMPORTANT DATES … MARK YOUR CALENDARS:
○ The NEXT Board Meeting – Tuesday April 7th
○ Community Creates! – Saturday May 2nd