BOD Meeting Minutes – August 13, 2013
ABS Board of Directors Meeting Minutes
August 13, 2013
Member: Frank Wood, Robin Hollis, Doug Punger, Mary Benton, Brooks Jones, Gayle Anderson, Charles Cleveland, Joan Marie Belnap, Amy Lanning, Renee Semones, Julee Nunley, Alex Ewing, Bill Wright, Hal Johnson
Guests: Paige Raper, Liz Green
Meeting called to order at 5:49pm
Committee Reports:
Board Development- Charles. Charles reported that the committee nominated a new member, Kathy Goliszek, and she accepted our invitation. Her husband Andy is a photographer who participated in previous years’ Quick Draw. She is on the Piedmont Craftsman’s board and involved with Forsyth College. She has her Masters degree in HR. She will be joining the board class of 2016. Charles brought forth the nomination of Kathy Goliszek. The motion passed unanimously.
Parent Council:
Julee Nunley reported for PC. They are recruiting classroom reps for teachers, and recruiting parents to be event and logistics coordinators. PC will host teacher breakfast next Monday for teachers and class reps to meet. PC will provide a coffee for kindergarten parents on Wed, Thurs, and Fri mornings next week. First PC meeting is on Sept 13th. Joan Marie asked that annual campaign responsibilities continue to be part of the class reps responsibilities. Julie will get more information and include it in their parent rep packets. Long term Joan wants to start recruiting for Annual Campaign in September, but this year, with capital campaign, AC will likely happen in the spring.
Capital Campaign-Joan Marie Joan Marie reported that three $50,000 grants have been submitted. And one $25,000 to Winston Salem Foundation was submitted and there will be a site visit this month. We have already received $50,000 in commitment from the board. If all grants are secured, we will be at $240,000 in funds promised. Mary Benton asked if we could ask for grants from the Arts’ Council. Robin responded that we already do get funds from them that support our resident artists program.
Personnel Committee: Doug Punger Doug reported that the committee met and will be distributing a philosophy of compensation which will be distributed to board and shared with school leadership team.
Finance Renee reported that we’d originally anticipated a $243,000 reserve/surplus. That number will be more $218,000 because there has been some fluctuation and an error in spreadsheet. Also ADM came in $95 less per child than we expected. Federal dollars will remain similar to years past. Local dollars are $1,936 per pupil, and local dollars have stayed the same. We collect local student funding from the county in which the child lives. We get monthly payments from the county based on average enrollment. The state pays us on the 20th day.
Approval of July minutes: Gayle made a motion so approve. Doug seconded. The motion passed unanimously.
Staff Faculty roster
Robin reported that we are fully staffed. We have one addition to the roster. We now have a part time Spanish teacher, Emily MacMillan. Alex made a motion to approve the roster. Frank seconded the motion. Roster motion passed unanimously
Faculty/Staff Roster for Board Approval 2013-14
Returning
Administration
Robin Hollis-Principal
Paige Raper- Assistant Principal
Mary Siebert-Arts Director
Teaching Staff
Kindergarten
Martha Holland
Megan Sizemore
First Grade
Liz Green
Second Grade
Jess Broughton
Leigh Cohen
Erin Hopkins
Third Grade
Scarlet Sink
Leni Fragakis
Fourth Grade
Becky Koza
Lee Ann Farrell
Lenora Simpson
Fifth Grade
Marjorie (Walter-Echols) Chapman
Renee Meeks
Sixth Grade
Yvonne Leab
Danielle Tarmey
Arts Specialist
Jan Adams-Dance
Peter Wilbur-Music
Betsy Messick-Art K-4
Donna Wright- Art 5-8
Teaching Assistants
Lisa Kinnamon-K
Tiffany Parris-K
Dorothy White-K
Dawanna Benjamin-1st
Front Office
Angela Wise-Business Manager
Stephanie May- Operations Manager
Support Staff
Whitney Lang- Exceptional Children
Ceci McGuire- Title I Reading Specialist
Amanda Sullivan- Counselor
Claire O’Boyle- Production Assistant
New Hires
Anne Campbell – Third Grade Teacher
Nicole Howard -First Grade Teacher
Sherell McArthur -First Grade Teacher
Brittany Ravestein -Kindergarten Teacher
Crystal Martin -Seventh Grade LA/SS Teacher
Jessica Hutchison -Seventh Grade Math/Science Teacher
Donna Brown- Receptionist 5-8
Nicole Whitaker -Receptionist K-4
Laura Lynn Frazier-Fifth Grade Teacher
Hadera Lowrance – First Grade Teaching Assistant
Trish Goldberg -First Grade Teaching Assistant
Heidi McIver- K-8 Drama Teacher
Peter Perret- Band
Emily MacMillan- Spanish Teacher
Not Returning
Desiree Payne- Kindergarten Teacher
Danielle Mitchell-Third Grade Teacher
Ellen McEnaney- Receptionist
Mary asked for the Boards accept and approve the 5 year strategic plan as submitted. Alex made a motion. Gayle seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously.
Ribbon cutting ceremony, September 12 at 1:00pm. Brooks and Robin reported about the Ribbon cutting ceremony for 7th St building. The stairs will be the platform and the gathering will be in the courtyard space of 7th St. building. There will be a 10-15 minute presentation. Students will play drums and give tours. There will be a ribbon cutting, and a creation of a commemorative work of art by those in attendance. Brooks is creating the ribbon cutting invitation and will send further information later.
Insurance: Doug reported that finance committee met and selected Hanover Insurance. The premium for the insurance is cheaper than what was budgeted for this school year.
Legislation: Doug distributed and reviewed a summary of the main points of the Legislative Report in 2013 that effect charter schools. There are new guidelines regarding sibling and employee preferences which will impact our lottery. Charter schools may add one grade higher without state approval. Weapons are now permitted on school campuses, but must remain in a locked car. There is a Tax Break for Charter School Property taxes. In our budget “Other tax” is $20,000, Renee will check to see how much of that is property tax. Personal property is not taxed. There is a slight increase in allocation for EC children. Legislature eliminated future increased payment for teachers with masters degrees. Teachers currently holding degrees will be grandfathered in and continue to receive their pay increase. There is a new voucher program being funded next year which took $11 million out of allocation per pupil for public schools, which will impact charter school funding. We can apply for grants to get a school resource officer. Gayle asked about the new board that oversees charter schools. Doug speculates we will likely be working with new people in charter school office. Robin noted that the charter school office has been responsible for approving and denying charters, and they put another board in place to also be able to grant charters and shut down schools. We will be dealing with them when we begin our renewal process.
Principal’s Report: Robin reported that the Hard Hat Party was a success. We have temporary certificate of occupancy. We will get permanent one when some of the exterior fencing and gates are installed. We will have a permanent certificate of occupancy by the first day of school.
Robin explained about the new traffic pattern. Parents will enter from Chestnut, drive up toward MLK, loop around, and all children will be loaded by the fire escape/loading dock, and exit out 7th St. This prevents children from having to cross traffic. Robin spoke with the neighbors on Chestnut St. about the new traffic plan. We will not be using the gravel lot for parking in the afternoon. K-2 will dismiss at 2:30, 3-7 will dismiss at 2:45.
Doug made a motion to adjourn the meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 6:44pm.