DAPSS Board of Directors Meeting Minutes
15 August 2012
Board Attendees: Sandra Qunitero-Reyes, Charlie Copeland, Brent Waninger, John Palka, Tony Scianni
Other Attendees: Charles Graham, Herb Shelton, Maria Palka, Chip Williams
Special Note: On August 23rd, next Thursday, we're having a special breakfast at the school for Board members, Staff & special guests (so bring someone along if you'd like). This is a chance for the Board to get to meet the staff prior to the school year.
A) Board Meeting Schedule for 2012-2013:
We agreed to schedule all of next year's Board meetings to be the 2nd Wednesday of the month starting at 5:30 at the school. So, the next meeting will be Wednesday, September 12th. There was no July 2012 Board meeting.
B) Fundraising:
Charlie stated that he could get a list of contact names at almost 800 First Responder industry manufacturers and service companies. Chuck Hughes agreed to set up a meeting with members of the Parents Committee and some students to develop a fundraising plan to contact this list.
C) Finance Report:
Herb Shelton from ISDC gave the Finance Report (spreadsheets are attached). The report was based on 240 students and including the State-mandated 2% contingency, leaves a ~$3,800 positive balance. This balance is razor thin. However, it shows the great work done by Chuck Hughes and ISDC to craft a budget that works even with an almost 16% budget cut due to the Federal Government's cancellation of the long-promised $300,000 year 2 start up grant as well as the refusal of the Delaware Department of Education to re-establish Title I funds of over $90,000 (The amount the school received in the 2011-2012 school year), which the State canceled because we were allegedly non-reponsive to two letters asking for the number of kids applying to the school who were eligible for Free & Reduced Lunch monies.
We will continue to sharpen & update the budget as we enter the school year and have our exact student count. Furthermore, we continue to talk with the Delaware DOE regarding the lost Title I funds. Needless to say, fundraising for external funds will be a primary activity for 2012-2013.
D) Policy Statements:
The Board unanimously passed the four (4) attached policy documents - Drug Free Workplace, Policy on Sexual Harassment, Policy on Family & Medical Leave, and a Policy on Internet Safety.
E) Head of School Report (attached):
The school was able to retrieve dozens of student desks and lots of other school furniture from a Christina School District excess equipment storage area. This saved the school ~$18,000 in furniture. Great work & thanks to the Christina School District.
Chuck reviewed the staff for the 2012-2013 school year, and we're all very excited by the diversity and skills of the group.
Space in the school will be very, very tight for this school year, but doable. In addition, we will need to begin to review the 3rd year requirement for a modular unit on the Church property grounds.
10th grade students are scheduled, along with all students in the State, to take the PSAT test on October 20th.
Over the summer, the school's TacOps group met repeatedly to work out and participated in a Paintball outing, the National Night-Out Against Crime event, the Middletown Peach Festival and others. This is a great group that is really expanding our outreach into the State and local community.
F) There being no new or old business before the board, the meeting was adjourned.