Minutes

East Cooper Montessori Charter School

Governing Board Meeting/Retreat

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Executive Session 5:30 PM – 7:10 PM

Discussion of personnel contracts

I. Administrative

  1. Meeting was called to order byAmy Jaguga, Chair, at 7:10 PM
  2. Board Members Roll Call:

Nancy Parson—Secretary

Amy Jajuga—Chair

Dan Orvin

Doug Stalnaker—Vice Chair

Kim Durst

Stephanie Lucas

Heather Borders—Treasurer (A)

  1. Non-Voting Members:

Jody Swanigan, Principal

Zak Oberrath, Teacher (A)

Lisa Turansky, PTN (A)

Mary Beall, incoming PTN liaison (A)

Andy Craig, incoming board member (A)

Josh Caplea, incoming board member

  1. Others Attending: Lara D’Eugenio, School Staff
  2. Mission Statement: Provide a rigorous Montessori education guiding the children toward academic excellence, lifelong learning, and stewardship of the greater community.
  3. Freedom of Information Compliance: Yes
  4. Approval of Last Meeting Minutes: Minutes from May 29, 2013 approved
  5. Public Comment: None

II. Updates/New Business

  1. CCSD Meeting updateJody

CCSD Board has unanimously agreed to enter into a partnership with ECMCS to further explore the possibility of ECMCS using the former Laing Middle School building. ECMCS Governing Board will retain legal counsel to support further negotiations.Any decision would have to be approved by both our Board and the CCSD Board.

  1. Financial/Attrition updateDan

A total of four ECMCS students will not be returning for the next school year.

No financial update.

  1. Facilities updateAll

The possibility of moving into the former Laing building was discussed. The prospect of Laing has become closer to a real possibility. The present ECMCS building presents problems of space to accommodate the existing school enrollment, and expansion is not economically feasible given the present enrollment and finances of the school. Keeping parents aware of any developments is a top priority for the Board. A letter will be written and sent out to explain the situation to the parentsThe letter will also explain a possible plan to stay in the present facility if that is what would be the best option. Feedback will continue to be monitored and taken into consideration, and the Board will provide additional forums for parent feedback.

D. Administrator’s contract processAmy

Discussed in executive.

III. Action Items (voting)

  1. Staff contracts for new and returning staff

There was a motion to approve the following ECMCS contracts for the 2013-2014 school year. The motion was seconded and approved.

ECMCS Legal Counsel

Richard Hricik

Lower Elementary Contracts

Virginia Taft

Scott Dufresne

Emilee Elingburg

DD Crawford

Tracey Swarts

Upper Elementary Contracts

Lauren Dredger

Debby Moore

Theresa Ray

Zak Oberrath

Svenja Xeller

Administration Contracts

Jody Swanigan - Principal

Lara D'Eugenio - Assistant Principal

Middle School Contracts

Anna Chandler

Robert Hartnett

Jaime Cannon

Related Arts

Rosie Herold

  1. May meeting minutes

A motion was made to approve the minutes of the May 29, 2013 Governing Board meeting. The motion was seconded and approved.

  1. Board Officers

A motion was made to elect the following ECMCS Governing Board officers for 2013-2014: Doug Stalnaker, Chair; Kim Durst, Vice Chair; Heather Borders, Treasurer; Nancy Parson, Secretary. The motion was seconded and approved.

IV. Retreat Objective:Identify areas for new strategic planning goals and tasks for coming year and beyond.

  1. Strategic Plan Review

When approved, the revised Strategic Plan will be implemented for 5 years, 2013-2018.

The strategic plan was discussed in terms of progress made so far. Completed tasks were eliminated and ongoing tasks were kept in the plan. The Board will use school achievement data, parent surveys and other information to form new objectives to fully support Montessori education at ECMCS.

Each committee will update the appropriate section for their committee and present that to the Board at the next meeting.

A new vision statement was discussed in terms of making a clear statement that can be used to guide the school in any decisions. That will be discussed again at a later date.

  1. Board Calendar

The calendar will serve as a tool to keep members up-to-date on completing tasks at appropriate times. We will use Google Docs to facilitate this, and this will be assigned to the Board Secretary to keep current.

C. Core Components/Committee

Each committee will be responsible to update the section of the Strategic Plan and present that to the Board at the next meeting. The committees and members are listed below.

Education—Nancy*/Heather

Community Relations—Andy*/Kim

Admin/Board/HR—Doug*/Nancy

Facilities—Josh*/Doug

Development—Kim*/Stephanie

Enrollment—Stephanie*/Josh

Finance—Heather*/Andy

*Lead

D. Officer Nomination

The following slate of officers was proposed and approved:

Chair—Doug Stalnaker

Vice Chair—Kim Durst

Treasurer—Heather Border

Secretary—Nancy Parson

V. Adjournment at 9:45 PM

Next meeting: July 18,2013

Executive Session at 5:30 PM

Open Board Meeting at 6:00 PM

Your Governing Board

The governing board recognizes that public support and open lines of communication are the keys to our school’s success.

We encourage you to become involved in our school, to be informed about issues that affect students, parents, and our staff, to inform board members about your concerns, and to attend board meetings.

The responsibility of the Governing Board of East Cooper Montessori Charter School is to ensure excellence in the governance of a quality educational program by supporting the school’s mission and charter, analyzing needs, establishing policies, allocating resources, and monitoring progress.

Board Meetings

Regular meetings of the Governing Board are held the third Thursday of each month, beginning at 6:00 pm at East Cooper Montessori Charter School. Special-called meetings are scheduled as needed.

Citizen Participation

Anyone wishing to speak to the Board must register in person the night of the regular meeting. The opportunity to address the Board at each regular Board Meeting is 20 minutes at the beginning of the meeting.

  • Each speaker has three minutes.
  • Speakers may not ask questions of board members.
  • Board members may not engage speakers in discussion.
  • Disruptive behavior is not permitted.
  • Personal attacks aimed at students or staff are not permitted.
  • Scurrilous, obscene, or recklessly defamatory language aimed at any board member is not permitted.

The board will follow up on all matters presented by speakers.