FCCS Meeting Minutes
November 7, 2016
Faith Community Christian School
Board Meeting Minutes
November 7, 2016
Board members present:
JK Mitchell Ben Shier
Trista Anderson Janlaine Brady
Dawn Hannasch
Callie Lumba
Opening prayer:
Dawn Hannasch @ 6:02 p.m.
Guests:
Janet Conniff & Heidi Boucher
· Mrs. Conniff and Mrs. Boucher were present at the beginning of the Board Meeting to answer questions regarding the filing of previous taxes for our school.
Parent Group: Kate File
The Board reviewed the information from the Parent Meeting that took place on November 1st at the Library. The Board decided that the information from the Parent Meeting could be emailed, so Mrs. File does not have to attend the meetings. After reviewing, a few things were discussed:
· The Board will make up something fairly simple to show “our books” for anyone that wants to see it. This would happen once a year, to update it. It would be available in the office.
· Mrs. File suggested that when a parent comes to a Board Meeting with a concern or an idea that a board member or one of the FCCS secretaries be charged with calling or emailing the parent within 24 to 48 hours after the meeting. The Board was in agreement with Mrs. File.
Administrative Report:
Financial Needs:
· For our ACS account, the school is locked into a three-year contract and will not be able to get out or change things until 2018. A change in the account will be made when our contract is up.
· It was suggested that FCCS should update their membership with Costco, create an Amazon Prime account, and also a PayPal account. The Board discussed the importance of the school having its own accounts, instead of using someone’s personal account. In a motion duly made by Dawn Hannasch and seconded by Ben Shier and with unanimous consent, it was resolved to approve the school to create an Amazon Prime account, a PayPal account, and to upgrade the Costco membership to Executive Membership.
· In order to change the school’s name from FCS to FCCS, a new business license will need to be purchased for $50, with our new name on it.
Review past meeting minutes:
The Board discussed creating a group online for board members, where all information/meeting minutes will be kept, so that it can be easily accessed for current and future board members. Mrs. Brady will create this group.
In a motion duly made by Trista Anderson and seconded by Dawn Hannasch and with unanimous consent it was resolved to accept the October 2016 meeting minutes as amended.
Treasurers Report: Dawn Hannasch
· Wells Fargo gave Mrs. Hannasch access to the school account on November 7th, so she can now access it. Kim Lanz left great records for the school. A rough estimate for the school budget was brought and was discussed. Most of the payroll has gone through for November, and $45,000 was moved into the money market. The school pays around $5,000 for credit cards fees, and Mrs. Hannasch will figure out what the fees are for, and will see if using the card square will help to lower these fees. Just to have an account at Wells Fargo, there is a fee of $50/account, which totals to $150 for three accounts. The Board discussed looking into switching accounts to another bank, but considering all possibilities (such as payroll). Mrs. Hannasch will be calling Wells Fargo to go over payroll with them to fix the errors.
· Janlaine Brady turned in the taxes for 2013 and 2014 and she will call them to confirm. Mrs. Brady is also taking care of the paperwork for previous taxes that were filed late. The Board discussed different ways to prevent taxes being filed late in the future, such as:
o Making sure there is accountability and having an overseer to make sure that taxes are filed on time.
o The possibility of hiring a part-time accountant/bookkeeper to handle the school’s finances. The treasurer’s job is very important, but it is still a volunteer position, and not a full time job. This will be discussed at the end of the school year, as the Board prepares for the 2017-2018 school year.
o Making sure that all meeting minutes are posted online and that detailed records are kept of every board meeting.
· Mrs. Hannasch provided the Board with a rough estimate budget for the 2016-2017 school year and the Board reviewed it. Every two weeks on the 15th and the 30th, Mrs. Hannasch will be given a breakdown of spending from Mrs. File or Mrs. Anderson. She will continue to update the budget as needed, and will be approved by the Board when it is completed.
Head Teacher Report: Trista Anderson
· Monthly Report given to the ABBC Deacons:
o The girl’s bathroom has been worked on and the toilets have been fixed. The lights were also worked on.
o The playground project has been put on hold. The school was ready to move forward with this and Marion Hobbs was willing to fill in the area as a donation, but the Deacons informed Mrs. Anderson that before any work is done, the land permit needs to be found, to see where we are allowed to fill. Mr. Ben Shier will check on the status of this.
· Financial Report:
o The school is doing very well financially in different areas (Curriculum funds, Equipment, Fundraisers, Hot Lunch, etc). There is a positive balance in each area.
o The school still has not used the donation that was given from the Grants. The teachers and the Board will be discussing how our school can use this donation.
o The laptop for the office will come out of “Equipment” and the Board has budgeted $1,000 for this.
o The funds for a new set of risers will be taken out of the Fall Taco Dinner fundraiser that the teacher’s held.
· The teacher handbook needs to be addressed and read through, to make sure that the school is enforcing all guidelines. The Board discussed the topic of leave, and decided to address this for the 2017-2018 school year. For the future, if any teacher wants to take extra leave, then it needs to be approved by the Head Teacher or the Board. The Bylaws will also be reviewed, as well as the student handbook. The Board will look at any changes that need to be made or added.
· Mrs. Anderson shared with the Board that teacher meetings with the head teacher went very well. Mrs. Anderson brought forth different questions to see how the year is going for each teacher. She asked if there were any concerns and to see how she could help or if there was anything she could do for them. The Board decided that the Head Teacher needs to be informed of major things happening in the school and to be a part of those decisions. The Head Teacher is the one reporting to the Board, so they need to know what is going on in the school. This includes concerns from parents.
· The Board discussed who will take over the school’s Facebook page, update the school website, and be in charge of parent fundraisers. Volunteers are welcome, and there can be more than one person doing this. For now, Mrs. Brady will gather all of the log-in information.
Old Business: JK Mitchell
· The Board will review and update the Bylaws and see if there is anything that needs to be changed, such as the school name.
· Mrs. Hannasch will purchase a new computer for the office and will set up the Quickbook program online. An account will be made online, so that the account can be accessed from either the school laptop, or a home computer.
New Business:
· A general term for a Board position is three years. The Board will double check with the Bylaws to see what they say about this. Legally, the school needs to follow what the Bylaws say. The Board wants to help the school move in the right direction. The Bylaws will be reviewed and discussed at the next board meeting in December.
Next Regularly scheduled Board meeting will be Monday, December 5th 2016 at 6:00 p.m.
Closing prayer by Ben Shier
Board adjourned at 9:08 p.m.