Great Expectations School
Growing Hearts and Minds, One Child at a Time
Regular School Board Meeting at Great Expectations School
Thursday,November 19, 20154:00 p.m.
1.Call to Orderat 4:13 p.m.
Present: Alyssa Hedstrom, Annette Block-Valdivia, Beth Ferry, Jeff Kern, Peter James, Clara Weitz, Mike Carlson
Absent: Kathryn Nelson-Pedersen, Suzy Schweig, Patty Johnson
1.1 Attendance-Update
1.2 New Member Welcome/Check-In
Alyssa suggested adding to the Board calendar a reminder to offer new board members an orientation before their first meeting.
2.Reading of the Mission: The mission of the school is to develop in each child: a love of learning; critical and creative thinking skills; mastery of the academic building blocks; the ability to nurture family, friends and self; a strong commitment to being a contributing member of a community; open-heartedness toward others; and a passion for life-long learning.
3.Approval of Agenda
Motion by Annette, seconded by Mike, to approve the agenda. Ayes all – motion passed.
4.Consent Agenda
4.1 Approve Minutes from October 20,2015 Meeting
4.2Approve Expenditures, Deposits and Fund Transfers
Motion by Jeff, seconded by Annette, to approve the consent agenda. Beth will start putting consent agenda items in a separate folder in the drop box. Jeff requested clarification on the deposit detail report. Ayes all – motion passed.
At next work session, all Board members should bring a device, preferably a laptop, to access the drop box. We will troubleshoot and make sure everyone is able to use the drop box.
5.Treasurer’s Report
Beth reported that wereceived compensatory payments in October, so there was a large balance in checking at the end of the month.
6.Director’s Report
Pete reported on the staff and board trainings that have taken place during the past month, including MACS Board training, William Durbin writing workshop, CPI certification training, a storytelling workshop, a “Healthy Bodies” workshop, and a Special Education staff book study. Several of the trainings were collaborative efforts between all schools or between community organizations and the school.
He also reported on the Fire Marshall visit; the hoop house cover is not fire resistant and a policy is being developed to address this. Vision and hearing screenings are complete. Pete applied for an Empty Bowls grant. Our health insurance plan is being discontinued, so we are transitioning to a new health care plan with Blue Cross/Blue Shield, which offered better choices than MNSure. The full-time science program is going well. The Self-Portrait Art Fair is tonight.
7.Committee Report
7.1Board Development
7.1.1 Training Certificate Reminder & Online Finance
Surveys must be filled out before MACS certificates will be distributed. Alyssa will contact MACS about the missing surveys/certificates. The online Finance course needs to be taken by any board member who has not taken it.
7.1.2 Scan Certificate & Update Training List
7.2 December Committee Meeting(Policy Organization & Crisis Manual/Renewal)
Thursday, December 3rd. There will be some board training for new members and troubleshooting the drop box issues.
7.3 Personnel-Director Review Check in
Jeff and Pete have talked about this. Jeff will meet with Sawtooth Clinic Director Rita Plourde to see how they review at the Clinic.
7.4 Policy-Discipline Policy 2nd reading
The only change was correcting a misspelled word.
7.5 Facility Update
Jeff met with Jerry Starr. The overall goal is to make more usable playground space; part of the plan is to move the hoop house. The plan will be formalized and brought before the board. Suggestion that several design plans should be presented for staff, parents and board members to view and discuss. The Board needs to develop a process and timeline for the facility updates. This will be on the agenda at the January Strategic Planning meeting.
8.Old Business
8.1 Pamphlet & Website Updates
Beth said the pamphlet and website updates are in progress.
8.2 ACNW Renewal – Approve Renewal Application
Pete presented the 17-page application for Charter School Reauthorization; there was no dissention; Pete will submit the application to ACNW.
9.New Business
9.1Annual Report Feedback
9.2 ACNW Retreat Recap
Pete and Jeff attended and said it was worthwhile. Jeff shared about a session regarding teacher morale and job satisfaction.
9.3 ACNW Site Visit Review, December 10th
9.4 Dropbox Deadline: the Monday before the Thursday meeting.
10.Upcoming Actions
10.1 Review Audit
10.2 Committee Assignments – will discuss at the next meeting.
10.3 New Signature Cards
Motion by Alyssa, seconded by Mike, to approve new bank signers AlyssaHedstrom, Mike Carlson, Jeff Kern, Kathryn Nelson-Pedersen, Peter James and Beth Ferry; and to remove Sara Hingos and Amy Henrikson. Ayes all – motion passed.
11.Check-out
11.1 Meeting Survey
12.Adjournment
Motion by Mike, seconded by Jeff, to adjourn at 5:52 p.m. Ayes all – meeting adjourned.
GES Board meetings are open to all. While guests may not participate during the business meeting, our host team is available to visit, answer questions, and discuss your issues 15 minutes prior to each meeting. We invite you to share your ideas, suggestions, and concerns with our hosts during this time.