Salt Lake Arts Academy
Governing Board Meeting Minutes
November 20, 2015
3:00 p.m. – 5 p.m.
844 South 200 East
Board Members Present: Luna Banuri, Susan Barnum, Peter Christie, Dru Damico, Sabine Klahr, Jim Kreeck, Chris Mautz, Scott Messersmith, Annabel Sheinberg, Heather Soderquist, Kelly Stevens, Maggie Tesch, Abdi Yusuf
Staff Members Present: Katy Andrews, Jennifer Burrow-Sanchez, Bonnie Cooper, Moni Schwaerzler, Rebecca Travis, Amy Wadsworth
Excused: Robert Dick, Don Eggert, Mary Tull, RonZamir
Welcome
Action: Annabel Sheinberg welcomed everyone and asked the board to approve the September 18, 2015 board minutes.
Motion: Luna Banuri motioned to approve the September 18, 2015 board meeting minutes. Motion seconded by Jim Kreeck, approved by all.
Principal’s Report
- Amy Wadsworth walked the board through the Salt Lake Arts Academy’s Utah Education “PACE” Report Card, a breakdown of last spring’s SAGE test scores compared to past years and other school’s scores. Schoolwide SLArts did well in the achievement category while student growth remained somewhat stagnant. Broken down by grade the 7th and 8th grades showed the most growth compared to the 5th and 6thgrades which stayed fairly level. Overall, these scores and what they mean have been greatly discussed among the faculty and staff at SLArts, and Amy asked the board Student Achievement Committee to also look into it.
Business Report
- Moni Schwaerzler reviewed the current financials for the first quarter of the 2015-2016 school year. She also asked the board to consider reallocating dollar amounts in the 2015-2016 budget from line item 10 to line item 22. The board agreed to vote on the line item change at the January 22nd meeting.
Annual Campaign, Board Participation
- Katy Andrews reviewed the Community & Outreach Report. Highlights included the launch of the newly redesigned slarts.org, the continual writing and applying for various grants, and the $16,500 raised so far toward the Annual Campaign.
Action Item: Admission Policy Revision
- Annabel Sheinberg brought to the table the newly revised State Eligible Student Policy guidelines regarding charter school admission qualifications for students. The question was raised as to whether SLArts should or should not amend its own Admissions Policies & Procedures in light of the State’s revisions. The discussion revolved around whether or not the children and grandchildren of SLArts board members and staff should be automatically eligible for enrollment, as well as the possibility of going to the State to request a waiver that would allow eligibility for siblings of SLArts alumni. Kelly Stevens, Chris Mautz and Luna Banuri agreed to explore options regarding obtaining a waiver from the state, and will report back to the board regarding what they find.
Action: Annabel Sheinberg asked the board to vote on adding the criteria spelled out in the State Eligible Student Policy lines (4)(a)(b)(c)(d) to SLArts Admissions Policies & Procedures.
Motion: Dru Damico motioned to add the criteria spelled out in the State Eligible Student Policy lines (4)(a)(b)(c)(d) to SLArts Admissions Policies & Procedures. Motion seconded by Peter Christie, approved by 9, opposed by 2, and 2 abstained.
Community Usage of SLARTS Building
- Amy Wadsworth tabled the discussion until the next board meeting.
After School / Summer@SLArts Evaluation
- Jim Kreek presented the theSLArts After School / Summer@SLArts 2014-15 Evaluation Report to the board. Overall the report contains a great deal of valuable information that will prove useful to the staff in their efforts to continue building upon and improving the after school and summer programs.
Housekeeping
- Board Social – Sunday, January 10 - 5:30 pm
- Next Board Meeting – Friday, January 22
- Agenda Items for Governance Committee: Bylaw Review; review of Charter; CAO and Business Manager review changes; UTA pass usage by students; Public Meeting training for members or officers.
- Agenda Items for Other Committees: TBD