Sandy Springs Charter Middle School
Governance Board Meeting Minutes

August 16th, 2012
(7:45am Held In Conference Room of Media Center)

Board Members:
Present: Natalie Cowart, Elizabeth Demaree, Andrea Farmer, Allen Johnson (chair), Janet Lane, Jennifer Langill, Irene Schweiger, Sabrina Taylor, Gary Viersen, Dr. Kay Walker, Theresa Wooldridge

Absent: None

Quorum present? Yes

Guests: Joan Miller, Saudah Parsons

Proceedings:

Meeting called to order at 7:57 a.m. by chair Allen Johnson.

  1. Introduction of Governance Board (GB) members.
  1. Overview of responsibilities of GB.
  • The primary purpose of the GB is to enforce the charter. This includes making decisions on curriculum, uniforms, etc.
  • The GB is more than an advisory group, our decisions are then carried out by the Principal. The GB provides oversight to Dr. Walker.
  • As a GB, we can be held liable.
  1. Election of GB officers (co-chair, secretary).
  • Allen Johnson made a motion to nominate Jennifer Langill as the co-chair of the SSCMS Governance Board. Dr. Walker seconded the motion. Jennifer Langill was approved unanimously.
  • Allen Johnson made a motion to nominate Natalie Cowart as the SSCMS Governance Board secretary. Jennifer Langill seconded the motion. Natalie Cowart was approved unanimously.
  1. Approval of last month's minutes (05-17-12).
  • Gary Viersen made a motion to approve the minutes from 05-17-12 as submitted. Janet Lane seconded the motion. The minutes were approved unanimously.
  1. Charter topic: Charter renewal steering committee nominations.
  • The purpose of the Steering committee will be to take the current charter and go thru section by section and decide what to keep and what to not keep. Also they will come up with new curricular innovations.
  • Each member of steering committee will then take a section of the charter and form a sub-committee.
  • SSCMS is committed to be in cohort 2 (2013-2014).
  • Our charter runs out May 2014.
  • Everyone needs to go to the website and review the FC charter.
  • According to the FC charter: in year one (SSCMS - 2013/2014) – establish GB and get training and in year two (SSCMS 2014/2015) - decide which waivers you want to apply for. (EX: possible take 8th grade GA history and make it half GA history and half career explorations)
  • Need to recruit Steering Committee members:

◦ PTA member – Theresa will find nominee

◦ Leadership member or staff member – Janet Lane

◦ Foundation member – Natalie will find nominee

◦ GB members – Dr. Walker and Allen Johnson

◦ Parents – Andrea will find two parent nominees

◦ Community member – Irene Schweiger

  • At the next GB meeting, Jennifer will give a review of current SSCMS charter
  • At the next GB meeting, Gary will give a summary of FC charter
  • Joan will send out a link or a soft copy of the SSCMS charter
  1. Title I information.
  • The Title I committee must be comprised of parents and staff. So, the GB will also serve as the Title I committee.
  • To qualify as a Title I school, 60% or more students must qualify for free or reduced lunch. SSCMS has about 65 – 70%.
  • As a Title I school, we get additional federal funds – this year we get $300,352.
  • We choose to use most of the money for personnel to keep class size small. In addition to the salary of two additional reading teachers, we also use the money for two additional smart boards, a Data support specialist (Sabrina), ½ instructional coach for math, and a parent liaison.
  • SSCMS is also a Focus school (this means we have a big gap between our highest performers and lowest performers) – As a focus school, we received an additional $53,000.
  • The Focus school money must provide extra time and support for the lowest performers. So, we will identify by name each student who qualifies and have after school tutoring for them.
  • In addition, the Focus school money will provide for Professional development – Amy Dean will work with teachers in classroom management and for Parent workshops – for the parents of the about 80 kids who are identified as the lowest performers.
  • Janet Lane made a motion to approve the Title I budget as submitted. Sabrina Taylor seconded the motion. The Title I budget was approved unanimously.
  1. Budget Review.
  • Covered under Title I.
  1. Principal's Report.
  • Mrs. Whitfield moved to Ridgeview
  • Chip Haynes – interim AP, retired from FC schools
  • Dr. Walker – retiring December 1st, for financial and family reasons. Dr. Walker has been our principal for seven years. She started her career 35 years ago today! Thank you Dr. Walker for your dedication to our school. We will miss you and truly appreciate your service.
  • Fulton County has gone through some restructuring. We are now part of the central learning community with Karen Cox as our area superintendent and Rob Anderson as our area executive director.
  • Dr. Avossa's goals for Fulton County schools include the following:

◦ 90% graduation rate

◦ 85% of those taking the SAT to score in the top 25% of the nation

◦ All students will graduate either college or career ready.

Items for Next Month's Meeting (September 20th)

  • selection committee for principal
  • liability coverage for GB – Allen
  • charter topic – Steering Committee members
  • review of SSCMS charter – Jennifer
  • summary of FC charter - Gary

Irene Schweiger made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Janet Lane seconded the motion and it was approved. Meeting Adjourned.

Minutes respectfully submitted by Joan Miller.