THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
OF
MINUTES
OF
JUNE MEETING
The Board of Directors of Vance Charter School held its regular meeting on Monday June 15th 2009. The following members were present and constituted a quorum:
Jill Pike, Chairperson Mike Johnson
Gina Harris, Vice Chairperson Harrison Ford
Jay Andrews, Secretary Janet Gruchaez
Cydne Sharpe Brian Daniel
Tammy Noel
Also present were Dr. John von Rohr and Sean Connolly.
WELCOME
Chairperson Jill Pike called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m.
The meeting began with a slide show of the 8th
grade field trip to
PUBLIC COMMENT
There was no public comment.
ELECTIONS OF BOARD MEMBERS AND OFFICERS
Jill announced that Clem Seifert and Karen Bobbitt were elected to the Board by the parents at the May FOVC meeting.
The nomination and election of Board members and officers were as follows:
Cydne Sharpe nominated Gina Harris and Harrison Ford. Mike Johnson seconded. Gina Harris nominated Nikita Grillo. Cydne Seconded. The nominations were closed. Gina and Harrison are re-elected to the Board.
Jay Andrews was re-elected Secretary. Pat Olmert was elected Treasurer. Janet Gruchaez was elected Vice-Chairperson. Jill Pike was re-elected Chairperson.
Jill thanked Tammy Noel and Brian Daniel for their dedicated
service to the Board and to
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Cydne made a motion to approve the minutes of the regular May meeting. Janet seconded. Minutes approved. Cydne made a motion to approve the minutes of the May Special Called Meeting with the addition of the listing of positions being cut from the budget including testing coordinator, front door desk, assistant principal and one tech/EC person. Brian seconded. The minutes are approved.
PRINCIPAL’S REPORT
Dr. von Rohr reported that he has received two bids for floor maintenance. Since one was very high and one was very low, dr. von Rohr decided to get a third bid. He is also receiving bids for the carpet cleaning for the building. Cydne reminded the Board that Mr. Cheatham now does floor maintenance and should be given consideration since he is already an employee of the school.
There is a small sink hole in the back driveway that requires some repair and will be taken care of soon.
A window was broken out of the bus, so it is being moved closer to the building.
Dr. von Rohr asked that the Board appoint a member to sit with him and review the proposed changes in the Code of Conduct for the Handbook. Cydne recommended that this be referred to Policy and Personnel. Dr. von Rohr is prepared to receive bids to move the classroom doors to the middle school hallway.
Mike Johnson has received a bid for the basketball goals that is within the $1700.00 budget.
No action has been taken on a buzzer or a new front desk for the front door area. Mike said he would check with Ahner Security about the buzzer. Mike and Harrison will get together on the desk.
Dr. von Rohr reported that they are still fine tuning the schedule to maximize staff on hand.
Dr. von Rohr also promised to streamline the process for testing of new students using a well-defined set of guidelines in order to be more consistent.
LONG RANGE PLANNING
Brian Daniel received a call from a realtor about properties still being considered for purchase. Brian is also putting together a list of names for a building committee made up of non-board members. He also recommended that the Board consider purchasing land sooner rather than later in order to take advantage of lower land prices.
CAPITAL CAMPAIGN
Tammy Noel recommended keeping the status quo on fund raising until the school makes a land purchase.
FINANCE
Cydne (subbing for Tom and Pat) stated that as the 08-09 budget closes out everything looks fine with only minor adjustments needed. The 09-10 budget will require a 5% cut of approximately $150,000. There are increases in expenses due to an additional 6th grade added this year (teacher, desks, and others supplies) as well as some salary increases due to some teachers receiving advanced degrees. There are also cuts that are necessary as well and include the front desk position, assistant principal, testing, and K-2 tech/EC position. Cuts were also made in text books, instructional supplies, substitute pay and Leandro bonuses. The school received a $92,000 stimulus grant half of which is being used to offset EC salaries in 09-10 and 10-11 school years. There are also two grants that are slated to be used for the salaries of Ms. Puckett and Ms. Ayscue if they are fully funded. Dr. von Rohr stated that we would not know about those grants until after July.
Cydne stated that all cuts made to
this budget came after careful scrutiny of all the options available and were
felt to have the least direct impact on the students of
STUDENT RECRUITMENT
Cydne reported from the last committee meeting, that bringing in children at the middle school level that are not accustomed to the culture and discipline of Vance Charter, are a drain on the core students. It tends to have an adverse effect on those students who have been here longer. Cydne and Gina presented options to alter grand band size ensure a certain level of enrollment and get children in earlier. Cydne made a motion to adopt option C as a guideline to grade band size. Tammy seconded. Motion passed.
POLICY AND PERSONNEL
Janet Gruchaez is advertising for a Curriculum Director on the News & Observer website and Career Builder.com. A search committee will consist of Vicky Deal, Karen Bobbitt, Jill Pike, Janet Gruchaez and Dr. von Rohr.
PERFORMANCE
Janet reported that the committee recommends changing the volunteer hours to 7.5 per 9 weeks from 15 hours per semester. The recommendation passed unanimously.
NEW BUSINESS
Jill reported that some founding board members have asked about celebrating the 10th anniversary of Vance charter School with a reception sometime this fall. This would include inviting founding and former board members.
Cydne made a motion to adjourn. Tammy seconded. The meeting was adjourned at 8:45p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Jay Andrews, Secretary