THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

OF

VANCE CHARTER SCHOOL

MINUTES

OF

NOVEMBER MEETING

 

 

The Board of Directors of Vance Charter School held its regular monthly meeting on Monday November 16th 2009. The following members were present and constituted a quorum:

 

Jill Pike, Chairperson                                        Michael Johnson

Janet Gruchacz, Vice Chairperson                     Harrison Ford

Pat Olmert, Treasurer                                       Gina Harris

Jay Andrews, Secretary                                    Cydne Sharpe

Susan Johnson, Faculty Representative              Karen Bobbitt

Tom Betts                                                        Bill Satterwhite

Clem Seifert

 

Also present were Dr. John von Rohr and Caroline Upchurch.

 

WELCOME

Jill Pike called the meeting to order at 7:03p.m.

 

PUBLIC COMMMENT

There was none.

 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Pat Olmert made a motion to approve the October minutes. Karen Bobbitt seconded the motion. The minutes were approved as written.

 

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Dr. von Rohr stated the following:

There is a Staff meeting scheduled for tomorrow 11/17.

The first basketball game of the year is an away game at Triangle Day School.  The first home game is scheduled for December 11th at 4p.m.

The locks for the classrooms are in.

ITBS scores will be going out to parents before the Thanksgiving break.

All names and numbers involved in the inclement weather notification plan have been reviewed with Ms. Upchurch and Michael Johnson, Inclement Weather Committee Chair.

December 3rd is the scheduled date for a dental exam for K-5th grades provided by the Vance County Health Department.

African Dance exhibition went very well and included a lot of student participation.

Ms. Upchurch provided the Board with a handout with a breakdown including a breakdown of the scores highlighting the strengths and weaknesses in each of the listed categories. Ms. Upchurch was not pleased with some aspects dealing with customer service and expressed some skepticism and disappointment over the value of some of the data reported. As a result, Ms. Upchurch recommended that the school may want to consider using another test in the future. Jill asked Ms. Upchurch to do some research on the possibility of other nationally scored tests available and report back to the Board at a later date. Bill Satterwhite stated that it is important that any test used needs to have the ability to track student growth over an extended period. Ms. Upchurch stated that this could be problematic and would look into it further to find a test to meet our needs.

Ms. Upchurch reported that the ITBS did identify 5 areas of particular weakness that stood out school wide. 14 out of 16 classes were weak in math computation, 14 out of 16 were weak in capitalization, 10 out of 16 in punctuation, 12 out of 16 in spelling, and 11 out of 16 in vocabulary. Ms. Upchurch stated that she planned to meet with the teachers tomorrow and address these issues.

Dr. von Rohr was asked about an update on the NC WISE system and he stated that Sandra Durham had agreed to provide training to teachers which will enable them to create report cards much more easily. Ms. Upchurch has planned for Mrs. Durham to use staff development time in January to provide this training, but found that all necessary information has yet to be entered in to the system. 

Janet asked Dr. von Rohr how In School Suspension (ISS) is being handled and expressed concern that children were being sent to elementary classrooms and possibly causing disruptions. Dr. von Rohr stated that students generally stay in his office for ISS unless he is not present. He has sent a student to Mrs. Johnson’s class rather than leave them unattended. Even though ISS is a part of the discipline policy, there is no designated ISS area or classroom. Jill asked about the possibility of using floating teachers who have time in their schedule to help with supervision.

 

LONG RANGE PLANNING

Clem Seifert stated that there are some fundamental questions that need to be answered before the committee will be able to recommend spending money to purchase land. The committee needs a better detailed understanding of the school budget before it can commit to a large expenditure with confidence. Jill asked Clem what type of questions or concerns  he had. He asked about paying off the lease on the current building. Cydne explained that classroom sizes were increased and the additional revenue would be used to pay toward the lease and remodeling loan. Clem agreed that the school is financially sound, but there are still questions about the finances that have not been fully answered.

 

CAPITAL CAMPAIGN

Karen Bobbitt stated that there was interest in a spring social event or a reverse raffle to be held early in March. After a brief discussion, it was recommended to hold off for now.

 

FINANCE      

Pat Olmert reported that the committee needs more details and projections on Leandro expenditures. They plan to meet with Acadia to get answers on questions about the budget. Clem made a motion to give up to $733 each to two teachers that were not given the 2% bonus last year due to an accounting mistake. Tom Betts seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

STUDENT RECRUITMENT

Based on committee recommendation, Bill Satterwhite gave the Board a copy of the revised admission policy for Vance Charter School which will become effective in January 2010. The primary revisions require at least one parent of a prospective student attend one of the five informational meetings scheduled from mid January to early February. Applications will only be available and must be completed at the meeting. If a child is to receive sibling or staff preference, the parent must still attend the meeting to receive an application.  The recommendation passed unanimously. Jill recommended that this information be added to the website as soon as possible and the staff should be notified as well.

BUILDING AND GROUNDS

Harrison Ford reported that Mr. Dennis Sandlin has received quotes on replacing the flooring of the multipurpose room (approx. 4300 sq ft) as follows:

VCT TILE                   $8500

CARPET                     $12,000

CARPET TILES          $14,000

After a brief discussion, Cydne made a motion to spend up to $8500 for flooring for the multipurpose room. Clem seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

Susan Johnson received three estimates for three different designs of playground equipment. Jill stated that the executive committee met previously and has asked the building and grounds committee to select the three best for consideration. They have also been asked to study the logistics such as drainage issues and site preparation.

POLICY AND PERSONNEL

Cydne reported that the Principal Search Committee has received 124 e-mails from prospective candidates. This has resulted in moving the time line back one week. Interviews are being set up and will include candidates locally and from out of state.

PERFORMANCE

Janet Gruchacz reported meeting with the grade reps about report cards, parent conferences and volunteer hour logs. The athletic policy concerning grades and eligibility is being reviewed. The middle school PLC has recommended that Mr. Dennis Sandlin come up with a recommendation for review and report back in December.

At this time, Janet made a motion to go into closed session for personnel reasons. Gina Harris seconded. Later, Cydne made a motion to come out of closed session. Bill seconded.

INCLEMENT WEATHER

No Report.

NEW BUSINESS

Jill announced the date of the staff Christmas luncheon as December 18th.. Cydne made a motion to give a $50 gift card to each staff member for Christmas. Gina seconded. The motion passed unanimously. Bill Satterwhite and Harrison Ford abstained.

Cydne made a motion to adjourn. Karen seconded. The meeting adjourned at 9:45p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Jay Andrews, Secretary