THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

OF

VANCE CHARTER SCHOOL

MINUTES

OF

OCTOBER MEETING

 

The Board of Directors of Vance Charter School held its regular monthly meeting on Monday, October 19th 2009. The following members were present and constituted a quorum:

 

Jill Pike, Chair                                                 Bill Satterwhite

Janet Gruchacz, Vice Chair                            Cydne Sharpe

Pat Olmert, Treasurer                                      Gina Harris

Jay Andrews, Secretary                                  Harrison Ford

Susan Johnson, Faculty Representative          Karen Bobbitt                                    

Michael Johnson

 

Also present was Caroline Upchurch.

 

WELCOME

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

 

PUBLIC COMMENT

Susan Johnson read an e-mail from Donna Goswick in which she thanked the Board for the 2% bonus and the support that the Board has shown for the faculty and staff.

 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Cydne Sharpe made a motion to approve the minutes from both the September regular meeting and the Special Called Meeting as written. Janet Gruchacz seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

 

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

In the absence of Dr. von Rohr (out sick) Caroline Upchurch reported that all lunch periods were going very smoothly.

She also noted that Vance Charter School had its 10 year charter renewed.

She also reported that Teresa Hooker and Diane Jacobs were selected for two vacant positions. Cydne made a motion to hire Teresa Hooker as an EC teacher at state salary scale. Gina Harris seconded.  The motion passed unanimously. Cydne then made a motion to hire Diane Jacobs as a personal care assistant at a salary of no more than $22,000 per year. Gina seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

Cydne then asked if teachers had been personally notified of the recent salary changes. Ms. Upchurch stated that no conversations had been held, but notes showing the changes had been left in each teacher’s box. Bill Satterwhite stated that he was told that some of the notes were placed in the wrong boxes and was concerned for the privacy of the teachers.

Cydne brought up the issue of funding for the upcoming African culture workshop and after a brief discussion it was the consensus of the board that the school should pay instead of asking for parental donations.

 

LONG RANGE PLANNING

No report.

 

CAPITAL CAMPAIGN

Karen Bobbitt reported that Dr. von Rohr and Ms. Upchurch met with two grant writers in search of new funding options and the committee is exploring some new ideas.

 

FINANCE

Pat Olmert reported that the budget was on target so far. Cydne suggested that the committee request a breakdown of the Leandro expenditures for the coming year in order to help prevent a last minute rush to spend money at the end of the year. Jill asked if some of the money could be held back on non budget items. Cydne suggested asking Kathy Davie for details such as shifting amounts or deadlines for finalizing expenditures. Bill Satterwhite asked for a report on lunch profits and would like to see the money allotted to field trips increased to reduce the burden on families.

 

STUDENT RECRUITMENT

No report.

 

POLICY AND PERSONNEL

Cydne distributed a handout which stated the following:

The committee has no further changes to the staff or student handbooks that were adopted by the Board in August.

 

The Principal Search Committee is comprised of the following individuals-

Cydne Sharpe

Mike Johnson

Gina Harris

Jay Andrews

Susan Johnson

Karen Williams-elected by faculty

Susan Satterwhite-elected by faculty

 

The application and school profile are ready.

Advertising began on 10/14/09

Approximately 14 resumes have been received to date.

We are in the process of preparing first interview questions.

 

The tentative timeline for the search is as follows:

October 14th –Advertising begins

October 14th-18th –Applications will be accepted.

October 29th -6:30p.m.-Search Committee meets to review and discuss closing application period or moving to head hunter, narrow the list, and set up initial interviews.

November 1st-19th –Conduct initial interviews

November 19th – 6:30p.m. Search Committee meets to “narrow the field” to top 3 candidates or reopen application period or consider head hunter

November 23rd –Board meeting possible recommendation of top 3 or pursue head hunter

November 24th-25th –Schedule second interviews for the Board

December 1st-15th –Board to conduct second interviews

December 15th-18th-Complete reference checks/pursue interim principal

 

BUILDING AND GROUNDS

Harrison Ford reminded the Board that it needs to start looking for ways to add additional classrooms to accommodate the last two grade band increases.

The basketball goals for the elementary playground have been back ordered but should be in this week.

Mike Johnson reported that he had been given a quote for replacing the flooring in the multipurpose room, but was unaware of any pending need or request for such.

Susan Johnson received an initial quote of $25,000 for playground equipment. Site preparation is not included.

 Cydne recommended that the Building and Grounds Committee investigate other options for the multipurpose room and report back in November.

 

PERFORMANCE

No report.

 

INCLEMENT WEATHER

No report.

 

OLD BUSINESS

Green Card sponsorship for Baccudio, Jones, and Lammond is ongoing.

Remember the 10th Anniversary Reception on October 25th from 4-6p.m..

 

NEW BUSINESS

None

 

Cydne made a motion to go into closed session to discuss personnel issues. Karen seconded. Motion passed. Later, Bill made a motion to come out of closed session. Cydne seconded.

With nothing to report from closed session, Mike made a motion to adjourn. Cydne seconded. The meeting was adjourned at 8:49p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Jay Andrews, Secretary