THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

OF

VANCE CHARTER SCHOOL

MINUTES

OF

JULY MEETING

 

 

The Board of Directors of Vance Charter School held its monthly meeting on Monday, July 20th, 2009.  The following members were present and constituted a quorum:

 

Jill Pike, Chairperson                                      Harrison Ford

Janet Gruchacz, Vice Chairperson                  Mike Johnson

Jay Andrews, Secretary                                  Karen Bobbitt

Cydne Sharpe                                                 Clem Seifert

 

WELCOME

Chairperson Jill Pike called the meeting to order at 7:07 p.m.

She welcomed new Board members Donald “Clem” Seifert and Karen Bobbitt along with the new Curriculum and Testing Specialist Caroline Upchurch. Jill also handed each Board member a folder containing contact information and the upcoming year’s committee assignments.

 

PUBLIC COMMENT

There was no public comment.

 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Cydne Sharpe made a motion to approve the minutes from the June regular meeting and the July Special Called Meeting. Janet Gruchacz seconded. The motion passed.

 

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Dr. John von Rohr reported that a preliminary report from the Department of Public Instruction will be released tomorrow which states that Vance Charter School scored achieved a score of 90.4 and qualifies as a School of Excellence .

Construction of the new doors for the middle school hall is underway.

All staff training has been scheduled for the beginning of the year.

Text books have been ordered.

The floors are being stripped and waxed and the carpet is being cleaned.

Preparation is being made for a possible addition to the special needs population.

The Math and Reading Academies will continue this year and are fully budgeted.

Mr. Weaver is working on a new server.

Handbook and discipline revisions have been presented to the Policy and Personnel Committee for additional input.

The Teachers’ Council is handling the visa issues for our foreign born teachers. 

We can no longer say that we require parents to perform volunteer hours but the expectation to do so still remains.

LONG RANGE PLANNING

Jill stated that she would be sending an e-mail about 501-3-Cs and whether we would need a second one for any future purchase of property. It appears that a second one would not be necessary.

 

CAPITAL CAMPAIGN

No report.

 

FINANCE

No report.

 

STUDENT RECRUITMENT

Bill Satterwhite reported that as of today 502 spots have been filled for the upcoming school year. There are a couple of students yet to be tested and another awaiting the results of a custody hearing. In 2nd grade, the addition of one self contained student required an increase of one for that grade. In 3rd grade a self contained student has increased that grade by one. There will be three extra students in 4th grade. The committee is reviewing the two 5th grade spots that are open and will be making a decision whether or not to fill these spots.  Changes are to be made in the enrollment process. We plan to utilize the open house meetings as the only way for prospective families to obtain applications. This is not to make it harder, but to get more of a commitment from these parents. Hopefully at least a draft of these proposals will be presented at the next Board meeting. We will also be looking into using a computerized random selection program for future lotteries.

 

POLICY& PERSONNEL

Cydne Sharpe reminded the Board that for the first time we have $6000 budgeted for a part-time guidance counselor. Clem Seifert recommended getting a job description for any new counselor position. The matter was referred to Dr. von Rohr.

 

BUILDING AND GROUNDS

 Harrison Ford reported that he will build the new front desk with the help of some parent volunteers. He would like some input as to the position of the desk.

There is a defective smoke alarms that need repairing or replacing.

The sink hole has been repaired.

Mike Johnson reported that the basketball goals are ready to be installed.

 At this time Jill asked Dr. von Rohr to clarify who makes up the retention committee. He stated that teachers from the child’s present grade are consulted before a decision is made by the principal. Clem suggested that there should be a specific clarification of the role of the retention committee in the handbook.

 

PERFORMANCE

Janet Gruchacz was inquiring as to the policy for grouping students in middle school. The committee recommends heterogeneous  grouping for the 6th grade and homogeneous grouping for 7th and 8th grades.

 

INCLEMENT WEATHER

No report.

 

NEW BUSINESS

Jill passed around a sheet for Board members to indicate what they will provide for the Staff breakfast scheduled for August 19th.

 

OLD BUSINESS

Jill again mentioned the possibility of holding a 10th anniversary reception and stated that she would talk to staff members to get their input.

Clem asked who would be organizing lunches for this year. Cydne suggested that they go back to sharing the duties among parents from each grade band.

Clem suggested that the Board should be more involved in decisions on money that is made at lunch and spent on field trips. The matter was referred to Dr. von Rohr.

Janet made a motion to go into closed session for personnel issues. Harrison seconded.

Later, Cydne made a motion to go out of closed session. Janet seconded.

With nothing to report from closed session, Bill made a motion to adjourn. Harrison seconded. The meeting was adjourned at 9:05 p.m.

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Jay Andrews, Secretary