THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

OF

VANCE CHARTER SCHOOL

MINUTES

OF

FEBRUARY MEETING

 

 

The Board of Directors of Vance Charter Scholl held its regular meeting of Monday, February 22nd 2010.  The following members were present and constituted a quorum:

 

Jill Pike, Chairperson                                      Gina Harris

Janet Gruchacz, Vice Chairperson                  Michael Johnson

Pat Olmert, Treasurer                                      Harrison Ford

Jay Andrews, Secretary                                  Cydne Sharpe

Susan Johnson, Faculty Representative          Bill Satterwhite

Karen Bobbitt                                                 Clem Seifert

 

 

Also present were Dr. John von Rohr and Sean Connolly.

 

WELCOME

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

 

PUBLIC COMMMENT

There was none.

 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Clem Seifert made a motion to approve the minutes of the January 25th regular meeting. Karen Bobbitt seconded the motion. The motion passed.

Clem then made a motion to approve the minutes of the Special Called Meeting of January 11th. Karen also seconded this motion. Motion passed.

Clem made a motion to approve the minutes of the February 2nd Special Called Meeting. Cydne Sharpe seconded the motion. The motion passed.

 

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Dr. John von Rohr reported the following:

He recommends Randi Oxendine be hired to fill the teaching position opening in 1st grade created by Susan Johnson moving to 2nd grade to fill the vacancy upon the retirement of Gail Washington. This recommendation comes from the staff and the administration.

Clem Seifert made a motion to accept the recommendation to hire Randi Oxendine to fill the 1st grade position. Janet Gruchacz seconded. The motion passed.

Licensure: Only one to be renewed. This has been discussed with Mr. Connolly and he will have draft licensure by this Friday at the latest.

There are 2 calendar proposals (from the staff and Mr. Connolly) to be presented to the Board for approval.

The present status of teacher observations is as follows: 4 due from Dr. von Rohr and 12 from Ms. Upchurch.

Letters of Intent: 52 have been returned. All staff plans to return except for those previously noted to the Board.

Leandro Funds:

Tutor line: Not spending as much money as expected. These funds can be moved to another Leandro expense line such as workshop expenses, instructional supplies, textbooks, etc.

Workshop expenses:

This will all be spent by the end of the school year.

Instructional supplies: Same here, ordering still in progress.

Library books: Mrs. Gore is making up a big order to spend these funds.

AIG supplies: Being spent by Ms. Upchurch.

Cydne then asked Dr. von Rohr if there was anything that needed to been done prior to his departure next month and beyond. He said most of these items have been covered as mentioned in his report and he consults with Mr. Connolly on a daily basis.

Dr. von Rohr reported that previous bids received for the remodeling of classrooms have been withdrawn. Mr. Ford has supplied the names of other possible contractors. Apparently computer server wiring concerns were an issue.

 

LONG RANGE PLANNING

Clem reported that members of the committee met with Steve Hubrick of Hock Development and they are looking to present another proposal for a new building.  Tom Betts said that in his opinion, it would be worth looking into. Cydne asked if the committee could revisit the possibility of getting financing from the USDA.  Karen Bobbitt stated there is a 30 acre tract on Ross Mill Road across from the property that was donated to the school and the price has come down considerably to $75,000. The property is reasonably flat and does have water and sewer. There is an additional two acres with road frontage available for around $20,000. The committee will take this under advisement.

 

CAPITAL CAMPAIGN

No report.

 

FINANCE

Pat Olmert thanked Harrison Ford and Karen Bobbitt for their work on the playground project. Additional expenses to complete the site prep on short notice cost the school an additional $2100. There is a ribbon cutting ceremony scheduled for Friday. Pat made a motion to give Harrison Ford and Mr. Ray Ranes a $250 gift each for their expenses incurred in completing the work on the playground. Clem seconded. The motion passed. Clem also stated that it was unfair to ask Harrison to provide so many volunteer hours as a parent and Board member, and then deny him the right to bid on jobs as a professional. As long as it is done above board, there should be no conflict of interest.

Pat mentioned a newspaper article about Vance Charter receiving stimulus money to hire teachers. He felt someone should respond to the article and provide facts.

Pat also made a recommendation to hold off on the teacher bonus until after the Easter  Holiday. Pat also wanted to follow up on the status of the coaches’ bonus voted on last month. The most recent budget report did not include payments that should have been made to coaches since the last meeting.

Pat also stated there would be no more fees charged from RBC Centura.

 

STUDENT RECRUITMENT

Bill Satterwhite stated that the Lottery will be held Thursday and that all Board members should be present by 5:00pm. The committee will be utilizing Random.org to provide the numbers for the drawing. The mock lottery went well. Brian Daniel will be assisting with the computer tasks during the lottery. Bill stated that the school received a total of 346 applications for the coming which is down approximately 11% from the previous year. Bill reminded the Board that the 4th grade was temporarily increased by one with the caveat of reducing it back to twenty at a later date. Therefore the committee recommends that the 4th grade be reduced back to 20 students per class next year. The recommendation is accepted.

Cydne asked Bill about the status of pre-testing of students and he replied that the committee agreed this was not a Board matter and would be handled by the administration. Cydne recommends that the new administration develop a plan or philosophy to include decisions on testing.

 

BUILDING AND GROUNDS

Harrison Ford reported that two sets of steps near the playground need to be addressed. Dr. von Rohr stated that those steps are scheduled to be removed.

There are still drainage issues that need to be addressed as well.

The multipurpose room looks great.

Mike Johnson reported that the basketball goals for the elementary area are due in two weeks.

Tom Betts stated that the landlord would be willing to rent the empty space next to the school at the same rate we are paying if we would like to use it for additional classrooms.

 

PERFORMANCE

Janet asked Dr. von Rohr what Ms. Upchurch was working on at this time. He stated that testing was probably taking up a large part of her time.

 

INCLEMENT WEATHER

No report.

 

FACULTY REPRESENTATIVE

Susan Johnson was asked by Mrs. Gore about budgeting for programs for next year. Cydne stated that those are issues that are handled by the administration.

 

NEW BUSINESS

None.

 

 

OLD BUSINESS

None

 

POLICY AND PERSONNEL

Cydne asked the Board for an update on the sponsorship of securing green cards for teachers Bacudio, Lammond, and Jones. Jill said the process is underway and should be complete in about six to eight months.

Pat asked about addressing the problems with technology now instead of waiting until next year. Jill recommended that this should be referred to the Performance committee to find professional help in solving these issues.

 Mike made a motion to go into closed session for personnel reasons. Bill seconded.

Cydne made a motion to come out of closed session. Karen seconded.

Tom made a motion to accept the resignation of Dr. von Rohr effective march 16th 2010. Pat seconded. Motion passed.

Cydne made a motion to allow Mrs. Sauer to take over the 7th grade science class from Mr. Connolly for the balance of the school year so that he may devote more time to principal duties. Karen seconded. Motion passed.

Cydne made a motion to adjourn. Gina seconded. Meeting was adjourned at 10:05pm.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Jay Andrews, Secretary