Regular Board meeting - June 1, 2010

Board members in attendance:  Andrea, Alison, Tiffany, Michael, Brad, Shelley

Board members absent:  None

Others in attendance:  Deb, Rae, Faith, Alex Van Pelt

The meeting was called to order at 6:00pm

The Board approved the 5/18/10 meeting minutes.

Calendar:  The Board reviewed the draft 10-11 calendar presented by Deb, discussed changes to the month of March to avoid so many non-school days for students, and with those changes, voted unanimously to approve the calendar.  Andrea will input the calendar on the website and have it available to view by the end of the week.

Staff hiring:  The Board unanimously voted to offer Harry Short the 8^th grade position, and to hire Deb Ingamalls on a temporary contract to replace Rae while she is on maternity leave for the first six weeks of the school year.  Jeff Cook, our counselor, has taken a professorship in California and will not be returning, so we will need to hire a new counselor, as well.

Discussion:  The Board discussed, without taking final action, the following:

-- The difficulty in sustaining flow room participation and the need for a new Flow Room Coordinator, now that Alex Van Pelt will be fundraising chair;

-- The need to more effectively communicate to SW families the serious nature of our budgetary issues, and what format(s) such communication could take, including house coffees, class by class state of the school addresses, special sessions for families entering mid-year, etc.;

-- How to handle Specials and how/whether to provide artist-in-residence and flow room to the upper grades (6^th - 8^th);

-- Brainstorming regarding the symbol for the 8^th grade class (next step is to ask artist Carrie Moore to prepare several options for us to review)

Faith presented detailed information on Oregon's No Child Left Inside law, the task force that has been meeting to implement the new law, and how SW should be involved in the NCLI actions and outcomes.  This information will be relevant to the Board and staff as they discuss priority goals for the school for 2010-11.

Because of the lateness of the hour, the remaining agenda items will be continued to the year-end wrap up board meeting, to be scheduled by the end of this month.

The meeting adjourned at 10:00 pm.

Regular board meeting - June 1, 2010

Board members in attendance:  Andrea, Tiffany, Michael, Brad, Shelley, Alison

Board members absent:  None

Others in attendance:  Deb, Rae, Faith, Alex Van Pelt

The meeting was called to order at 6:00pm

The Board approved the 5/18/10 meeting minutes.

Teachers Development Group presentation:  Fred updated the Board on the year-long math staff development training and the outcomes for both staff and students.  Troy shared a first-hand look at how the staff development positively impacted how he thinks about and delivers math instruction, and how that benefits his students.  

Upper grades full-day Fridays:  Andrea summarized the results of her meeting with staff regarding contract and calendar for 10-11.  Troy and Faith raised the concern that upper grades students need more seat time for academic work; in response, they suggested full-day Fridays on field studies days for grades 6-8.  They also proposed extended care on those days, with fee-based programs offered, for lower grades siblings, so that impacted parents would not have to pick up students twice on that day.  Transportation would be provided to lower grades at 12:30, as usual, and then to upper grades (and any lower grades siblings in extended care) at 3:30.  The Board discussed how this proposal was responsive to parent input and concerns expressed about academic seat time for upper grades; the Board authorized Andrea to ask staff to develop a formal proposal for a vote at next month's board meeting.  

Budget:  Andrea reviewed the 2010-11 draft budget; the Board voted unanimously to approve the draft.  The Board will revisit the budget and revise as necessary after July 1^st, when final 2009-10 figures are available.  Andrea emphasized the significant financial hardships that all schools, including ours, will be experiencing, given the cuts the state is making, and that we may need to eliminate programs or take other substantive cost-cutting measures once we see what the figures look like after July 1^st.

Given the late hour, remaining agenda items were put on hold until next month's board meeting.

The meeting adjourned at 10:00 pm.

End-of-year board meeting - June 28, 2010

Board members in attendance:  Andrea, Alison, Tiffany, Michael, Brad, Shelley

Board members absent:  None

Others in attendance:  Deb Odell, Faith Jones

The meeting was called to order at 5:20

The Board approved the 6/1/10 meeting minutes.

Upper grades full-day Fridays:  Faith presented the staff proposal for full-day Fridays for upper grades (and optional fee-based aftercare for lower grades, initially beginning with siblings of upper grades' students).  Andrea recommended approving the proposal with two caveats:  (1) All staff must participate in some way, whether in assisting upper grades' teachers with their classes or assisting with lower grades' aftercare (this can be on a rotating basis, depending on how many staff members are needed on any given week); and (b) Staff must find an hour-long block every other week (preferably not immediately after a school day) for PLCs.  

Andrea acknowledged the staff's amazing commitment to students in their willingness to step forward and propose additional student contact time.  The Board voted unanimously to approve the proposal with Andrea's caveats.

Vacant 2/3 teaching position:  The Board discussed the outcome of last week's interview process, and then voted unanimously to offer the position to Loren Chasse.

Deb's update:  Deb updated the Board on her work with Susan Carlisle and her progress toward her 09-10 goals.  

Board vacancy:  The Board reviewed applicants for the vacant position, and voted unanimously to offer the current vacant position to Genevieve Sheesley, and to offer Alison's vacancy to Casey Beatty.  Because Alison is not yet sure when she will resign during this coming school year, the Board will invite Casey to begin attending meetings so that he is up to speed when Alison's position becomes vacant.

Strategic fundraising plan:  Andrea reviewed Chelsey Williams' strategic fundraising plan with the Board.  

The meeting adjourned at 10:00 pm.

SPRINGWATER ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES SCHOOL

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

REGULAR MEETING AGENDA

May 18, 2010 @ 6:00 p.m.

Midway Pub, Oregon City

AGENDA

I.            Call to Order

II.            Approve 4-13-10 meeting minutes

III.            Teachers Development Group math presentation

III.            Discussion and vote on draft budget for 2010-11 school year

IV.            Discussion and vote on 2010-11 school calendar

V.            Updates:

            --hiring for 8^th grade teacher and counselor

            --update on audit report, property tax lawsuit, and MBS property tax bill

            --committee reports (tech / facilities / art / fundraising)

                        --discussion re:  selection of artists

                        --flow room plans for next year

VI.            Enrollment for 2010-11 school year

 VII.            Filling vacant board position

The meeting location is accessible to persons with disabilities.  A request for an interpreter for the hearing impaired or for other accommodations for persons with disabilities should be made at least 48 hours before the meeting to Andrea Hungerford at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it