Past Minutes

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Board Meeting Minutes
February 26, 2007

Board Members absent marked with *:    
Richard Hess (Chair)
Jon Hokanson
Mark Lokhorst (Treasurer)
Henrik Lyder
Patti Quinn
Bob Ruud (Secretary)
Deana Siekmann*
Liesl Taylor
Alicia Williams
Beth Wilson
Sherry Wolfe

Non-Members Present: Randi Shapiro

Parent Forum: No non-board parents were present.

Meeting called to order by Richard at 6:25 PM.

Minutes from the January meeting were read. Beth made a motion to accept the minutes. Alicia seconded. All approved.

Governance:

Board Member Manuals: Richard presented a draft of the introduction to the Board Member Manual. Members are invited to give feedback to Richard on the wording.

Finance: Randi summarized the current financial documents, and reviewed current reports.

Randi also distributed a draft 07-08 Budget (attached) and pointed out some features. The budget will be ready to submit for the board’s approval in March.

Enrollment: Current enrollment is as follows:    

Grant Writing: No new information.

Fundraising: No report.

Personnel: Bob brought in three proposals:

Sponsorship: The current wording of the school’s policy on Sponsorship for Montessori Training limits the sponsorship to current employees of the school. The proposal was to extend the search for recipients of the sponsorship outside of the current school staff. There was no policy proposal language passed, but the board stated its support of the idea of offering the sponsorship to qualified candidates who are not employees of WLS, if: 1) the school has a need to sponsor a person for a current or future staffing need; 2) the sponsorship is offered to current employees but A) no current, qualified employee comes forward to apply for a sponsorship, or B) of current employees who do apply, none is selected by the sponsorship selection team; and 3) the selection process for sponsorship of a person who is not a staff member be conducted with the same rigor that would be used in the hiring of a full time teacher, since the expectation (though not the guarantee) is that the person being sponsored will become a full-time teacher at WLS. The board wished the administration of the school to note that a person being sponsored from outside the school may or may not be available to work at the school until a position is available for them. Administration should provide some framework for the person being sponsored to spend as much time at the school as possible (e.g. as an assistant, a substitute teacher, an observer, etc.), becoming familiar with the children, the staff, and the spirit of the school.

Bob will work on the wording of the policy and resubmit it at the next meeting.

Mileage: There was a proposal to more clearly define activities for which mileage is reimbursed by the school (attached). Jon made a motion to accept the proposal as stated. Patti seconded.

Compensation for Non-Exempt Employees in Extended Activities: Several questions arose regarding the policy proposal (attached) as it is worded:

    Is there an impact on the school’s liability?

    Is it an infringement of wage and hour law?

Randi will check with a legal authority to answer these questions.

Curriculum/Programs: Summer School: Bob noted upcoming conferences, and the schedule for administration of tests: Stanford Achievement Test (week of April 9): MCA (April 25, 26, 30, and May 1): and GAT (late May).

Building Company: No report.

Building Project: Bob proposed that the school engage a professional financial advisor to do a feasibility study of the building project, in order to accurately estimate. It was decided to table this proposal until the next meeting.

OSHA: No report.

Technology: No report.

Communication/Hospitality/Volunteers: No report.

Facilities: The Fire Marshall inspected the building on February 14. Some recommendations were made, but the general fire safety condition of the building is satisfactory.

The Special Education audit was conducted recently, with strong passage, thanks mainly to the excellent work of Deana Siekmann, WLS Special Education Teacher.

Calendar Review: Upcoming events were confirmed.

Confirmation of date and time of next meeting: March 19, 2007.

Patti made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Mark seconded. All approved.

Respectfully submitted by Bob Ruud, Board Secretary. These minutes are distributed electronically to board members who have email, on paper to those who don’t. A paper copy is filed in the master file in Bob’s office. A copy is also available in the WLS office.

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