Northfield School of Arts and Technology
School Board Monthly Meeting Minutes
February 9, 2012
6:30 pm
ARTech at 1719 Cannon Road, Northfield
1. Call meeting to order: 6:40 pm
2. Verify Quorum
Present: Evelyn Hoover, Anne Klawiter, Laura Stelter, Tim Goodwin, Tammy Prichard, Jan
Rowher, Jake Roberts, Janine Nelson, Sheri Acosta
Additionally present: Ryan Krominga, Rebecca McMullen, Olivia Paulson
3. Approve Agenda
Motion to approve: Sheri Acosta
Second: Jan Rowher
Motion passed: unanimous
4. Approve Minutes of January 12, 2012 and January 28, 2012
Motion to approve: Janine Nelson
Second: Jake Roberts
Motion passed: Unanimous
5. Approve Minutes of January 12, 2012 and January 28, 2012
Motion to approve: Evelyn Hoover
Second: Sheri Acosta
Motion passed: Unanimous
6. Speaker's Corner: This is an opportunity for community members to address the ARTech School Board on subjects related to the school. Please limit comments to three minutes.
7. Consent Agenda: Approve the following new policies and review of old policies:
609 – Religion Policy
609.1 – Religious Accommodation Policy
724 – School District General Records Retention Schedule
902.1 – Facility Neutrality and Equal Access for Student Non-Curricular Groups
902.2 – Facility Neutrality and Equal Access for Boys Scouts of America, Title 36, and Other Outside Youth and Community Groups
Motion to approve: Tim Goodwin
Second: Laura Stelter
Motion passed: Unanimous
8. Reports
(a) Directors Report
i. Ryan Krominga reported:
A. enrollment which has held steady at 120 students.
B. Curricular Initiatives: US History field trip to MN History Center; Participation in Guthrie Schools on Stage Project
C. Ryan will participate in the Cognitive Coach Training being offered by the Northfield School District for their administrative staff.
D. Staff had training with an expert in differentiation in teaching; staff used Qcomp staff development time reviewing course syllabi and definitions of role of advisor.
· Tami Prichard asked Ryan to update the board with some student highlights / projects as a part of his regular report to the board.
(b) Financial Report: Full minutes of Financial Committee meetings available at school main office
i. Janine Nelson updated the following
A. Auction fundraiser date will be April 14th
B. School finance award application is due February 29th; Food Audit is due February 21st
C. There are no concerns with board expenditures or cash flow. A revised budget will be presented at the March board meeting.
· Original line of credit and short-term line of credit have been approved. Will pull from these in April and May.
D. May need to review enrollment numbers in budget to compensate for PSEO students – Further information will be presented at the March meeting.
ii. Rebecca McMullen presented the results of the Audit
A. Fund 1:
· Started year with fund balance of $90,429, revenues of $1,497,819, expenditures of $1,403,434, and FY11 Fund Balance of $94,385.00
· This included removing $48,000 pre-paid lease amount from previous lease as an asset in the fund balance
· This current fund balance represents cash available for emergency expenditures
B. Fund 2 (Food Program)
· Started year with fund balance of $715, revenues of $35,641, expenditures of $33,828
· FY11 Fund Balance is $1,813
C. Findings:
· Financial Statement: None
· Minnesota Legal Compliance Unit: None
D. A copy of the audit is available at the school main office
(c) Chair Report:
A. Name discussion community meeting took place on February 7th. 17 people participated
B. School Business solutions will conduct two Saturday Charter Board training session this spring. They are looking for a location for this meeting to occur. ARTech will offer to host on April 21st.
C. Board policy review will occur with a few policies being reviewed each month. For the month of March board members were asked to review policies, 205, 206, 207, 208, 208.1, 209, 210.1, 211, 214. “Leave of Absence” policy will be crafted at next meeting.
D. Board members are invited to attend the National Charter School Conference June 19 – June 22.
E. Wednesday February 29th is Charter School Day at the state Capitol. Joe Pahr is in the process of setting up times to meet with elected representatives.
(d) Committee Reports: Minutes of all committee meeting available at school main office
i. Arts Committee:
A. Looking at 3 dates for visiting artists: March 16, April 5, April 20.
B. Flying Foot Forum dance residency is April 30, May 7 culminating with a performance will be May 10.
C. Oliver Twist will be performed April 27, 28, and May 4 & 5
D. Arts committee will focus their support of visual arts and music program helping to support the development of these programs through potential grant-writing. The arts committee feels that the performing arts is managed well and fluidly by Bob Gregory-Bjorklund and the literary arts are managed well by the language arts teachers.
(e) Student Report:
i. Olivia Paulson reported:
A. There has been a lot of conversation among the students about the name change. Olivia has tried to set meetings and open times to meet with students for students to meet with her but has not had much success getting organized conversation around this topic.
· Olivia plans to set times to meet with middle school students formally and continue informal conversations with high school students about the name change topic.
9. Discussion and Action Items:
(a) Contract Renewal
i. Dr. Richardson Visited the school on January 20th as part of sponsor oversight
ii. Charter renewal evaluation team visited the week of January 30th. Report will be sent to Northfield School Board by March 1st. The Evaluation team will present to the Northfield School Board on March 12th.
(b) Name Discussion:
i. Public meeting was February 7th. 17 individuals participated. Brainstormed adjectives that best answered questions about what they valued about the school and what they thought the school does best. Next step is to compile this data along with the online survey of the same. This data will be coded as descriptors of who the school is. From this potential names will be generated. These will then be presented to the community in an online survey to narrow the choices. The Board and staff will meet to decide on a name recommendation to the board at the April meeting.
(c) F1 Visa Status update
i. This is in process
(d) Fees for activities
i. Ryan presented that we have a need to charge fees for after school activities. Currently it is prohibitive to offer after-school activities as these programs are outside of current budgets.
ii. The board is not opposed to fees but research will be completed to determine if this requires a board policy to implement and what those fees might be if any.
10. Announcements:
(a) Open House – Sunday, February 12 at 2:00
(b) Early Release – February 16 & 21
(c) Presentation Night – March 1 at 6:30 pm
(d) High School Information Night – March 6 at 7:00 pm
(e) Next Board Meeting – March 8, 2012 at 6:30
11. Adjourn:
(a) Motion to approve: Janine Nelson
(b) Second: Evelyn Hoover
(c) Motion passed: unanimous
Respectfully Submitted: Tim Goodwin Secretary, 2/9/12
