August 25, 2011 School Board Minutes

Northfield School of Arts and Technology

1719 Cannon Road, Northfield

School Board Meeting Minutes

 August 25, 2011

 1.       Call meeting to order at 6:40

 2.       Verify Quorum, in attendance: Janine Nelson, Evelyn Hoover, Jan Rohwer, Maria Musachio, Tim Goodwin, Lisa Malecha. Also attending: Ryan Krominga, Director.

 3.       Motion to approve Agenda: Lisa Malecha, second: Evelyn Hoover, approved unanimously.

 4.       Motion to approve Minutes of August 11, 2011: Janine Nelson, second: Lisa Malecha, approved unanimously.

 5.       Speaker's Corner:  No speakers

 6.       Consent Agenda:  None

 7.       Reports

(a)    Financial Report, Janine Nelson: No written financial report at this time. The committee reviewed expenditures and revenues and found no unexpected numbers. Employee contracts for new employees were signed. The committee discussed creating a succession plan for the business manager position should there be an unforeseen crisis.

(b)    Director Report, Ryan Krominga: ARTech's Annual report is being written. State test scores are needed from the state in order to complete the report. See Director's Report, attached.

(c)    Chair Report:  None

(d)    Committee Reports: None

(e)    Student Report:  None

 8.       Discussion and Action Items:

(a)    Second reading of board term bylaws change, motion to approve the new language in the bylaws regarding "length of term" for board members: Lisa Malecha, second Tim Goodwin, approved unanimously.

(b)    Approve contract for new employee Ryan Trotman/Paraprofessional, motion to approve the contract: Tim Goodwin, second Evelyn Hoover, approved unanimously.

(c)    Approve Student Handbook, tabled until September Board meeting.

 9.       Announcements:

(a)    Family Picnic – Thursday, September 1 at Seclar Park

(b)    First Day of School – September 6

(c)    Next Board Meeting – September 15 (note change)

 10.    Motion to adjourn: Janine Nelson, second Evelyn Hoover. Meeting adjourned at 7:20pm.

 

Director Report

August 25^th, 2011

i.         Enrollment and Waiting List

Grade	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Total
Enrollment	12	22	17	12	20	27	13	Middle School: 51 (3 Spots) High School: 72 (Full) ** All School: 123 ***
Waiting List	0	0	0	0	3	3	2	8

                                    

** We have two students that are scheduled to be full-time PSEO, and 6+ students who are scheduled to be part-time PSEO.

                ***  We have two 5^th year seniors that are not included in these student numbers.

ii.       Curricular Initiatives

·        Staff Workdays begin on August 25^th, 2011

·        Staff are examining the MN Education Standards and comparing them with the courses we offer and the projects students have done.  The goal is to create one master document for the school and for the charter renewal process.

·        We are currently reviewing the student handbook and the middle school & high school curriculum guides.  We are planning to combine them to create a middle school and high school handbooks that include all of the school policies and procedures as well as the curriculum information.

iii.      Staffing updates

·                    We offered a contract to Lindsey Nibbe, recent graduate from UW Riverfalls.  She is licensed in mathematics, 5^th grade through 12^th grade.

·                    We posted the Spanish position, but have not had any applicants.

·                    I’ve been working on the employee benefits guide and the school board policies that pertain to staff to create an updated employee handbook.

iv.     Building Status

·        Framing has become on the building.

·        Construction is scheduling to be completed by mid-October.

·        The shell of the new addition will be constructed prior to the start of school, as well as the Great Room framing and sheetrock

·        The bathroom toilets have been replaced.

·        We will be setting up a plan with Northfield Construction for where they can be during the school day and where students can be.

v.       External Relations

·        Met with Dr. Richardson to introduce myself and discuss the upcoming renewal process with our authorizer, the Northfield School District.

·        Met with Tom Graupmann to introduce myself and discuss shared activities between Northfield School District and ARTech.

o       Sent out an email to parent today to request information from anyone interested in extra-curriculars.

·        Met with the landlord to discuss school finance changes with the new legislation adopted for this fiscal year and beyond.

·        E-mailed Susie Rook with the Northfield News to request an article about our building expansion.  This is later than originally planned because we’ve been waiting for visible progress with the building construction.

·        Received information from the Star Tribune about the Back-to-School issue.

vi.     Professional Development

·        Staff has been working on the comparison of the Minnesota Standards and their own curriculum.

vii.    Charter School Renewal

·        Dr. Richardson would like us to complete our self-study during the fall and find our evaluation team.

·        He discussed having our evaluation team come in January or February 2012, with them reporting to the Northfield School District possibly at one of the March 2012 meetings.

·        I said we would be pursuing a 5 year contract and he was happy to hear that.

·        With the new laws for authorizers, we discussed their need to monitor our school more often.