12/16/14 Governance Council Meeting Minutes

/in /by

 21st Century Public Academy

Governance Council Meeting

 

Dec 16, 2014

 

Members Present: Virginia Trujillo, President

Chris Velasquez, Secretary

Lori Hagen, Member

Jim Freese, Member

Charles Lakins, Member

Guests: Mary Tarango, Principal

Rita Hirschy, Business Specialist

John Everette, Parent

Judy Bergs, APS Finance

 

Members Absent: Maxine Mora, Member

 

Meeting called to Order at 6:05 pm (by VP)

Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes

  • Review Nov 18, 2014 meeting minutes:

    • Correction to Charles Lakins, ‘VP,’ not ‘member’ in members present and correction to typo on ‘Free’ in Free and Reduced lunch” quote page 2

    • Motion to approve minutes as amended – Jim Freese

    • 2nd – Lori Hagen

    • Passed unanimously

Open Forum

  • School Reach Program Presentation – Ryan Brinton

    • ‘GoToMeeting’ presentation on the parent communication program features and capabilities.  Program able to send out voice, text, and/or email messages.  School Reach will provide training and tech service during the life of the program.  Can sort phone numbers by class, specific teachers, or other customizable features.  Fee is 12 months service from time of activation.

    • Discussion ensued about how much the program is, is it viable, how it compares to existing system.  Is there a cost for transition?  Current system is by Rediker, existing school information system, and contract renew date is June.  $695 for 12/mos for 270 students is cost for School Reach.  Current system is free with Rediker.  Put on agenda for next month to compare pricing.

School Finances (see Financial Agenda Packet attached – as of 30 November)

  • Financial Statements for Review submitted.  Expenditures report indicated that the Operational budget balance is in the black $200k, with approximately $120k set aside for payment on the debt.  Nothing out of the ordinary to report.

  • Bank Reconciliation Reports submitted for review.  Nothing out of the ordinary.

  • Payroll & Accounts Payable Disbursements submitted for approval.  Nothing out of the ordinary.

    • Motion to approve Accounts Payable disbursements – Jim Freese

    • 2nd – Lori Hagen

    • Passed Unanimously

  • Three (3) BARS submitted for approval and 1 Cash Balance Adjustment

    • 1 Maintenance Bar for General Fund

    • 4 Maintenance Bars for Support Services, Instruction Training Recruiting, Capital Outlay (SB-9 and HB-33)

    • 1 Transfer Bar in General Fund

    • Cash Balance Adjustment

    • Motion to approve BARS – Lori Hagen

    • 2nd – Jim Freese

    • Passed Unanimously

  • Two (2) Requests for Reimbursements submitted for review.  SB-9 Matching fund and IDEA-B.

Principal’s Report:

  • Mary Tarango submitted her report for the record, see attached for report.

  • Total enrollment is 248 students, up from 244 last month. 250 is goal.

  • Polar Express Community Night at Village Inn and School of Choice Fair went well.  Very successful.  Gave out all flyers.  Kids involved.  Parents involved.

  • Barnes n Noble Foundation Fundraiser went well.  Santa came!  Kids and Teachers involved.

  • Two (2) current vacancies in Staff – 6th Grade Science and 8th Language Arts.  Current 8th grade math teacher will teach 6th Grade Science starting next semester.  Potential for 8th grade math replacement is a 21st Century grad with Mechanical Engineering degree to fill in.  Plan for 8th Grade Language Arts is to have a retired National Board Certified teacher to come and teach Language Arts next semester.

  • Quality of Education Survey discussed

  • 10 questions from PED, 5 questions from APS, and 5 questions from 21st Century.

  • Mary requested a change to one of the 5 questions for next year.  Question will read, in part, “…OSI provides positive learning experience…” to replace the current OSI question.

  • Motion to approve the 5 quality of education questions for next year – Jim Freese

  • 2nd – Charles Lakins

  • Passed Unanimously

  • MAPs short cycle assessment data discussed

  • Math proficiency in 6th Grade exceeded Reading proficiency for 1st time since Mary has been Principal

  • “Math moment” is more focused this year to bring up math scores

New Business

  • Charles Lakins presented the issue with the PTA and the IRS.  IRS advised the PTA that $1900 was due for not filing a form in June 2013.  Charles is concerned that the Governance Council is in charge of subordinate organizations, which includes PTA and trouble with the IRS could expose the school and/or the principal as a non-voting member of the PTA.  Multiple Gov Council members indicated the PTA is a separate entity and is not governed by the Governance Council.  It is a separate organization with their own structure.  Concern is that the PTA pays for a number of functions in the school, it could be read the relation is changed due to these payments.  Multiple GC members read that differently, wherein the PTA simply donates funds, not specifically pays for services requested by the school.  Potential solution is for PTA not be part of the PTA national and state congress and under the umbrella of those two organizations.  Charles may discuss this with PTA at a future PTA meeting.

Next Meeting

  • 26 January set for next Council meeting.  6pm.

 

Motion to adjourn – Jim Freese

  • 2nd – Charles Lakins

  • Passed unanimously.

 

Meeting Adjourned at 9:19pm