ACS Board Mtg. Agenda
May 17, 2011 6:30 PM
Interested Parties: Rusty Wedemeyer, Paula Crosier, Michal Herrington, Lorna Sparks, Carie Aquino, Jacinda Wassam, Terry Wassam, Cindy Reickhoff, Debbie Church, Darla Lansing, Bill Lansing, Scott Young
Board Members Present: Jennifer Boatright, Sandy Wedemeyer, Adam Cormican, Josh Greer, Jim Kjar, Jon Church
· Opening: 30 min
o Open in prayer: Jim Kjar
o Secretary’s Report: Josh Greer
§ Grammatical Changes
§ Debbie Church: Correction, she did not recommend ending payment of lunches for teachers.
§ Motion: To approve with changes mentioned
· Jon Church
· Second: Sandy Wedemeyer
· Approved
o Treasurer Report: Jon
§ $1500 in tuition is still outstanding
· Some of this has been paid, but not yet deposited.
§ Started receiving money for books and tuition for 2012
§ Drama went over by $300
· very expensive to dry clean the loaned costumes
o Michal Herrington: but much cheaper than renting costumes
§ Prom
· broke even
§ Graduation
· Receipts still pending
§ Credit Card
· Claymen Enterprises - unknown transactions
o possibly for "Book It"
§ We are behind slightly from last year's available cash flow.
· Josh Greer: Is it possible to separate all funds between years so we can "close the books" for each year and find and ending balance to trend for future years
§ Internet filter is still pending
§ One Call Now - cheaper than budgeted.
§ Rent is off
· Original budget was for 89 students
§ Motion to approve
· Josh Greer
· Second: Adam Cormican
· Approved
o Principals Report: Michal/Deb
§ Current estimated student count for 2012 will be 89 students
§ Testing for some future students
§ Year end teachers meeting. Suggestions:
· Require parental contract annually
o expressed concern about families not going to church
o making sure we are always a family environment
o families committed to working on Tuesdays and Thursdays
· Require pastoral referral letter annually
· Bible Class: can homework be given
o Jennifer Boatright: What is the opinion of the academic committee?
§ Always recommended pass fail and no homework
§ Sandy Wedemeyer: You don't want to make it so that kids hate Bible.
· We did have curriculum at first and it wasn't desirable.
· Debbie Church: we have used different curriculum over the years. The hardest thing is avoiding issues with different denominations.
· Jennifer Boatright: Asking for clarification of what is being asked of the board.
· Michal Herrington: Felt that everyone was confused about the purpose of the Bible class.
· Sandy Wedemeyer: Worries about the extra weight on students if we require home work; especially on weekends.
· Jon Church: Feels that a little homework would be good, but not excessive.
· Terry Wassam: Is Bible and elective
o No
o It is a requirement, but does not show up on their transcript
· Paula Crosier: How do you have homework and tests that are objective and not "fluff". Would be difficult to grade.
o Jennifer Boatright: We talked about testimonies, and that could be part of their grade.
· Debbie Church: Part of the debate was requiring students to do something for the class outside of the classroom.
· Darla Lansing: Concerned that each teachers will differ in what they require, adding possibly a larger workload to their homework than expected
· Paula Crosier: Would at least like to see students be required to spend time reading the Bible on their own.
· Paula Crosier: Also feels that most people don't send their students to ACS to learn about the Bible but rather to support a Christian lifestyle that they are brought up in at home.
· Rusty Wedemeyer: Feels their might be concern that anything in the Bible is taught must align with Maplewood Church's doctrine.
· Jon Church: suggests that the only thing we require outside of class is reading minutes
· Debbie Church: Feels we should rather tell teachers that anything required outside of class, that it be a limited amount of time.
· Michal Herrington: One of the frustrations was teaching something specific in the Bible is difficult if the students don't read their scripture in advance. Catching them up, takes too much time.
· Bill Lansing: The purpose of the Bible class, should be spiritual change and growth.
· Jennifer Boatright: Likes the idea of assigning scripture to a student and asking for their interpretation is a valuable lesson.
· Internet protection
o What do we want protected from?
§ Debbie Church: So we don't have to worry about what our students are looking at
· Scott Young: We should always be worried.
§ Scott Young: Planning on taking all of the laptops home over the summer to clean.
§ Jacinda Wassam: When are the students allowed to get on the internet?
· Concerned that students are getting on facebook at school.
· The Wassams do not allow this at home, and is concerned that it is available at school.
§ Carie Aquino: Some personal equipment is being used to access the internet.
§ Scott Young: recommends that we establish what the purpose of the internet use is.
§ Darla Lansing: many different classes use the internet for research.
§ Jennifer Boatright: It sounds like we need to let the teachers know they need to be more aware of students activity.
§ Jennifer Boatright: need to let the teachers know that all students who use the computers need to sign the usage policy.
§ Scott Young: Recommends that a more robust internet policy be established.
§ Jacinda Wassam: Feels that the kids at ACS are not afraid of getting in trouble.
§ Debbie Church: Most students don't know when others are being reprimanded. It has the appearance that students are not being disciplined.
§ Carie Aquino: Has a child that doesn't feel like the teacher disciplining her was serious about the discipline.
· Electronic Policy
o Seniors had requested iPods and teachers agree that no electronics should be allowed.
· Teachers spots are not completely filled
o Waiting on responses from some candidates.
o Schedules are starting to be arranged for next year.
o Advanced Math I & II and Chemistry.
· Open Discussion: 30 min
o Parent Jobs
§ Discussed how the point system works, and how they are currently assigned.
§ Sandy Wedemeyer: Asked about requirement
· 3 points per family currently
§ Some positions were not filled
· 7 jobs remained unfilled through the year
o Jennifer Boatright: what was the severity of these jobs?
§ field trip planner
§ 5th grade room mom
§ sports reporter
§ events reporter
§ drama producer
§ costume coordinator
§ springs sports award coordinator
o Cindy Reickhoff: Nevels do maintenance of vacuum cleaner and is asking if that can be used for points.
§ Drives them to a location off site.
· Absorbs the cost of gas.
§ Keeps up with the paperwork.
o Lorna Sparks: Asking who makes the decision on what jobs can be added to the point system?
§ Jennifer Boatright: Should be the administration because they have the clearest view of the importance of the job.
o Lorna Sparks: Discussions on increasing the requirement or changing the values of requirements.
§ Most families fall in the average of 4-8 points.
§ Feels that families should have 6 points.
§ Jennifer Boatright: Some of the things that are worth a lot of points can't be "just done".
§ Jon Church: We need to be aware of single parents
· Suggests 3 points per parent.
§ Jon Church: The main thing this system was created for is to get all parents involved.
§ Terry Wassam: Feels that the results this year were very good and perhaps shouldn't be changed.
§ Jennifer Boatright: Feels that board members can communicate with the families they represent on the jobs these families are responsible for.
§ Carie Aquino: Feels we need to better match families to jobs. Parents may not know what they are signing up for.
· Lorna Sparks: Part of that is purposeful to integrate families with people they wouldn't otherwise be around.
§ Sandy Wedemeyer: Questions the senior parent job. There were no notes on how to be a senior parent. We need to encourage people to take notes and make them available to the next person.
§ Lorna Sparks: This is being requested, but we are not getting the results.
§ Carie Aquino: What happens to families that don't get their points.
§ Motion: to make the requirement of 3 points per parent
· Jon Church
· Josh Greer: Concerned that we will have to add jobs to make sure there are enough points available, and that will not fix the problem intended to fix.
· Paula Crosier: What about reducing the value of some jobs.
· Jon Church: Would like to retract the motion.
o Suggest we do a better job of holding parents more accountable.
o Motion Retracted.
· Scott Young: recommends that we mention at the kick off that 3 points are a minimum.
· Jennifer Boatright: suggests that people not stepping up have to come to the board.
· Scott Young: Suggests a possibility of raising tuition and working off the tuition with jobs
o Josh Greer: We already discussed in the past of not allowing people to buy out of family jobs.
§ Lorna Sparks: Some jobs require a mentoring year.
· Can we share points for these jobs?
o Jennifer Boatright: Split the points.
· Jennifer Boatright: We need to be more blunt in the bulletin.
§ Jennifer Boatright: At this point we are not going to change anything, but rather make people more accountable.
· Old Business: 35 min
o Maintenance Agreement: paid?
§ Jon Church: It has been paid
§ Total: $793.50
o Budget
§ Jon Church: Thanked Paula and Brent for their contributions to the committee.
§ Request from administration: 1.3 administrative assistants because of the extra use, but due to funds, it will not be available.
§ Average hourly pay: $7.80
· based upon a full time teacher
§ Jacinda Wassam: what if we ask each of the committees to contribute to the assistant's salary, since their activities are what are causing the extra work.
· Josh Greer: But these are requirements that we as a board have put on these committees.
§ Reductions in all area
· Fine arts competition
· Drama
o nothing put in the budget because it could be a self sustaining organization
§ we are currently in the hole with the recommended budget.
§ Last year we went over budget
· Started early
o $2000-$3000 extra
· Paying teachers for more things
§ Graduation
· Sandy Wedemeyer: Asking if the amount is based on students?
o Debbie Church: Was discussed that each senior is allotted $100.
§ Paula Crosier: That would be cost prohibitive.
· Paula Crosier: Feels that she as a parent needs to know how much the school is to provide.
· Josh Greer: We also need to designate in the budget what the school will be paying for in the budget, and what they are allowed to spend for whatever else.
§ If we raise tuition by $5
· $2298 in the black
· If kept the same, -$1,263.00 (red)
§ If we raise the family surcharge by $5
· $658 in the black
§ This budget doesn't account for an early week
§ Paula Crosier: Recommends investigating charging new families more and allowing existing families to grandfather in.
· Jon Church: would be a nightmare to manage
§ Cindy Reickhoff: If raising the surcharge would keep us from fund raising, she is for it.
§ Jon Church: an error was found in the proposed budget
· causes and additional $1800 in the red
o $3062.00 in the red (if we don't raise tuition)
o Raising the tuition by $5 would keep us in the black
o Raising the surcharge by $5 we still keep us in the red
§ Debbie Church: Starting early last year was to add days and keep the semester to end at Christmas break.
· The proposed calendar (within budget) is not that much different.
· Sandy Wedemeyer: We used to have around 99 days.
o Did not have so many out of school days for various competitions.
· Jennifer Boatright: How do the teachers feel about 94 days
o Debbie Church: They are all for it.
§ If we add an additional week, it would put us about normal
· Motion: to adopt the new calendar, starting at September 7
o Jim Kjar
o Second: Jon Church
o Approved
o (new calendar presented)
§ Jennifer Boatright: Do we approve the budget in the hole, or do we back track on our previous statement and raise tuition?
· Jim Kjar: Can we do it on a volunteer basis and have them make up the difference with a fund raiser?
· Cindy Reickhoff: What if rent goes up due to energy costs?
o Rusty Wedemeyer: The church would have already talked to the board if that were the case.
· Adam Cormican: What if we raise the surcharge to $10?
o This would put us in the black by $700.
o Jennifer Boatright: how many families only have 1 child?
· Josh Greer: Is against raising any costs after families have already committed to the school as a parent and as a teacher. It not responsible to discuss this now. It should have been done in advance, and we should have a plan for years to come.
· Carie Aquino: Feels that some families are already too tight to be raising it now. The scholarship fund is a band aid. The charge will still need to happen.
· How much cushion do we have?
o Current balance of $44000
§ Some designated funds
o Cash Flow: $25,000
o Cushion amount is: $20,000
· Adam Cormican: Feels we need to raise tuition in the future and not this year.
· Paula Crosier: What oversight does the board have with the family club, with regard to their fund-raising?
· Scott Young: Is the family club an entity on their own?
o Jon Church: They are under the umbrella of ACS.
· Scott Young: Feels we should raise the tuition by a percentage annually.
o Jennifer Boatright: Agrees, but feels that expenses may go up.
· Scott Young: Feels we also need to upgrade computers which is a large expense.
· Paula Crosier: we need to do a better job of presenting the reality to parents.
· Motion: to meet the dire need, would propose to raise the family surcharge by $5
o Jon Church
o Second:
§ Motion not seconded.
§ Motion Abandoned.
· Motion - Keep tuition at its current level and present to the parents the dire need
o Adam Cormican
o Jim Kjar: Can we add an optional line on the bill for budget shortfall to make families aware?
o Second: Sandy Wedemeyer
o Approved
o Jennifer Boatright: is everyone ok with adding the shortfall to the coupon slips?
o Carie Aquino: When we have optional payments on the coupons, are we able to add payments at different intervals?
· Motion: Petition the family club of the 50% of the budgeted short fall.
o Josh Greer
o Second: Adam Cormican
o Cindy Reickhoff: Can we wait until after the fund raiser results?
o Jim Kjar: Feels we should wait until later so we know how the year will progress.
o Results:
§ 2 yes
§ 3 no
§ Motion Denied
o Jon Church: Who will explain the drama results to Dharma
§ Jennifer Boatright
§ Debbie Church: She has already been working on becoming a self sustaining entity.
o Sandy Wedemeyer: Who will inform the families of the budget shortfall
§ Michal Herrington: Feels a town hall would be a good place for this
§ Could be moderated by: Jon Church and Jim Kjar
§ Suggested date
· Tentatively August 23 @ 6:30, pending further discussion.
· Add a note to explain the financial issues to the grade card packets, including the details of the town hall meeting. The meeting will discuss how much tuition should go up in the future.
o Jennifer Boatright: We asked the budget committee to wait until after the teacher commitment forms were returned so they could better estimate a budget in a more timely manner. (The context of this comment was regarding why we waited on the budget process until now)
· New Business: 40 min
o Sandy Wedemeyer
§ Tonight will be Sandy's last meeting.
§ Has been on the board for 14 years.
§ The board thanks Sandy for her service.
o Athletics Committee
§ summer games
§ using ACS name
§ playing non-Christian schools
§ sports calendar-putting certain dates for sports to occur
§ Tournaments
§ Jennifer Boatright: We do not want to decide on all of these things because they should be decided on by the Athletic Committee.
· Insurance will be an issue because of the number of events the dates are used.
· If activities in the summer are used, it could affect the number of games we can have during the year, due to the lease requirements.
· We are awaiting some numbers from Maplewood.
· Rusty Wedemeyer: ACS pays for the building from August to May. Anything used in the summer would be charged extra.
o Summer camps are included in this extra time frame.
· Jennifer Boatright: If a team uses the ACS name in the summer, how does the board feel about this?
o Rusty Wedemeyer: Most summer leagues do not use the school's name.
o Adam Cormican: Why would they want to use the school's name?
o Jim Kjar: If we consent to them using the ACS name, if an issue occurred, we could be more visible to a law suit.
o Thom Crosier: Could be beneficial for the purpose of scheduling.
o Josh Greer: I'm not avidly against using the name, but it just doesn't make sense. They will not be using the school resources or finances, so their would be no benefit.
o Jennifer Boatright: Seems to be the board's general consensus that summer groups will not use the ACS name.
· Calendar
o Terry Wassam: Feels that the board should enforce a deadline when a sports calendar was to be established.
o Jennifer Boatright: Soccer and basketball overlap, but the soccer coach allowed leniency.
§ A week in between volleyball and basketball.
o Jennifer Boatright: What do we want the athletic committee to develop?
o Jon Church: Doesn't want to mandate to the athletic committee a calendar, but let them know we don't want to overwhelm our kids.
o Jennifer Boatright: From the boards perspective, we would recommend that seasons do not overlap.
· Tournaments
o The board previously said
§ Each sport can have 1 tournament where they are allowed to miss 1 academic day. The number of tournaments are not explicitly restricted otherwise.
o Early outs (of class days)
§ Darla Lansing: Sometimes this can't be avoided because of lighting.
§ Adam Cormican: We had not previously established any requirements on early outs.
o Parental agreements:
§ How to enforce?
§ Do we require every year?
§ What do we want the Administration to do if they fail to meet the obligation of the parental agreement?
§ Debbie Church: Feels that the board should handle infractions.
§ Josh Greer: The administration and teachers recognize the issue, and refer the issue to the board. The board then will decide how to handle each issue.
o Pastor referral
§ Jim Kjar: Feels that we could ask for a referral only if an issue occurs.
· Paula Crosier: Feels that we will miss people who are not attending church.
§ Discussions of requiring a canned form annually that shows the family still attends church regularly.
o Dress code when representing ACS
§ Issues with students going to events outside of the ACS campus, students may dress differently.
§ Jon Church: How does the prom fit into this?
· This is not a public event.
§ A discussion about "school sanctioned event"
· Examples:
o CAC
o Graduation
o Awards night
§ Cindy Reickhoff: Is ok with whatever decision, but some of the items that ACS doesn't allow, she would allow her kids to wear to church.
§ Jennifer Boatright: Discussed examples of items when students attend public event and representing ACS.
· Strapless dresses.
· Too short of skirt.
§ Carie Aquino: Discussed examples of girls at graduation wearing dresses that were too short. Wonders why parents allow this when they wouldn't allow it during school.
· Paula Crosier: Some of the students were there as guests.
· Carie Aquino: But you are still an ACS student representing the school.
· Paula Crosier: Discussed issues with various parents allowing or not allowing certain activities at home.
· Sandy Wedemeyer: If we see infractions, and are not saying anything, the onus is on us.
· Jenifer Boatright: Heard more comments about students at kindergarten graduation because students spoke.
· Jennifer Boatright: It sounds like they need to follow the school policy if:
o They are going to speak.
o Attending an offsite location representing the school.
· Jacinda Wassam: If needs to come from the administration telling them they need to leave and come back when they can abide the policy.
· Jennifer Boatright: Reiterated the policy approved in June 2008.
· Jennifer Boatright: We need to let our parents know that they need to make sure their children abide by the policy. Is concerned about a parent telling another parent's child that they were dressed inappropriately when they were speaking for fear of damaging their self-esteem.
· Carie Aquino: But feels that if the student is already in public dressed against the policy.
o Telling the parents at that point is too late.
o Expressed that some of what we are seeing can be seen in public school.
o Questions what her family is paying for.
o Feels the standards are slipping.
· Jacinda Wassam : Reiterated the question of what we are paying for.
o The standard has slipped.
· Sandy Wedemeyer: Asked both families what they would like the board to do?
o Jacinda Wassam: Agrees that not all families are approachable.
o Jacinda Wassam: It is not just about the dress code. There is a lack of respect that is not enforced.
o Jennifer Boatright: It could go back to parental agreement and church attendance.
· Cindy Reickhoff: Did not know any of the parents had problems but will make sure her child will not wear similar outfits to events to avoid offending other families in the future.
· Paula Crosier: Expressed disagreement that skirts and shorts have to run past the fingertips. Is an issue for girls with long arms.
o Jennifer Boatright: Reiterated that the policy defines where on the thigh the outfit lies.
· Jim Kjar: Discussed issues with dresses at the prom.
o Jennifer Boatright: but that is not a public event.
o Carie Aquino: But feels that it is still an issue. Doesn't want to have to make the decision as a parent because it singles her child out.
· Carie Aquino: To answer Sandy's question, she is looking for a standard to be set and one that is enforced.
o Sandy Wedemeyer: the standard is already set, but is not enforced.
o Carie Aquino: But most people in this room don't have a clear understanding the policy.
· Jon Church: Is everyone OK with the Administration, a Teacher, or a board member telling a student or parent that they need to resolve a situation?
o Jennifer Boatright: We don't want to change the policy, but let everyone know what the policy includes all ACS sanctioned events.
o Jennifer Boatright: Society is dictating what level we have to define most of this topic.
o Jennifer Boatright: Wants issues to be addressed to the parent of a child in question. If the parent doesn't agree, it should be taken to an administration.
· Jim Kjar: Feels that the parent job managing the prom needs to be removed if it is not a school sanctioned event.
o Paula Crosier: Feels that it could get out of control if the board does not get involved.
o Jim Kjar: Then they should abide by the standard policy.
o Paula Crosier: Feels there should be a "formal policy".
o Jennifer Boatright: Apply the dress code to the prom, and make exceptions and specific instructions for what is appropriate. This discussions should be agreed upon by the parents arranging the event.
o Jenifer Boatright: If they can't agree, they need to come to the board and explain the issues.
o Lease agreement
§ Current agreement includes the second week of August and will go through the month of May.
§ Use outside of this time frame will cost $10 per hour.
o Prom
§ Issues
· Clean up.
· Who can come.
· Does board want oversight/report on theme etc?
§ Paula Crosier: As many things in ACS are based on tradition, to avoid confusion, processes should be documented.
§ Darla Lansing: Had to ask questions about cleanup, and Junior families are required. A parent called at the last minute and mentioned that they were not coming to the event.
§ Jennifer Boatright: We need to develop some sort of deterrent.
· A fee was suggested. Pay a fee up front that will not be reimbursed if they don't show up or fail to do the job.
§ Thom Crosier: Knows about these details and this is not an isolated event. This family needs to be dealt with.
· Jennifer Boatright: The board may not be aware of the details.
§ Darla Lansing: Is concerned that there will be no annual consistency without a board recommendation.
· Jennifer Boatright: Write down suggested processes to pass down to each year's committee.
§ Jennifer Boatright: Does the board want oversight for future prom processes?
· General consensus says no.
· Recommends to the committee to established guidelines for future.
· Next meeting:
o June 20 @ 6:30
· Adjourn:
o Motion to adjourn
§ Jon Church
§ Second: Josh Greer
§ Approved.