ACS Board Meeting Minutes
Nov 15, 2011 6:30 pm
Board Present: Jennifer Boatright, Josh Greer, Jim Kjar, Jon Church, Michal Herrington
Interested Parties: Leo & Kathryn Porter, Sal Aquino, Carie Aquino, Jacinda Wassam, Lisa Cloud, Debbie Church, Cindy Rieckhoff
Opening: 45 min
· Open in prayer: Michal Herrington
· Secretary’s Report: Josh Greer
o Grammatical Corrections
o Motion: to approve with grammatical changes.
§ Jon Church
§ Second: Michal Herrington
§ Approved
· Treasurer Report: Jim Kjar
o Currently under budget on salary
§ Michal Herrington: Do we know why?
§ Jennifer Boatright: Maybe we budgeted for more teachers than we currently have. (Some combined classes).
§ Unknown bill on credit card.
· Josh Greer: Possibly for athletic awards banquet items.
§ Fund Raiser
· close to $10,000 donated.
§ Discussion on interest earned and now shown on the balance sheet.
§ Discussions on text books. Over budget.
· Was not budgeted last year.
· Discussions on whether it should be in its own account.
· Budget showed income for the book fund.
o Motion to approve
§ Jon Church
§ Second: Michal Herrington
§ Approved
· Principals Report: Deb/Gaye
o Loose steps found on the fire exit. Now fixed.
o College Planning Night
§ Attendance very poor
§ Suggestions:
· Jennifer Boatright: Thought that only seniors need to go.
· Jennifer Boatright: It's hard to know why you need to come every year. It is great information, but much of it is the same information that may have already been heard.
· Michal Herrington: But the information could change drastically every year.
· Jon Church: Does he talk about scholarships that are available locally?
o Jennifer Boatright: He gives web sites that can be used.
o Jon Church: Perhaps if he talks about local scholarships, it would offer incentives for students to attend.
· Paula Crosier: Maybe if it were scheduled between seasons attendance would be greater.
· Michal Herrington: Maybe ask him to give instruction on how to write a scholarship essay.
· Jacinda Wassam: Had been through it 4 times and didn't feel they needed it again.
· Kathryn Porter: Is starting to put in place things they learned last year.
· Gaye Hiller: We now have a Missouri Connections account (online resource).
· Debbie Church: Perhaps we should just focus on Freshman and Sophomore students.
o Jennifer Boatright: Or kids that haven't been through it before.
· Michal Herrington: Gave an example that this year's instruction meant more to one of her children than last year.
o Feast Day
§ Based numbers, plan on feeding 300 people (at 235 now).
§ Jon Church: Suggests doing something different regarding the finances. We came up short last year.
· Need something easier to remind people to give to support the meal.
o Leo Porter: Senior skip day that is planned
§ As far as the administration is concerned, will they get zeros for the day?
· Debbie Church: Yes
· This is not something that the school condones.
· Debbie Church: Very few seniors are here full time all year anyhow, so feels it is not needed.
· Debbie Church: Could have teachers sitting with no class.
· Gaye Hiller: Should we talk to seniors?
o Debbie Church: Yes, it will be discussed tomorrow.
· Family Club: Jacinda/Carie
o Beginning balance: $4,967.83
o Deposits $11,907.41
o Ending balance $7,101.14
o Computer donated by family club.
o Scrip cards
§ Profit from the beginning $1,814.
§ $719 this year.
§ Goal: $9000
§ Typically $4,000-$5,000 annually.
§ Potentially $23,000 could be earned.
§ Paula Crosier: Suggests putting reminders on the door at school.
§ Jennifer Boatright: Remind people that we have some supplies on hand.
o Concession stands
§ Less income this year.
§ Less home games.
§ Not full load of games each night.
§ Teams were not told not to bring coolers for tournaments.
· Senior Report: Paula Crosier
o Balance over $2,000
o Started the year with $450
§ Juniors earned money last year.
o Profit: Roughly 50%
o Participation is down about 17% this year.
o First and Third Fridays, adding pizza as a supplement to their funds.
o Will be meeting to discuss the destination.
o Debbie Church: Do we feel the price increase has caused the reduction?
§ Yes
§ Paula Crosier: Agreed, but had to raise price due to increased costs.
o Michal Herrington: What is the goal?
§ Paula Crosier: Generally make between $3000-$4000 each year.
§ Michal Herrington: So we are currently ahead?
Open Discussion: 30 min
o Teacher's meeting discussion - What is our goal as a school?
§ Homeschool/private/etc.
§ Jon Church: Was this discussion out of frustration?
§ Discussion on what we can require parents to do at home
· Jennifer Boatright: Their grade should be the requirement. If parents aren't pulling their weight, the grade will reflect it and they may not be allowed to return.
· Jennifer Boatright: Feels that when people return their commitment letter in February, we address red flags at that time.
§ Paula Crosier: Asked about pastor letters. Knows of a student that claims not to be attending church.
· Debbie Church: Have looked at the forms and is not aware of this student. Does acknowledge that some results were "sporadic attendance".
§ Jennifer Boatright: Discuss the direction of the school.
· Paula Crosier: Discussed the reputation of the school.
o Some mentioned that the public feels we take the students that can't succeed anywhere else.
· Paula Crosier: Can we continue to accommodate students with learning disabilities.
· Jon Kjar: Are the parents more involved as their kids have been here longer?
o Debbie Church: Some
§ Gaye Hiller: How do we suggest to teachers to deal with parents that aren't doing the work at home.
· Gaye Hiller: Teacher's feel the burden is put on them to pick up the slack.
· Gaye Hiller: Suggests giving people a checklist of things that should be done at home.
· Gaye Hiller: Feels some of the problem is from new families that have no idea what the requirements.
· Leo Porter: If his student is behind, would like a phone call when there is a problem.
· Cindy Rieckhoff: When they started they were more proactive and sought the teachers out. Will we be doing an injustice by "babying" families.
· Carie Aquino
o When they came on, they were told that ACS and families should be a match for each other.
o A lot of assumptions are made on both sides: from the school and the family about approachability and attitudes.
§ Families have already agreed to these things and we shouldn't have to remind families.
o Some of her kids come home and feel they are not being taught in some classes.
o Lack of communication
§ Personally would have a town hall meeting every month.
· Josh Greer: We have board meetings monthly and people don't attend those.
o Carie Aquino: Feels that board meetings can be intimidating.
§ Gaye Hiller: So do you feel parents aren't been given enough information about the school.
· Talked about all of the opportunities to communicate with families.
§ Michal Herrington: but how would you make it different? It is what it is.
· Carie Aquino: Need's a parent liaison to deal with parents and issues that come up.
§ Jim Kjar: Feels that we may only be talking about a handful of families that are not pulling their weight. Gather the families from the teachers and have the administration talk with the families. If nothing changes, they should come to the board and discuss why they should be allowed to return.
o Debbie Church: We have "run the pendulum" on how to deal with issues regarding parents. We need some direction.
§ Are we a parent cooperative?
§ Jon Church: Either way we go, we are going to find people that do not fit?
§ Debbie Church: but what are we?
§ Jon Church: A home-school environment
§ Jennifer Boatright: How do you deal with a student that is doing well, but the parents are failing.
§ Leo Porter: Those parents still need to be made aware. Let them know what we expect from them. If changes aren't made, we may not allow their student to return.
· Jennifer Boatright: We have attempted that. The student has stepped it up, and the parents still fail.
· Josh Greer: As has been said before, we can not and are not a sanctuary. It is unfair, but we are a home school cooperative and it requires more than a student that wants to achieve.
· Leo Porter: Agrees and is not saying that it is easy, but when we have parents that are not abiding by the same rules as everyone else, it is to the demise of the school.
§ Jim Kjar: Feels in the time he has been on the board, we have not made the hard decisions to ask a family to leave.
· Jennifer Boatright: We have.
· Jennifer Boatright: Now is a hard time to make these decision......talked about the process of re-evaluations in the spring
· Michal Herrington: Setup some guidelines for families and probation. Give them some guidelines for success.
o Even if only for grading papers.
· Gaye Hiller: Part of the problem was a parent that was distressed that they only first heard of an issue at parent teacher conference.
· Jennifer Boatright: Perhaps teachers should be more in contact with parents before the conference.
o Debbie Church: But so early in the year, the teacher may not know: New teachers, new students, etc.
§ Carie Aquino: We have to set a standard and require families to abide.
· The standards have expanded and changed:
o Special needs students
o Class size
§ Jennifer Boatright: Asks administration to try to get a list of the families that are not pulling their weight. Remain in contact with these families and let us know when we as a board need to get involved.
· Jon Church: we need to reiterate that this school is not a perfect fit for everyone.
· Jennifer Boatright: The goal for us is not to provide everything for everyone but rather allow us to only be half of the equation.
§ Leo Porter: If it were a private school, the students would be here 5 days a week. But they aren't, and the parents need to fill in the gaps.
§ Kathryn Porter: Likes the idea of an action plan to resolve some of these issues to allow teachers the understanding that they don't have to do everything.
§ Michal Herrington: Talked about how during the interview process we could ask about how involved they currently are with their child's education. If they are not at that point, they may not be a good fit for the school. We need to do a better job during the interview process.
Old Business: 30 min
· IRS
o Vicky Hartlzer responded to our letter regarding assistance in getting our 501(c)3 status back
o Jennifer Boatright: Explained the story to those who have not yet heard.
New Business: 30 min
· Fund Raising Dinner
o Michal Herrington: do not have all of the figures yet.
o 250-255 in attendance.
o $7,500 in donations (outside of corporate donations).
o close to $10,000 given in all.
o Many compliments on how well the event went.
o Discussions on the room constraints. Some people were uncomfortable.
§ Not spaced evenly from the front to the back.
o Paula Crosier: Any comments about the caterer? Feels the caterer was "nasty" with some of the students.
§ Michal Herrington: Was not aware of this but would have dealt with the issue had she been made aware of it.
§ Jennifer Boatright: Was the concern that our students were misbehaving?
· Paula Crosier: Yes
§ Jon Church: The students and the parents should know to contact Michal if there are issues.
o Jon Church: talked to one of his guests about the caterer.
§ Felt the food was OK, but that's not the point. Using a caterer allows the families to be more involved with the process. Comments were positive.
Next meeting:
Dec 12th 6:30
Adjourn:
Motion: To adjourn
Josh Greer
Second: Jon Church
Approved