Applewood Christian School

Welcome to Applewood Christian School Sign in | Join | Help
in Search

School Board Minutes

  • General Session Minutes 5/14/2012

    ACS Board Meeting Minutes

    May 14, 2012 6:30 pm

     

    Board Present: Jennifer Boatright, Michal Herrington, Carlos Leon, Jon Church, Sal Aquino

     

    Interested Parties: Debbie Church, Cindy Rieckhoff, Jacinda Wassam, Jacqui Sims, Jamie Patton, Monica Farr, Mindy Rehmer, Kelley Bergman

     

    Opening: 45 min

     

    ·       Open in prayer:                      Carlos Leon

    ·       Teacher Testimonies:             Monica Farr (High School Psychology, A&P)

    Mindy Rehmer (Elementary, afternoons)*

    Jamie Patton (Physical Education)

     

    *Mindy is also the Family Club treasurer.  Before leaving she gave an informal report.  Discussion of Scrip cards and their profitability - $3100 earned since March of 2011.  Goal is $100 per family.

    ·       StuCo impromptu report:      Jacqui Sims, newly elected President

     

    Officers for school year 2012-13 are:                        Jacqui Sims, President

                                                                            Meredith Crosier, Vice-President

                                                                            Miranda Crosier, Secretary

                                                                            Allison Cormican, Treasurer

                                                                            Emalea Rieckhoff, Sentinel

                                                                            Erin Cloud, Sentinel

    They are currently working on a mission statement.

     

    ·       Secretary’s Report:     Michal Herrington

     

    Minutes from April 23, 2012

    o   Motion to approve minutes

    §  Jon Church

    §  Second:  Sal Aquino

    §  Approved

     

     

    ·       Treasurer’s Report:    Jon Church

     

    o   Question regarding Boston group (8th grade) having a separate bank account.  Advantage is debit card; no problems.

    o   Transition from Jon Church to Jim Kjar and back to Jon Church; changes in how items are entered into the accounting program, specifically tuition payments, created a lack of information; will re-enter information for past month.

    o   Year-end totals will appear on July statement

    o   Question regarding funds spent on Kindergarten graduation; over budget by $15.56; Family Club may cover.  Overage not surprising considering they provide refreshments for all students and families attending, including those in higher grades who are part of the program.

    o   Question regarding drama; production made $600+; no problems.

    o   Question regarding Senior Graduation; checks written were put in wrong line item; should have been prom.  Jon will change.

    o   Discussion regarding Mission fund (Costa Rica trip) line item; will receive another $100 from Maplewood church and $500 from Family Club.  Everything has been paid and they are buying supplies which they will take with them for ministry.

     

    o   Motion to approve report

    §  Carlos Leon

    §  Second: Michal Herrington

    §  Approved

     

    ·       Principal’s Report:      Debbie Church

    o   Teachers - Recognized those leaving ACS with a card shower and student comments.

    o   Teachers:

    New - Jamie Patton, Mindy Rehmer, Monica Farr, Dale Tankersley (returning)

    Possible - Leyana Anderson, Stephanie Bass

    Awaiting applications – Brian Sadler, Lisa Conroy

    Requested application – Megan Dunn

     

    o   Drama Production – great success

    o   Graduations – both went well

    o   End of year – went smoothly; changing clean-up to last day of school seemed agreeable to all; would like feedback

    o   Book turn-in and grade cards – this Friday (5/18)

    o   Pool party – scheduled for July 31st

    o   2012-13 school and sport calendars on the web site

    CR/We now have enough interest in JH girls’ volleyball; just need a coach

    o   New students –

    Scheduling Kindergarten screenings and testing two others

    Waiting to hear from Scholarship Committee regarding two families

    Waiting on information from two families

     

     

     

     

     

     

    • Athletic Report:  Cindy Rieckhoff

    o   Presented balance sheet for all programs

    o   Volleyball camp – (question re: date) June 26-29; 8:30-4:30; Gaye Hiller directing

    o   In process of scheduling sport physical date w/Dr. Allcorn & Dr. Drenon

    o   May have additional income from Family Club concessions (10% donation)

    o   Next meeting, 7/31 @ pool party

    o   Next report to Board – August

     

     

    ·       Open Discussion

    Nothing to report

     

     

    ·       Old Business

    o   Dress Code – DC/Regarding girls at graduation, seniors included; no shrugs worn.  What is my role?

    JB/ Just remember to remind students beforehand; also may want to use One-call to remind before any event; blurb on pool party postcard a good idea re: appropriate clothing/swimsuits, etc.

     

    o   IRS – No update from Jim Kjar

     

    ·       New Business

    o   Family contact issues – none; need to re-assign Jim’s families

     

    o   Senior Prank – MH/Expressed great disappointment regarding the extent of the prank; considered it poor judgment on part of adults involved.  Applewood’s provision of a space to hold school is dependent on the approval of Maplewood Church.  Pranks such as this could harm that relationship to a great extent. 

     

    JW/Knew they were going to do something but had no idea the extent of it; very displeased.

    SA/Very upset with the whole situation.

     

    o   Mission Statement – Discussion regarding current page which serves as ACS mission statement;  much too long and needs revision.  Members will review and provide input on new, brief statement at next meeting.

     

     

    ·       Next meeting:             06/26/12 @ 6:30 pm

    ·       Motion to adjourn:    Jon Church

                Second:           Sal Aquino

                Approved

     

  • General Session Minutes 4/23/2012

    ACS Board Meeting Minutes

    April 23, 2012 6:30 pm

    Board Present: Jennifer Boatright, Michal Herrington, Carlos Leon, Adam Cormican, Jon Church, Sal Aquino

    Interested Parties: Debbie Church, Gaye Hiller, Cindy Rieckhoff, Terry Wassam, Jacinda Wassam, Thom Crosier, Paula Crosier, Kim Mabry, Scott Young, Pam Young

    Opening: 45 min

    ·       Open in prayer:          Carlos Leon

    ·       Welcome to Sal Aquino, new board member 

    ·       Secretary’s Report:     Michal Herrington

    Minutes from March 26, 2012 - Changes were made to correct one fact regarding the IRS issue (based on input from Carlos Leon via e-mail) and spelling of names prior to tonight’s meeting.

    o   Motion to approve minutes with changes

    §  Jon Church

    §  Second:  Carlos Leon

    §  Approved

    ·       Treasurer’s Report:    Jon Church

    o   Question regarding $9,000 expenditure in Mission Trip line item; amount spent for transportation costs already paid; Lisa Cloud (per JC) expects another $1,000 or so; additional fundraiser on 04/22/12 raised approximately $600

    o   Question regarding milk

    DC/We have tried a new system this year but providing milk for students remains a headache for administration.  Gay Otten communicates weekly with this company to work out the problems.

    PC/Why don’t we just eliminate milk?

    JB/Administration needs to send an e-mail to all parents asking for their input regarding eliminating the milk program.  No response will be interpreted as a vote for elimination.

    o   Motion to approve report

    §  Adam Cormican

    §  Second: Michal Herrington

    §  Approved

    ·       Principal’s Report:      Debbie Church

    o   Teachers

    -        Leaving:  Pam Breid, Melissa Bussey, Debbie Cormican, Kristin DeGraffenreid, Gina Kjar, Darla Lansing, Fran Merkh, Andrea Self 

    -        Hired:  Jamie Patton, Mindy Rehmer, Dale Tankersley

    -        Possibilities:  Brian Sadler, Leyana Anderson

    -        Applications withdrawn:  Greg Judy, Stephanie Bowman, Victoria Hill

    o   Students

    At present – 66 for 2012-13

    Undecided – Greer family

    Applicants – 3 students, 4 more if possible teachers apply

    (Two interviews set for May 7th )

    o   Midwest Christian School Academic & Fine Arts Competition

    -        Friday, April 13, 18 students competed:  Courtney Schutte, Garaleigh Noland, Kirstin Bergman, Katie Rieckhoff, Jacqui Sims, Allison Cormican, Erin Cloud, Emalea Rieckhoff, Hannah Boatright, Sevannaugh Aquino, Caroline Kelly, Mikala Walton, Katelynn Rogers, Brady Herrington, Leighah Aquino, Natalie Church, Taylor Mabry, Zach Shull

    -        Results unknown at this time

    o   ITBS testing went well

    o   Prom – huge success

    o   High School Planning Night – great success; all families but one represented

    o   Upcoming Dates:

    Seniors’ last day – Wednesday, May 2nd

    Graduation – Saturday, May 5th at 2 pm

    Kindergarten Graduation – Tuesday, May 8th at 6:30 pm

    (K-4th students will perform skits)

    Last day of school – half day, Friday, May 11th

    JB/Maplewood work day is day of graduation; administration needs to check with deacons to make sure their plans do not interfere with graduation.

    Regarding clean-up day: KM/Would it be possible to combine this day with the book return day so parents can have one less day to miss work or make a trip?

    DC/We have thought of combining clean-up with the last day of school.  James Robinson, Maplewood’s maintenance man, does such a good job that there is very little for students to do other than cleaning up the classrooms.

    • Athletic Report:  Cindy Rieckhoff

    o   See report for detail

    o   Account balance:  $5,268.73; program is projected to end year in the black

    o   Winter season sports surveys sent; only one family returned survey

    o   New Athletic Policy Manual nearing completion; will be in place for 2012-13

    o   Girls’ soccer season going well; undefeated so far

    o   Schedule for all sports for 2012-13 still in works; trying to complete by end of current year

    o   Junior high classes lack numbers to field any teams for 2012-13; talking with Principal John Nail at St. Paul Lutheran School regarding their interest in joining with ACS to field a team or teams.

    MH/When presenting financial information, a summary of income and expenses would be beneficial for reporting to the board; a summary similar to Family Club

    CR/Will provide with next quarterly report

    ·       Open Discussion

    o   Kyocera Copier Maintenance Agreement

    Renewal is currently due; summary of details prepared by Gay Otten, presented by Debbie Church.

    Agreement continues to be a good arrangement for us; toner cartridges and maintenance are included for the year.  We exceeded our copy amount and will pay overage, but three maintenance service calls were covered with no additional charge.  Paying overage is cheaper than increasing the number of copies agreed to in the maintenance agreement.  The number used should decrease in correlation with a decreased student enrollment, should that happen.

    We also have a reciprocal agreement with Maplewood Church regarding use of our copier in the ROC and their copier in the church office.  Payment is made accordingly should one user exceed the other.

    Discussion regarding copier use: JB/Administration needs to ask teachers about their copier usage; which ones routinely copy instructor manuals, etc.; get general idea of usage.

    JB/A percentage of copies are being made from copying manuals; assign this percentage to the book fee account

    ·       Old Business

    o   IRS:

    -        JB/Jim Kjar has everything he needs in order to comply, will let us know if anything else arises.

    -        CL/Waiting on documentation from Jim so he can send it to his brother for review.

    -        Question regarding our time not in compliance; re-instatement will be retroactive for years not covered

    ·       New Business

    o   Family contact issues – none

    Need to add Pam Young to contact list.

    o   Calendar concerns:

    JB/Last Executive Session meeting DC brought up question regarding the number of basketball games and tournaments that were being added to the school calendar.  The issue of setting parameters on sports programs was discussed.  The main issue was recognizing the time required of families to be involved in a sports progam in general.  The following directive was issued by the Board at that time:

    The Board’s directive is to keep Academics as the primary focus of ACS.  By putting parameters on the sporting programs, we are seeking to ensure that Academics remain our priority.  Therefore, we are stating that each sport season is limited to two out-of-town tournaments, in addition to one school day missed per season for tournaments, and no more than four events per week.

    The Athletic Committee was given this directive to include in the upcoming policy manual, soon to be completed.   The Athletic Committee expressed concern during their meeting that the directive was issued without Athletic Committee input.

    CR/She presented a multi-page document which was (1) a complaint regarding the Board’s directive and (2) a justification for not placing limits on sports programs, and (3) a verbatim transcript of an e-mail conversation between herself and Board member, Adam Cormican.  [Secretary’s Note: Board members were not given time to read this document prior to the meeting.]

    PY/The Board should be careful when using Executive Session for items that should be discussed in General Session.

    DC/Clarified that she did not mean to exclude anyone; she asked a question as a calendar issue only

    JB/Read from Robert’s Rules of Order regarding the guidelines for Executive Sessions.

    By the board and for the board, executive sessions enable the board to manage itself. They create an appropriate forum for board members to talk openly about topics that warrant special treatment. In effect, executive sessions are a kind of special meeting-within-a-meeting. Executive sessions may take place before, in the middle, or at the end of a regular board meeting. They are, by definition, exclusive to board members, but others, such as the chief executive or professional advisors, may be invited to join for part or all of the session. The notion of a private conversation for board members may seem contrary to the ethos of transparency expected of nonprofit organizations and to the development of a constructive partnership between the chief executive and the board. However, executive sessions are an effective mechanism for boards of all organizations to deal with certain kinds of issues, provided that they are called for the right reasons and handled appropriately. 

    PC/Said that Executive Session looks underhanded; doesn’t allow for full trust, especially since the Board isn’t elected.

    JB/Has no qualms with discussing issue again.  There is nothing underhanded here.

    Primary concern:  Number of tournaments; extending basketball to end of March

    CR/Awards program can be moved.

    DC/Three scheduled tournaments at this time is the problem.

    CR/Provided additional information; tournaments do not extend number of games; 21 total

    JC/Our concern was adding to the schedule; we can’t keep doing that.  Additional games mean additional time and financial commitment of families

    CR/No, it means more games at once instead of multiple trips

    DC/Have you asked parents about Saturday games?

    JB/CR, have you asked coaches about Saturday games?  Don’t want our families maxed out.  Don’t want sports to monopolize the calendar – all school entities must be balanced

    KM/Her family feels maxed out.  Her mentor family and others she has talked with feel overwhelmed.

    PC/Could part of it be the various fundraisers?

    JB/We must consider the overall scope of school.  Families want sports but within reason.  (1) Wasn’t this year’s schedule competitive?  Why add?  (2) Can we make parameters for each season?  Then if exception arises, you can ask for an extension.

    CR/It’s harder to add at the end than at the beginning.

    JB/A long calendar (season) inhibits other programs.  We need to set parameters and provide for exceptions.

    PC/Will you make the same demands of other groups?

    JB/If they occupy as many dates, yes.

    KM/Can we have a tentative calendar?

    JB/Nothing says we can’t play nationals, but the calendar needs parameters.  Drama was “reeled in.”  Look at the whole school – we have to keep everything balanced. 

    If you want an extension, come to the Board.

    KM/Can you tell parents up front about intention to play nationals?

    CR/We did discuss that at the beginning of the year.

    TW/Could we tie participation to season record?

    JB/Coaches are realistic about chances in tournaments.

    TC/If it’s not on the calendar, it will be impossible to add to the calendar.

    JB/No; we’re discussing this early; we will work with you if you have a competitive team.  Board wants to set end of season.  If you want to go post-season, come back to the Board.  Discuss calendar completely with parents up front.  Have parameters and tell families.

    CR/Keeping two tournament rule?

    JB/Total number of games

    CL/Concern:  students not getting involved.  They don’t come to you because the parents make the choice.

    AC/They aren’t complaining, they just choose to not participate.  They’re looking ahead to high school and don’t want that level of involvement.

    CL/Added stress of greater competition influences some kids to not play.

    JB/The Athletic Committee needs to be sensitive to all kids.

    DC/Keep winter sports awards as scheduled?

    CR/We can move it up.

    DC/Tournament during Christmas break?

    JB/If part of 21 games – okay.  Make parents aware; parental decision.

    MH/For the sake of the record:  21 games is the number of games determined to be the maximum games per season?

    CR/We can add to athletic policy – maximum of 21 basketball games

    ·       Next meeting:             05/14/12 @ 6:30 pm

    Motion to adjourn:    Sal Aquino

                Second:           Jon Church

  • General Session Minutes 3/26/2012

    ACS Board Meeting Minutes

    March 26, 2012 6:30 pm

     

    Board Present: Jennifer Boatright, Michal Herrington, Adam Cormican, Jon Church, Carlos Leon

     

    Interested Parties: Debbie Church, Gaye Hiller, Sal Aquino, Cindy Rieckhoff, Jacinda Wassam, Thom Crosier, Paula Crosier, Jim Nevils, Melinda Nevils, Josh Greer, Kim Mabry

     

    Opening: 45 min

     

    ·       Open in prayer:          Jon Church

     

    ·       Secretary’s Report:     January and February minutes were approved upon the arrival of Carlos Leon.

     

    ·       Treasurer’s Report:    Jon Church (Jon has assumed Treasurer’s duties once again because of Jim Kjar’s imminent resignation from the Board.)

     

    o   Unexpected expense

    -        Refrigerator in school office had a leak; ACR made the repair; $270

    -        JW/Family Club will discuss possibly helping with this amount

     

    o   Motion to approve report

    §  Carlos Leon

    §  Second: Michal Herrington

    §  Approved

     

    ·       Principal’s Report:      Debbie Church

    o   Teachers

    -        Leaving:  Pam Breid, Melissa Bussey, Gina Kjar, Andrea Self, Debbie Cormican, Kristin DeGraffenreid, Darla Lansing, Fran Merkh

     

    -        Hiring:  Jamie Patton, Mindy Rehmer

     

    -        Possibilities:  Stephanie Bowman, Greg Judy

     

    -        Applications given:  Victoria Hill, Rachael Noland

     

    o   Family Intent letter

    -        Not returning:  Sidney Bussey, Ashlyn DeGraffenreid, Lexi Shane, Marcus Kjar, John Kjar, Isaac Kjar, Savannah Kjar, Boston Middleton, Mariah Schutte, Haley Snyder

     

    -        Seniors:  Josh Link, Noel Porter (losing family surcharge)

     

    -        Waiting to hear:  Isaac Greer, Sarah Greer, Emma Greer, Zach Shull

     

    o   Tornado drills in March  -  one morning; one afternoon; all went well

     

    o   Spring Parent/Teacher Conferences – all went well

     

    o   Midwest Christian School Academic & Fine Arts Competition

     

    -        Friday, April 13

    -        17 students competing:  Courtney Schutte, Garaleigh Noland, Kirstin Bergman, Katie Rieckhoff, Jacqui Sims, Erin Cloud, Emalea Rieckhoff, Hannah Boatright, Sevannaugh Aquino, Caroline Kelly, Mikala Walton, Katelynn Rogers, Brady Herrington, Leighah Aquino, Natalie Church, Taylor Mabry, Zach Shull

     

    o   2012-13 Student Roster currently has 63 students (K has only three at time of report).

     

     

    • Senior Class Report:  Paula Crosier

    o   Senior Trip

    -        Destination:  Gulf Shores, AL/Pensacola, FL area

    -        Reservations made for transportation and accommodations (condo)

    -        Meals prepared in condo

    -        Chaperones:  Alan & Melissa Sims

    -        Noel Porter will not be going; all other seniors will

     

    o   Graduation

    -        Each family printing own invitations

    -        Photographer:  Scott Young

    -        No cake will be served, only cookies and punch

     

     

    ·       Boston Trip report:    Jon Church

    o   Dates:  July 18-23 (Weds-Mon)

    o   Airline tickets purchased; $290 each

    o   16 total going (11 students, 5 adults)

    o   Dodgeball tournament went well

    o   5/12 Kickball tournament scheduled

    o   5/19 Carwash scheduled

     

     

     

    ·       Open Discussion

    o   Sal Aquino – question about milk being out of date

    -        DC/ongoing issue; Gay Otten in perpetual conversation with supplier regarding this issue; they assure her that the milk is good for 10 days following printed date

    -        JB/Have Gay tell supplier to check dates before delivery; make sure it is dated to cover two weeks; Gay is to keep her eye on dates and if she finds that any have expired, she is to call the supplier to come back and get the milk and replace it.

     

     

    ·       Old Business

    o   IRS:

    -        CL/rep. from IRS Advocate office called; he has given Jim’s contact information to Vicky Hartzler’s office so they can contact Jim directly

    -        We are still gathering materials to comply and file

    -        Will call again for April follow-up

     

    o   Vision Survey:

    -        DC/presenting results to families; wants board to decide which format; only social things will be eliminated

    -        JW/re: feedback on pool party

    DC/Most believe it is beneficial; it is a Family Club decision since FC pays for it

    -        JB/How do we want to disseminate?

    MH/e-mail w/cover letter should be fine since there are no drastic cuts

    DC/Will work up summary of parent comments; JB will review it before sent via e-mail

     

    ·       New Business

    o   Family contact issues – none

     

    o   Girls’ basketball team reported on their win at the National Homeschool tournament (small school division)

    -         showed trophy and banner; reported on individual awards

    -        Cindy Rieckhoff, AD, showed newspaper article from Sedalia Democrat; said girls only missed total of four hours of school

    -        Thom Crosier, coach, gave his perspective on tournament experience

    -        Melinda Nevils wanted DC to thank teachers for giving work early to Sarah

     

     

     

    ·       Next meeting:             04/23/12 @ 6:30 pm

    Motion to adjourn:    Jon Church

                Second:           Michal Herrington

  • General Session Minutes 2/28/2012

    Board Present: Jennifer Boatright, Michal Herrington, Adam Cormican, Jon Church, Jim Kjar, Carlos Leon

    Interested Parties: Sal Aquino, Carie Aquino, Cindy Rieckhoff, Jacinda Wassam, Mandy Shull, Debbie Church, Gaye Hiller, Lisa Cloud

    Opening: 45 min

     

    ·       Open in prayer:          Jon Church

     

    ·       Secretary’s Report:     Minutes from 01/26/12 postponed until next meeting

     

    ·       Treasurer’s Report:    Jim Kjar/Jon Church

     

    o   Balance sheet discussed

    -        Questionable credit charge reconciled; book purchase

    -        “Manuals” under book fees was misspelled

    -        JB/Have we purchased all the computer items we are going to purchase with the fundraiser funds?

    -        DC/Scott Young is overseeing purchase; not complete yet; GH/Scott is installing flat screens in rooms 200 and 211

    -        JB/What is the “Returned Checks” item for $206?

    -        JK or JC/Someone bounced a check and then paid amount in cash

    -        Negative amount in “Thanksgiving Dinner” is amount donated above expenses

    -        Negative amount in “Prom” is money paid back to school but received after beginning of new fiscal year

    -        Balance in “Yearbook” is from last year but received after beginning of new fiscal year

    o   Motion to approve

    §  Carlos Leon

    §  Second: Michal Herrington

    §  Approved

     

    ·       Principal’s Report:      Debbie Church

    o   Teachers

    -        Leaving:  Pam Breid, Melissa Bussey, Gina Kjar, Andrea Self

    -        Waiting to hear:  Kelley Bergman, Kristin DeGraffenreid, Kathy Greer, Darla Lansing

    -        Hiring:  Jamie Patton, Mindy Rehmer

    -        Possibilities:  Stephanie Bowman, Greg Judy (Interviewed; went well); Rachael Noland has an application in hand

    o   Family Intent letter – slowly coming in

    o   Valentine Party – went well

    o   Curriculum – teachers and Academic Committee reviewing; considering how we stack up against new national core standards

    -        DC/Obvious already we fall short in writing skills

    o   Girls’ soccer begins tonight; games in March

    o   Tornado drill coming in March – one each, morning and afternoon

    o   Drama production rehearsals begin Friday; full swing in March

    o   Varsity basketball teams attend regionals March 8-10; sports awards night March 12 @ 7pm

    o   Parent/Teacher Conferences March 13 @ 6pm; first time in spring

     

    ·       Stuco Report: Lisa Cloud

    o   Carnival

    -        Not as much earned (down $281 from last year)

    -        Not enough advertisement; need to reach community and churches

    o   Open Door – every other Thursday 10-noon

    o   Babysitting for LOST (Loved One Serving Time)

    -        Begins March 15 (third Thursday evening each month); 108 E 5th St.

    -        Pettis Co. Health Dept. program for loved ones of incarcerated family members; Melinda Nevils is contact

    o   Will be asked to work Birthright’s garage sale in March

    o   April 23 – Officer Elections

    o   Costa Rica trip May 23-30

    -        Fundraising

    §  Feb 21       El Tapitio

    §  Feb 25       Work day at Boatright’s farm

    §  March 17  Concessions @ Bluegrass Concert @ Maplewood

    §  April 22     BBQ lunch following service @ Our Savior Lutheran

    -        Funds raised so far:         $6635.66

    o   Allen & Melissa Sims are coordinating a local missions trip; possible Forrest Avenue homeless shelter in KC

    -        JB/talk with Jethro

    -        MH/talk with Chris Patton regarding The Embassy

    o   Account balance:  $3134.92

    o   Lisa Cloud is recruiting a replacement for her position of advisor

     

     

     

     

     

     

    ·       Boston Trip report:    Mandy Shull

    o   Dates have not been set yet; not sure yet who is going

    o   3/5      Group meeting @ ACS

    o   3/7      Long John Silver fundraiser; need input by this date

    o   3/13    Would like 8th graders to babysit at Parent/Teacher conference

    o   3/20    Pampered Chef fundraiser begins

    o   3/24    Dodge ball tournament

    Russell Stover fundraiser

    o   Has contacted Sonic & Papa John’s also

    o   Account balance:       $1115.65

     

    ·       Family Club report:    Carie Aquino

    o   Account balance:       $6859.15

    o   Lost check was reconciled with vendor; never found lost check (mail?)

    o   Discussion regarding Scrip card activity

    -        Profit since March 2011:  $2600 (since beginning of school year: $1500)

    -        Normal annual fundraiser brings in $4000

    -        Purchases have fallen off after Christmas; some families do not participate

    JW/Will set up a Scrip Card table at events where all parents attend such as the upcoming parent/teacher conference

    -        Participation vs. buyout; some families prefer a buyout

    -        JC/Send an email to families when particular stores have a large percentage return so we can buy when it benefits us the most

    -        JC/public schools have an incentive program to motivate students to participate; why not do that at ACS?

    -        JB/Send another list of local stores to families

    -        CA/Participation forms have been going out weekly in red folders

     

    ·       Open Discussion

    o   Sal Aquino – Re: letter of intent; didn’t we say it would have the tuition increase on it so that parents knew what they were committing to?

    -        DC/Yes, my mistake; I left it off; will re-do

    -        SA/Are we going to keep class size at 8 as discussed?

    -        DC/Yes, only exception is if a newly hired teacher needs to enroll a child; class would not exceed 10

    -        SA/What are our current teacher openings?

    -        DC/Kindergarten, Science (8+), Reading (Andrea Self’s classes) maybe, middle school history

     

    o   Cindy Rieckhoff – 1099s were never sent to refs; required if one earns more than $600; one ref did; her accountant will file electronically for ACS; we need to make arrangements for someone to do this next year; be prepared

     

     

    ·       Old Business

    o   IRS – Jim Kjar presented update

    -        we need to file a full 1023 because we have too much gross revenue (over $50,000); $800 fee

    -        1023 requires a “Conflict of Interest” policy (per IRS statement; JB read; motion to approve as stated)

     

    o   Motion to approve

    §  Jon Church

    §  Second:  Jim Kjar

    §  Approved

     

    -        (Cont. IRS) 1023 requires a document stating board member’s qualifications

    -        1023 requires a copy of our non-discriminatory statement which is published in the Sedalia Democrat annually (Tammy Price, Registrar, has a copy: JB will get copy to Jim)

    -        1023 requires a statement regarding the original founders of ACS

    -        We must file a 990 from this point forward; due by 11/15 each year

    -        Request it is retroactive to 2010; year our status was revoked

    -        Jim will continue to compile all necessary documents for compliance

    -        Copy of finished packet will be forwarded to Carlos’ brother for review

    -        CL/On 3/10, Rep. Vicky Hartzler’s office will call; conference call with IRS; add JK to call

     

    o   Assessing spiritual state of students; past discussion raised the issue as unfinished business from Pam Young administration

    -        DC/Bible teachers addressed and oversaw students’ verbal self-report; if concerns arise regarding specific individuals, administration can come to the board

     

     

    ·       New Business

    o   Family contact issues – none

    -        MH/very favorable reports from her families; one new family said this year has exceeded their expectations

     

    o   Budget for 2012-13 presented

    -        Based on 75 student projected enrollment

    -        Tuition increase of $10/student/month; surcharge increase of $10/family/month

    -        Much discussion regarding current economy and hardships on families

    -        An increase is necessary to continue operating in the black

    -        JC/What about the “cushion” we have in our account?

    -        JC/Why not use a projection of 80 students?  Keep the increase low ($5) but raise the projected number of students. (75 students @ 5% increase equals a $6000 deficit)

    -        JB/We can cut all unnecessary expenses

    -        JK/If tuition increases $5/student, surcharge remains the same and “Gifts” (budget line item) is reduced to $195, we will have a zero-based budget based on 80 students

    -        CL/Maplewood has been blessed with a surplus; should we need assistance, we can ask the church

     

    o   Motion to approve increase in tuition 4% to $150/student; surcharge remains $35

    §  Jim Kjar

    §  Second:  Michal Herrington

    §  Approved

     

    o   JB/Administration needs to send new intent letters with tuition increase information

     

    ·       Athletic Committee:  Cindy Rieckhoff

    o   Cindy presented the first draft of the new policy manual.  Discussion and questions:

    -        CR/pg. 13, committee wants to change 4-day practice/game limit to 5 days for the week before a tournament

    -        JB/don’t schedule a game just prior to a tournament; you won’t need five days; if committee tries to push beyond the limits suggested by the Board, the Board will make the suggestions a policy.  The committee should not ask to change the Board’s guidelines.

     

    -        JB/pg. 18-19; insurance waiver must be signed before play or practice can continue

     

    -        Various questions/comments throughout the manual; committee will review and edit at next meeting and present to Board again

     

    -        CR/regarding games during national tournament, Cindy reported games will not begin before 6 pm on Monday, 6 pm on Wednesday (for any girls chosen for Small School All-Tournament Team) and 3:30 on Friday.

     

    ·       Next meeting:             03/26/12 @ 6:30 pm

    Motion to adjourn:    Carlos Leon

                Second:           Adam Cormican

                Adjourned @ 9:05 pm

  • General Session Minutes 1/26/2012

    Board Present: Jennifer Boatright, Michal Herrington, Adam Cormican, Josh Greer, Jon Church, Jim Kjar, Carlos Leon

    Interested Parties: Pam Young, Sal Aquino, Cindy Rieckhoff, Malinda Nevils, Jim Nevils, John Magras,  Monica Magras, Paula Crosier, Debbie Church

    Opening: 45 min

    ·      Open in prayer:  Adam Cormican

    ·      Secretary’s Report: Josh Greer

    o   Motion to approve

    §  Jon Church

    §  Second: Adam Cormican

    §  Approved

    ·      Treasurer Report: Jim/Jon

    o   Balance sheet discussed

    o   Still a couple "ask Jon" items

    §  $91

    §  Jennifer Boatright: How do we find out what it is?

    ·       Jon Church: we will trace it down from the credit card statement

    ·       Michal Herrington: Date?

    o   Unknown at this time

    o   Background checks

    §  Debbie Church: have had a couple

    §  Jim Kjar: Have not been billed yet

    o   Other (as noted on the balance sheet)

    §  Reflects interest earned at bank

    §  Jon Church: we should move this into the general fund at the end of the year

    o   Phone

    §  Michal Herrington: Currently over budget.  Is this normal?

    §  Discussions about last year's phone bill.

    ·       Unknown at this time

    §  Jim Kjar: the amount budgeted on the balance sheet is prorated for the current date.

    ·       This means we are actually on track

    o   Total Supplies

    §  Thom Crosier: Why are we way out of track

    ·       Jim Kjar: Because this wasn't budgeted last year and was merged into quickbooks to make things balance.

    o   Boston Balance

    §  The Boston report and the treasurer report do not match

    ·       Boston report = $2,632.40

    ·       Treasurer = $2,405.44

    ·       Most likely due to deposits not yet reported

    o   Motion to accept

    §  Josh Greer

    §  Second: Michal Herrington

    §  Approved

    ·      Principals Report: Deb/Gaye

    o   Feast

    §  $503 in income

    §  Cost not known at this time

    ·       Jim Kjar to report at a later date

    o   Next Year

    §  4 families not returning

    §  2 Teachers not returning

    §  New prospects for teachers

    ·       Stephanie Bowman

    ·       Greg Judy

    ·       Mindy Rehmer

    §  Kristen DeGraffenreid is currently using a long terms sub to fill her position due to illness

    §  Computer

    ·       New laptops

    ·       Internet upgrade

    ·       Waiting on church approval for mounting flat screens for computer projection (powerpoint, youtube, etc.)

    o   Intent letters going out soon

    §  Jennifer Boatright: Before letters go out, we need to finalize the tuition increase.

    ·      Boston Report:

    o   Balance

    §  school $2,632.40

    §  account $206.40

    §  Various Fundraising projects active

    §  VB Tourney

    ·       Feb 4

    ·       $100 per team

    ·       Concessions

    §  Dodge Ball Tourney

    ·       March ??

    §  Scrap Book Event

    ·       Date unknown

    §  Car Wash

    ·       May 19

    §  Valentines Option

    ·       Unknown

    §  Cantina

    ·       active for 3 weeks

    ·       $181.60 earned

    §  Questions about average cost (Michal)

    ·       estimated $1000 a person (high)

    ·       Up to $800 a person in the past

    ·       Questions about parents going

    o   In the past parents paid their own way

    ·        

    ·      Athletic Report: Cindy Rieckhoff

    o   Balance

    §  $5,849.59

    §  Higher than we started the year

    o   Discussions about the balance sheet

    §  Basketball sports fees higher than volleyball income because of the high number of home school families on the boys basketball team.

    §  Concessions not paid into the program because the family club paid for the referees meals during the tournaments.

    o   Coaches not coming back

    §  Kristen

    §  Adam

    ·       Adam Cormican: This has not been decided yet

    ·       Cindy Rieckhoff: Recognized the error

    o   Sports Survey results

    §  Just soccer and volleyball

    §  Too many games

    §  Not enough games

    §  Good comments on Christian character of coaches

    o   Athletic policy

    §  Scott still working on the policy

    §  will be ready by February meeting

    o   Basketball senior night

    §  Well attended

    o   Girls soccer

    §  3 players not returning.

    o   Volleyball games

    §  questions about turning games into tri-matches.

    o   Uniform rotation

    §  on a 4 year rotating schedule.

    §  Junior high tried using t-shirts this year.

    ·       Not holding up.

    ·       Will need to buy jerseys going forward.

    §  Junior High Soccer

    ·       Will use t-shirts as uniforms.

    o   Will get to keep shirts at end of the season.

    o   Junior High Basketball

    §  Little interest for next year.

    §  Michal Herrington: Has this happened in the past?

    ·       Jennifer Boatright: Yes, when we started we used younger players to fill the teams.

    ·       Pam Young: For soccer, we rely on home-school families

    ·       Pam Young: This year it seems like the students are not as interested in sports.

    ·       Paula Crosier: With the addition of soccer, some families don't want their kids involved in all sports, so choices have to be made.

    ·       Jennifer Boatright: This is happening in the public schools as well.

    ·       Pam Young: As long as we can field a team, we should maintain it

    o   Too hard to start a sport that has been stopped.

    o   Makes us more marketable to people wanting to come here.

    ·       Cindy Rieckhoff: Show-me Christian has been talked to in an attempt to fill positions, but they have few students that are home schooled.

     

    Open Discussion: 30 min

    ·      Nothing to report

                           

     

    Old Business: 45 min

    ·      IRS

    o   Jim Kjar: Originally filed the 990 form many years ago

    §  Quit filing 3 years ago.

    §  Instructions read that you do not file if you are an affiliated school with the church (or other entity)

    ·       Criteria reported in last month's meeting regarding what is an "affiliate".

    o   restated again tonight by Jim Kjar

    ·       "Affiliate" is an IRS special word, that was not easily understood.

    ·       Our bylaws defined do not mention Maplewood anywhere in our structure

    ·       one of the criteria states: "affirmed by the church"

    o   We can get someone in the church to affirm us

    ·       Special address to send the letter to get a determination of the 990 filing requirement.

    o   Must pay a $400 user fee along with this filing.

    ·       Because so many churches got in trouble in the last year, there is a new rule.

    o   Must file an updated form before December of 2012

    o   reduce fee of $100

    o   Josh Greer: I'm cautious of this reduction.  Why are they doing this?

    §  Jim Kjar: because it caught many not for profit organizations.

    ·       Carlos Leon: Has information that conflicts with the records about the filing in the past.

    o   An outside firm had documentation that stated we did not need to file

    §  a 990 form signed in 1999.

    ·       Signed but never sent.

    §  recommendation

    ·       file with the reduced fine for the 990 and include the past years that we did not file.

    ·       Ask for the extension of grace.

    ·       Jim Kjar: Does not think we will ever qualify for the "affiliate" requirements.

    ·       Jennifer Boatright: how detailed is the 990

    o   Jim Kjar: it is a post card; 990EZ

    o   Jim Kjar: will complete this, but needs guidance.

    ·       Jennifer Boatright: As far as Missouri goes, we are still not for profit.

    o   Jim Kjar: But there are no deductions for state

    ·       Motion: Allow Jim to spend the $100 to file the proper forms.

    o   Jim Kjar

    o   Second: Carlos Leon

    o   Comments

    §  Adam Cormican: Where does this go in the budget?

    ·       Michal Herrington: Why do we not have a miscellaneous expense in the budget?

    ·       Jim Kjar: Unknown.  Will create a segment in the budget.

    ·       Jennifer Boatright: Allocate a miscellaneous account.

    o   Approved

    ·      Credit Card unknown charge

    o   Jim Kjar: Should be resolved before we leave tonight.

    ·      BB tournament

    o   Cindy Rieckhoff: Committee met on 1/23

    §  Tried to have an email vote on the uniform item because the board meeting was supposed to meet at an earlier date.

    §  Was tabled due to lack of full response.

    §  After the board meeting was moved, an atheletic meeting was able to be held prior to this meeting.  A vote was taken place and was agreed unanimously to approve the team to use the equipment  and uniforms.

    §  School times

    ·       Games: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday

    o   Monday: Would not have to leave school early

    §  games would be at 6:00 PM or 7:00 PM

    ·       told that we couldn't leave before 3:30 PM

    o   Tuesday: games (but no school)

    o   Wednesday: one girl may be picked for all American team

    §  would possibly need to leave school early.

    o   Thursday: games (but no school)

    o   Friday: would possibly have to leave school early

    §  The varsity play later on in the day

    ·       Conflicts with practice for soccer

    o   Talked with the coach, the team is big enough to play his games, and he can still field a team.

    o   Girls understand that they will have to build back into the program.

    §  Is formally asking the board to reconsider the prior decision to disallow them to attend this tournament under the name of ACS.

    §  Those who voted no in email changed their vote to yes in the meeting.

    §  Parents of the players are present at this meeting to show their support and answer any questions.

    §  Jim Kjar: Made clear that his child did not play this year because of this specific issue.

    ·       He made the decision for his daughter.

    ·       Feels that the committee and the coaches made a decision to overrule the authority of the school and the school board.

    ·       Did not want his daughter to be a part of the program that broke the trust and authority.

    ·       Rules are there for a reason.

    ·       Thom Crosier: Feels that it is unfortunate because they could have addressed it had he known.

    o   Did not have the information from the previous committee to properly set dates.

    o   Jim Kjar: Will be obtaining from the vote because of personal connection.  Is no longer on the athletic committee and will not be returning to the school next year (not because of this issue).

    o   Thom Crosier: respects Jim's opinion, but respectfully disagrees.

    §  In the last 3 years, an argument could not be made for the team to not attend Nationals, yet they were still not allowed to go.

    §  Does not feel that he is "stomping" on decisions that have been made.

    §  Jim Kjar: It was already decided that it would not be decided this year, but will be addressed in the future, which he would have supported.

    §  Cindy Rieckhoff: Each year varies.  Will not have the actual information each year for these events.  The dates were established in the fall (during basketball season).

    ·       May be moved to a different location in the future (mentioned Colorado)

    §  Mentioned that volleyball and soccer would be changing each year as well.

    §  Jim Kjar: When we know what the windows are and we set the guidelines for the sport, what is the point of setting a policy if it is going to be violated

    ·       Paula Crosier: was not a policy

    ·       Jim Kjar: Does not matter whether it is a policy or guideline.

    §  Malinda Nevils: Would hate to see some of the girls that have worked so hard miss the opportunity to play at this level.

    §  John Magras: The reason they are here is to show support for the team.

    ·       It is a great opportunity for these kids to flourish.

    §  Malinda Nevils: the older kids have been a fine example to the younger kids.

    §  Jon Church: The board's decision is not personal.  It is not to be "mean" to the players.

    ·       But we set parameters and adjustments to these parameters affect the soccer season.

    §  Jim Kjar: Feels that going beyond the guidelines established.

    §  Cindy Rieckhoff: What is the difference between this event and families going on a vacation?

    ·       Jon Church: as it was stated in the last meeting, if the families want to go to this event on their own, they can, but we can not support it.

    §  Thom Crosier: Talked about the scheduling

    ·       Why is the board involved in when the season ends and the season begins?

    ·       Because of the way our sports are scheduled there will always be an overlap with soccer unless we decide to not allow basketball to attend nationals.

    ·       This happens in all schools that offer multiple sports.

    ·       This is the only time they have had the ability to think about it and come up with creative solutions to solve these problems.

    ·       Feels that the committee and the coaches should be making these decisions.

    ·       Pam Young: Has never been done in the past.

    o   When did it change that the board would be in charge of the sports calendar.

    o   Jon Church: was caused due to growth, but the schedule was brought to the board for approval.

    o   Adam Cormican: It started in many executive sessions because there were complaints with the sporting program because of the previous athletic director did not want to address the issues and deferred them to the board.  Felt he was way over his head and the board gave him guidance.

    §  Feels that the board's involvement offers oversight that is required to coexist with academics.

    §  We also at this time came up with the 4 night a week limitation to keep it from consuming all of our families' time.

    o   Carlos Leon: Academic committee came to the board about balance.

    §  When it is brought to us, how do we keep a balance of all of the programs; we act as arbitrators.

    o   Paula Crosier: Why were we dealing with all of these issues in executive session and not sent back to the committee.

    §  Debbie Church: Because the previous committee was so dysfunctional.

    o   Jennifer Boatright: Felt that our involvement was a requirement to keep the balance with all of the programs.

    §  We are going to be very cautious due to constant involvement.

    §  How things interact with each other, we have to oversee these events.

    §  If we don't establish the structure we will be in disarray in the future.

    o   Paula Crosier: All families involved are in agreement.

    §  Just don't understand why the board is standing in the way.

    §  If we want to make things more rigid and less flexible, it needs to be done across the board to all groups.

    o   Thom Crosier: Understands what the board is trying to do and doesn't take it personally.

    §  but took it personally originally.

    §  Feels that the other sports programs had the same opportunities.

    §  Understands needing to have oversight regarding the previous committee.

    §  Feels that it would be penalizing the girls and the sport if we disallow them to go.

    §  Understands the rules about school missing days missed due to issues in the past, as well as cost issues in the past.  But feels we have made great strides.

    §  Looking for the board to come to an agreement.

    §  Does not want to do this without the support of the board, but will do so anyhow.

    §  All parents are in agreement.

    §  Girls have put in a lot of effort to not only participate, but to be involved in the small school division and be very competitive.

    §  Would be a shame to go to the event and do well, and not be able to represent the school.

    §  Is willing to fund it himself and come up with the needed equipment if the school does not support the event.

    §  Doesn't want to have to choose to do this.

    §  Cindy Rieckhoff: Does not want the discussion of going on their own to be as a threat but feels that the girls have worked too hard to not be able to represent the school.

    o   Jennifer: How does it sit with the parents involved how your child could perceive that a decision was made by the board, and the parents are going against it?  Rather, the families did not agree with the decision and keep going back with more reasons why they should be allowed to go?

    §  How do I (Jennifer Boatright) as a parent explain to my child that the group involved didn't agree with the decision and kept coming back many times with repeat requests.

    §  Paula Crosier: Has discussed this with her own child.  Feels that the circumstances have now changed.  The families have come to the board respectfully to the board for reconsiderations.  When a bad decision is made, it should be addressed. (situation compared to Roe Vs. Wade).

    §  Jim Kjar: In the basketball meeting at the beginning of the season, it was mentioned that "we are planning to try to go to nationals".  The board had already decided not to allow for the event due to the windows for the other various sports teams.

    ·       Paula Crosier: Feels that it was decided against due to school missed, which is not true.

    ·       Jim Kjar: No, it was due to scheduling windows.

    ·       Paula Crosier: Perhaps it wasn't made clear to all of the parties involved.

    ·       Cindy Rieckhoff: Read from minutes from academic meeting.

    ·       Pam Young: If the board takes away the authority from the committee, they should let the committee be aware.

    ·       Jim Nevils: Feels that the board has made other various decisions and reconsidered in the past (ie the change of the class size).

    ·       Malinda Nevels: Feels this activity is an example of the benefits of a home school cooperative.

    o   Thom Crosier: It has always been discussed to go to nationals.

    §  Does not feel he was involved with the discussions about not going to nationals.

    §  There were many reasons given to him about why they couldn't go, and therefore wasn't pursued by the athletic committee.

    §  This year, the circumstances have changed.  Doesn't feel there is anything wrong with going back to the students and telling them that things have changed.

    §  Cindy Rieckhoff: to answer the question of how we go back to the students and tell them they might go anyhow:  Feels that when her kids come to her for a decision, she always wants to give them the ability to come back to her for reconsideration if the circumstances have changed.  If they do this event without the approval of the board, she does not feel it is a problem to explain to her kids that she disagrees.  Her kids have been told to come back to the school and respect it.  They do not feel that they will be breaking any rules with regard to attendance.  If the board does not sponsor the event, it is still acceptable for her students to attend the event because it is a worthwhile event.

    §  It is not that we do not respect the boards decision, but is hoping that the new information that has been brought to the board's attention will explain that the circumstances have changed.  If you have new good information it should always be brought for reconsideration.

    §  Jon Church: Glad we are having this discussion and feels it is clearing up many things.

    ·       The board having to change their decision every time due to constant changing information leads us to struggle to find a balance and consistency.

    ·       We are trying to find the balance between academics and other events.

    ·       Wants to make it clear that we are not against the girls basketball program.

    §  Jim Kjar: How did the schedules get set in the past

    ·       Pam Young: was always done by the athletic committee.

    ·       Jennifer Boatright: was changed by the board to avoid the conflicts with all programs.

    §  Cindy Rieckhoff: As a parent, she sees need for the board should be more flexible on some issues and less flexible in others.

    ·       But feels that these discussions were never brought back to the people involved in the program.

    §  Paula Crosier: Perhaps we should have thought about some of these things before we brought in the girls soccer program.

    §  Jim Kjar: The biggest issue he has is letting the kids know before the season that we may be going outside the established rules.

    ·       It should not be communicated to a student athlete until the rule was addressed and changed.

    ·       It tells the kids that going beyond the rules is acceptable.

    ·       Paula Crosier: Thom would not know that the rule was made because he does not come to the board meetings.

    ·       Cindy Rieckhoff: Did not find it in the minutes that reflected the rule that had been made.  Thom may have misspoken, but he would have not known.

    §  Sal Aquino: We originally talked about the national tournament at the pool party.

    ·       Was talked about volleyball and soccer.

    ·       Talked about how many tournaments the athletic committee was going to allow each sport to attend.

    ·       Feels there is a lot of miscommunication that is going on and feels that things like this can split a school.

    ·       Feels that sometimes it is OK to change a decision.

    ·       Jim Kjar: Mentioned that a discussion took place in a meeting (ether board or athletic) that Thom was present.

    ·       Thom Crosier: Does not remember this meeting.

    ·       Paula Crosier: Feels that it would have been at a board meeting, and should have been reflected in the minutes if it happened.

    ·       Paula Crosier: If the coaches can't talk to the parents on issues outside of guidelines, then there will need to be a separate meeting.

    ·       Jennifer Boatright: Discussed meeting notes from May 17, 2011.

    o   Discussed the guidelines that were defined.

    o   Parents want a deadline when the calendar is established.

    o   (no mention of nationals in this meeting)

    ·       Jon Church: Feels we are "on the same team" in this room.  On that note we can say that there was and is a lot of miscommunication.

    o   Feels he would vote to support the girls at this time.

    o   Wants the girls to know we support them.

    ·       Cindy Rieckhoff: When talked to her students it is explained that the board is not trying to do things to harm them; not personal.

    o   As AD, understands that the items presented about the calendar in the past was not a policy.

    o   Questions: about the 4 days per week limitation; was this a policy or a suggestion?

    §  Jennifer Boatright: It was a decision.

    o   Jennifer Boatright: Read past meeting minutes discussing summer use and the calendar.

    §  Discussed limitations on tournaments.

    §  Discussed not wanting to overwhelm our students.

    ·       Michal Herrington: Discussions about when the athletic committee became autonomous?

    o   Pam Young: Has always been their own entity, but uses our name and is under the umbrella of ACS.

    o   Jennifer: We are the final authority in the school, but we do not want to micromanage our groups.

    o   Pam Young: We should have fired the previous athletic director to avoid some of these issues.

    o   Jennifer Boatright: Discussed the outline of items that needed to occur "or else".  It wasn't that we weren't trying to avoid the issue.  Rather we were trying to address the issues.

    o   Jennifer Boatright: We try to give grace when addressing issues.

    ·       Sal Aquino: Mentioned that Bill Lansing is a friend and knows he was trying to find someone to fill the job.

    ·       Adam Cormican: When Cindy stepped in, Bill was supposed to help throughout the year.  He was the one to tell Bill that he was done.

    ·       Jennifer Boatright: What Adam is trying to say is, when we offered the job to Cindy, the job wasn't currently available.  We as a board made it available.

    ·       Cindy Rieckhoff: People feel that if a position is not available, they will not offer to take it on.

    ·       Paula Crosier: Feels that the board should have taken the position away from Bill and "divvy" the responsibility equally among the coaches.

    ·       Jennifer Boatright:  Feels that our approach was required to keep everything even across all sports.

    ·       Cindy Rieckhoff: We have to pay the entry fee before 1/31/2011 for this tournament, so it would be best if we had a decision before then.

    ·       Carlos Leon: Feels we have enough information for the board to discuss it.

    ·       Michal Herrington:  Wants time to discuss it in executive session among the board members.

    ·       Thom Crosier: Wants to know why we can't discuss the decision in the general session.

    o   Feels that the only thing that needs to be discussed in executive session is a personnel issue.

    ·       Michal Herrington: Does not feel she can make a decision right now.

    o   Jennifer Boatright: Cindy needs a decision before 1/31/2011

    ·       John Magras feels that the school's sports program is a blessing.

    ·       [various people left at this time]

    ·       further discussion moved to the end of the meeting.

     

    New Business: 30 min

    ·      Family contact issues-anything we should be aware of

    o   Jim Kjar: Wants to apologize to the Crosiers for not keeping them in the loop in the past.

    o   Jennifer: Need to assign a board member to Pam Young

    ·      Vision Survey-Deb

    o   Debbie has compiled a list of all activities that the school offers to our families.  Wants to get feedback from our families about what we should maintain.

    o   Jennifer Boatright: we want guidance about what we should properly offer our families to allow them to balance all activities.

    o   Jennifer Boatright: feels that when someone comes to the school with a passion about something they want to start, an activity is created.  When that person leaves, the activity is still maintained; sometimes without any support.

    o   Carlos Leon: Suggests that we add a "do not have an opinion" to the list for people who don't really care about an activity but aren't asking for it to be shut down.

    o   Paula Crosier: Add senior recognition to the sporting section.

    o   Cindy Rieckhoff: Asking if the Beacon is coming home monthly.

    §  Debbie Church: yes

    §  Several parents have mentioned they are not getting the Beacon.

    o   Jon Church: Need to add opening to the list

    o   Pam Young: suggests adding the website to the list

    §  Debbie Church: Should we add this?  There are a lot of things that could be mentioned.

    o   Jennifer Boatright (to Jim Kjar): discussed the need for families that are leaving still should complete the form as it could act like an exit survey.

    o   Pam Young: Separate the types of missions.  Some families feel different about different type of missions.

    §  Jon Church: It is already broken up this way

    o   Final suggestions

    §  Senior Night

    §  No opinion column.

    §  Combine the 2 missions items (redundant)

    o   Motion to approve with changes mentioned

    §  Josh Greer

    §  Second: Jon Church

    §  Approved

     

    ·      Budget Committee

    o   Jon Church: Committee needs to be formed.

    o   Jim Kjar: suggests that someone who knows the process of ordering books needs to be involved with this committee.

    §  Will ask Kelley Bergman

    §  Paula Crosier

    §  Jon Church

    o   Jennifer Boatright: Discussions on tuition and budgets.

    §  Jim Kjar: How much do we raise tuition?

    §  Josh Greer: suggests that we define the process tonight of the requirements to complete all items in the needed order. (budget, intent letters, etc).  Does not want to decide on the actual tuition increase tonight.

    §  Jennifer Boatright: some people will need to know what the tuition is before they commit.

    §  Jim Kjar: suggests that we estimate for 75 students just to get started

    §  Jennifer Boatright: this may cause the cost to be so high it isn't achievable.

    ·       suggests we come up with multiple budgets with varying number of students.

    §  Jennifer Boatright: Need to have a rough estimate before the next board meeting.

    ·      Basketball tournament

    o   Jim Kjar: Was brad Collier present when the decision was made?

    §  Cindy Rieckhoff: yes, and he voted for the girls to go to Nationals

    §  Jennifer Boatright: Brad agrees that he will have to switch things around, but his team will go on.

    §  Michal Herrington: Asks if things were different, and this was volleyball asking basketball for allowance , how would Thom feel?

    ·       Cindy Rieckhoff: we would support it.

    ·       Jennifer Boatright: Lets not do what if's

    §  Josh: If we do well in this tournament, we will exceed the 4 night a week commitment, correct?

    ·       Thom Crosier: That is correct

    ·       Josh Greer: And you would intend to play more than 4 nights?

    o   Thom Crosier: Yes

    o   Josh Greer: I have a problem with this.  It is a clear violation of a rule established by the board.

    o   Thom Crosier: Feels that an exception should be made.

    ·       Josh Greer: Feels that this discussion is an extension to the vision discussion.  We can not be everything to everyone.  Parents need to do some of these things themselves, outside the direction of the school.  We are over extending our families.  I feel that the basketball season is already too long.

    ·       Thom Crosier: Feels all of the families involved are for this.

    ·       Thom Crosier: Feels that in future years we may have to re-evaluate this decision.

    ·       Carlos Leon: The original statement was a strong recommendation and not a policy.  Feels that our last vote was based on a recommendation that we interpreted as a policy.

    ·       Jennifer Boatright: The minutes do not reflect a vote on the suggestion.

    ·       Jim Kjar: Did we ever make a policy that says 4 days a week?

    o   Jennifer Boatright: No, it was not a policy.

    o   Jim Kjar: If the athletic committee is truly independent, and we have not made a policy, it should go back to the athletic committee for their decision.

    o   Jim Kjar: The only other option is to enact a policy, retroactive tonight, but does not want to do that.

    o   Michal Herrington: So that last vote is irrelevant.

    §  Thom Crosier: No it is still relevant.  It was just in error.

    §  Josh Greer: But it is still a vote and needs to be overruled with a new motion if the intent is to reverse it.

    o   Jim Kjar: Notes that he is not going to vote on this issue because personal involvement, but feels the board only made suggestions and not a policy to define the issues discussed.

    o   Motion: Based on a review of the information available tonight, the board would like the athletic committee to use their authority to allow or disallow the girls to attend the tournament in question.

    §  Jim Kjar

    §  Second: Jon Church

    §  Comments:

    ·       Carlos: Wants to make sure we are not relinquishing any responsibility to the students.

    §  1 abstained (Jim Kjar?? He made the motion)

    §  1 opposed (Josh Greer)

    §  4 in favor

    §  Approved

    ·       Jim Kjar: Suggests that we discuss this as a policy in the next meeting.

    ·       Cindy Rieckhoff: Are developing a policy internally.

    ·       Jim Kjar: Is asking the possibility of the AD be a non voting member of the board.

    o   Jenifer Boatright: She is always required to attend our meetings anyhow, so this would not be needed.

    ·       Jim Kjar: The athletic committee needs involvement from the board to ensure that there is a proper balance.

    ·       Thom Crosier: Has the board ever approved an athletic committee policy?

    o   Jennifer Boatright: Yes, in 2008

    o   Jennifer Boatright: read from the policy; various comments about referencing a committee that is "run smoothly"

     

     

     

    Next meeting:

                2/28/2012 @ 6:30

                            Carlos: Possible conflict.

     

    Motion to adjourn

                Jon Church

                Second: Adam Cormican

                Approved.

     

                           

    Adjourn

  • General Session Minutes 12/12/2011

    ACS Board Meeting Minutes

    Dec 12, 2011 6:30 pm

     

    Board Present: Jennifer Boatright, Michal Herrington, Josh Greer, Jon Church, Carlos Leon

    Interested Parties:  Debbie Church, Cindy Rieckhoff, Kathryn Porter, Sal Aquino, Gaye Hiller, Jacinda Wassam, Malinda Nevils, Paula Crosier

    Opening: 45 min

    ·      Open in prayer:  Michal Herrington

    ·      Secretary’s Report: Josh Greer

    o   Grammatical Changes

    o   Motion to approve

    §  Jon Church

    §  Second: Michael Herrington

    §  Approved

    ·      Treasurer Report

    o   Credit Card - Unknown charge (Discussed last meeting)

    §  Tabled to next month's meeting

    o   Profit and loss sheets discussed

    §  Questions about computer fund

    §  Scholarship fund.  Up to date?

    ·       Jennifer Boatright: Have payments been taken out?

    o   Jon Church: Probably not

    §  Bounced check discussed

    ·       Corrected and cleared

    ·       Jon Church: We get charged a fee but pass on to the check holder

    §  Jennifer Boatright: Are we current on tuition?

    ·       Jon Church: Unknown at this time.

    §  Debbie Church: Laptops are in the process of being ordered.

    ·       Came with a free digital camera with each laptop

    o   Thought about signing out cameras to students and staff for school use.

    o   Possibly donate for a raffle

    ·       Came with free software

    ·       6 laptops being ordered.

    o   Michal Herrington: Questions about salaries

    §  Over 100% of budget

    ·       Jon Church to discuss with Jim Kjar

    ·       Jennifer Boatright: Nothing budgeted for administrative assistants.

    o   Jennifer Boatright: Questions about Thanksgiving feast.

    §  Jon Church: Donations covered the expenses of the meal.

     

    o   Motion to approve with corrections, pending questions to Jim

    §  Carlos Leon

    §  Second: Michal Herrington

    §  Approved

    ·      Principals Report: Deb/Gaye

    o   Christmas Program this week

    o   Teacher Observations pending

    o   Calendar - 2012-2013

    §  Ending the semester options

    ·       End early(12/14) or come back late(1/7)

    ·       Jennifer Boatright: How many days does leave us?

    o   Debbie Church: Will be fine on days.

    ·       Jennifer Boatright: When would the kid's next break be?

    o   Debbie Church: Would need to schedule a break.

    o   Debbie Church: Easter break in March.

    §  Motion to approve the Calendar presented

    ·       Jon Church

    ·       Second: Carlos Leon

    ·       Approved

    o    

    ·      Boston Report?

    o   Tabled until January

     

    ·      Open Discussion: 30 min

    o   Michal Herrington: Questions about Senior skip day discussion.

    o   Debbie Church: It wasn't a conversation, rather a statement of what would happen if the students skipped.                     

     

    Old Business: 30 min

    ·      IRS

    o   Carlos Leon: IRS representatives are still collecting information and had not made a decision.

    o   Jon Church: IRS called the school and talked to Jim Kjar.

    §  We say we are affiliated with Maplewood, but under their guidelines, it is a gray area.

    §  Read how they define an affiliate:

    ·       Rubber stamp

    o   Covered by a group exemption letter (To an organization, same EIN etc)

    ·       Operated or controlled by the organization

    ·       Fact and circumstances

    o   Options (Do not need to meet all):

    §  Shares common doctrine

    §  Church has the authority to appoint or removal one or more directors.

    §  Corporate name must be related to the primary

    §  Reports financially at least annually to the church

    §  Affirmed by the church

    ·       Jennifer Boatright: The school is a missionary of the church, that they "prayerfully" support.

    §  If entity dissolved, assets would be distributed to the church.

    o   We must make an appeal for them to look at this.

    o   Recommends we start filing a 990EZ

    §  Jim Kjar has volunteered to do this.

    §  This would keep us from being red flagged in the future.

    §  We filed previously in 1998

    ·       Carlos Leon: We do not think this actually happened.

    o   Action:

    §  Jim Kjar will appeal based on the previous criteria to avoid paying the $800+ fee.

    §  Will file the 990EZ for this year.

    o   Jennifer Boatright: This process was originally started over 20 years ago and not for profit laws have changed dramatically.

    o   Melinda Nevils: Are donations not tax deductable at this time?

    §  Carlos Leon: If it is within the State of Missouri, yes.  The federal process involved out of state donations.

    ·      Caterer response-Michal Herrington

    o   Issue about how the caterer acted during the fund raising dinner

    §  Caterer did not have any intentions of coming across this way.

     

    New Business: 45 min

    ·      BB tournament - Thom Crosier

    o   Has been a new development with a home school group that organizes tournaments.

    §  A new tournament has been created for smaller schools.

    §  Nationals tournament

    §  Parameters

    ·       Can not have more than 2 players that are 16 years or older

    o   Girls team would qualify, but the boys would not.

    §  Nationals basketball tournament is much bigger than volleyball and soccer

    ·       Tournament lasts all week (excluding Wednesday)

    ·       Games started at around 3:00 PM

    o   Would miss partial school on Monday and Friday; no games on Wednesday

    ·       Games held in Springfield

    o   Tournament contract will expire after next year and may not be a local tournament after this.

    ·       We would be able to commute each day to save hotel costs.

    ·       ACS would be competitive in this tournament.

    §  When:

    ·       19th - 24th of March

    o   Extends into the first week of soccer

    o   Spoken to Brad

    §  He doesn't have any concerns about the 5 girls missing 2 soccer games.

    §  Will need to work out details with practice.

    ·       scheduling conflicts with gym time.

    §  Debbie Church: Are any of the parents concerned about the extra work during this week?

    ·       Thom Crosier: No

    ·       Paula Crosier: Not asking for concessions from the school or the teachers on this process.

    §  Thom Crosier: Would look forward to the exposure and the experience.

    ·       Exposure: Some college coaches will be at this tournament to scout players.

    §  Jennifer Boatright: What's is the regional tournament for?

    ·       It is the qualifier for nationals, but is not required to play at the nationals tournament. Is used to help seed the teams.

    §  Jon Church: How many tournaments would we be playing in?

    ·       Thom Crosier: 2; regional's and nations.

    o   Regional's: 8th,9th,and 10th of March

    o   Held in Iowa

    ·       Cindy Rieckhoff: From a parents point of view, we may not have a girls basketball team in future years and we have the opportunity to be competitive this year.

    §  Malinda Nevils: Her daughter has learned a lot from this group.  Feels that the structure of ACS allows for families to take vacation during the school year, and this should be similar.

    §  Jennifer Boatright: When do we need to know?

    ·       Cindy Rieckhoff: The sooner the better to save money on pre-registration.

    ·       Jennifer Boatright: Would like to wait until more of our board members are present to discuss the details.

    o   Cindy Rieckhoff: If we know before the 20th the better.

    ·       Debbie Church: Does not want this to set the precedent.  Would like to see how the girls handle this situation.

    §  Cindy Rieckhoff: If there are some concerns that need to be addressed before a decision is made, would like to be able to address those.

    §  Jennifer Boatright: How much will the tournament cost?

    ·       Cindy Rieckhoff: $500 per team

    ·       Cindy Rieckhoff: Given the planned costs of basketball this year and the income received, basketball was thought to be over budget by $1300.

    o   After the last look at gate income, and estimating future games based on this trend, we should be less than $1000 over budget in basketball.

    o   The money exists in the committee fund to cover the deficit.

    ·      Family contact issues-anything we should be aware of?

    o   Paula Crosier: Who is my contact?

    §  Josh Greer: Jim Kjar

    ·       Paula Crosier: Has never been called.

    §  Gaye Hiller: How come Paula doesn't know?

    ·       Debbie Church: The board members should be making contact.

    ·       Various discussion on getting the word out to their contacts.

    ·      Aaron Davis: Speaking at SFCC on 1/9/2012

     

    Next meeting:

                1/16/2012 @ 6:30 PM

                           

    Motion to adjourn

                Josh Greer

                Second: Jon Church

                Approved

  • General Session Minutes 11/15/2011

    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
  • General Session Minutes 10/24/2011

    ACS Board Meeting Minutes

    Oct 24, 2011 6:30 pm

     

    Board Members present: Jennifer Boatright, Michal Herrington, Josh Greer, Jim Kjar, Jon Church, Carlos Leon

     

    Interested Parties: Sal Aquino, Lisa Cloud, Cindy Rieckhoff, Debbie Church, Gaye Hiller, Gina Kjar

               

    Opening: 40 min

    ·      Open in prayer:  Jim Kjar

    ·      Secretary’s Report: Josh Greer

    o   Various grammatical corrections.

    o   corrections:

    §  Not a $2700 cost for the last tournament.

    ·       Should be $700 for referees.

    §  Added more detail to the section on MSHSAA on concern about parental influence at public schools.

    o   Motion: Approve as corrected above

    §  Jon Church

    §  Second: Michal Herrington

    §  Approved

    ·      Treasurer Report: Jim Kjar

    o   Many sponsors for the upcoming 5K run.

    §  $2400 so far has been donated.

    o   Discussions on how payments are made to the Boston fund.

    §  Some are deposited in the general fund for tax purposes.

    o   "Negative expenses" explained:

    §  Money we have received that is not income.

    ·       Pre-payments for fine arts.

    §  Discussions on payments for prom.

    ·       Cindy Rieckhoff: No money should be available for Prom.

    ·       Jim Kjar: Funds are run through the school for tax purposes and family reimbursements.

    o   Mission Fund on the balance sheet

    §  Jim Kjar: This is for Costa Rica.

    o   Year book

    §  Payments that are shown are for last year, but were paid late.

    o   Debbie Church: Will the deficit that is shown occur every month?

    §  Jim Kjar: No, because of the payments of the books early in the year.

    §  Jim Kjar: Last year the book fees didn't go into the overall profit and loss

    ·       Michal Herrington: Why?

    o   Jon Church: Because it is the largest fund and occurs annually.

    ·       Jim Kjar: Is trying to get everything on one sheet, per general accounting processes.

    §  Josh Greer: When will the negative be balanced out?

    ·       Jim Kjar: Unknown at this time.

    ·       Jim Kjar: Most of this is due to changes in the accounting programs.  Expenses are in line with previous years.

    ·       Jennifer Boatright: What changes can we make to resolve some of these issues?

    o   Jon Church: You can't really.  It has to do when I start receiving income for next year, but are still paying items for the previous year.

    o   Jim Kjar: Discussed options that would allow us to close the books at the end of the school year.

    §  Michal Herrington: Discussed the possibility of closing the books at October 1.

    o   Motion: to approve

    §  Josh Greer

    §  Second: Jon Church

    §  Approved

    ·      Principals Report: Deb/Gaye

    o   Church attendance forms are mostly in.

    o   See you at the pole was a great event.

    o   School Pictures on Friday.

    o   Boaters license course on 11/22

    §  Gaye Hiller: This will be much easier then having to pass the course online.

    o   Parent Teacher conference 11/1.

    o   Spring PTC changed to March 13 due to a basketball tournament change.

    o   Sports scores now online.

    o   College planning night on 11/10 for high school students.

    §  Jeff Backe does a great job.

    o   Fund Raising Dinner:

    §  Have about 213 seats occupied.

    §  Need to hear from about 6 families.

    §  Speaker is from Whitemen AFB.

    §  Jesse Wedemeyer will give alumni presentation.

    §  The lower bid was accepted for the catering.

    ·       Will meet with the servers the day before.

    ·       Menu: Baked chicken ***....

    §  Jon Church: Who will be doing the printing of the cards and programs

    ·       Michal: Office will be handling this

    §  Gina Kjar: How many seats last year

    ·       Maximum of 272, but we had about 260 (49 families)

    ·      Stuco Report: Lisa Cloud

    o   Wednesday is the food drive.

    o   Friday will be going to the Rieckhoffs for a hayride.

    o   Costa Rica Mission Trip:

    §  11 students, and many more parents.

    §  $785.38 earned at a garage sale.

    §  May 19-30 (unknown at this time.  Waiting to see best options to save cost on airline)

    §  Estimated $1300 per person, but people may raise their own funds (to reduce excess fundraising at the school).

    o   Service Project:

    §  Asked the Family Club for suggestions.

    §  Will do some painting and cleaning in the CEL.

    o   For kids not going to the mission trip:

    §  Will be going to East St. Louis, IL.: Christian Activities Center (CAC)

    o   All vacated officer positions filled

    §  Mariah Wassam, VP

    §  Meredith Crosier, Secratary

    o    

    ·      Athletic Report: Cindy Rieckhoff

    o   Large funds going into basketball due to low basketball turn out.

    §  Need the funds to pay for referees.

    o   Debbie Church: At what point is it not financially viable to support a sport?

    §  Jim Kjar: Was discussed at the last meeting.  Once you lose a sport it is difficult to bring it back.  Will lose families.

    o   Cindy Rieckhoff: Public schools are losing junior high teams as well due to costs.

    o   Volleyball season complete:

    §  Took 3rd in nationals

    o   Soccer season complete:

    §  Took first in nationals tournament.

    §  One team filed a complaint against ACS this season.

    ·       Jefferson City Home School.

    ·       Complained that our boys were too aggressive.

    o   Alleged that Punching and cussing on the field.

    ·       When investigated, the details were not consistent.

    ·       The coach addressed the team to make sure no bad language was used.  Let them know it would not be permitted.

    ·       We played the team a second time and no issues occurred.

    o   JV Varsity VB tournament

    §  Many compliments from other coaches about the atmosphere this year.

    §  JV made a little bit of money.

    ·       JH tourney was a loss.

    ·       Can't control how many people come in the gate.

    o   Had to get new nets for the soccer goals at Maplewood.

    §  We need to increase the size of the field.

    ·       Waiting on direction of the church for future building.

    o   Basketball

    §  No girls JH due to numbers.

    §  Regionals moved a week out.

    ·       Will overlap with Girls Soccer          .

    ·       Brad Collier is aware of the issue and will work around it.

    §  Season starts 11/29

    ·       Some events will have to be dropped after this date to avoid more than 4 events per week.

    ·       Coaches have been made aware of this.

    §  JH boys basketball

    ·       Issue with a tournament that will cause us to go more than 4 events per week.

    ·       January 9-14

    o   4 day tournament

    o   1 additional away game that week.

    §  Requesting that the board allow for an exception to the 4 event per week limit.

    §  Josh Greer: Suggests we drop the away game to avoid the conflict.

    ·       Cindy Rieckhoff: Concerned we will lose the varsity game as well.

    o   Josh: Feels bad about this, but feels that too many exceptions have already been made.  This is asking too much out of these boys this week.

    o   Jennifer Boatright: Recommends rescheduling the game, but if it can't be done, then it should be cancelled.

    §  Cindy Rieckhoff: Game can not be rescheduled.

    o   Cindy Rieckhoff: Some parents have asked why they pay the same amount between teams.  Some have more games than others.

    ·       Jon Church: Curious how players are being pulled from the junior high squad.

    o   Doesn't feel that the pulling is causing us to lose a team.

    o   Concerned about a comment that a coach made that if there aren't enough to fill a varsity squad that "he will be pulling students from Junior High".

    o   Sal Aquino: Feels that no player, 8th and below should play on varsity.

    ·       Debbie Church: Why does basketball season last so long

    o   Jennifer Boatright: Because of Christmas break and holidays.

    o   Cindy Rieckhoff: Christmas break practices are not mandatory.

    ·       Jennifer Boatright: Feels that there are a lot of people saying there are issues with coaches.  People are not addressing them with the coaches.  When addressed, there doesn't appear to be a problem.  People involved need to be the ones addressing the issues.

    ·       Debbie Church: Expressed concern about the practices over Christmas.

    o   Cindy Rieckhoff: The families involved do not have a problem and it does not set a precedent.  Also is not mandatory.

    o   Athletic banquet is tomorrow night.

    §  Issue with the letters.  They came in black and gold.  Sent back and replacements will not be back in time.

    §  What to do about spaghetti straps?

    ·       Who should enforce this?

    ·       Gaye Hiller: Should be the coaches.

    ·       Gina Kjar: A "One Call" should go out.

    ·       Jennifer Boatright: It should go out to the entire school.

     

    ·      Open Discussion: 30 min

    o   Nothing to discuss     

     

    Old Business: 30 min

    ·      IRS update

    o   Letters for assistance were delivered to:

    §  Vicky Hartzler

    §  Liberty Council

    o   We looked at the IRS instructions, a religious school, or a school that is associated with a church does not have to file.

    §  They are saying we need to, which is contradictory.

    o   Also talked about getting a tax lawyer.

    o   Our tax exempt status has been revoked, but could be reinstated retroactively.

    ·      Audit books-is everything current?

    o   Some action items are pending

     

    New Business: 30 min

    ·      ACS positives-Focus on what’s good

    o   Each board member and parents present if they would like gave a positive about our school or admin or student body etc.  Something positive that you are thankful for as we go into the Thanksgiving Season.

    §  Jennifer Boatright: Time to focus on the positives.

    §  Jennifer Boatright: Feels that the kids are interacting more this year with her and other adults with smiles and good attitudes.

    §  Debbie Church: Has seen great rapport with all ages.  Partner day is going well.

    §  Gaye Hiller: Was so thankful during volleyball season that so much work was done by the parents.

    §  Cindy Rieckhoff: JV tournament was just a great time between parents and players.  Very thankful for that experience.

    §  Jon Church: Talking about teachers assistants, before school started, one did not want to do it.  But has since stated that they very much enjoy the experience.

    §  Jon Church: Talked to a coach from Parkview.  Expressed that it was very much worth the trip because of our attitude and provided a competitive environment.

    §  Carlos Leon: The meetings are now ending at a decent hour.

    §  Jon Church: Was here today and is so thankful to Maplewood for the building and the opportunity to send their students here at a reasonable price.

    §  Debbie Church: Really excited about some of the elementary parents.  Many are investing in the school.

    ·       Michal Herrington: all 3 helping with the dinner are young parents.

    §  Michal Herrington: Has kids 2-11 grade.  Can't think of any place else that all of her students would like school.

    §  Michal Herrington: Appreciates all of the sacrifice from all of the people that volunteers to get the job done.  It's an experiment that just works.

    §  Josh Greer: Expressed the change in a child's view towards the school this year.

    §  Jim Kjar: Feels this has been an eye opening year and has enjoyed this year, but unfortunately this will be the last year for the Kjar family.  Will not be returning next year.

    ·       Jennifer Boatright: Understands, and knows that it is not for the wrong reasons.

    ·       Gina Kjar: Has very much enjoyed this year.

    ·       Jennifer Boatright: Feels that we are doing a better job of focusing on prayer.

    ·       Jennifer Boatright: Feels the Holy Spirit in our school and hopes that we do not get overwhelmed on the wrong things.

    §  Jennifer Boatright: Appreciates all of the time and effort of the board members and parents.  Appreciates all of the volunteer work that is constantly getting done.  It takes every one of us, and wants to say thank you

    §  Lisa Cloud: Last few years has gotten to do teacher evaluations and enjoys the experience.  While most of our teachers are not formally trained in their positions, they do such a wonderful job.

    o   Scheduling

    §  Is it possible to have a way for everyone to put items in the calendar themselves.

    ·       Josh Greer: discussed options for a web design that will be discussed in the future.

    ·      Next meeting:

    o   November 15th @6:30

    o   December 12th @ 6:30                     

    o   Adjourn:

    §  Motion to adjourn

    ·      Josh Greer

    ·      Second: Carlos Leon

    ·      Approved

  • General Session Minutes 9/22/11

    ACS Board Meeting Minutes

    Sept 22, 2011 7:00pm

    Board Members Present: Jennifer Boatright, Josh Greer, Jon Church, Jim Kjar, Michal Herrington, Carlos Leon

    Interested Parties:  Jacinda Wassam, Terry Wassam, Sal Aquino, Cindy Rieckhoff, Debbie Church

    Opening: 40 min

    ·       Open in prayer:   Michal Herrington

    ·       Secretary’s Report

    o   Motion: to approve as presented

    §  Jon Church

    §  Second: Jim Kjar

    §  Approved

    ·       Treasurer Report: Jim Kjar

    o   New format

    o   Over budget by $626.46 this month

    o   Currently paying for a payroll service

    §  Questioning another option

    ·         QuickBooks

    §  Jennifer Boatright: ADP offers other services other than just cutting checks

    §  Josh Greer: Depending on how much savings would be involved, there is a value to having an outside party to manage this due to turn over in volunteer positions.

    §  Questions on how much we currently pay the payroll service.

    §  Jennifer Boatright: Discussed how the payroll services manages the payment of taxes.

    §  Jim to investigate the costs of the current service vs. QuickBooks.

    §  Motion: to approve as presented

    ·         Jon Church

    ·         Second: Josh Greer

    ·         Approved

    §  Jim Kjar: Scholarship fund

    ·         2 churches donating monthly

    ·         Jon Church: 2 individuals have been approved for this year

    ·         Jon Church: Since we have a large fund, can we redirect the funds to the debt reduction?

    o   Jim Kjar: The 2 donations would come close to current budget shortfall.

    §  Action: Josh Greer to talk to Heartland.

    §  Action: Jon Church to talk to Life Liberty.

    ·       Principals Report: Debbie Church

    o   New program to partner up younger students with older students

    o   Parent Jobs

    §  11 jobs currently open

    §  Many of the jobs can be done by anyone.

    ·         Some are specialized jobs

    §  Letters sent out this week for church attendance

    §  School pictures and eye exam on October 28

    §  Boater's license course November 22

    §  Defensive driving class possibly April 4.

    ·       STUCO Report: Lisa Cloud

    o   Tabled

    ·       Athletic Report: Cindy Rieckhoff

    o   Nothing specific to present

    o   $8,270 cleared balance

    o   $966 outstanding checks (officials)

    o   One outstanding bill

    §  line marking equipment

    o   Next meeting October 27 @ 6:00 PM

    o   Questions about a previously outstanding bill

    §  Has been paid

    o   Discussions on how to pay for hotel rooms

    §  No longer to be paid by the athletic committee up front

    §  Parents must pay for the rooms themselves

    §  Paula Crosier: How will this be done; namely by the players themselves

    ·         Jennifer Boatright: The coach will still be the responsible adult to check the players into their rooms

    o   Discussions on MSHSAA

    §  Jim Kjar: Talked to Trinity Lutheran about the process

    §  Jim Kjar: Discussed the possibility of dealing with worldly issues

    §  Cindy Rieckhoff: Concerned about the environment that parents from public schools will subject our students to.

    §  Michal Herrington: How many games do we need to add?

    ·         Josh Greer: We should map it out and define how far we want to drive.  Find how many teams are outside of this radius.

    §  Cindy Rieckhoff: We would need to hire MSHAA refs for these types of games

    §  Jim Kjar to investigate becoming an MSHAA affiliate.

    o   Discussions on 4 game/practice limitations per week

    §  Jennifer Boatright: It was not discussed about pre-season

    §  Cindy Rieckhoff: Teams should have 14 practices before their first game

    §  Jennifer Boatright: This would only affect volleyball because school is not in session for their preseason

    §  Jon Church: This is why this was introduced because players should not be overloaded during school.

    §  Cindy Rieckhoff: What about during Christmas vacation?

    ·         Debbie Church: Should not be mandatory.  Doesn't like the precedent being set.

    ·         Cindy Rieckhoff: Then we need to make it consistent across all sports.

    ·         Sal Aquino: As a Christian school, we would hope that we would not interfere with church youth group.

    §  Paula Crosier: Thom would like to have 4 nights and a Saturday morning.

    ·         Debbie Church: No

    §  Paula Crosier: Thom is just asking for the time between volleyball and basketball.  With 2 weeks between sports, and 1 of those weeks can not be mandatory, it doesn't leave much time to get a team ready.

    ·         Jim Kjar: dates before the season would not be as bad because players would not be traveling to other schools.

    ·         Motion: Amend guideline to allow 5 day a week of athletic activities before the first game for a maximum of three weeks.

    o   Debbie Church: concerned that does not talk about how soon they can start (amended the motion above).

    o   Paula Crosier: Provides some flexibility for the coaches.  If they can't get to a practice one week, but could every day the next week.

    o   Jim Kjar (motion)

    o   Cindy Rieckhoff: Could we survey the parents and ask their opinions?

    o   Jennifer Boatright: Would feel better about trying it out this year and letting the coaches know that this is probationary.  If the issue is pushed over the line, we will address it harshly.

    o   Paula Crosier:  Feels we should leave it up to the families to decide if it is too much, they could contact the coach directly to discuss the schedule.

    o   Second: Jon Church

    o   Approved

    ·         Discussions on how much we have spent on referees during tournaments.

    ·         Terry Wassam: Why do we have so much money in the athletic fund?

    o   Jim Kjar: Because we have received athletic fees, but expenses will trickle out throughout the year.

    ·         Josh Greer: Did we or did we not make money on previous volleyball tournaments?

    o   Jim Kjar: "we have never made a profit at volleyball tournaments"

    o   Cindy Rieckhoff: we don't have the records to support otherwise.

    o   Estimated $700 cost for the referees at the last tournament.

     

    Open Discussion: 30 min

    ·       Caterer for the fund raising dinner: Michal Herrington

    o   Read a proposal to hire "Table of 5" (Lisa Dover)

    §  Has quoted $8.00 per person

    §  Would have to pay for servers

    o   Josh Greer : Do we have time to request corporate donations now before we make the decision to hire a caterer.

    §  Michal Herrington: Many donations come in afterward so this would not be feasible

    o   Terry Wassam: In the past, it cost approximately $100 for pizza to feed the workers and the baby sitters, and the kids in the child care

    §  Paula Crosier: Why are we feeding the kids in the child care?

    ·         Cindy Rieckhoff: As a courtesy.

    o   Motion: to approve the caterer as presented by Michal using the cost adjustment ($8.50 per person), $2,337.50

    §  Jon Church

    §  Josh Greer: What is the alternative?

    ·         Michal Herrington: There isn't one

    §  Jim Kjar: Can we clarify the final number?

    ·         Jennifer Boatright: Not with the kids

    ·         Carlos Leon: Can we ask for a cost break

    §  Second: Jim Kjar

    §  Approved

    o   Terry Wassam: Will volunteer to take care of the meal for the servers.

    §  Would need 4 adults to take care of the little kids.

    §  Will pay for the meal for the servers

    ·         The board appreciates this offer.

    o   Michal Herrington: Are we still wanting this to be a fund raiser for computers?

    §  Debbie Church: We really need the upgrade.  Teachers are planning on things that are not working.

    §  Discussion on upgrading computers

    §  Josh Greer: Recommends against upgrading computers.  We need to buy new devices with the newer software.

    §  Jennifer Boatright: Feels the corporate sponsors will donate more if they know what the need is.

     Old Business: 40 min

    ·       Town Hall meeting-how did it go?

    o   Jon Church: Was pleased to see the turnout

    o   Jon Church: 6 families missing

    o   Jim Kjar: Did anyone come to the latest academic committee meeting.

    §  Debbie Church: No

    o   Michal Herrington: Felt the evening was calm

    o   Jennifer Boatright: Was nice to get everyone together to discuss common issues

    o   Jon Church: Was nice to begin and end on prayer.

    o   Jennifer Boatright: Do we want to do this every year?  Possibly even just a prayer meeting.

    §  Josh Greer: Recommends against a town hall every year.  Diminishes the importance if it is done every year.

    ·       IRS update

    o   Jon Church to contact the IRS for further information.

    o   Discussions on the need to close this issue out before the fund-raiser

    o   Carlos Leon: recommends exporting the data in the financial software to send to his brother for the annual audit.

    New Business: 40 min

    ·       Nothing reported

    Next meeting: October 24 @ 6:30

    • Adjourn:
    • Motion to adjourn
        • Josh Greer
        • Second: Jon Church
        • Approved
  • General Session Minutes 8/22/11

    ACS Board Meeting Minutes

    Aug 22, 2011 6:30pm

    Board Present: Jennifer Boatright, Michal Herrington, Josh Greer, Jon Church, Jim Kjar, Adam Cormican, Carlos Leon

    Interested Parties: Jacinda Wassam, Terry Wassam, Carie Aquino, Sal Aquino, Gaye Hiller, Debbie Church, Pam Breid, Pam Young, Jane Guthrie, Thom Crosier, Paula Crosier, Allen Sims

    Opening: 40 min

    ·       Open in prayer:  Adam Cormican

    ·       New Teacher Introduction

    o   Pam Breid: Kindergarten

    §  Gave testimony

    ·         Saved at a young age

    o   Jane Guthrie: Fourth grade

    §  Discussed teaching methods

    §  Gave testimony

    ·         Saved at age 14

    o   Allen Sims: Boys Bible

    §  Gave testimony

    ·         Saved at around age 32 (October of 2000)

    ·       Secretary’s Report: Josh Greer

    o   Grammatical changes

    o   Content: Walmart script card .10 discount pertains only to gas purchases.

    o   Motion to accept with changes

    §  Jon Church

    §  Second: Michal Herrington

    §  Approved

    ·       Treasurer Report: Jon Church and Jim Kjar

    o   $7000 in book expenses

    o   Accountant has requested forms (related to the annual audit).

    §  All but one has been submitted.

    o   IRS Letter (written by Jon Church)

    §  Sent copy of all correspondence.

    §  Receipt June 7, 2010 (certified letter sent to IRS previously)

    §  Jennifer Boatright: explained the process we have gone through thus far.

    §  Jon Church: Worst case, we will be required to pay $850 and re-file to reclaim our tax exempt status.

    o   Jim Kjar: Questions about expenses

    §  $1440 per student

    §  84 Students

    ·         $650 less in rent

    §  Current deficit is approximately $10,000

    §  Salaries: adjustments unknown at this time.

    ·         Combining classes (one less teacher, 6th grade)

    o   Jon Church: the cost of a full time teacher is $5600

    o   Motion to approve

    §  Adam Cormcian

    §  Second: Michal Herrington

    ·         Approved

    ·       Principals Report: Debbie Church & Gaye Hiller

    o   Roster Losses

    §  Lansing, Bussey, Desmond

    o   Potential new candidates

    §  Possible new senior

    ·         Paula Crosier: I thought we tried to avoid first year ACS seniors.

    o   Jennifer Boatright: We try to, and that is why it is still in question.

    o   Teachers still needed

    §  5th grade Bible

    §  Music k-4th

    §  Jim Kjar: Are new teachers already budgeted?

    ·         Debbie Church: Yes

               

    Open Discussion: 30 min

    ·          Michal Herrington: Verifying church attendance.

    o   Created some forms to be used.

    o   One form to be completed by the family, then a form will be sent to their pastor from the information they filled out.

    o   Terry Wassam: What will we do if the pastor does not respond?

    §  Michal Herrington: Phone calls will then take place.

    §  Jennifer Boatright: We should populate the second form with as much information as possible (i.e., the family name)

    §  Jon Church: Suggests sending a self addressed stamped envelope.

     

    Old Business: 40 min

    ·       THANK YOU MR. WASSAM-SIGN LOOKS GREAT!!

    ·       Town Hall meeting-

    o   Agenda items

    §  Summer reading program

    ·         Jim Kjar: Has this been discussed by the academic committee?

    ·         Pam Young: Yes.

    o   We are more lenient this year based on previous years.

    o   This year, we gave a more extensive list and did not require a report.

    o   Leaving it to the integrity of the parents to ensure the students complete the summer reading program.

    o   Concerned that we have a very short amount of time to accomplish the work that needs to be done.

    o   Most students will not read whole pieces of literature in the school year.

    o   Not happy with the amount of classics that our students are reading in the school year.

    o   We have a very long summer break.  Without challenging our students over the summer, the students fall back in their reading.

    o   If we are going to say that we are academically challenging, then we need to ask them to go above and beyond.

    o   Checked other Christian schools and they require summer reading programs as well.

    o   A pilot group (third grade) will be taking place this year with new curriculum: "My Father's World".  Offers more literature.

    §  May be a better curriculum for our school.

    §  If we do a switch in curriculum, we may end the summer reading program.

    o   Jennifer Boatright: Since there is no way to monitor the program, what if we give them the list during the school year.

    §  Pam Young: It wouldn't help keeping them sharp during the summer.

    §  Jennifer Boatright: But if they are only "half doing it" now it is beside the point.

    §  Jennifer Boatright: Have we talked about adding it to the honors program?

    §  Pam Young: Waiting to see the response during the town hall.

    §  Carie Aquino: If it is added to the honors program, will it change the requirements to complete the task?

    ·         Jennifer Boatright: It will require a report.

    ·         Carie Aquino: Who will be checking this?

    ·         Pam Young: It will be part of the English program.  Possibly assigning a teacher to a student to follow them through the high school years

    ·         Paula Crosier: Possibly tracked by the academic committee.

    ·         Jim Kjar: Is it possible to require 2 books starting in September, and then require additional books for the honors program?

    ·         Pam Young: Parents already complain that there is too much during the school year.  Requiring it during the school year may add too much.

    ·         Debbie Church: Some classes do have full novels assigned.  That fact that they never read novels is a misnomer.

    ·         Paula Crosier: But it doesn't match what is required in public school.

    ·          

    §  Pam Young: Parent involvement

    ·         We lost a significant number of families last year that contained a lot of jobs.

    ·         The parents that are coming in are just doing the minimum 3 points.

    ·         What we are seeing right now is that we have more points that need to be filled.

    ·         Families need to be reminded that this is not the kind of school to drop your kids off and drive away.

    ·         If we don't have volunteers we are going to have to hire people or let some programs go.

    ·         We need to discuss why families need to be involved and how we need to better fill open positions.

    ·         Jim Kjar: Reiterated that this is a home school cooperative not a public school and therefore requires more volunteer work.

    ·         Pam Young: Suggests that we charge people a large sum up front and refund more money when they do work.

    o   Jon Church: Concerned that we would let people be a part of the school that are not going to help (buying out of work).

    o   Jim Kjar: This is part of what we just mentioned; it needs to be a mind change to make people want to work for the school.

    o   Paula Crosier: It's not ideal, but the success of ACS requires the involvement.  If families are not "held to the fire", everyone suffers.

    o   Jennifer Boatright: We need to find our gaps and call parents that are low on points to fill these gaps.

    o   Debbie Church: This is what we did last year and it is working well.  We have more volunteers than we have ever had.

    o   Jennifer Boatright: Talked about the parents of younger students don't have visibility to the needs and this helps them get plugged in.

    o   Michal Herrington: There were several things last year that went unfilled.

    o   Michal Herrington: Why did we not raise the point requirement?

    o   Terry Wassam: Because there were not enough jobs.

    o   Paula Crosier: But we could come up with plenty of things to do.

    o   Thom Crosier: One of the things that needs to be stressed to families that are not involved, a pillar of ACS is parent involvement.  If you are not involved, you are not filling an obligation to your children, school, and to the ministry.  Doesn't feel that people understand the obligation that people have to the school to utilize their gifts.

    §  It is our job to point out that it doesn't require large amounts of skill to complete some task.

    §  People look more to the points and not the need to give.

    o   Paula Crosier: This is what sets ACS apart

    §  The reason why the Crosiers are here, because there was a need to fill.

    §  Did not have to come here.  They were successfully homeschooling their children.

    §  Felt called to come to the school and use their gifts.

    §  Without people accepting this call, the school will not be successful.

    §  We are filling a niche.

    ·         It is cheaper at public school.

    ·         More academically challenged at Sacred Heart.

    §  Pam Young: We are the only Christian school left in the area.

    ·         Doesn’t count Sacred Heart as a Christian school.

    §  Gaye Hiller: When ACS started, people came here because they were led to come here.  Lately we are petitioning families to come and they are not necessarily led to be here.

    ·         We recently started trying to increase our numbers (i.e.: when the fundraiser began), this is when this mindset began to change.

    ·         Pam Young: That should be handled during the acceptance interview.

    o   We need families that want the school to grow.

    ·         Michal Herrington: You can't tell during the interview phase how involved a family will be.

    §  Debbie Church: Looking at the list she sees that parents of the young students will be involved in years to come.

    §  Paula Crosier: Finds it unfathomable that more families are not represented at board meetings.

    ·         Paula Crosier: Feels that we need to make it a requirement for a family to come to a board meeting.

    ·         Sal Aquino: Feels that people shouldn't complain (gave the example of the summer reading program) if they don't come to a board meeting.

    ·         Carie Aquino: Feels that the reason some people are not coming to board meetings is based on their personality.  Feels that some people may not want to be exposed to the things that happen at board meetings.

    §  Budget

    ·         Jim Kjar: Income has gone down, but so have expenses.

    ·         Paula Crosier: But we cannot count on this every year.  We must be able to pay for 13 teachers every year.

    §  Jennifer Boatright: As we go back to focusing on home school cooperative apposed to a public school, some of these things will fall into place.

    §  Gaye Hiller: Suggests adding the parental involvement as an annual requirement just to remind parents of the need for their involvement.

    §  Jennifer Boatright: Do we know how many people will be in attendance?

    ·         Jennifer Boatright: A one call needs to go out tomorrow telling families that they need to be there; parents only.

    o   Attendance should be taken.

    ·       Discipline/bullying procedure-Adam Cormican

    o   Adam Cormican: Most of our documentation already covered bullying.  Some verbiage was changed just to add specific details on bullying.

    o   Adam Cormican: Outlined the changes.

    o   Adam Cormican: Defined bullying.

    o   Thom Crosier: How are you going to define “undo distress”.

    §  Michal Herrington: Last meeting, we kept going back to a pattern.

    §  Pam Young: Are we talking about one person not getting invited to a birthday party?

    ·         No

    §  Discussions on "not allowed" and "strongly discouraged" regarding excluding students.

    ·         Paula Crosier: If you have a student that is not a people-person and does not talk to other people, then that is a pattern.

    ·         Adam Cormican: If people are purposely ignoring others, it needs to be addressed.  This is a Christian school, not a public school.

    ·         Paula Crosier: Feels that this is too subjective.

    ·         Jennifer Boatright: It is subjective; the perception of bullying is very subjective, but something has to be done.

    o   We have to start somewhere, because it is a repeated subject during recent board meetings.

    ·         Gaye Hiller: We all have different personalities which will lead to properly defining a pattern when the events occur.

    ·         Jennifer Boatright: The procedures can always be morphed, but it has to start somewhere.

    ·         Michal Herrington: We need to set the bar high.

    ·         Paula Crosier: If we do this, the parents need to be involved when their kids are addressed.

    ·         Michal Herrington: That is a decision for the administration.

    ·         Jennifer Boatright: "The perception of disrespect is disrespect whether it is intended or not".  Does not feel that parents always need to be involved.

    ·         Paula Crosier: “But I do".  Parents need to be involved since it is a change that must happen at home.

    ·         Debbie Church: Does not feel that things will change too much.  Parents will eventually be involved.  There may not be enough time to get parents involved in the beginning of an issue.

    ·         Paula Crosier: But if it is a pattern, then it does not have to be addressed immediately.

    ·         Adam Cormican: Do you (Paula) feel that a student is going to come to the administration to say that someone is not talking to them.

    o   Paula Crosier: Yes, it has happened this year to one of her children.

    o   Jenifer Boatright: Then you have to trust your administrators to pick up on these things and weed them out.

    §  We are not out to ostracize students, but rather encourage them to be more Christ-like.

    §  We need to give them some expectations.

    §  Jennifer Boatright: Has deep trust in our administration to properly deal with these issues.

    o   Paula Crosier: Perhaps this is something that could be discussed by the Crosiers to the board in executive session.

    §  Various items cleaned up to clarify the verbiage.

    ·         Jennifer Boatright: we need to vote on these changes.

    ·         Jim Kjar: We should table the vote to executive session until after we talk with the crosiers.

    ·       IRS update

    o   Discussed during the treasurers report.

     

    New Business: 40 min

    ·       Aflac

    o   People met with Jennifer Boatright

    o   Can provide insurance options to our teachers that can be pre-tax incentives.

    o   Would be a benefit that we could offer.

    o   Josh Greer: But if we offer insurance, dependant coverage will most likely be dropped by the spouses insurance.

    §  Thom Crosier: At Hayes Lemmerz, it is a certain dollar amount or above.  Perhaps different companies have different policies.

    o   Carlos Leon: This is all supplemental insurance and will not help anyone.

    o   Paula Crosier: Do they setup flex spending?

    §  Carlos Leon: No.

    o   Motion: We do not discuss Aflac due to the conflict in spousal insurance.  If they want to leave a business card for the teachers, they can contact Aflac directly.

    §  Jim Kjar

    §  Second: Jon Church

    §  Approved

    ·       Feathers in hair

    o   Debbie Church: New style.  Parents asking if it will be allowed.

    o   Michal Herrington: Does not find them distracting.

    o   Jacinda Wassam: Finds them distracting.  Has had a kid be sent home for coloring their hair. This is no different.

    o   Adam Cormican: It is no different than a bow in the hair.

    o   Debbie Church: Similar to a streak in hair.  Subjective and up to the board.

    o   Jim Kjar: How different is this than a bow?

    o   Sal Aquino: What was the decision on the streak in the hair last year?

    §  it was declined

    o   Jennifer Boatright: You can get these any way you want and some may be distracting.

    o   Jon Church: If we decide against them, are they hard to remove?

    §  Pam: That should not matter

    o   Paula Crosier: We should give them notice of one month.

    o   Debbie Church: How is it different than a bow?

    o   Thom Crosier: How is it difference than coloring hair at all?

    o   Gaye Hiller: Asked how this came about?

    §  Debbie Church: Families have come and asked if the feathers need to be removed.

    §  Gaye Hiller: Should we allow them and deal with the issue when it occurs?

    §  Debbie Church: But it isn't different than a streak

    §  Jennifer Boatright: If we find that they are a distraction, they should be removed at that time.

    §  Pam Young: Discussed what is required of the administration and the fact that it is subjective.

    §  Debbie Church:  we need consistency

    ·         Motion: To not allow feather as of October 7th

    o   Jon Church

    o   Various discussion

    §  Josh Greer: Doesn't know how to vote.  We need to be consistent, but we are also being too legalistic.

    §  Paula Crosier: The Administration has enough to deal with regarding the length of shorts.

    §  Jennifer Boatright: If we do not have a second, we need a new motion to allow it.

    §  Thom Crosier: No we don't.

    §  Jim Kjar: Unless someone has complained about it being a distraction, we should not have to deal with it.

    §  Jennifer Boatright: Our dress code policy talks about items worn in a worldly manner.

    §  Jennifer Boatright: Motion dropped due to no second offered.

    §  Jim Kjar: If we have someone complain that it is a distraction, it should be addressed at that time.

    §  Carie Aquino: But then it is a problem that this issue will be addressed without being decided in advance.

    ·         Discussed a past issue regarding hair color that was not allowed.

    ·         The family was upset with how it was dealt with.

    ·         Did not come to the board.  Was dealt with one on one in the parking lot with Jennifer Boatright.

    ·         Jennifer Boatright: They did not feel that the family was upset at the time.  They asked her opinion and she mentioned that it would not be allowed based on the dress code.

    ·       Board family assignments

    o   Josh Greer: Recommends that we discuss in executive session to save time in general session

    ·       Athletic Director (AD)

    o   Jennifer Boatright: Spoken with Bill Lansing about his future as AD after discovering that his students will not be attending ACS.

    §  Via email, mentioned that he will not "leave the school high and dry"

    §  Will stay on as AD unless there is someone interested in taking on the job.

    §  Have not heard any further details.

    o   There was supposed to be an athletic committee report this month.

    §  Asked that it be pushed out until next month since he has not been able to meet with Jim Kjar due to the State Fair.

    o   Adam Cormican: Bill Lansing mentioned that perhaps Sal Aquino could take over the position at the beginning of the year.

    §  Sal Aquino: Has not agreed to this.  Would offer to help but doesn't want to take on the job due to his full time job.

    §  Sal Aquino: It is his opinion that the ball has been dropped many times in the athletic committee and it is sad.

    ·         Should not only have a meeting every three months.

    §  Paula Crosier: Feels that the committee is too large and should be broken up.

    ·         Jennifer Boatright: Perhaps the parameters can be outlined by the board and let the coaches schedule their events; with final approval by the AD.

    ·         Terry Wassam: Talked about how this could lead to schedule conflicts.

    ·         Sal Aquino: We have games coming up, do we have referees?

    o   Gaye Hiller: Has sent a text to Bill Lansing, but has not been responded to.

    o   Paula Crosier: This is a reoccurring issue.

    o   Adam Cormican: The junior high soccer coach has not gotten any response about a roster or dates of games.

    ·         Jennifer Boatright: Would we have a problem with a female doing it?

    o   No

    o   Jennifer: Cindy Reickhoff would make a great AD

    §  Jacinda Wassam: Has asked her, but she does not appear to be interested.

    ·         Thom Crosier: Feels compelled to comment on the matter.

    o   Bill has done a much better job getting things set this year based on previous year.  Guys and girls basketball schedules are done.  The issue lies with officials.

    o   We need to know who he has booked and who he does not.

    o   We need to have backups because referees will cancel at the last minute.

    o   We need to schedule basketball officials right now.

    o   We could also get some more junior high soccer games scheduled.

    o   We need contact numbers from Bill Lansing right now to drum up games and referees.

    o   Jon Church: Could coaches take care of the referee situation if they had a list.

    o   Thom Crosier: Don't count on anything more being done by Bill Lansing this year.

    ·         Sal Aquino: Will contact Bill Lansing and see what information we can get.  Would like to help out, but does not want to run it.

    o   Pam Young: Would Sal be interested in interviewing candidates?

    ·         Sal Aquino: We need to know who has been scheduled to officiate and has not.

    ·         Thom Crosier: At some point it needs to be discussed that this position be paid position.

    o   Jennifer Boatright: But the school is not about sports.

    o   Jon Church: Fees could be increased and paid by the athletic committee.

    ·         Jim Kjar: Is currently balancing the check book, but Bill still has the checkbook in his position.

     

     

    Next meeting:  

                September 26th @ 6:30 PM

               

    Adjourn:

    • Motion: to adjourn
        • Josh Greer
        • Second: Jon Church
        • Approved
  • General Session Minutes 7/25/2011

    ACS Board Mtg. Minutes

    July 25, 2011 6:30pm

    Interested Parties: Sal Aquino, Carie Aquino, Bart Hiller, Gaye Hiller, Terry Wassam, Jacinda Wassam, Paula Crosier, Bill Lansing

    Board Present: Jennifer Boatright, Michal Herrington, Adam Cormican, Carlos Leon, Josh Greer, Jon Church, Jim Kjar

        Opening: 30 min

    ·       Open in prayer:  Jim Kjar

    ·       Secretary’s Report: Josh Greer

    o   Grammatical Changes made

    o   Motion to approve

    §  Jon

    §  Second: Carlos

    §  Approved

    ·       Treasurer Report: Jon Church

    o   Graduation expenses lighter than previous years

    o   More spent in textbooks this year

    §  Depleted book fund by $1500

    o   Michal Herrington: What is the process for ordering?

    §  Jon Church: Kelly Bergman does such a good job that it has never been an issue of going over.

    §  Jon Church: There were old books that were outdated

    ·         History

    §  Paula Crosier: We also take other things out of the book fund that were previously in school supplies.

    o   Letter from the IRS that our tax exempt status has been revoked.

    §  We sent the information to them and have records.

    §  We are following up.

    §  Jennifer Boatright: We did what we were supposed to do.  They can't find the information.

    §  Jon Church: Law changed in 2006 that requires us to re-file annually.

    §  Jennifer Boatright: We don't have to change what we are doing, but we still had to send them a note that explained why we should still be exempt.  That information was sent via registered mail.

    §  action, Jennifer Boatright: Email the information to Jon Church

    o   Michal Herrington: Fine arts competition, were we not going to take something else out of this fund?

    §  We did not.

    o   Michal Herrington: Why do we not budget for substitute teachers?

    §  Jon Church: Because we do not pay the teachers when they miss school.

    o   Michal Herrington: Why do we not budget for Iowa basics.

    §  Jon Church: It comes out of book fees.

    o   Debbie Church: Program and Events, why did it go over?

    §  Thanksgiving feast lost money last year.

    o   Michal Herrington: Fundraising budget?

    §  Jennifer Boatright: The sponsors cover these expenses

    §  Michal Herrington: Doesn't see where we paid money out.

    ·         Jon Church: Has a spreadsheet that shows where we paid money out.

    ·         Action Jon Church: Send this information to Michal Herrington.

    o   Carrie Aquino: Has several checks written that have not been cleared (for entry to a ball game)

    §  From March and April

    ·         3 different events

    ·         All girls soccer games

    §  Has contacted Gay Otten and Darla Lansing.

    §  Had to close an account, so these checks will not clear.

    §  Will write another check to the school to cover these costs.

    §  Jennifer Boatright: Concerned that if these didn't get deposited what other expenses are we missing?

    §  Bill Lansing: Soccer is difficult to track because the box does not always come back to the school right away.

    ·         Jennifer Boatright: Please discuss this in the next committee meeting.

    §  Bill Lansing: Possibly not charge for ladies soccer entry fee, and charge more for soccer participation fee in lieu of taking the gate.

    §  Bill Lansing: Is sometimes difficult to get the box to games due to coming from work, etc.

    §  Terry Wassam: Possibly a job for a team parent.

    o   Motion to approve

    §  Josh Greer

    §  Second: Jim Kjar

    §  Approved

    ·       Principals Report: Debbie Church

    o   83 students (Tom Wassam and Thomas families have withdrawn)

    o   Interviews taking place

    o   2 teachers withdrawn

    §  Thomas

    §  Cormican

    o   Mr. Sims accepted position to teach

    o   9 classes still need teachers

    o   Jennifer Boatright: Have the people being interviewed been tested, and/or will that matter?

    §  Debbie Church: Should not matter.

    o   Jennifer Boatright: Who is teaching chemistry?

    §  Debbie Church: Melissa Bussey

    o   Michal Herrington: Teaching textbooks

    §  Go as high as pre-calc (covers trigonometry)

    §  Jennifer Boatright: Do we have kids that need advanced math?

    ·         Debbie Church: Yes

    ·         Debbie Church: we do have CDs that can be used.

    o   Kelley will be checking this to see how it can be used.

    o   Terry Wassam: For the students that have withdrawn, have any of these families paid?

    §  Jon Church: No

    §  Terry Wassam: Isn't this kind of late to be withdrawing?

    ·         Jon Church: Is too difficult to track to find out when someone hasn't paid until it is too late.  Staff is not available to see people and track data more quickly.

    §  Jennifer Boatright: At this point, go back and look to see who hasn't paid, people could be contacted.

    §  Paula Crosier: But teachers do not pay in June since they do not have a paycheck until September.  Perhaps we should remove this grace.

    ·         Josh Greer: But if it were due to a hardship, we would most likely give the money back.

    §  Paula Crosier: Did we turn away anyone that we could now fit in any of these classes?

    ·         Michal Herrington: When the class is full, many people don't get past a phone call.  No information is left.

    §  Carie Aquino: But some of these classes were already over the limit, so the reduction in students in some cases is still at the maximum limit.

               

    Open Discussion: 30 min

    ·          The sign

    o   Michal Herrington: it is falling apart.

    o   Jennifer Boatright: Call Lisa Cloud to contact whoever built it.

    §  Terry Wassam: Will take care of it.  The lumber used was green and has shrunk.

    §  Terry Wassam: Landscaping timbers were used.

    ·       Carie Aquino: When do we find out about the high school volleyball coach

    o   Bill Lansing: Needs to be voted on by the committee, but could be voted on at the board meeting if needed.

    o   Bill Lansing: The meeting is tomorrow.

    §  Bill Lansing: If the committee approves it could she be approved by a vote tonight?

    §  Motion: To accept Gaye Hiller as the Varsity volleyball coach assuming the committee votes her in.

    ·         Jon Church

    ·         Second: Michal Herrington

    ·         Approved.

    ·       Jim Kjar: How are we doing on the scrip cards?

    o   Jacinda Wassam: summer time has been slow, but some individual large orders are coming through.

    o   Jon Church: Are we tracking solely how much money this process is making us?

    §  Jacinda: Gaye Hiller has built a folder to show the details.

    §  Current profit: $981.50

    o   Jacinda Wassam: People need to step it up or we will have to have a selling fund raiser.

    o   Jon Church: Until September, Wal-Mart has a 10 cent discount when using a scrip card for gas purchases.

    o   Gaye Hiller: Once we track what people need, we will start carrying more of an inventory.

    Old Business: 35 min

    ·       Town Hall meeting

    o   Jennifer Boatright: Are we geared up?

    o   Jim Kjar: Maplewood is available.

    o   Jennifer Boatright: We were going to send out information so people could add topics.

    §  Debbie Church: Can do this.

    §  Jim Kjar: If we could have responses back by August 15.

    §  Jennifer Boatright: Wants to talk primarily about tuition increases in future years, but also wants to make available the ability to have a controlled discussion on other items so they can be added to an agenda.

     

    New Business: 40 min

    ·       Summer Reading Program

    o   Josh Greer: In a discussion with an ACS family about the summer reading program, this family feels that we should be able to implement our own learning programs during the summer and not be ruled by the school in their own homes.

    o   Jennifer Boatright: Is this an academic committee decision or board decision?

    §  Debbie Church: The academic committee has met and has not changed their opinion on the use of the summer reading program.

    §  Josh Greer: But feels this goes beyond the reading program.  The fact that we are invading family time in the summer causes us to exceed our bounds.

    §  Jennifer Boatright: What happens if the reading is not done.

    §  Debbie Church: Currently nothing happens.

    §  Debbie Church: Some students that went above and beyond were awarded a special event held by the Reickhoff family.

    §  Debbie Church: For this summer, reports are not needed, but students are still required to read from the list.

    §  Josh Greer: Why not do it like the book-it program and allow it to be a volunteer program.

    §  Paula Crosier: Because ACS claims to be a higher learning program, but we are not meeting these expectations.  The students don't actually get to do that much reading in class.  It comes down to what do families want for their education.  Without this program, it takes away from the value of the diploma.

    §  Carie Aquino: In Warrensburg, we can't find many of the books on the list.  Some of the books are hard to choose from.

    §  Carie Aquino: You either like to read or you don't.  It is needed for students to read, but is causing her kids to not like reading even more.

    §  Paula Crosier: Are we sending kids to college disadvantaged?  Are we dumbing down our education?

    §  Debbie Church: The curriculum does allow for at least 1 novel a year.

    §  Josh Greer: We have to keep coming back to a common point discussed: ACS cannot be everything to everyone.  At some point we need to leave up to the parents to decide if their student needs more literature.

    §  Jim Kjar: Is higher literature part of the honors program?

    ·         Debbie Church: No

    ·         Jim Kjar: This is a travesty

    o   Jim Kjar: Could we add this to the honors program and let families decide whether they do it during the summer or the school year; all from the recommended list of classic literature?

    o   Debbie Church: That works for the high school but not the younger programs

    o   Jim Kjar: But that could be up to the parents to ensure their kids are reading something; not necessarily from the list.  Just to keep them reading.

    o   Bill Lansing: Where did the list get generated from

    o   Debbie Church: From a Christian book reading program.

    o   Jim Kjar: Instead of having the kids write a report, have the literature teacher quiz them orally.  We do not teach kids to speak, which is difficult.

    o   Michal Herrington: But the teachers will have had to read each of these books.

    o   Josh Greer: What can I tell my family that introduced the question?

    §  Jennifer Boatright: The committee will discuss this issue again, and they can attend the meeting (Wed 7/27 @ 1:00 PM in the green room)

    §  Jennifer Boatright: If they do not like the results, they can send the information to the town hall group to be placed on the agenda.

    ·       Bullying Policy

    o   Jennifer Boatright: Because of emails and discussions of attitudes and heart issues, we need a bullying policy.  It was recommended by an outside source that we introduce a policy.

    o   Jennifer Boatright: A sample was found and a rough policy was drafted for discussion.

    o   Jennifer Boatright: One of the topics was based on emotional bullying.

    §  We have some people that have expressed that they do not want to come to school due to existing bullying.

    o   Paula Crosier: How do you enforce this policy

    §  Jennifer Boatright: By definition of the act and the results of such acts.

    §  Jennifer Boatright: A report would be filled out that would go to an administrator (as an example from another school).  The administrator would find witnesses to corroborate the issue.  An investigation would ensue.

    ·         If it were found to be true, it would go into the student's file.

    ·         Ramifications for each act

    ·         A plan would be put in place to correct it.

    o   Jennifer Boatright: Don't feel we have issues with physical bullying, but the heart issues certainly exist.

    §  Jennifer Boatright: Even if the person didn't mean to make people feel a certain way, actions need to be put in place to correct the issue

    §  Paula Crosier: But this is a two way street.

    §  Gaye Hiller: It is a two way street one issue at a time, but when you compile the issues and it constantly points to a certain individual, then things need to be done.

    §  Paula Crosier: Uncomfortable putting this bullying policy in place at a school this small.  If people feel uncomfortable by certain attitudes, "come on".

    ·         Jennifer Boatright: But if someone feels uncomfortable we need to find out why and attempt to resolve it.

    ·         Jennifer Boatright: Talked about Facebook, and the act of un-friending someone, as an example in society for ways to emotionally harming people.

    ·         Paula: If someone un-friends one of the students here, is this considered bullying?

    ·         Jennifer Boatright: Was just used as an example.  Nothing has been mentioned at this point about Facebook and attitudes at the school.

    o   An example that lends itself to the wrong types of attitudes.

    o   Another example is email that is taken out of context.

    o   Jacinda Wassam: Would not categorize this as bullying because it is every day life type of activity.  But has heard of issues in the school that she would consider bullying.  Typically comes through the same people.

    §  Gaye Hiller: We need to carefully define the term bullying.  One person's thought of bullying may be vastly different than someone else's view.

    ·         Jennifer: (reading from an excerpt of another school's policy): "Bullying is sometimes difficult to identify as it requires evidence of both intent and effect and can be difficult to discern from normal relationships between students.  Bullying occurs when a person or group is intimidated, frightened, excluded, hurt or discomforted by a pattern of behaviors directed at them by others."

    ·         Paula Crosier: Doesn't see why our current discipline policy doesn't cover these types of attitudes.

    o   Debbie Church: the current policy is mostly based on physical activity.

    o   Paula Crosier: If you are placing this information on a student's permanent record, the information has to be crystal clear.

    o   Gaye Hiller: But if the issues are going on now, they are not getting addressed.

    o   Paula Crosier: Gave an example where students might not get invited to an event outside of school, is that bullying?

    §  Gaye Hiller: It is not a Christian attitude

    §  Paula Crosier: But you can not tell people what to do in their homes.

    o   Jim Kjar: But the problem is, teen aged girls get offended and get mad at one another.  But the victim is not going to feel comfortable addressing the bullies for fear of making the problem worse.

    §  Carie Aquino: Feels this is a parent issue to teach their kids how to resolve the issue.  For example, some girls can be petty about some things, but it is her job as a parent to help her kids address this issue.

    §  Carie Aquino: Gave an example of a classroom environment where some kids are closer to one another than other students.

    §  Carie Aquino: Her girls felt left out at prom

    ·       Paula Crosier: Why?

    ·       Carie Aquino: Felt excluded by some people in the group.

    o   Carlos Leon: The policy is coming into place sometimes because parents are not being parents

    §  Jon Church: Totally agree.  This is a hot topic that is being discussed everywhere.  We are getting into some of the same issues.

    §  Jon Church: It is one thing to be friends, but another to exclude people.

    §  Jacinda Wassam: A lot of the issue is the school can not control what goes on at home.  But administrators and teachers can control what goes on at school.  Whether or not the parents are teaching it at home, it is the school's responsibility to ensure it is taught at the school.

    §  Jacinda Wassam: It is also an issue in sporting events for the coaches to teach players if they act a certain way, they will not get to play.

    §  Jon Church: The problem is issues happen among the peers, and it is one person's word against another.

    §  Jon Church: If people aren't standing up to these attitudes, it is up to the parents to encourage their kids to do so.

    §  Jon Church: We should go the extra mile to make others feel loved.  We should go beyond the public school.

    §  Paula Crosier: If I had a kid that felt like they were excluded, I would be the one hosting the event in the future.

    §  Paula Crosier: Feels her kids are excluded by other kids in the school for outside events.  Does not consider this as bullying.

    §  Paula Crosier: Hopes that because they have a basketball event at their house that non-basketball kids don't feel left out.

    ·       Carie Aquino: Feel this makes sense because that is for a special group; the team.

    §  Jon Church: We are talking about who you can be friends with, but this is not the current issue.

    ·       Adam Cormican: We are talking about bad attitudes at school.

    §  Paula Crosier: Her kids associate with other athletes, but it isn't done to exclude anyone.

    §  Jon Church: We are getting off track. We are talking about heart attitudes.

    §  Jennifer Boatright: Had someone told them they were upset that someone made fun of what they are wearing?

    ·       Paula Crosier: But is this something that administrators should get involved in?

    ·       Terry Wassam: Yes, if it is a pattern

    ·       Josh Greer: And the only way you can know if there is a pattern, is if all of the issues are documented.

    §  Carie Aquino: the problem is we have people that don't see that certain attitudes are a problem.

    ·       Gave an example from home: If there is an issue at home, if an example is made from one child, the others will not make the same mistakes.

    ·       Perception is reality.  We need to make dealing with these issues public and consistent.

    §  Jennifer Boatright: If people are perceiving an issue occurs, the person needs to be made aware of the issue so they can resolve the issue.  Would hope their hearts were tender enough that people would want to do something to resolve the issue.

    ·       Gaye Hiller: This is the problem.  Some hearts have not softened.

    §  Sal Aquino: If this were a public school it would be much larger issue.

    ·       Gaye Hiller: but that is one of the benefits to coming here.  To avoid these kinds of issue.

    §  Jim Kjar: Do we need to encourage our kids more to confront the issues.  Perhaps the bullies don't know they are bullies.  Have any of these people been confronted?

    ·       Jennifer Boatright: There have not been any documented cases.  Word of mouth communication has been deemed gossiping and is therefore stopped.

    ·       Jim Kjar: We are asking the administration to be parents.  Should we be?

    o   Terry Wassam: If it is happening at school, yes.

    ·       Jim Kjar: Are we asking our parents to tell their kids to tell the administration that an issue needs to be documented?

    §  Jim Kjar: If parents are addressing issues with other parents and can't get the issue resolved, addressing the issue further will make the problem worse.

    §  Jim Kjar: Feels that we can't address the school until we follow the Matthew principle.

    §  Michal Herrington: The whole reason we are having this issue is because the Matthew principle does not work in this school.  Why do we need a policy to define bullying?

    §  Jim Kjar: If we are going to have a policy, parents need to be held accountable as well.

    §  Terry Wassam: The policy discusses physical issues, but isn't mental abuse as damaging?

    §  Debbie Church: What happens when everyone has met and the issue still isn't resolved?

    ·       Jim Kjar: That's when the administration or board should be getting involved.

    §  Adam Cormican: Feels that it is ridiculous that we have to even discuss a bullying policy.

    §  Paula Crosier: Doesn't understand why the existing policy doesn't cover these issues.

    §  Paula Crosier: Feels that if one of her kids has a "rotten attitude for an entire semester" and get's labeled a bully, "we will be out that door".

    §  Jennifer Boatright: We need to be able to confront students for these types of attitudes.

    §  Jennifer Boatright: doesn't feel a policy is lynch mob.  We need to define what bullying is.  If a pattern is defined, an issue needs to be resolved.

    §  Jennifer Boatright: We need to make our student body, parents, and teachers aware of things that we will consider bullying.  And let them know that these issues will be addressed.  We want to help them project a more Christ-like behavior.

    §  Paula Crosier: Feels that it can get out of control because some attitudes will never be accused of bullying. Some strong willed attitudes will constantly be accused.

    §  Jacinda Wassam: There is a difference in being strong and outspoken and being hateful.

    §  Gaye Hiller: You won't get very far as a leader if strong and outspoken is perceived as hateful.

    §  Jennifer Boatright: It is discussed in the Bible that our message should not be abrasive so that we don't turn people away.  It should also not be hidden in a corner because that does not attribute a Christ like behavior.

    §  Michal Herrington: What if we just amend the discipline policy and include the items we have discussed?

    ·       Jennifer Boatright: We do not have a discipline policy, it is a procedure.

    §  Michal Herrington: Maybe we present it at the town hall.  Students and parents need to be made aware that we are serious about addressing these issues.

    §  Carie Aquino: Gave an example about her recently discovering through scripture that she was not portraying her own attitude as gentleness

    ·       Jacinda Wassam: but the difference is, she (Jacinda) does not feel Carie is being hateful.  Some people are hateful.

    §  Paula Crosier: But if you have a student that constantly gets labeled with these issues, will you ask them to leave the school?

    ·       Jennifer Boatright: Yes, if they consistently do not abide by the rules.

    ·       Paula: Asked if this was documented in the minutes.

    ·       Josh Greer: Yes

    §  Jennifer Boatright: Parents need to be able to discuss with the administration issues that may not be resolved in the classroom involving students and/or teachers.

    §  Michal Herrington: There were issues that occurred last year that never reached the administration.

    §  Jennifer Boatright: This is the issue, if issues are not addressed, they either need to address it or deal with it.

    §  Carie Aquino: The problem is, there seems to be an inconsistency in the teachers that give impartial treatment to some students and their activity.

    ·       Sal Aquino: Depends on what kind of mood the teacher is in.

    ·       Bart Hiller: That is favoritism not bullying.

    §  Gaye Hiller: Feels that some of the issues can occur when some teachers perceive some students issues are serious, but other teachers do not.

    §  Carie Aquino: Some of the interpretation of Matthew 18 causes confusion about not knowing the correct channels of communication.

    §  Jim Kjar: Read from Matthew 18

    §  Jennifer Boatright: Do we want to add something to our discipline procedure?

    ·       Adam Cormican: Yes

    ·       Jon Church: Agree

    §  Adam Cormican: We need to clearly define what we are calling bullying and list out things we are talking about.

    §  Jennifer Boatright: What do we want our definition to be?

    ·       Who is going to work on the correct wording:

    o   Adam Cormican

    o   Carlos Leon

    §  Carlos Leon: How are we going to do the approval process?

    ·       Jenifer Boatright: send a draft to the board via email before the next meeting.

     

     

     

    ·       Next meeting:

    o   August 22 @ 6:30 PM

     

    ·       Adjourn:

    o   Motion to adjourn

    §  Jon Church

    §  Second: Carlos Leon

    §  Approved

  • General Session Minutes 6/20/2011

    ACS Board Meeting MinutesJune 20, 2011 6:30pm Interested Parties: Terry Wassam, Debbie Church, Jacinda Wassam, Paula Crosier Board Members Present: Jennifer Boatright, Michal Herrington, Carlos Leon, Adam Cormican, Josh Greer, Jim Kjar, Jon Church           
    • Opening: 30 min
    • Open in prayer:   Carlos Leon
    • Secretary’s Report: Josh Greer
      • Correction: 2012 student count 89 students (not 98)
      • Various spelling and grammatical errors.
      • Various incorrect last names (first names correct)
      • Motion To Approve
        • Carlos Leon
        • Second: Jon Church
        • Approved
        • Note: Minutes still need to be posted to the web site.
    • Treasurer Report: Jon Church
      • Some teacher's salaries are still pending.
      • Over on telephone this year.
        • Possibly more fees included
        • More parents have been called from school.
        • Graduation costs still pending.
        • Available cash flow is fluctuating and is on the low side, historically
        • Michal Herrington: Where is the 8th grade fundraiser money in the budget?
          • Some of the money is in their own account.  These were items that are not tax deductable and therefore never came through the school.
          • Jim Kjar: Where does the expense go?
            • Jon Church: It will zero out when it is written?
          • Michal Herrington: Does this open up a possible mishandling?
            • Jennifer Boatright: It does if it is not handled correctly on the committee side.
        • Jim Kjar: Total income for the year needs to be reduced because of the 8th grade fundraiser.
          • Jon Church: That is correct
          • Josh Greer: This would also adjust cash flow?
            • Jon: No
        • Jim Kjar: So we were in the hole by around $5500 in 2010-2011
          • Jon Church: Nearly $3000 of this was caused by the extra week at the beginning of the year.
      • Motion to approve
        • Josh Greer
        • Second: Jim Kjar
        • Approved
        • Paula Crosier: Has the door been closed on raising the tuition.  If families are in agreement at the town hall meeting, can it be raised?
          • Jennifer Boatright: The consensus was that it was not good practice to raise tuition after we asked people to commit to the upcoming year.  We will be talking about giving people options to donate additional funds to cover some of the costs.
            • Paula Crosier: Wants to hear from the board a plan to get a balanced budget.
              • Jennifer Boatright: Advised that this is discussed in open discussion.
    • Principals Report: Michal/Deb
      • Various student testing has taken place to determine student placement.
      • 89 students, 1 course select.
      • 1 replacement teacher has withdrawn for personal reasons.
      • Possible candidate for kindergarten.
      • Possible candidate for first grade, and possible some other loose end classes.
      • Saxon 8/7, no current candidate
        • Possible student assistant help
          • Possibly pay a student to teach?
      • Some advanced classes have no prospects.
        • Middle grades could be adjusted to cover some classes
        • No options for the upper classes.
        • Michal Herrington: Possible option for self taught curriculum
          • Teaching Textbooks
        • Jennifer Boatright: How many advanced math students?
          • Debbie Church: 4 or 5
          • Jennifer Boatright: are they self motivated?
            • Debbie Church: Still would need a proctor.
        • Jennifer Boatright: If we require a class to graduation, we must provide an option.
          • Debbie Church: Chemistry may not be required, but advanced math is.
          • Jennifer Boatright: Is there any chance Marjie Wester would come back and teach this class?
            • Debbie Church: Could ask again.
        • Jim Kjar: Concerned that the students will not be ready for Algebra 1/2.
          • Debbie Church: Need to discuss if we still need to offer Saxon 8/7 and Algebra 1/2 since they are both very similar.
          • Various discussion about moving some students up/down to fill the math classes properly
        • Jon Church: What can the board do to help fill some of the open positions
          • Jennifer Boatright: Announcements in the church
          • Jennifer Boatright: Not that we should not be concerned, but this issue arises every year.
          • Debbie Church: No new families this coming year except kindergarten.
        • Jennifer Boatright: We need to be in prayer for our teacher positions.
        • Michal Herrington: Perhaps we could ask Steve Triplett if he knows of anyone.
        • Jennifer Boatright: We want to make sure we don't just "fill" the positions, but rather fill them with Christian teachers
     
    • Open Discussion: 30 min
      • Paula Crosier: What plans do we have for fixing the budget so that it is not in the red
        • Jennifer Boatright: If we raise the tuition by $5 a student, we would be in the black
        • Jennifer Boatright: If we raise the family surcharge we would still be in the red.
        • Jennifer Boatright: It was mentioned doing a percentage increase
        • Jennifer Boatright: Since most of our income goes to teacher’s salaries, there is not much left to cut.
          • Paula Crosier: We could make some hard decisions, but nobody wants to go back to that.
        • Jennifer Boatright: We are proposing changing the coupons to let people know we need additional funds and reevaluate in the middle of the year to possibly petition the family club.
          • Paula Crosier: But these are all "gifts" that we hope we get.  It is not biblical to be spending what we do not have.  The school board would be getting an F in her class because of this.  The problem is, the school has "kicked the can down the road".  Nobody wants to raise tuition but it needs to be done.
            • Jim Kjar: But it is also not biblical to raise the tuition after we have asked families and teachers to commit to the upcoming year.  It will be increased in the future.
            • Jim Kjar: We do have money in savings, so we are not borrowing money.
            • Paula Crosier: That is fine, but we have been having the same argument for the last several years.
            • Jim Kjar: It is going to be addressed at the town hall meeting.  Families need to know what they are committing to.
            • Terry Wassam: We need to look at the budget for the next year, right now.
            • Jennifer Boatright: That proposal to add the family surcharge didn't go over well, but it is also not biblical to not make the hard decisions.
            • Terry Wassam: In the coupon where you allow people to give extra, is that going to be a tax deduction?
              • Jennifer Boatright: Yes, anything you are giving extra that you are not receiving anything from, it would be a tax deduction.
              • Terry Wassam: But can it be on the same coupon?
              • Jon Church: Will not be separated out unless each one time donation was in excess of $200
                • Jennifer Boatright: Gay can separate the values out so that anyone could get a receipt if they needed.
              • Jim Kjar: Is concerned that a designated donation may not be tax deductable.
            • Carlos Leon: We need something that people could commit to.
              • Terry Wassam: This could be used for planning purposes.
              • Jim Kjar: Would this make Paula more comfortable?
                • Paula Crosier: Never counts on promised money.
            • Debbie Church: If we announce that $5 per student will get us in the black, people may be more likely to donate.
            • Jennifer Boatright: To answer Paula's concern, we will be raising tuition in 2012.
      • Carlos Leon: Asking about accountability in the books
        • Jennifer Boatright: Will be discussed in new business.
     
    • Old Business: 35 min
      • tuition coupons
        • Jennifer Boatright: We need to know if people can write the same check on the same coupon and still be tax deductable.
          • Jennifer Boatright: Gave an example that shows it has been done by other groups (Focus on the family).
    • town hall meeting-on track?
      • Debbie Church: Have we checked with Maplewood to make sure the dates are available?
        • Jennifer Boatright: Will call Tammy.
          • Tuesday August 23
      • Michal Herrington: Will the discussion just include tuition increases?
        • Adam Cormican: It should be an open discussion.
        • Carlos Leon: But there should be an agenda.
        • Jim Kjar: We should ask for agenda items before the meeting to they can be planned around.
        • Jennifer Boatright: Still allow for a small open session, but limit long discussions.
        • Jon Kjar: Allow opportunity for encouragement
        • Adam Cormican: The last town hall got way off track.
        • Michal Herrington: We need to be able to say "This is the last question".  This is what other groups do.
     
    • New Business: 40 min
      • Budget audit-due July
        • How did we do it last time
        • Jon: Discussed how Carlos' brother looked at them last time; mainly using QuickBooks.
          • Jennifer Boatright: Do we need to ask Carlos' brother to do it again?
          • Jon Church: Suggested using a local source to review the data
          • Jennifer Boatright: But Carlos's brother works with not for profit groups and may find something we need to know.
          • Jennifer Boatright: Asked Carlos Leon to ask his brother for assistance again.
          • Jim Kjar: Suggests giving him access to our online records viewing.
      • office supplies tracking
        • Jennifer Boatright: Because our budget is so tight, suggests better tracking on things that may go over without prior knowledge
        • Jennifer Boatright: Basically anyone who has the ability to buy things when they need them, they need to be aware and be held accountable for what is being purchasing.
          • Nobody is being accused, but it can cause us to go further out of budgetary control.
        • Jon Church: Could give Gay a statement of where we are at given times.
          • Jon Church: We could also give a gift card (scrip card) for these items and allow her to manage the money as needed.
          • Jon Church: Might be an issue if the card is lost.
          • Jon Church: Will see if this process would be OK with Gay.
            • Then we will determine how much should be given at each time.
          • Jennifer Boatright: Either way, we need a process to maintain accountability.
      • Elections
        • Jennifer Boatright: Are we prepared to elect officers tonight or do we want to take a month to pray about it.
          • Josh Greer: Not ready at this time.
          • Jenifer Boatright: It will be discussed in the July Meeting.
      • Paula Crosier: Asked about the administration changes in the next year
        • Jennifer Boatright: This will be discussed tonight in executive session
      • Terry Wassam: Would like to recognize the new board member
        • Jennifer Boatright: The Board would like to welcome Michal Herrington.
     
    • Next meeting:
      • July 25 @ 6:30
      • Tentatively, the following Meeting will be August 22 @ 6:30
     
    • Adjourn:
      • Motion to adjourn
        • Jon Church
        • Second: Michal Herrington

    Approved

  • General Session Minutes 5/17/2011

    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.

  • General Session Minutes 4/18/11

    ACS Board Meeting Minutes

    April 18, 2011

     

    Board Members Present: Jennifer Boatright, Sandy Wedemeyer, Carlos Leon, Josh Greer, Jon Church, Jim Kjar, Adam Cormican

     

    Interested Parties: Paula Crosier, Michal Herrington, Pam Breid, Lisa Cloud, Darla Lansing, Sal Aquino, Carie Aquino, Jacinda Wassam, Debbie Church

                  

    ·        Opening: 45 min

    o       Open in prayer: Carlos Leon 

    o       Secretary’s Report: Josh Greer

    §        Minor corrections

    §        Motion: to approve with minor changes

    ·        Jon Church

    ·        Second: Sandy Wedemeyer

    ·        Approved

    o       Treasurer Report: Jon Church

    §        Milk costs are going up

    ·        Currently losing money

    ·        Carie Aquino: The kids are saying the milk is bad, but are told that there isn’t anything that can be done.

    ·        Michal Herrington: It has been a struggle all year.

    ·        Jennifer Boatright: We need to get tougher with the milk company.

    ·        Darla Lansing: Has been a problem for years

    ·        Sal Aquino: Who is supplying it?

    o       Heimsoth in Cole Camp

    ·        Jennifer Boatright: Possible parent job to supply milk, or manage

    §        Drama

    ·        Brought in $1200 for the last event

    o       Covered expenses

    §        Budget Committee

    ·        Budget not complete yet

    ·        Need to discuss salaries further

    ·        Paid more this year than last year

    ·        Based on 98 student last year, and only had 91 students

    ·        Paid teacher more for more things

    ·        200-300 hours more teacher hours per month than last year.

    o       Our budget will not sustain this going forward

    o       Would rather not take hours of pay from the teachers since we are now starting to pay the teachers for their actual hours.

    o       Discussions on raising tuition

    o       Carie Aquino: Concerned that people have already committed to next year before the discussion of raising tuition.

    o       Jon Church: There is a scholarship fund that could help some, if this a hardship

    o       Jim Kjar: How much are we short a month

    §        Jon Church: unknown at this time

    o       Jim Kjar: How far over budget are we?

    §        Jon Church: $6500

    ·        Will make some of that up in fund raiser

    ·        Based on 89 students

    o       Break even at 4.5 students

    o       Michal Herrington: But we can’t fit the additional students

    §        Paula Crosier: Is some of this being caused because we are paying multiple teachers for elective classes?

    §        Jennifer Boatright: And because we are now paying teachers for the hours that they are teaching.

    §        Darla Lansing:  We used to combine multiple classes when they were too small.

    ·        Michal Herrington: How do the younger kids keep up?

    o       Debbie Church: It’s what we have always done.

    ·        Jim Kjar: Is there physical room

    o       Debbie Church: In some cases

    ·        Darla Lansing: You flip-flop each year whether you move up or down.

    §        Carie Aquino: What is the long term plan of the school; tuition, size, etc?

    ·        Jennifer Boatright: currently size is an issue, and we have to turn people away due to certain classes that are full.

    §        Jacinda Wassam: What about eliminating the service charge per family?

    ·        Jennifer Boatright: That would actually hurt us as a whole

    §        Jim Kjar: When did we get away from our combined classes?

    ·        Jennifer Boatright: When the classes got bigger.

    §        Josh Greer: what of the time we pay teachers, could we have a volunteer parent cover the time?

    ·        Debbie Church: Feels we should cut certain things that are flexible: Cleanup, Chapel, etc.

    o       Various discussions on teachers getting paid for chapel when they may not attend.

    o       Paying teachers for chapel to encourage their attendance.

    ·        Paula Crosier: This accounts for office staff as well.

    §        Jennifer Boatright: We need to tighten up whatever we can.

    ·        Jennifer Boatright: We can’t count on increasing students because we can’t fit them.

    ·        Jennifer Boatright: Need to budget the office time as a salary of a set amount of hours that is not to be exceeded.

    ·        Jennifer Boatright: Would prefer to not pay for cleanup.

    ·        Jennifer Boatright: Possibly not pay for lunch

    ·        Lisa Cloud: The teachers should know this is a ministry

    ·        Paula Crosier: Possibly reduce electives options due to class size.

    §        Paula Crosier: Scrip card use could help

    §        Debbie Church: recommends we stop paying for cleanup.

    §        Carie Aquino: asked about the scholarship program

    ·        Is not intended to be used long term

    ·        Intended to carry families during an emergency.

    §        Jennifer Boatright: We need to be thinking 2 years out to cover the expenses.

    o       Graduation:

    §        Sandy Wedemeyer: Shows money has been spent, but she has not spent anything for graduation.

    ·        Various discussion on graduation expenses

    o       Discussed meeting minutes in August 2010

    §        Costs of printing graduation invitations and bulletins.

    ·        Discussion on how this has been done in the past

    §        Costs of party after graduation; possibly not needed.

    ·        Inviting large number of people.

    §        Cost for this year budgeted is $400

    ·        The items currently charged to the budget will be moved to books and supplies.

    o       Michal Herrington: How do we account for the number of students changing?

    §        Josh Greer: we need contingency plans for what gets removed when we can’t afford them.  All items need to be categorized.  What do we have to have, and what can be eliminated when we can’t afford them.

    §        Paula: Can the administration get the budget committee figures for teacher salaries, hours of work, and families we anticipate having next year.

    o       Principals Report: Michal/Deb

    §        Losing the Michael family

    §        Losing the Drenon family

    ·        Will keep class size at 10

    ·        Need to reiterate to the Drenon’s that a later return may not be an option due to class size.

    §        Family interviews currently active

    §        Teacher Openings

    ·        K Teacher all day

    ·        1st grade morning teacher

    ·        Mrs. Robbins

    ·        Mrs. Harshner

    ·        Need confirmation from Mrs. Wester

    §        Estimated student count: 89 students

    §        High school will be gone on the last Friday due to a trip

    ·        If the students do not attend a mission trip, they need to come to the school and help with the field day.

    §        Last day will be a field day; K-8

    §        Jennifer Boatright: We need to be in prayer for filling teachers.

    o       Student Council Quarterly: Lisa Cloud

    §        No talent show due to calendar conflicts and lack of interest

    §        Open door mission in progress; better communication is taking place

    ·        Perhaps there is not a long term need.

    o       Lack of work

    §        Change in service hours

    ·        Changed to 4 hours per quarter during the school year

    §        Looking in to several mission opportunities

    §        Meals on Wheels

    ·        Meet on the Main street location at 10:30 AM

    ·        Get containers ready

    ·        6 drivers and 6 helpers needed

    ·        Follow route via map

    §        Planning mission trip to Costa Rica in May of 2012 (May 12-19)

    §        $1000 donated to the Turner family in Costa Rica.

    §        Paula Crosier: Asked about summer service work.

    ·        Lisa Cloud: School year only.

    o       Boston Quarterly: Jennifer Boatright

    §        May fly depending on costs

    §        Tickets reserved until June

    §        Fund raisers active

    ·        Have raised nearly $10,000

    §        Paid $1000 for tickets already

    §        Jacinda: Asked about possible work around a construction site.

    §        How much more is needed.?

    ·        We currently have enough to get there.

    ·        Funds are needed for activities, room, and food.

    §        Jennifer Boatright: Andrea Self has been very helpful.

    §        Sal Aquino: Golden Corral fund raiser is for tips only.

     

    ·        Open Discussion: 30 min

    o       Nothing to report

     

    ·        Old Business: 25 min

    o       Maintenance Agreement: Josh/Adam

    §        see emails

    §        Josh: Based on the potential risk, recommend the agreement

    §        Motion: Move to pay the agreement based on the recommendation

    ·        Jim Kjar

    ·        Second: Jon Church

    ·        Various discuss on how the money will be paid (what account)

    ·        Approved

    §        Adam Cormican: Concerned about the number of copies.

    ·        Yearly copies were running 30,000 in the past

    ·        Student numbers have not changed significantly.

    ·        Action Josh Greer: find out the history of the print counts throughout the year.

    ·        Action Jon Church: Contact Gay and find out the total amount and get it paid.

    o       Spiritual state of students: Michal/Deb

    §        Discussions in the past about assessing the spiritual state of the students

    §        Pam Young told the administrators this needed to be done prior to stepping down from administration.

    §        Adam Cormican: We had discussed in the past about the students “redoing” their personal testimony.

    §        Michal Herrington: If this is something they should be doing, they are not

    §        Sandy Wedemeyer: We have talked about doing it, we have done it in the past, and it involves a lot of time.

    ·        Jennifer Boatright: The individual testimonies of students 7th grade and above.

    ·        Sandy Wedemeyer: We started that and could not get it all in.

    ·        Carlos Leon: Is the purpose of this to assess the students personal growth?

    ·        Sandy Wedemeyer: When we interview, it is a requirement for a student 7th grade and above to have a personal testimony.

    ·        Sal Aquino: why should we allow it in writing, it should be proclaimed

    ·        Jon Church: Recommends a class project that students write their personal testimony.

    o       Darla Lansing: It is also a good lesson to speak it to others.  It requires them to think about how God has worked in their life.

     

    ·        New Business: 25 min

    o       Budget report: Jon/Paula

    §        Report next month

     

    ·        Next meeting:

    o       5/17/2011 @ 6:30

     

    ·        Adjourn:

    Motion to adjourn

    Josh Greer

    Second: Sandy Wedemeyer

    Approved 

    ·        (Meeting Reference): Emails regarding copy machine:

     

    (Josh Greer)

    I've been collecting information from Clayton (Mo Typewriter service tech.), Leslie (Mo Typewriter office manager) and Gay Otten regarding the copier and a maintenance agreement.  My intent wasn't to come to any conclusions, but rather to collect data to make a decision about going forward.  Here is what I have put together:

     

    1.) The device is a Kyocera KM-2550 which we purchased used on 4/21/2009.

    2.) We paid $1400 for the device.  Replacement value for a similar used device would be about the same.

    3.) The cost of the agreement is $0.0115 per copy.  We have used 62,811 copies since last year, for a total of $722.33 (or $60.19 a month, or $90.29 school months)

    4.) The service agreement covers the cost of toner.  We use 3-4 each year and they would charge $95 each ($285-$380).

    5.) Similar toner could be found online from $40-$80 (waiting to hear back from Mo Typewriter on what the cost of the agreement would be without toner).

    6.) Based on the type of work they have done on the printer during the time we purchased it, it is estimated that it would have cost us $1378.63 for repair without an agreement (or $689.32 a year)

    7.) Service calls without an agreement cost $85.

    8.) A required maintenance (drums, developers, etc.) occurs at 150,000 copies.  This would cost $700.00 plus labor, without an agreement.

    9.) There was some discussion that the price per print is different this year than last year.  This is because they undercharged us last year due to an error on their end.  This year they are using the correct figure of $0.0115, vs. the $0.01 they charged us last year.

    10.) I have found from more than one resource (including Mo Typewriter) that devices covered under an agreement last twice as long as devices without.  This is because devices are pushed beyond their specifications due to users trying to save money on maintenance costs.

    11.) Mo Typewriter believes this device has "several" years of service left in it before it would require replacement.  I don't know what their idea of several years is , but I suspect that it will last us at least 4-6 more years; depending on usage.

     

    Based on the data found, I have categorized the estimated annual costs to operate without an agreement in three "probability of disaster" categories:

    A.) Low = $571 (3 Toner @ $50, 1 required service call for 42% cost of required maintenance; item 8 above)

    B.) Normal = $839 (our existing estimated repair costs, 3 toner @ $50)

    C.) High = $1578 (double our existing estimated repair costs, 4 toner @ $50)

     

    One final note:  The longer we own the device, the more likely it will experience problems.  Basing future costs on our existing costs is most likely inaccurate.

     

    (Adam Cormican)

    I still have all the information on the copier.  Here is what I have...

     

    I have an email from Lorna stating the exact number of copies for the 07-08 school year was 30,474.  As of the email (Feb 25, 2009) the school had made 22,908 copies so far and was on course to make approximately 30,000 copies that year.  Gay Otten informed me that the school usually purchased two toner cartridges a year (which sound right since the yield on them is 15,000 pages).

     

    The maintenance agreement from MO Typewriter is this...

     

    Machine came with a 6 month warranty but I think I remember once we purchased it they sent a 9 month warranty and I didn't argue about it.  After that we would be charged .0115 per page printed.  This includes replacement toner cartridges that they sell for $95.00 (but can be purchased locally for $79.00 name brand or $56 generic).

     

    The problem is if we print 69,000 pages and go through 6 toner cartridges a year it will be very expensive.  It is like this...every time we print a page it costs us .0115.  That gets expensive at 69,000 pages.  I am not so sure why our usage has more than doubled with the new copier.

     

    The maintenance agreement sounds pretty fair to me and I don't think we are getting ripped off.  We are just copying way too much.  We should continue with the maintenance agreement but should probably also start cutting back on some of the copying if we can.  $790 for 69,000 pages and five or six cartridges is not a bad deal.

     

    Adam

     

    FYI, the copier was purchased for $1400.00.

  • General Session Minutes 2/21/2011

    Board Meeting Minutes 2/21/2011

     

    Board Members Present: Jennifer Boatright, Adam Cormican, Sandy Wedemeyer, Josh Greer, Jon Church, Jim Kjar

     

    Interested Parties:  Debbie Church, Jacinda Wassam, Terry Wassam, Sal Aquino, Carie Aquino, Pam Young, Paula Crosier, Darla Lansing, Michal Herrington, Scott Young, Rusty Wedemeyer

      
    • Opening Prayer: Sandy Wedemeyer
    • Secretary’s Report: Josh Greer
      • Motion to approve with grammatical changes
        • Adam Cormican
        • Second: Jon Church
        • Approved
    • Treasurer’s Report: Jon Church
      • Discussion on box top.
      • Discretionary Spending
        • Cash flow listed per month to show past history.
      • Background Checks
        • One more to be completed
      • Money and interest from CD’s are shown on the report.
      • Scholarship Committee
        • 1 Family approved
        • $1300
          • Payment is already taken out for the year, not monthly.
      • Motion: To approve
        • Josh Greer
        • Second: Sandy Wedemeyer
        • Approved
    • Principal’s Report
      • Sheriff’s Office
        • New inappropriate calls are coming in.
        • The school was referenced in one message.
        • Still working on getting a photo so the individual can be identified.
        • It is recommended that we call the sheriff again and ask for a copy of the report.
      • March 4th -  Basketball tournament
        • High school classes cancelled due to number of people out of school
        • Teachers not teaching will not get paid for that day.
        • K-8 will still be meeting.
      • March 7th – No school
      • March 14th – Parent Teacher Conference
        • Family club will provide meals for the teachers and their family.
        • 8th graders will baby sit again.
      • Midwest Christian School Academic, Music and Art Festival
        • April 15th
        • Andrea Self will be sending out information this week.
      • Talent Show
        • March 26th
        • Several calendar conflicts.
        • Only 1 student signed up.
        • Will possibly cancel if there is no more interest.
      • Teacher/Family intent results
        • 5 teachers not returning.
        • Charley Price has committed to fill any role needed.
        • Sandy Wedemeyer: Most concerned with Kindergarten class
        • 13 potential new students
      • Internet Filter and other computer supplies
        • $250 per 15 computers
        • B Secure
        • Scott Young: recommends that we need more computer funds
          • Need to upgrade the operating system.
          • Need to upgrade the office software.
          • Need to upgrade the hardware costs.
        • Computers are getting used all day
        • Recommends upgrades at the end of the year
        • Discussions of printers and associated costs.
        • Pam Young: recommends we announce the next fund raiser funds would be used for computers
        • Scott Young: We are teaching kids on equipment and software that they are not going to use outside of school
        • Jennifer Boatright: Try to find a free filter and if a usable one can’t be found, use B Secure
    • Senior Report
      • Balance $2839.35
      • Snow days have been an issue.
      • Only serving 178 lunches this month
      • Jennifer Boatright: Are the seniors required to participate in serving and preparing?
        • It has never been required, but they always have.
      • If the money doesn’t get used where does it go?
        • It stays in the account
      • A documented history of the senior trip was handed out and discussed.
      • Various discussion on students who have chosen not to go in the past.
      • Debbie Church: questions about 2007 money left over.
        • Various discussion on money rolling over from year to year.
        • Decided to go on a cheaper trip and money was going to be left over.
      • Sandy Wedemeyer: What is done if students don’t want to go on the trip and not work the lunches?
        • Paula Crosier: Juniors come up early and a sum of money is allocated for that person the next year.
      • Discussions on students that have gone on a trip later.
        • Was this money allocated in a fund for them, or was it given to them in cash?
      • Pam Young: Discussed the value of the senior trip, for the students to bond together.
        • Kids who ask to use the funds on something for themselves have been denied in the past as it doesn’t promote this type of environment.
      • Jennifer Boatright: Doesn’t want to give students money who doesn’t want to go on the trip.
        • Would it be appropriate to do something special with that money.
        • Also wants the kids to work, even if they don’t plan on going on the trip.
        • Darla Lansing: Has it been asked why the students don’t want to go?
          • Yes
        • Rusty Wedemeyer: Seniors are told what the purpose is for at the beginning of the year.
          • Jennifer Boatright: But who does this?  Asked Paula if she is the one who does this?
            • Paula Crosier: No, but she can.  Asked if there is an advisor?
              • Sandy Wedemeyer: The parents are the advisors
            • Paula Crosier: Feels we need to setup a policy to dictate this process
            • Sandy Wedemeyer: Remembers a committee meeting in 2004 based on a student not wanted to attend.  Discussions have been made to address it, but nothing has evidently been documented.
            • Jennifer Boatright:  We need to establish either a procedure or policy documented in minutes.
            • Terry Wassam: Asks if the process could be setup as a home economics class that they could get credit for.  Would be required whether they went to the trip or not.  Could also be graded to make sure they are pulling their weight.
              • Rusty Wedemeyer: Likes the idea of the students doing it for a service, and not because they are required.
              • Would be difficult to grade as a home-ec.
            • Paula Crosier: Have had situations in the past with their schedule, they were not able to be there for the prep time, only the serve time.
              • Jennifer Boatright:  Was their money the same?
                • Paula: Yes
            • Jennifer Boatright: Wants someone to write up a document that outlines the process that we will be using going forward.
              • Paula Crosier: There are many things to consider because the class sizes effect the funds allocated for the chaperone.
              • Michal Herrington: What if new classes want to make changes?
                • Jennifer Boatright:  then they will need to petition to the board to make changes.
              • Jennifer Boatright: Their needs to be a date decided (within reason) that will prevent them from making changes later in the year.
              • Needs to be presented at the senior plan night.
              • Sal Aquino: It looks like each year the students are trying to out do the previous year.  This makes it difficult to sustain.
              • Sandy Wedemeyer: It is also bad if they have money left over.
              • Sal Aquino: Last year, they chose to go somewhere they could not afford, and the families had to provide extra funds.
            • (Action: Administration, Paula, and Senior parent) Write up a document to present to the board.  Preferably developed before next months board meeting.
    • Athletic Report
      • Jim Kjar: Doesn’t have the income figured out, there is nothing to report this month.
    • Open Discussion
      • Jacinda Wassam: Honor society
        • Gina Kjar prepared a banquet and paid for the event out of her pocket.
        • Asking for the board for money to pay for expenses.
        • Jon Church: Asking where the money came from in the past?
          • Jacinda Wassam: Family club paid for it 2009.
            • $175 for the meal
            • $93 for the awards
            • 3 students
        • Jon Church: Not using the MAACS money, so this could be allocated.
        • Motion: reimburse Gina Kjar for money’s spent on the previous honors event.
          • Jon Church
          • Second: Sandy Wedemeyer
          • Approved
        • For the next group, we need to establish that the inductee and their parents are paid for.  Additional guest will have to be paid for by the families.
        • Jon Church: Concerned about the schools funds not getting evenly distributed from K-12.
        • Jacinda Wassam: But we shouldn’t punish families for their students to excel
        • Josh Greer: but we could be diligent and require families to pay for various things (like chords or pins for graduation) if they choose to buy them.
        • Paula Crosier: Still feels that honoring them with a dinner.
        • Pam Young: Valedictorian and Salutatorian awards have always been paid for by the school
        • Debbie Church: Would like to see the cords still purchased by the school.
        • Motion: for the school to continue to pay for the chords for the honors graduates, but the families could pay for pins if they choose for their student to have them.
          • Jon Church
          • Second: Sandy Wedemeyer
          • Approved
      • Lunch issue: Jacinda Wassam
        • Has there been a discussion of hiring someone to do lunches on Mondays and Fridays?
        • Paula Crosier: Concerned about this taking cuts from the senior fund.
        • Adam Cormican: The prices would be higher.
        • Paula Crosier: More storage space would also be required.
      • Storage Area: Rusty Wedemeyer
        • Freezer is still in the area and needs to be removed
        • Door will be locked going forward
    • Old Business
      • Nothing to report
    • New Business
      • Class Size 8th & 9th
        • Prospective students for each of these classes
        • Adam Cormican: Concerned that we keep adding students each year to these classes and is against it.
          • Debbie Church: The reason it is being addressed because they are siblings to new students in smaller classes
          • Michal Herrington: It is an issue because some of these families bring prospective teachers and we are losing 5 teachers this year.
            • Carie Aquino: But are parents of existing students aware that we are losing these teachers.  Would they be willing to teach?
          • Jennifer: Should we set a class maximum?
            • Josh Greer: I don’t want to set a maximum, because we have a responsibility to provide teachers for all classes, but at this stage in the calendar, it would be irresponsible to increase a class to 12 to ensure a teacher now.
          • Carie Aquino: by the time these large classes graduate, they won’t be able to raise enough funds to participate in the things that existing seniors do.
          • 5th grade is OK, because it would raise the level to 10
          • 8th grade no more additions due to size
          • 9th grade no more additions due to size
          • Jennifer Boatright: How do we explain to the family that we are not going to make an exception?
          • Jennifer Boatright: So are we setting a maximum of 10
          • Carie Aquino: Had friends that were not accepted because of class size, and were upset.
          • Pam Young: Asked if we are still sending out the family evaluation forms.
            • Lorna should give a report of the family jobs to see if all families are doing what they signed up form.
            • Michal Herrington: How effective is this process?
            • Pam Young:  Feels the language on the letter needs to be strengthened to let families know that our class sizes are getting large enough that we are turning away legacy students.  Families need to be reminded that their involvement is required to continue being a part of ACS.
            • Michal Herrington: What about giving the survey at the next parent teacher conference.
    • Next Meeting
      • March 28 @ 6:30
    • Adjourn
      • Motion to adjourn
        • Josh Greer
        • Second: Jon Church
        • Approved
Powered by Community Server, by Telligent Systems