November 19, 2018
Board Meeting Wayland Baptist Conference Room 5:30 pm – 6:45 pm
Called to Order at 5:40 pm
Board Present:
Teacher Rep Seat (A) Richard Bierer
Parent Rep Seat (C) Rosa Salazar-Sanchez - telephonically
Parent Rep Seat (D) Philippe Janicka
Community Seat (F) Sylvia Biondich - Secretary
Community/Parent Seat (H) Gayle Boyer - telephonically
Community/Parent Seat (I) Caroline Storm
Founder Seat (Q) Scott Kluever
Founder Seat (R) Whitney D’Atri - Chair
Board Excused Absent:
Community Seat (G) Meredith Gutierrez - Vice Chair
Parent Rep Seat (E) Heather Swanson
Principal: Adam Mokelke
Guests: Charlie Palmer
Principal’s Report to the Academic Policy Committee
11/13/18
Dear APC members,
We are into November and the 13th week of school. October flew by and now winter break is just around the corner. While things are slowing down in school, we have a lot happening on the APC level and some important items on the November 19th agenda.
Charter Renewal: We were approved by the ASD board for 10 more years! Today I put the finishing touches on our application preparing it for the state Department of Education and Early Development (combining documents, inserting signature pages, etc.) This has been a massive project but a labor of love, and we can all be proud of the outcome.
Enrollment: We made it through the October count period for state funding without dropping below 150 students. This is the first year we’ve met the minimum requirement of 150, and the first year we met our projected enrollment. These are big milestones for ASA.
Enrollment has continued to fluctuate some, and we are now at 148 enrolled with 93 boys and 55 girls.
Budget and Finance: Two big things upcoming:
1. It is time to begin preparing our FY19-20 budget to submit to the district. I project 150 students again next year, so the budget will be similar to the one I prepared last year. Our initial FY19-20 allocation is $1,855,355. I will submit a budget to the APC for approval at the December meeting. Last year it was due to ASD 12/15. Keep in mind, salaries and benefits make up 70% or more of a school budget.
2. We should soon be getting a revenue adjustment for this year based on student count. Last year after count we had a revenue adjustment of $160,065 less. Our current year budget is $1,916,783.00 (including reserves and rollover funds). We have $300,429.00 in unallocated/reserve. I do not anticipate adjusting for less revenue this year. Any additional revenue will be held in reserve.
Parent group: Attached is an informational breakdown I’ve compiled for you on parent organizations (PTA or PTO). Link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RQY7VPVXBlFMvDJZrW_myX1Rew4C2e7DxpzUxLkB6sQ/edit?usp=sharing
Facilities: Attached is the resolution on the facilities partnership with Cook Inlet Housing Authority for APC approval Monday night: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jnt9VvJDvzGLYrBme6sT-NxDyeVV8mvzjnDmGbRM5_g/edit?usp=sharing
REVIEWED by BOARD PRIOR TO THE MEETING MONDAY NIGHT.
APC seats: At our meeting on Monday we will welcome two new members: Richard Bierer representing staff on seat A, and parent Rosa Sanchez filling seat C. Also re-elected were Heather Swanson and Sylvia Biondich. Welcome and congratulations new members!
You will also be nominating and electing new officers: Chair, Vice Chair and Secretary.
18-19 School Goals: Our overall focus this year is on implementing a “Culture for Learning.” This means increasing focus on academics, expectations, accountability and rigor, while maintaining relationships and rapport.
Upcoming events:
Lots of information I know! Looking forward to our meeting Monday night.
Thank you all!
Adam
Team worked on the resolution. Working on Tier 3 parallel options
8th graders tomorrow will be going to the Planterium at UAA for the star show.
7th graders are putting together Park services field guides - and working on a “Bug Motel”
6th grader update will occur at a later time. 6th graders are having a good time, though!
Next TREK will be Cheney Lake for Solstice Celebration
Staff Morale, in the opinion of Richard, is okay. There are a few struggles that include technology challenges. The weather is hampering the outside ed and that has been hard on kids and staff. November blues are setting in and we recognize that the morale of the students affects the morale of the staff - and vise versa. There have been struggles with fighting the seasonal affective moods. We are thankful for the long week-end and hoping for better weather.
Heather Swanson has expressed a desire to be able to weigh in on the PTO and PTA options. Essentially PTA is a much more official entity that has state and national representation. PTA are required to have their own 501C3 and each unit must be in good standing. If the parent chair is not diligent the PTA could lose good standing. The worry from Whitney is that our school is so young and we do not have a good support set up. Adam would have to be fully involved in the PTA as well, and it will add a lot of work. PTO is a generic umbrella without a lot of overhead and oversight. Charter schools in Anchorage that responded to our informal survey all had PTOs and not PTAs. Charlie Palmer asked if we could just have a Parent Group, and Adam pointed out that the PTO is essentially the same thing. The PTO would have to have bylaws and financial oversight. It is highly recommended that the PTO should have financial oversight by the APC. The function of the PTO should be driven by the parent concerns and should not be stangled by full oversight of the APC.
Whitney Datri made the motion to table the Open Action item for deciding on PTA or PTO until the next meeting in December
Seconded by Sylvia Biondich
No further discussion - called for vote - unanimously moved to December meeting.
Setting forth our goals to move forward with CIHA. This resolution was provided to interested parties to review.
Philippe Janicka made a motion to approve the rolsoution as written
Carolyn Storm seconded the motion
Whitney asked for comment, called to vote and approved unanimously
Board meeting adjourned at 6:45 pm
Work Session
If this project moves into a multiple school campus facility there would be an added level of difficulty for the developer. We need to build for 300 students. What is the cost/ sq foot? What about the site layout.
Campus vs. single building model
Shopping mall model with two anchors? STrEaM plus library or STrEaM plus another charter school
Financing / leases - lease term adjust annually?
Communicate with other APCs?
CIHA voiced their enthusiasm for a MPR for community use that we could use to raise funds upon rental to help pay for the lease.
Tyler (STrEaM Parent) is working as our liaison between the various entities. Adam will email Tyler about our resolution and readiness for the draft MOA.
Update from ANCCS APU campus at the next meeting
Reach out to UAA to continue discussion
Are there any big donors we could approach? STEm or STEAM grants?
We need to have a Grant Committee now!
Wrap up at 7:53pm