New Heights School

Approval 6/8/2016

NEW HEIGHTS SCHOOLS, INC. Phone: 651-439-1962 614 W. MULBERRY STREET, STILLWATER, MN 55082 Fax: 651-439-0716

Board of Directors Meeting

Wednesday, May 11, 2016 New Heights School – Room 202 4:00 - 5:30 pm

MINUTES

I. Opening of Meeting and Call to Order President-elect Megan Wieker called the meeting to order at 4:05p.m.

a. Attendance: Board of Directors Ex-Officio Lauren Adamic __P__ Andy Rakerd __P__ Tom Kearney (Principal/Superintendent) Cheryl Graham __A__ Mike Stahlmann __P__ Lindsay Berberich (Bookkeeper) Judy Gulden __A__ Megan Wieker __P__ Visitors Marcia Houtz (MN Guild)

b. Welcome New Members/Guests/Visitors President Megan Wieker welcomed all those present.

II. Review of Agenda & Minutes a. Review Agenda The agenda was reviewed with no changes recommended. b. Approval of the April 20, 2016 Minutes (action) On motion by Andy seconded by Lauren with all present voting yes, motion passed to approve the Board of Directors minutes of April 20, 2016 as presented.

III. Financial Report a. Financial Review (Action) Lindsay presented and answered questions on the April 2016 Check Register report from the SmartBoard (available on common drive).

On motion by Mike seconded by Lauren with all present voting yes, motion passed to approve the Check Register as presented.

b. Food Service Review (Information) Lindsay presented and answered questions on the Food Service report from the SmartBoard (available on common drive). She discussed

IV. Old Business (review progress) a. Board Goals Approval 6/8/2016 a.i. Improve board understanding of the contractual obligations of New Heights from our authorizer MN Guild a.ii. Increase board understanding of legislative changes to Charter School Law 124E a.iii. Form and review an Events Committee b. Annual Meeting (review progress) b.i. Date & Place ( May 25, 2016,7:00pm; Room 202) b.ii. Board Vacancies (Three) b.iii. Room Preparation - (Megan & Mike) b.iv. Vote Counter - (Lindsay) b.v. Publications/mailings - (Mike) President Megan Wieker led a discussion on the above preparations.

V. New Business a. Committee Updates (PLC, Worlds Best Workforce, Leadership, Events) President Megan Wieker led a discussion on:  PLC: Andy discussed the meetings held. They have been working on teacher evaluations and the continued use of the GRR model. Tom and Megan have been doing about two evaluations per week and will finish this week.  WBL: Nothing new to discuss.  Leadership: Megan discussed the MCA data they received so far and were both happy and not so pleased with the results. They will meet next Wednesday to discuss changes.  Events: Nothing new to discuss.

b. Staffing Tom led a discussion on our staffing requirements. He has a few jobs postings for Elementary, Art and FACS positions. He is very pleased to receive as many applications as he has. He has received a resending of a resignation and will not request Board action at this time. Tom also discussed the difficulties of a first year teachers.

c. Graduation Ceremony (June 2, 2016) Tom led a discussion on our graduation ceremony being held in the school gym again this year. Lindsay told us that all of the food and equipment is ordered and ready. The video is a work in progress and will be completed by graduation.

d. Authorizer Goals Tom led a discussion on the needs of our Authorizer. He informed us that many authorizers are leaving the business. The remaining authorizers are very busy and somewhat overwhelmed. Marcia Houtz, from the Guild confirmed that fact. There is a site visit scheduled for next week. Our goals are on a five year timeline not a one year deadline. There may be goals that are not reached at the end of this year, our first of five years.

e. Administrator Review Discussion (Megan, Andy, Judy) Megan led a discussion on the upcoming administrator’s review. She will schedule this for a week after our annual meeting.

VI. Administrator’s Report Tom Kearney gave a report on the state of the school including the following:  Environment: There seems to be a steady flow of serious conflicts with students. Approval 6/8/2016  Enrollment: We are estimating our year end ADM at 138.5. We only have 7 graduates so we only need seven kindergarten students to make up the loss and we are over that already. We are expecting an enrollment 140 for the fall. We should be holding around 160-175 students in the building next school which is the largest enrollment in our school history.  Food Service: Tom discussed the difficulties we have been having with our current food service provider. We are considering Lancer Dining. They started here in Minnesota and are now servicing seven states. Lindsay and Tom visited a school which is currently served by Lancer only to discover they were experimenting on providing their own service. The visit wasn’t in vain however, as they were very helpful and informative. New Horizon is another supplier we are considering. This is a much smaller company and would also make a good fit.  District 834: Tom got a phone call today implying we are not getting a lease for the 2017-18 school year. He will follow-up and inform the board if there are conflicts.  Building: There was damage to our west door over the weekend. A rock was thrown at the door and one pane of a two pane window was shattered. A discussion of security cameras was held.

VII. Receive Donations On behalf of the NHS School Board President Megan Wieker thanked the following contributors:  $48.00 from Cheryl Graham  $186.00 from Judy Gulden  $390.00 from Jon Neitzell

VIII. Other (not to exceed 5 minutes) Tom commented on our two Valley Fair volunteer days. He anticipated getting $3,000.00.

IX. Set Agenda for Annual Meeting a. Date & Time (May 25, 7:00) b. Agenda b.i. Administrator’s Report b.ii. Board of Directors Report b.iii. Financial Report b.iv. Designation of Depository b.v. Election Results Megan led a discussion on next month’s agenda as shown above.

X. Adjournment On the motion by Lauren seconded by Andy with all present voting yes, motion passed to adjourn the Board of Directors Meeting at 5:02 pm.

Next Meeting The next Board of Directors meeting will be the Annual Meeting Wednesday, May 25th in the Room 202 at 7:00. Our next regular scheduled meeting for Wednesday June 8th at 9:00.