YIHS Board of Trustees Minutes (unapproved)

May 6, 2008

 

Present: Charlene Elderkin, Annette Park, Liz Cox, Eamon Heberlein, Adrian Ugo, Deborah Baer, Matt Voz, Zach Wickert, Caleb Whited-Ford, Beau Grams (proxy for Leo Cox), Jacob Hundt, Brian Wickert (proxy for Kevin Lamb), Nanette Tuttle

 

Absent:  Mark Hobbins, Leo Cox

 

Facilitator and Timekeeper: Nanette Tuttle

 

[“Decisions” highlighted in yellow; “tasks” highlighted in green; “questions from the Secretary” highlighted in pink, pink phrases will be removed from final version of minutes]

 

Introductions, check-in.

 

April minutes: approved.

 

May Agenda: adjusted and approved.

 

Sports Committee:  Adrian Ugo

 

Discussion, decision.

We approve by consensus the sending of Adrian Ugo’s letter to the LaFarge school board regarding basketball fees-per-student with a minor change allowing for the receipt of a written statement of fees from LaFarge.

 

Finance:  Annette Park

 

Report, discussion, decision.

The current budget is reviewed. Our “loss” is roughly similar to last year’s. Our credit limit has been reached and is a concern.

The proposed preliminary budget is reviewed. It cannot be finalized until the exact enrollment figure is known in August; the budget can be finalized by October. Income increases by 11%, expenses by 10%. The largest increase in expenses is in the category of salaries, to provide for the addition of two full time faculty members (for a total of three full-time “core faculty”). The proposed preliminary budget with explanation of it will be sent out to all families before the annual meeting and will be an item on the ballot. We approve by consensus this proposed preliminary 2008-2009 budget.

            The Finance Committee was unable to reach a consensus decision regarding the publishing of a minimum tuition pledge amount. Discussion of the issues follows, including “transparency,” and the need to encourage families to pledge as much as they are able. Alternative approaches, such as need-based scholarships of a maximum amount, will be discussed by Finance on an on-going basis, but will not affect the 2008-09 policy.

 

Personnel:  Annette

 

Discussion, decision.

            We approve by consensus the formation of a task force consisting of Jacob Hundt, Annette Park, and either Maureen O’Connor or Jan Rasikas to draw up contracts, including salaries/benefits, for the positions of Administrator, Development Director, Assistant Development Director, and Office Manager. These contracts will need to be approved by the Board.

 

 

 

Development:  Liz Cox

 

Report. A fund-raising letter will soon be mailed out. It will describe some of the schools new ventures.

 

Board Risk Management: Liz Cox

 

(postponed until June meeting)

 

Students: all student board members

 

Discussion. Further discussion of student morale issues took place, with focus on concerns about AWSNA affiliation issues. Students had a meeting and distributed an opinion poll on this issue; both concerns and positives were expressed. Eamon Heberlein and another student will have an extended visit to the Chicago Waldorf High School as an independent study project this month. Discussion on this topic will continue at the next Board meeting.

 

Annual Meeting:  Charlene Elderkin

 

Report. The preparatory materials and ballot for the Annual Meeting are reviewed. The remaining tasks are distributed as follows:

“Head counter”:  Leo

Ballot counting:  Beau and Deborah

Five-minute reports (year in review):

            Students:  Zach

            Faculty:  Matt

 

Administration Group:  Liz

 

Report, discussion, decision.

            We approve the new Couch Policy and the new preliminary Admissions Policy.

            Measles situation. 8-10 students are excluded by the county health dept from school for the rest of this academic year. School is in session this week, then one week off, then 2-week intensives or independent studies (for quarantined students). Parents whose students continue to be under quarantine have been encouraged by YIHS to contact county health officials to seek clarification about the quarantine.

           

Evaluation: 

 

We give ourselves a positive evaluation, especially for progress made in listening and dialogue skills and in the effectiveness of our meeting. Thanks are again extended to Nanette in her facilitation role.

 

Next Meeting:

 

Monday, June 9, 2008 at the Landmark Center. (for BOTH old and new members)

Facilitator and Timekeeper:  Charlene Elderkin

 

unapproved

Deborah Baer, Secretary

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

YIHS Board of Trustees Minutes (unapproved)

April 8, 2008

 

Present: Charlene Elderkin, Annette Park, Liz Cox, Eamon Heberlein, Adrian Ugo, Deborah Baer, Leo Cox, Matt Voz, Zach Wickert, Caleb Whited-Ford, Beau Grams, Jacob Hundt, Kevin Lamb, Nanette Tuttle, Dawn Hundt (guest).

 

Absent:  Mark Hobbins

 

Facilitator and Timekeeper: Nanette Tuttle

 

[“Decisions” highlighted in yellow; “tasks” highlighted in green; “questions from the Secretary” highlighted in pink, pink phrases will be removed from final version of minutes]

 

Introductions, check-in.

 

March minutes: approved.

 

April Agenda: adjusted and approved.

 

Healthy Meeting and Communication Guidelines: Charlene Elderkin

 

Discussion. Healthy conversation guidelines were discussed. We agree to study p. 80-82 of the document.

 

Finance: Annette Park; Liz Cox

 

Report, discussion, decision. The decision is made by consensus that the ’08-’09 school year fees will be the same as last year, with the exception that they will be due by August 15. The decision is made by consensus that the published amount for cost-per-student be $5600. With the last payroll, our line of credit was used up, but we are still expecting April tuition payments. The ’08-’09 school year budget will be presented to the Board at the May Board meeting. Discussion as to whether a minimum pledge should be established, and if so, what it should be and whether or not it should be published is postponed until the May Board meeting.

 

Development:  Liz Cox

 

Report. The matching gift plan is not progressing well. Of the current pledges, most will not be made available to the school until June. Some donations were received in response to an appeal in the Kalaidoscope. Our T-shirt printing business will be resumed.

 

Board Risk Management: Liz Cox

 

Introduction. Liz is researching the question of “director’s and officers’ insurance” for Board members. Board members are asked to read the document “Liability and Risk Management” before the May Board meeting.

 

Long-Range Planning Committee:  Adrian Ugo

 

Report, discussion. The committee has met twice since the March Board meeting. The committee will continue to work on incorporating into the mandate a statement that provides for the ongoing nature of the work of the committee.

 

Rapid Response Team Proposal:  Dawn Hundt

 

Introduction, discussion. The task force consisting of student Terra Kilkeary and parent Dawn Hundt has crafted a proposal for a YIHS Rapid Response Team, which it wishes to present to the Administration Group for approval. The task force seeks “approval of concept” from the board for the “decision to deploy” process to become the responsibility of the Administration Group. Concerns are expressed by Board members regarding problems which arose at our deployment during the 2007 flood crisis. Concerns are also expressed regarding affiliation with the American Rainbow Rapid Response. Further concerns can be conveyed to the task force or to the Administration Group. The decision is made by consensus that the Administration Group shall be responsible for crafting a policy for the YIHS Rapid Response Team; until the policy has been approved by all the YIHS consultative bodies, no deployment decisions will be made.

 

Students: all student board members

 

Discussion. Further discussion of student morale issues took place. Student Board members are finding the task of representing the student body challenging due to so many different viewpoints and general confusion about various issues. Discussion on this topic will continue at the next Board meeting.

 

Committee mandates:  Charlene Elderkin

 

Discussion. It is generally agreed that work on committee mandates should continue with the new Board but will be postponed for now.

 

Personnel:  Annette Park

 

Report, discussion. Applications for the advertised administrative positions are closed. There are no applicants for Faculty Chair. The interviewing process has begun, with three strong candidates for Administrator and two for Development Coordinator. The decision is made by consensus to hold a special closed session of the Board to receive information and recommendations from the Personnel committee on Friday, April 18 at 4:00 PM. The Board will then schedule its own interviews with recommended candidates.

 

Annual Meeting:  Charlene Elderkin

 

Report. Charlene will prepare new preparatory materials for the Annual Meeting scheduled for May 20. Other tasks are distributed as follows:

Set-up and clean-up:  four student Board members.

Beverages: Adrian and Sparrow.

Ballot box area:  Jacob and Adrian.

Counting ballots:  Deborah and Zach

Opening verse and/or song:  Jacob and YIHS students.

Five-minute reports (year in review):

            Parents:  Sparrow

            Students:  One of the student Board members

            Faculty:  Matt

            Administration:  Liz

            Board:  Charlene

            Finance:  Annette will find someone to do this.

Liz will announce class responsibilities for the potluck in the Weekender. Board members should let Charlene know who is taking care of the remaining reports.  A decision about the Rapid Response Team will be on the ballot. Charlene will print ballots at the co-op and get them to Liz to be mailed out by May 10 at the latest. Candidate biographies must also be in by May 10; we are still seeking at least two more candidates. The newly-elected student Board representatives are Kaisa Cummings, Freya Hemingway, and Henry Hundt. It remains to be decided whether there will be time allowed for open discussion of various issues at 5:30, before the potluck.

 

Evaluation: 

 

Nanette again suggests that we allow more time on the agenda for our topics and that we need to continue to work on allowing more time between speakers in order to better listen and consider what is being said. But we generally agree we are making some progress in this.

 

Next Meeting:

 

Tuesday, May 13, 2008 at the Landmark Center.

Facilitator and Timekeeper:  Nanette Tuttle

 

unapproved

Deborah Baer, Secretary

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

YIHS Board of Trustees Minutes (unapproved)

March 11, 2008

 

Present: Charlene Elderkin, Annette Park, Liz Cox, Eamon Heberlein, Adrian Ugo, Deborah Baer, Leo Cox, Matt Voz, Zach Wickert, Trish Dougherty (guest), Caleb Whited-Ford, Dawn Hundt (proxy for ???), Henry Hundt (guest), Kaisa Cummings (guest), Freya Hemingway (guest).

 

Absent:  Kevin Lamb, Rich Grams (temp. replacing Mark Hobbins)

 

Facilitator and Timekeeper: Nanette Tuttle

 

[“Decisions” highlighted in yellow; “tasks” highlighted in green; “questions from the Secretary” highlighted in pink, pink phrases will be removed from final version of minutes]

 

Introductions, check-in.

 

February Minutes: approved with changes (for approved version, see archives).

 

March Agenda: adjusted and approved.

 

Healthy Meeting and Communication Guidelines: Charlene Elderkin

 

Discussion. The consensus method of dealing with issues that come before the Board (pp. 79-80 of the document) was reviewed and discussed: 1) introduction at first meeting with opportunity for questions and gathering of facts; 2) if more information is needed, distribute information--to be studied by all Board members--no less than one week (preferably two) before the next meeting, and the next meeting is a repeat of Step 1; 3) discussion (sharing of viewpoints) at second/third meeting; 4) decision at third (or fourth) meeting. We agree to study p. 83-84 of the document.

 

Finance: Annette Park; Liz Cox

 

Report. The committee did not write its mandate (see Feb. minutes), requesting more clarification/information from the Board regarding this task.

 

Introduction:  Does YIHS need a new tuition policy?

Information:  The school’s financial difficulties continue (see Profit and Loss sheet and Balance sheet, distributed at meeting). We may not be able to make the March payroll. We have less than $5000 left on our WCCU line of credit. We have a greater number of significantly low pledges this year. But our current situation is due mostly to a substantial net loss in tuition due to families withdrawing from the school. Possible new tuition policies include 1) setting a higher minimum tuition level, 2) requiring families to commit to paying tuition for an entire academic year, regardless of withdrawal from the school, 3) requiring a financial disclosure from families who request to pay a lower tuition that the amount needed to finance the student’s education for the year. The question is raised whether new tuition policies would require building consensus in the YIHS community. Currently the Finance committee makes recommendations to the Board, which then approves or does not approve; the Board affirms that this policy should continue.

 

Mandates: Charlene Elderkin; Annette Park

 

Discussion. The question has arisen as to whether all YIHS committees need a formal mandate. Some committees may need only a brief, simple mandate; others, more complex. Further “mandate” questions may be directed to Charlene. No committees have yet written up their mandate (see Feb. minutes) and standing committees (Development, Facilities, Sports, and Finance) are again asked to write a preliminary one prior to the next Board meeting.

 

Long-Range Planning Committee:  Adrian Ugo

 

Report, discussion. The committee has met twice since the February Board meeting, researching and discussing issues of process and structure. The provisional mandate  is working well thus far. The Board requests that the committee incorporate into the mandate a statement that provides for the ongoing nature of the work of the committee.

 

Conflict Resolution Group:  Deborah Baer

 

Report. The deadline for feedback regarding the final draft of the CRG proposal is March 14. Feedback should be directed to the Administration Group, who will contact the CRG with any recommended changes.

 

Personnel:  Annette Park

 

Report, discussion. We currently have three local applicants for Administrator, none for Faculty Chair, and one for Development Coordinator. The deadline for receiving applications for all three positions is April 1, 2008. The committee will begin interviewing applicants during the first week of April. Discussion follows regarding the interview process and the role of the Board. The decision is made by consensus that, after interviewing all candidates, the Pers. committee will make a recommendation to the Board; the Board will then conduct a second interview during which the adult board officers (at the request of the student officer, who asked to be excused from participation) will ask questions of the interviewee with previous input from other Board members. The date/time of this interview to be determined at the April 8 Board meeting. Matt Voz stands aside due to conflict of interest.

 

Faculty:  Matt Voz

 

Report. See written report.

 

Students:  Zach Wickert

 

Report. See written report. The students will have an opportunity at the next Board meeting to share their concerns regarding student morale in more detail.

 

Facilities:  Adrian Ugo; Liz Cox

 

Report. The committee continues to seek professional expertise to evaluate the condition of the Landmark Center. A full report will be presented to the Board by the next meeting.

 

There has been water damage, caused by YIHS, to the room of Carol Ann Kemen. We will consider a course of action, such as a letter of apology to Carol Ann, at the next Board meeting.

 

Annual Meeting:  Charlene Elderkin

 

Introduction, discussion, decision. The decision is made by consensus to schedule the annual All-School Meeting for Tuesday, May 20. Charlene suggests we include in this meeting reports from all the decision-making bodies and other selected committees.

 

Recruitment of New Board Members:  Charlene Elderkin

 

Discussion. Board members are asked to continue recruiting candidates; the deadline for declaring one’s candidacy is April 30. Eamon is resigning his 2-year term, so a replacement must be elected for a one-year term (this is an “at large” position). Two 3-year terms are also open. The decision is made by consensus to  ???  on May 6

 

Evaluation: 

 

All agree that it was helpful to have Nanette facilitate the meeting, and she will return for the next two meeting; then we will all re-evaluate. Nanette suggests that we allow more time on the agenda for our topics.

 

Next Meeting:

 

Tuesday, April 8, 2008 at the Landmark Center.

Facilitator and Timekeeper:  Nanette Tuttle

 

unapproved

Deborah Baer, Secretary

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

YIHS Board of Trustees Minutes (unapproved)

February 12, 2008

 

Present: Charlene Elderkin, Annette Park, Liz Cox, Kevin (Sparrow) Lamb, Jacob Hundt, Eamon Heberlein, Adrian Ugo, Deborah Baer, Sam Caldwell (proxy for Zach Wickert), Leo Cox, Brian Wickert (visiting parent), Matt Voz, Jane Hannemann (visiting parent).

 

Absent:  Caleb Whited-Ford, Zach Wickert, Rich Grams (proxy for Mark Hobbins).

 

Facilitator: Charlene Elderkin

Timekeeper: Leo Cox

 

[“Decisions” highlighted in yellow; “tasks” highlighted in green; “questions from the Secretary” highlighted in pink, pink phrases will be removed from final version of minutes]

 

Introductions, check-in.

 

January Minutes: approved with changes.

 

February Agenda: adjusted and approved. The Faculty and Parent reports will be eliminated. Jacob requests time under New Business for an Admin. Group topic.

 

Healthy Meeting and Communication Guidelines: Charlene Elderkin

 

Discussion. Page 78 of the document “Healthy Meeting and Communication Guidelines” was discussed. The importance of listening more than speaking is affirmed by the group. We agree to study p. 79 of the document. Charlene, Deborah, and Annette will meet two weeks before each Board meeting to set the agenda; Board members will send reports and topic introductions to Deborah no later than one week before each meeting.

 

Students: Leo

 

Report. The students have formed a fundraising committee, which has met several times. Many students are concerned about a perceived decrease in morale among the students, about the image of the school in the community, and about the withdrawal of several freshman from the school; these issues are under discussion at student meetings. A number of students are currently away on foreign exchange programs.

 

Mandates: Charlene

 

Discussion. There is general agreement that the use of mandates as described in the section “Mandates, Delegations, Committees, and Reporting” from the AWSNA document Young Schools’ Guide would be a useful step for YIHS. Each standing committee of the Board will be asked by the Board member(s) currently on each committee to use the form on p. 92 of YSG to create a written mandate for what they do, to be submitted to Deborah by one week before the March 11 Board meeting. Discussion item for the March 11 agenda. The current standing committees are Development, Facilities, Sports, and Finance.

 

Long-Range Planning Task Force:  Adrian

 

Report, discussion, decision. The task force has met twice. Its current members are Adrian Ugo, Liz Cox, Jane Hannemann, Jacob Hundt, Dawn Hundt, Brian Wickert, Rich Grams, and Deborah Baer. A partially completed Mandate form was distributed to Board members. Issues for discussion included attempts to clarify both the task force’s delegated task and the function of a “long-range planning committee,” as well as the appropriate use of the AWSNA “Mandate” form. Due to the inability to reach agreement on the complex issues involved in forming a Long-Range Planning committee, it was generally agreed that we should postpone any decision, pending further discussion at the next Board meeting. A tentative and partial mandate written by Sparrow at the meeting was then presented and the decision was made by consensus to accept the mandate as written, on a tentative basis, to be reviewed and refined as an agenda item at the next three Board meetings (March, April, May) *(see appended document). “Stand aside”: Eamon Heberlein, who feels that it is not clear whether the Board has the authority to create and mandate a Long-Range Planning committee.

 

AWSNA Task Force: Liz Cox

 

Report. The final report has been sent to our AWSNA reps, and we await a decision from our regional AWSNA organization regarding our acceptance as a “developing Waldorf school.” The decision will be made at the regional meeting later this month. Jacob and Liz will attend that meeting as representatives of YIHS.

 

Personnel:  Jacob Hundt, Annette Park

 

Report. The Administrator, Faculty Chair, and Development Coordinator positions are currently posted on the national websites “Waldorf World” and “Anthroposophy.org.” Copies of all three job descriptions have been sent to each Waldorf High School in North America and to all Waldorf schools in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Illinois, as well as to the two Waldorf teacher training institutes. We currently have one applicant for Administrator, none for Faculty Chair, and three for Development Coordinator. The new deadline for receiving applications for all three positions is April 1, 2008.

 

A draft of the Personnel committee’s Revised Policies was emailed to all Board members as well as to the members of all other consultative bodies.

 

Facilities:  Brian Wickert

 

Report. The committee is seeking professional expertise to evaluate the condition of the Landmark Center.

 

Finance: Annette Park, Liz Cox

 

Report, discussion. See Financial Report update distributed to all board members. Equipment and Office Expenses are expected to go over budget. Our income has decreased, and tuition payments are not coming in in a timely manner this month. This month the committee will begin creating the budget for the next academic year. A preliminary budget will be ready by March and presented to the Board for approval at the April meeting.

 

The decision is made by consensus to add Liz Cox as a signatory for the YIHS student discretionary fund at WCCU.

 

Recruitment of New Board Members:  Charlene Elderkin

 

Discussion. Prospective candidates should begin visiting Board meetings by April. We should consider individuals who already serve effectively on YIHS committees. Students in particular are urged to begin recruiting candidates at this time. Charlene suggests to student Board members that they may wish to work on a proposal to the faculty that Board service could be categorized as an independent study or other opportunity to fulfill academic requirements.

 

New Business:

 

Board Ethics and Standards:  Charlene Elderkin

 

Introduction. This is one of the issues identified by the Board last year as needing to be addressed by this year’s Board. Our current ethics statement is borrowed from another document---not created by the YIHS Board. Board members are asked to consider volunteering to research this topic and present it to the Board (next meeting, if possible); contact Charlene if interested.

 

Conflict Resolution Policy:  Jacob Hundt

 

Report. Jacob will distribute by email Draft 7 of the Conflict Resolution policy to Board members, who are asked to study it. It must be approved by all consultative bodies, and will be a decision-level item at the next Board meeting.

 

Miscellaneous:

 

Liz suggests that we create a Board calendar for the year as a way of keeping track of tasks that need to be done at various times of the year.

 

Evaluation: 

 

Most agree that, although some of the discussion and the length of the meeting were frustrating, the time spent was necessary. We also agree that our process continues to need work (listening skills, staying on topic, etc.).

 

Next Meeting:

 

Tuesday, March 11, 2008 at the Landmark Center.

Facilitator:  Jacob Hundt

Timekeeper:  Annette Park

 

unapproved

Deborah Baer, Secretary

 

 

* MANDATE FOR LONG RANGE PLANNING COMMITTEE

 

Name of committee:

 

Long-Range Planning Committee

 

Mandated by:

 

YIHS Board of Trustees

 

Mission:

 

Form the committee, develop a process, create a long-range plan

 

Authority and responsibility:

 

Authority is given to request reports from other committees; can request additional authority as needed. Responsibility is to create a long-range plan.

 

Individuals receiving mandate:

 

Adrian Ugo, Brian Wickert, Jane Hannemann, Deborah Baer, Dawn Hundt, Jacob Hundt, Liz Cox.

Chair:

 

Adrian Ugo or LRPC chair.

 

Time limit and frequency of review:

 

Permanent committee with yearly review.

 

Resources allocated:

 

(none listed)

 

Frequency of reporting:

 

Once per month

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

YIHS Board of Trustees Minutes (unapproved)

January 15, 2008

 

Present: Charlene Elderkin, Annette Park, Liz Cox, Kevin Lamb, Jacob Hundt, Adrian Ugo, Deborah Baer, Zach Wickert, Caleb Whited-Ford, Leo Cox, Rich Grams (proxy for Mark Hobbins), Brian Wickert (visiting parent), Matt Voz (visiting faculty), Jane Hannemann (visiting parent), Esperanza Lantro (visiting parent).

 

Absent:  Eamon Heberlein

 

Facilitator: Charlene Elderkin

Timekeeper: Sparrow

 

[“Decisions” highlighted in yellow; “tasks” highlighted in green; “questions from the Secretary” highlighted in pink, pink phrases will be removed from final version of minutes]

 

Introductions, check-in.

 

Review of Consensus Process: Charlene Elderkin

 

Discussion.

 

The AWSNA Young Schools’ Guide is recommended as a good resource for the school and the Board for information about Waldorf education and AWSNA affiliation. The AWSNA “Consensus” document that we were asked to read was discussed, including the step-be-step process used to work through an issue (introduction, discussion, and decision take place at three consecutive meetings) and the individual commitments needed to participate in the consensus process (unity with ideals of school, good listener, patient with each other’s idiosyncrasies, feeling that everyone else has the most important thing to say, trust in the validity of each person’s contribution, open to learn, commitment to finding the truth, courage to speak if one cannot stand behind an issue for moral reasons, discuss issue only within meeting, willingness to struggle for moral clarity, respect/commitment to consensus process). Future agendas will include adequate time for review of process, decisions, and tasks. All Board members are asked to review the “Consensus” section of the Board manual and to read “Healthy Meeting and Communication Guidelines” from the AWSNA Young Schools’ Guide (pp. 78-82; link already sent to all members)

 

Approval of minutes for December with the following correction: “Rebecca” Rotert changed to “Rebekah.”

 

Approval of January agenda with time adjustments.

 

Finance: Annette Park, Liz Cox

 

Report, discussion.

 

See Financial Report update distributed to all board members. The Finance Committee met today, Development Committee will meet January 20. Our February 1 financial obligations can be met by further increasing our debt, but how we will make our March 1 obligations is uncertain. We have $4,000 left of our $20,000 line of credit. We are losing approx. $5,000 in tuition due to four student withdrawals. A discussion of options to remedy our financial situation follows. The Development office may send out another fundraising letter, perhaps with a letter composed by students to be included. The idea of restarting the YIHS print shop (t-shirts, book bags, etc.) is discussed. The idea of asking each Board member to commit to contacting one person who may be willing to make a substantial contribution to the school was discussed but rejected for the present.

 

The decision is made by consensus to appoint Walker Willis as signatory for the YIHS student discretionary fund at WCCU and to remove the names of Ben Kennedy and Madeleine Pitsch.

 

Faculty:  Jacob Hundt

 

Report.

 

Lively discussions about many fundamental issues (e.g. homework, student evaluation policies) have been occurring at Faculty meetings and Student/Faculty meetings.

 

The core faculty has set a goal of further developing our mentorship program for faculty members.

 

The Board approves the latest version of the Care Group Policy.

 

Jacob has asked the faculty to replace him as faculty representative to the Board. Matthew Voz is considering whether he would be willing to replace Jacob.

 

Parents:  Kevin Lamb (Sparrow)

 

Report.

 

The “Form and Freedom” parent/faculty discussion was considered to be useful. Issues discussed included concerns about inconsistencies in applying school academic and behavioral standards; boundaries and safety concerns; and questions about whether YIHS “really is or is trying to be a Waldorf school.” There seemed to be a consensus that an increase of form and structure is necessary. Another result of the discussion will be a group formed by James Hannemann, Brian Wickert, and Esperanza Lantro to study Steiner’s indications for form and freedom in an educational setting.

 

The topic “Sex, Drugs, and Rock&Roll” will be addressed at the next parent meeting.

 

Students:  Zach Wickert, Eamon Heberlein, Leo Cox, Caleb Whited-Ford

 

Report.

 

Maya Smith is the new secretary of the student body. The students comment that the student fundraising committee has not been active, and they feel that most students don’t fully understand that the school relies on them for a certain amount of fundraising. Liz will work with the student Board reps to present budget numbers to the students and will further assist them as they work on reactivating the student fundraising committee. The students have considered a friendly fundraising competition between classes; Annette suggests that each House could have a fundraiser.

 

A discussion of guidelines for the student Board reps to use when reporting to the Board is initiated by Brian. The following guidelines were agreed upon, and the students will begin to report on:

            1)  finances/fundraising

            2)  policy changes that are “board-specific”

            3)  general morale of the students and issues being dealt with

            4)  special accomplishments.

 

Charlene comments that, ideally, reports from all committees/groups should be emailed to Board members and read by Board members before coming to the meeting (we do not currently do this). [prior to typing the agenda, Deborah can send a reminder requesting that Board members do this---would this be helpful?]

 

Facilities: Adrian Ugo

 

Report.

 

The minutes from the last Facilities Committee meeting were distributed to Board members.

 

Athough Nancy Rhodes preferred a longer lease, Nancy generously agreed to a 2-year lease (7-1-07 – 7-1-08), which both she and YIHS have now signed.

 

The committee continues to work on various repair issues. We are not responsible for damage to the facility caused by leakage, but we should take reasonable measures to prevent damage (such as placing buckets under leaks) and reporting them to Nancy. All such measures should be documented.

 

Brian distributes a list of Landmark Center maintenance expenses. The list is still a work in progress, and further expenses will be added as the information becomes available. Brian estimates it costs around $40,000-$50,000 per year to run the building. At the March Board meeting, a full report with recommendations will be given.

 

Parking is still an issue. The student reps will remind the student body of the appropriate places to park vehicles; Jacob will remind the faculty.

 

AWSNA Task Force:  Liz Cox, Charlene Elderkin, Deborah Baer

 

Report.

 

Liz reports that the AWSNA task force met on January 23 and divided up the questions to be answered from the AWSNA response letter among the six members present. It will be sent to our reps this weekend.

 

The AWSNA regional representatives will meet in February. Our reps will either recommend or not recommend that YIHS should be accepted as a “Developing Waldorf School,” and the regional reps will vote.

 

Charlene reports that the task force recommends that the Board re-initiate the Long Range Planning Committee. The decision is made to do so, and Adrian—with assistance from Brian, Rich, Jacob, and Jane—is appointed to write a preliminary mandate. Discussion level at the February meeting.

 

Deborah reports that our AWSNA reps determined that we do not need to have a professional audit done of our financial records.

 

Jane asks if there will be a written summary of the process by which the AWSNA questions were answered and also by what process the Three Year Plan was written. Are we committed to working out of the intentions of Rudolf Steiner? She is referred to Jacob. Jane also suggests that it is important for us to be very clear about our reasons for seeking AWSNA affiliation and that to have this in writing would be valuable. Charlene comments that this can be found in last year’s Board minutes and will email them to Jane. Questions having to do with this year’s agenda and minutes can be sent to Deborah.

 

Personnel:  Jacob Hundt

 

Report.

 

Advertisements for the Administrator and Faculty Chair positions have now been posted in Pea Soup, Lunchbox, Weekender, and (as of today) Waldorf World. We have two local applicants for the Administrator position, one applicant for the Development position. At present, February 15 is the deadline for accepting applications for the Administrator position. The Personnel Committee recommends that we hire someone by the end of March. The deadline for accepting applications for the Faculty Chair position is April 15. The Personnel Committee’s rationale for the February 15 deadline for the Admin. position is their concern that we may lose the two current applicants, who may need to know soon whether or not they will be taking the position. Concerns are raised by the visitors and several Board members that this deadline is only one month after the position has been posted on a non-local site and does not allow enough time for other applicants to respond. The suggestion is also made to post both positions on other Waldorf websites. Esperanza will contact Jacob regarding several other sites that she is aware of; Jacob will post the Administrator and Faculty Chair position on these sites ASAP if they advertise position openings. A lengthy discussion follows regarding whether to extend the application deadlines for the Administrator position and, if so, to what date. Opinions range from not extending it, to extending it to two months from the time the advertisement has been posted on all likely sites. Sparrow  made the proposal to extend the deadline to March 15. Deborah requests further discussion and proposes the deadline be extended to two months from the time the position is posted on the additional Waldorf sites. The decision to do so is made by consensus. It is pointed out by Jacob that the Personnel Committee has been very busy with unanticipated tasks such as several faculty vacancies, in addition to the search process for the administrative positions.

 

In response to a question from Rich regarding how these positions will be funded, we are told that the funds are available in the existing payroll and all salaries can be accounted for by a rearranging of both current and new positions. The Finance Committee is working on budgets for various staffing scenarios.

 

In response to a question from Jane, it is reaffirmed that the Board will make the final decision regarding the hiring of the Administrator and Faculty Chair and is ultimately responsible for the search process, and that both will be directly responsible to the Board. Jane is referred to Liz, Jacob, Charlene, or Maureen for questions about or copies of the job descriptions for both positions.

 

The Personnel Committee has also taken up a review of their policies, including the evaluation of faculty and PC membership qualifications. A set of proposed amendments to Personnel Committee policies will be sent to all Board members before the next Board meeting. All Board members are requested to read the document and it will be a discussion item on the February agenda.

 

New Business:

 

Recruitment of New Board Members:  Charlene Elderkin

 

Introduction.

 

Board members are again asked to read and study “The Board of Trustees,” pp. 74-77, from Young Schools’ Guide on the AWSNA website (link already sent to all members), especially page 77. Members are also asked to read pp. 14-15, and to be thinking about individuals to be recruited for Board service. It will be a discussion item on the February agenda. Two new members will be elected in May, as Charlene Elderkin’s and Mark Hobbins’ positions will end.

 

Committee Mandates:  Charlene Elderkin

 

Introduction.

 

Board members are again asked to read and study the “Mandates” section, pp. 88-92, from Young Schools’ Guide on the AWSNA website (link already sent to all members). It will be a 15-minute discussion item on the February agenda.

 

Parent Concerns:  Adrian Hugo

 

Some parents have expressed concern about the fact that several students have withdrawn from the school and have suggested that exit interviews with families leaving the school would be valuable. The Administration Group is asked to consider this possibility.

 

Several parents have expressed an interest in being involved in a YIHS Long Range Planning Committee. Adrian will convey to them that the Board is in the process of re-forming the LRPC and that parent involvement will be welcomed.

 

A student mentor has expressed concern regarding the current Care Group process (for example, the mentor not being informed of a Care Group action taken). The decision was made to recommend to the Personnel Committee that it consider this issue.

 

Volunteer Responsibilities:  Brian

 

Brian recommends to the Board that we consider whether the responsibilities and accountability of YIHS volunteers is a Board issue to discuss. Annette adds that some volunteer positions are “Board-specific.”

 

Evaluation: 

 

Tasks were reviewed. Discussions often went over the time allotted. Brian comments that Charlene did an excellent job as Facilitator. Zach comments that meetings last too long and that we should have a break. All agree that agenda items requiring lengthy discussion should appear earlier on the agenda. Charlene comments that meetings will be more efficient if all Board members receive and read all materials related to agenda items before the actual meeting. We will all try to work on this. Deborah thanks the visitors (Jane, Esperanza, Brian) for their contributions to the meeting. Jacob congratulates the Facilities Committee for their accomplishments. Jane thanks the Board for the opportunity for visitors to ask questions and make comments. Brian conveys to the Board thanks from Jane Mussey and John Aue for the work of the Conflict Resolution Group in assisting their family.

 

Next Meeting:

 

Tuesday, February 12, 2008 at the Landmark Center.

Facilitator:  Charlene Elderkin

Timekeeper:  Leo Cox

 

unapproved

Deborah Baer, Secretary

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

YIHS Board of Trustees Minutes (approved)

December 11, 2007

 

Present: Liz Cox, Kevin Lamb, Eamon Heberlein, Jacob Hundt, Adrian Ugo, Deborah Baer, Zach Wickert, Caleb Whited-Ford, Leo Cox, Rich Grams (proxy for Mark Hobbins), Brian Wickert (visitor)

 

Absent: Charlene Elderkin, Annette Park, Mark Hobbins

 

Facilitator: Adrian Ugo

Timekeeper: (Charlene Elderkin)

 

[“Decisions” highlighted in yellow; “tasks” highlighted in aqua]

 

Approval of minutes for November with the following corrections: Pete Hodapp did not resign; Micaela O’Herlihy is teaching a multimedia art class; Rebekah Rotert will teach kickboxing; noted that the Board approved the purchase of a space heater at an approximate cost of $375.

 

Approval of December agenda.

 

AWSNA Affiliation Strategic Planning: (Charlene Elderkin absent) All

 

Report, discussion, decision.

 

Reminder that all board members agreed to read the Three Year Plan, the AWSNA Shared Principles, the AWSNA letter of response t