Rochester STEM Academy

District #4204-07

BOARD MEETING MINUTES

July 20, 2011 4:00 p.m.

Rochester STEM Academy Office, 1652 Greenview Drive SW, Rochester, MN

Call to order: Jill Leet-Otley, called the meeting to order at 4:25 p.m.

Board Members Present: Jill Leet-Otley, Farhan Hussein, Agin Mu’ath Muqtasid, Mohamoud Hamud.

Absent: Louise Covert and Abdulkadir Abdalla

Others present: Katie Cannons, Jonathan Krown, Johanna Sand, Sarah Stodola, Jeanne Parker, and Robert Procaccini, Donavan Bailey and Kolloh Nimley

Introductions: Donavan Bailey and Kolloh Nimley are two of our newest recruiters. Donavan is with the Public Defender’s office and is very interested in our vision and mission of targeting those students who are being underserved in the traditional public schools. Kolloh owns her own health care business and has a son that is interested in taking our engineering class.

School Mission Statement:

The mission of Rochester STEM Academy is to provide a highly supportive and safe learning environment that prepares Rochester’s students for higher education and employment in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) professions through a challenging program emphasizing creativity, inquiry, experimentation, accountability, ongoing assessments, college-preparation and high academic achievements.

School Vision:

Rochester STEM Academy will fully immerse its students in STEM through creating and implementing a school culture that ensures that its students become both confident and skilled in related higher educational and employment opportunities.

Approval of the agenda: Motion to approve with the addition of a discussion to appoint new board members-No objections- Unanimously approved.

Approval of June 15th Minutes: Motion to approve, No objections-Unanimously approved.

Approval of July 1st Minutes: Motion to approve, No objections-Unanimously approved.

Recruitment Strategies and Updates

There was much discussion about recruitment. Jonathan would like to see more accountability for the recruiters. Johanna suggested that we send out a mailing to the entire list of 2,300 9th and 10th grade students. She has suggested that we use a mail house to send out the actual brochures to all students. The cost would probably be around $1,300.00 for us to do and $2,500.00 for them to do. It was also suggested that we hire a group of people to start calling everyone on the list as a follow up to the flyers. The flyer will also list our open houses and advertize a laptop for every student. Mu’ath suggested that we discontinue all recruiting at this time and focus all of our attention on the student list that we have so far. Sarah and Katie will continue to work with the recruiters to find the best plan for them. Hamoud suggested that we need to continue our efforts with recruiting from the mainstream population. See motion below.

August 23rd is a Back to School Rally that Kolloh has agreed to attend as a recruiter.

Donavan has suggested that he may be able to help us with getting the word out that this school is not just for students who excel in these subjects nor is it just for Somali students. He has agreed to meet with 10-20 of the key people in the African American community to help dispel those myths.

New Board Members

We will be looking for another board member. We need to bring a teacher on board and we will begin a search with our new recruits.

Teacher contracts

Jacquline O’Donnell-Chemistry , Adam Hughes-Social Studies and Brandon Bufe-English as a Second Language teachers have been hired. Motion as follows.

Director Updates

Katie will be attending the PAGE (Peer Alliance on Gender Equity) training the week of July 25-29. I have been in contact with Wells Fargo Bank to seek a line of credit account. Robert has been working with Venture Bank and Charter School Capitol also seeking a line of credit.

The Words Players play group will be using our auditorium from July 5th-Aug 7th. They have had a contract with Studio Academy for renting this space for several years. Katie has agreed to let them use the space this year and told them that further use will need to be decided by the board.

Katie is in the process of putting together a letter to the editor/opinion statement in response to the opinions/comments in the Rochester Post-Bulletin about Rochester STEM Academy.

Ø  Board Motions/Actions

·  Mailing

Motion: To send out mailings and follow up with phone calls from our current recruiters over seen by Katie and Sarah and the decision will be made by Katie as to how the flyers will be mailed.
Made by: Jill Leet-Otley / Seconded by: Farhan Hussein
Discussion:
Vote: / Yea: 3 / Nay: 0 / Abstain: 1
Decision: Approved with 1 abstained vote from Mu’ath Muqtasid

·  Teacher Contracts

Motion: Move to approve the 3 teacher contracts.
Made by: Farhan Hussein / Seconded: Mu’ath Agin Muqtasid
Discussion:
Vote: / Yea: 4 / Nay: 0 / Abstain: 0
Decision: Approved unanimously

Comments from Community Members: None.

Motion to Adjourn: Jill Leet-Otley, Mohamoud Hamoud 2nd at 6:27 pm

Next Meeting: August 17th at 12:00 pm Rochester STEM Academy 415 16th ST. SW

Respectively submitted by Katie Cannons