Inspire School of Arts & Sciences Board of Directors

Regular Session – 7:00 pm

Monday, May 12, 2014

Held at Inspire Classroom IC-6

901 Esplanade Chico, CA

The mission of the Inspire School of Arts and Sciences is to provide high levels of learning and support within a personalized environment that allows students to explore their interests and develop their talents.

AGENDA – Regular Session

1.  Call to Order – 7:00pm. in attendance Dale Word, Matt Brown, Dan LaBar, Beth Reid, Scott Gunderson, Alan Kauffman, Julie Shea, Jim White, Danielle Reynolds, Eric Nilsson, Jana Gosselin, Debbie Travers, Jann Reed, Jarrah Myles, Michael Panunto, Sue Pate. Dale motioned to approve minutes and all consent items. Julie seconded. Approved unanimously.

2.  Consent Calendar

a.  Consider Approval of April 14, 2014 minutes. Approved unanimously with no changes.

b.  Consider approval of donations. No donations to report.

c.  Consider approval of expenditures-see 5.1g. No expenditures outside attachment 5.1g.

3.  Student Report- no student present

4.  Principal’s report.

a.  Form 700 update.- Eric will bring form 700s to first meeting in June. Will be for upcoming year.

b.  Inspire’s Graduation Rate. – Inspire had highest graduation rate in Butte County (98.7%). Front page, top of fold article in Chico ER 5/1/14.

c.  Upcoming events – this Friday, spring musical, 7pm at CFA (5/16/14). Great year for the orchestra. Prom Saturday night (5/17/14). Dance and choreography showcase on 5/31 at CFA. 20 seniors graduating from the dance program this year. Class of 2014 graduation Wed, June 4th at 6:30pm at Laxson Auditorium.

d.  LCAP – student feedback-Eric met with 3 students groups. Lots of “one” requests. More instruments, a place for dancers to change, theater, headphones for study hall, sports teams, equipment for engineering. Kids looked over action plan and responded enthusiastically to increase in counseling services.

e.  MOU update – Dan, Eric and Julie Shea met with Kevin Bultema, John Bohannon to talk about costs. DO not ready to research actual costs yet so will delay 1 year. Cost to Inspire will remain relatively constant next year with some slight increases. Library services below expectations. Most of Inspire’s contribution went to pay 5/6 of a librarian’s time. Haven’t received that level of library services. Would rather devote that money to tech services.

5.  Discussion/Action Items

5.1a. Discussion/Action: Consider approval of additional Board meeting in June for final approval of LCAP and 2014/2015 Projected Budget. – State decided LCAP needed to be approved in conjunction with budget for next year. June 9 meeting LCAP and projected budget will be presented. Then have to be approved together before June 30. Second meeting will be June 23rd at 7pm. Motion for 2nd meeting by Michael, seconded by Sue Pate. Approved unanimously.

5.1b. Discussion/Action: Consider Approval of new hires for Science and Art (Digital Photography/Video/Animation). – Justin Peek proposed for new science teacher. Erin Hall proposed for new video/animation/digital photography teacher. Jann moves to approve new hires, Michael seconds. Approved unanimously.

5.1c. Discussion/Action: Consider approval of increase in hours for Office Assistant. – motion to approve by Dale, seconded by Michael. Unanimously approved.

5.1d. Discussion: Clarification of rules governing committee work. – sustainability group needs to be treated as a committee - since it was a standing committee – no fixed time frame or purpose therefore probably subject to the Brown Act. Need to report regularly. Sustainability committee should be reporting to the board and publishing agendas and minutes.

5.1e. Discussion: Report from Debbie Travers re Teaching Expectations. – brainstormed with colleagues, checked how many teachers are involved with clubs. Biggest difference is number of additional students. (see handout). Inspire teachers have working conditions unlike traditional comprehensive high schools, e.g. advisory duties, more preps etc. Have to figure out how to keep teachers rejuvenated. Think outside the box to make things sustainable. CUTA in negotiations for salary increases. Impact to projected budget (at 5%, 7%, etc). Don’t want to get into a locked position with salaries. Establish a salary, projected increase that is not set in stone, dependent upon the health of the organization each year. One time bonuses easier than something set in stone. Make a statement targeting teacher salaries 10% over CUSD salaries. Contingent upon health of overall budget. Would look after 1st interim, inspire teachers would get one extra paycheck each year. If CUSD teachers get raise, Inspire teachers might get that in lieu of extra paycheck.

Eric will research impact to budget of teachers getting one extra paycheck per year. Labor costs percentage of overall budget. Labor costs will never go over 70-80% of budget. Also want to maintain a 10% reserve. Decision making needs to remain in hands of board.

5.1f. Discussion: Five-year spending plan. – see attachment. Dale very concerned about tablets being a huge money pit with very little functionality.

5.1g Discussion: Consider approval of surplus spending. – Each year (since ’11-’12) staff submits a budget to reflect needs for day one and a wish list for program needs. Total list $154,500. Expenditures broken down by discipline or department. Current surplus projected to be over $900k.

Surplus expenditures should be built into line items of existing budget. Allow to provide year to year comparison. Tech services need to be evaluated. Need to go through each section of MOU and determine if services are adequate.

Proposed to keep as an action item, compare to what has happened in the past, put it on consent calendar, additional information to be provided. Could be pulled for future discussion.

One time expenditure considered if 5-year or longer life span. By department, 5+ year items that will now count as one time expenditures. Also determine ongoing costs associated with purchases. End goal to look as impact to future budgets from ongoing or maintenance costs associated with one time purchases.

6. Public Comment - Student from PV states that smartboards never get used.

7. Items from the floor.

8.  Announcements. – meeting adjourned 9:10. Dale moves to adjourn, Michael seconds. Approved unanimously.