VERMILION COUNTRY SCHOOL
REGULAR BOARD MINUTES
Thursday, Jan 19th, 2017
5:00pm, VCS
Board Members Present: Joan Dosert, Jodi Summit, TJ Pohl, Karin Schmidt, Muriel Scott
Board Members Not Present: No one
Also Present: Kevin Fitton
AGENDA ITEM / SUMMARY OF DISCUSSION/ACTION / PERSON(S) RESPONSIBLE/DATE DUE
1. Call Meeting
a. Roll Call
b. Introduction of Guests
c. Review and Approve Agenda / Meeting called to order at 5:00 P.M.
All board members present
Mary McGrane
Motion to approve agenda: Muriel, Joan 2nd, motion passed unanimously
2. Public Input and Announcements
Please fill out request form and turn in to chair before meeting begins. / 2A – TSAA and Friends of VCS will be having their annual meeting after this board meeting.
3. Consent Agenda – These are routine items that can be voted upon by a single motion. Any board member can request items be moved to the regular agenda for separate consideration. / 3A – Approval of Minutes: Motion Joan, 2nd Muriel, motion passed unanimously
- Dec 15th Board Minutes
- Jan 10th Finance Committee Minutes
- Jan 12th Personnel Committee Minutes
A yearly requirement of all non-profit organizations to reaffirm non-profit status and obligations of the board. Admin recommendation is to approve.
4. Information/Discussion Items / 4A – Audubon Site Visit Follow Up – Mentioned that we are headed in the right direction; may need to think about statutory goal items; need to address scheduling more time for professional development; need a math teacher; more detail required on recording votes in the minutes; focus on school achievement; hold management responsible for outcomes; need to update the organization chart; school’s budget. It was noted that school admin Kevin Fitton had a 100% on-time completion for Epicenter uploads (relating to state and Audubon reporting deadlines)
5. Review Indian Policies and Procedures / Yearly review required for Impact Aid application. – Reviewed Indian Policies and Procedures and there are no changes needed. Motion to approve: Joan, Karin 2nd., unanimous
6. Open Campus Proposal / Student Council: The board addressed a revised request from the student council for open campus. Board requested to add parent permission slip and parental permission for student vehicle use during the school day. Mary McGrane spoke for the student council since Jeff Mattson was not present. Only juniors and seniors are eligible. The new policy sets a procedure for students to qualify for open campus, and penalties if the privilege is abused or students are not meeting academic and behavioral benchmarks. Student council needs to visit with teachers and get more information about how the policy will be implemented. The board will review the policy again in June.
Motion for board to approve the open campus policy: Karin, Joan second, unanimous
7. Board Training / The board worked on updating the schools vision and mission statements. New wording will be updated on the school’s website, and used to develop a mission narrative to guide day-to-day school environment.
Vision: Develop successful adults with the skills to enrich their communities and environment.
Mission: To create a small, safe, nurturing learning environment where students become productive and engaged citizens.
Motion to accept change in Vision and Mission – Muriel, Joan 2nd, unanimous
8. Financials / 7A. Dec financials
Deposits: $50,803.91
Revenue: $50,803.91
Payments: $72,867.36
Expenses: $72,701.08
Cash Balance at End of Month $126,298.37
VISA Card Balance at End of Month -
Petty Cash On Hand – Cash Box $100.00
Motion to approve - Joan, Karin 2nd, unanimous
7B. Mid-year Amended Budget
The board discussed the reasons for the budget revisions, which are due mainly to lower than expected enrollment. Kevin said there is a good chance the actual budget will come in with a lower deficit than predicted. The new estimated budget deficit will be $40,000, but the school does have a budget reserve of
$93,000, and end of year fund balance was $102,838. The new budget shows 40 students for planning (budget is not counting the 3 PSEO students).
Motion to approve amended budget – Muriel, Joan 2nd, unanimous
Annual Audit
The board reviewed the annual audit.
The only corrective action specified was relating to separation of duties. Kevin said they are implementing all of the suggestions from the audit firm, but that there are limited options with such a small staff.
Motion to approve annual audit – Muriel, Karin 2nd, unanimous
9. School Committee Updates and Reports / Personnel – (Kevin Fitton) – No major items on personnel currently.
SpEd – No major items
Operations (Finance, Facilities, Marketing, and Technology) – (Kevin Fitton) Current student enrollment is 43.
ACDC (Academics, Culture, and Discipline Committee) - switch from PF to JMC; ensuring how credits are assigned; Aleks math is being further refined to better meet the needs of our students.
Staff/PLC – (Kevin Fitton) – ACES trauma training and literacy skills for Jan meetings.
Student Achievement and Environmental Progress – will have testing data for board meeting in February
10. COMMITTEE REPORTS
Finance Committee
Facility Committee
Personnel Committee / Met to review annual audit and provide recommendations for a mid-year adjustment to the budget.
Did not meet this month
Met to review a staff complaint.
11. Next Meeting / Next Regular Board Meeting: Thursday Feb, 23rd, 2017. 5:00pm VCS
Annual Meeting and Annual Election After Regular Meeting
12. Adjournment / Motion to Adjourn – Karin, Joan 2nd, unanimous
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