Board meeting minutes December 2015
Flagstaff Arts and Leadership Academy Governing Board
FALA campus, room 1
December 16, 2015
Minutes
Board Members Present: Rand Jenkins, Laurah Hagen, Stephanie Stackhouse,Alicia Krzyczkowski (Annette Zinky, Eli Cohen via cell)
Staff Members Present:Deirdre Crawley, Laura Kelly, Taylor Smith, Stephanie Burns, Leslie Baker, JaneeceHenes, Alana Miller, Kelly Walker
Visitors:
Call to Order:Laurah Hagen called the meeting to order at 4:11pm
Approval of Minutes: Stephanie Stackhouse called for a motion to approve the November minutes, Rand Jenkins seconded.Motion approved unanimously.
Approval of Consent Agenda: Rand Jenkinscalled for a motion to approve agenda, Annette Zinkyseconds. Motion approved unanimously.
Information Items:
Discussion of and introduction to Board candidate Alicia Krzyczkowski by Laurah Hagen. Currently employed at NAU. K-12 teacher, taught abroad. Likes to bridge the gap for kiddos from High School to University and now University to High School. Loves it! She was attracted to the organization by LaurahHagen and other students/parents that speak so highly and magically of FALA!
Stephanie Stackhouse moves to approve AliciaKrzyczkowski’s membership to the FALA board, Annette Zinky seconds. Motion approved unanimously.
Public Comment: N/A
ED Laura Kelly met with DeidreCrawley and John Faccon last Thursday. Nothing out of the ordinary from last month, so John Facconwas not present. Two large heaters in main building need to be replaced. No estimate for replacement yet.
Laura Kelly introduced the financials. Stephanie Stackhouse would like to meet with Eli Cohen and the finance committee to project realistic numbers for repairs in 2016. SPED was under budgeted and money from the Feds is not keeping up with the growing number of SPED students. Laura Kelly recommends looking into that as well.
Stephanie Stackhouse clarifies that the monthly budget committee meeting should be prior to board meetings with numbers coming from JohnFaccon at least a week before the board meeting.
Laura Kellymet with NPA Director to talk about teacher salary chart and forwarded that information to Eli Cohen for review. Salary schedule committee is in the works and will take action as soon as possible.
Eli Cohen moves to create the Salary Schedule Committee, Rand Jenkins seconds, motion passes unanimously.
Laura wants to again recommend getting a treasurer asap. She met with Brett Carpenter and would like to discuss him becoming a board member and perhaps he could help with filling this role.Change in snow policy. Laura introduced the new policy where we align with FUSD recommendations. Began last week, she is able to get the word out by 5am on those days. FALA still has the freedom to extend snow days, but will follow FUSD recommendations at a minimum. FALA has a show on Thurs night at The Orpheum! Please come, FESTIVUS!!!
Laura Kelly, TanyaBuckley and Diedre Crawley have begun speaking with staff concerning the sick leave policy. Changed the previously separate recorded days for days off and sick days, to where they are now combined. ED looked at NPA and Mountain School along with Tanya and came up with the plan to have 10 personal days accrued up to 60 days, teachers can use them in future years and/or can cash them out at the end of their tenure for 30% of their daily pay. By January 1st, the ED would like the tracking to start and be shown on paycheck stubs. Taylor spoke with Executive Director and she weighed in on her days off for the last 3 years and Laura will use this number moving forward. Will speak with each teacher using this ‘self calculating’ honor system approach. Idea was for teacher time off not to be used for the first and last 2 weeks of the school year and the day before or after a holiday. Laura would like the dean to have discretion to give these days off. Teacher feedback has been great! Alana is worried about the quality of education with some teachers choosing whether to get 30% of their pay or taking the day off and the attraction to using all 10 days. There is not a policy written for judging who is sick and taking a personal day. Dean has some ideas to motivate and engage teachers to save their days off for unexpected illnesses and time away needed. Alana is curious as to the disciplinary action after 10 days? Stephanie Stackhouse would like to clarify the disciplinary action, ED and Dean said they’d like time to have a conversation about it. ED mentioned that 4 teachers have already taken 10 days off. ED would like the opportunity to discuss. Stephanie Stackhouse changed the wording to be more specific about logging days and using them in the future. Alana mentioned that the teachers have a contract saying that they have 15 total days. Is it appropriate to change in the middle of the school year?Dean assured that teachers will have past days not taken, added on to the addendum for the Sick Leave Policy in their contracts. Teachers would like to discuss this policy in a staff meeting. Alana would like to have a discussion as a whole, to help the environment on campus of being more collaborative and inclusive. This pushes back the policy vote. Board will vote after first Friday in January staff meeting. Dean feels like the organization is making progress in the realm of clearer lines of communication.
Dean Report: Attendance numbers are at 321 after 2 students have turned in paperwork to leave. 9th grade is low, they have reached out to potential students. Dean would like to speak with Math and Core class teachers about adding a few students where there might be room. She will stay away from 10th grade, numbers are maxed out. Dean would like to speak with potential parents of students to steer them into classes that are ready to accept 1-2 more students. Classroom numbers are on the agenda. ED would like to find the balance between adding students and ensuring that each student gets the attention they deserve! Increasing students to our 340 charter number would increase the financial stability of the organization if possible. Teachers were curious as to why the students are leaving. Students mentioned that they would like a bigger school and that they are not as engaged in the Arts. Dean wants to make sure that Board meeting minutes go out after each meeting to make sure we’re communicating full circle. Salaries are still the priority! Dean really wants to help with ensuring better transparency.
Teachers Report: Alana mentioned that she covered lots of her issues in the prior agenda items. Teacher moral is up and feeling good! Dean reminded that board members are invited to staff meetings. Annette wanted to say thank you for the teacher participation. Teachers would like Eli Cohen to come to the FALA LAT meeting in January. Eli Cohen is interested in attending both staff and FALA LAT meetings.
ED recommends keeping the same board meeting schedule. January 20th, February 17th and March 23rd, April 20th, May 18th, 4:00pm. ED will post on website for more participation. Eli Cohen would like advice on how to schedule the Salary Committee. ED would like to connect the teachers to Eli Cohen via email. Eli Cohen would like clarity as to how this committee can make action. Annette Zinky clarified that the committee is allowed to make recommendations to the board. Stephanie Stackhouse recommends waiting til school starts back up to ensure teacher engagement. Stephanie Stackhouse recommends Eli Cohen chooses a few dates that are best for him.
Stephanie makes a motion to establish a finance committee, Eli Cohen seconds. Motion approved unanimously.
Stephanie would like to set the first meeting of the finance committee on January 13th. Moving forward, these meeting will be the week before the board meeting.
Stephanie Stackhouse makes a motion to adjourn, Eli Cohen seconds. Motion passes unanimously. Meeting adjourned at 5:11.