INTERNATIONAL SPANISH LANGUAGE ACADEMY
ISLA BOARD MINUTES
April 26, 2007
CALLED TO ORDER AT 7:09PM
ISLA BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Karen Terhaar (Start-Up Coordinator), Rolf Brombacher, Melody Brombacher, Lily Johnson, Kerry Krawczyk-LeMieux, Mark Mathison, Jenny Brockman, Patrick arrived after his meeting
HOPKINS REPRESENTATIVE: Michele Luke
VISITOR(S): 2 parents
ISLA BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT: Angie Cabrera, Molly Quinn
MOTION TO APPROVE PREVIOUS BOARD MINUTES
Kerri moved, Mark seconded and passed.
MOTION TO APPROVE TONIGHT’S AGENDA
Melody moved, Mark seconded and passed
FINANCE
Josh provided report
Expenses….
-majority of expenses so far are Start-Up coordinator salary
-Consulting fees
-Printing/Duplicating, advertising costs
-No new income in March
-Cash balance
Clarification that Stenmark accounting program is UFARS approved
Will begin also maintaining MDE expenditure report using their provided template, which is the format required to submit it to request next grant payment after we’ve expended first portion of grant funds
Unemployment insurance has been filed and payment has been made
Rolf/Karen attended grant management training and provided a brief update regarding grant payment timing and reporting requirements.
Jenny/Rolf met with New York Life insurance broker this past week and will be gathering additional information and providing a recommendation regarding employee benefits
Karen noted that we will be required to provide an updated operating budget at least by our June meeting ready for Board approval.
We will need to report ADM (average daily membership) on a regular basis once school is in session
First reporting on number of students is required by July
Clarification that State start-up funding = $50,000 or $500/student, whichever is greater. This is provided for the first two years.
Need to consider board/liability insurance
Mark’s recommendation:
-D&O policy – director’s and officer’s insurance
-Comprehensive general liability insurance
Mark has some sources for this type of insurance
Karen thinks that we may be able to get this type of insurance through MN School Board Association
She will ask in meeting with them tomorrow
Karen, Jenny, Rolf and Mark will lead-up effort to research all insurance options and provide recommendation at next board meeting
Considerations:
Probably offering benefits only to Full Time Employees
Considering the following types of benefits
-Health
-Dental
-Life
-Short-Term
-Long-Term
-Section 125 plan to allow premium payments to be pre-tax
Mark suggested that we may want to at least requires some employee contribution
FACILITY
Faith Presbyterian Church agreed at their Board meeting on Tuesday to enter into lease agreement and to proceed with conditional use permit. The conditional use permit process involves gaining City approval to use the facility as a school. We have no reason to expect that the permit will not be approved, but do not want to convey that the arrangement is “official” until the permit is approved.
The facility already has an “E” classification for educational purposes, as required by state
State has already looked at the property and found it ADA compliant
Fire Marshal has gone through twice and also confirmed it was compliant
Highlights of the facility:
-Facility has large parking lot & frontage road that would both provide easy access for buses
-Adjacent residential properties are fairly long distance from the school and only on one side
-Public park with playground equipment that is owned by the Church (across the street, but the street is a very quite residential street)
-Gym
-Cafeteria
-Music Room
-Enough rooms to accommodate us for at least the first year
-Central location within the school district boundaries
-Location is ideal from perspective of bus routes
-Lease agreement will be for 1 year at a time
-Fully carpeted, so they are assuming for their planning purposes that they will be replacing the carpet.
-Church representatives suggested that they could consider modifying the facility to meet our needs for longer term use (e.g., moving some walls, making other rooms available to us, etc.) This could potentially accommodate us for the 2nd year, but may not work by the third year.
-Our broker, Jamie, has actively been looking for properties and Karen has met with him regularly. Jamie is aware that the church facility will likely be the option that we proceed with for our first year.
Jamie is continuing to look into facilities that may be more appropriate for long-term use. He has found a property whose owner claims they could prepare the building by August, but this seems unlikely given all of the work that would need to be done and approvals, inspections, etc that would be required. Karen would like some other board members to look at this facility to determine whether it is one we would truly be interested in.
Per last board meeting, facilities committee already has authorization to negotiate terms for lease.
Mark suggested that we make an announcement immediately to parents of enrolled students noting that Faith Presbyterian has approved entering into lease arrangements and that all requirements for the facility are met, other than needing approval of conditional use permit. Also include details about timeline for these final steps for gaining the conditional use permit.
Karen indicated that Pastor of church agreed that we could make this information public.
Karen will send emails to parents as well as post this information on the website, and submit a press release to gain support and build enthusiasm within the community.
Mark moved that the board authorize the start-up coordinator to engage in discussions with Jamie Wellek about timing of his activity in looking for space, tell him we will engage in a 1 year lease with Faith Church which has the possibility of renewal, and report back to the board about the substance of that discussion.
Melody seconded, and the motion was approved
Lillie suggested that we should be ready to place sings at the facility as soon as the lease agreement is signed.
Karen noted that we will want to be clear in our publications / website that we are not officially affiliated with the church, we are just using their facility.
Lease –aid is $1,200 per pupil unit, or 90% of total lease amount, whichever is less.
Jenny noted that we should seek to have the church provide as many updates as possible (phone, wiring, etc.) so that this can be incorporated into lease-aid instead of coming out of our normal operating budget.
Rolf noted that John Koehler recommended sharing proposed lease with MDE prior to us actually signing it to look it over and validate it is reasonable.
PERSONNEL
-Melody provided update
-Provided list of places where we have posted positions
-Career fair this weekend that Melody and Molly will be attending
-Another Charter school career fair on Tuesday May 8th
-Have has some resumes submitted thus far
-Director, 4 Teachers, and part-time Phy-Ed and PT Music
-Planning teacher interviews on Wednesdays
Mark brought-up the point that technically we may not be allowed to have preference for Spanish speaking, because this could be considered discrimination based on national origin.
Note that Karen Terhaar left the room so as not to participate in the following discussion.
It was noted that we need to conduct criminal background check for director as well as all teachers.
It was noted that we want Karen to participate in the teacher interviews
The board discussed whether we should pursue making an offer to Karen Terhaar for the Executive Director position.
Mark moved that the board authorize the personnel committee to pursue making a conditional offer to Karen Terhaar for the executive director position and to begin preparing a contract for that position to bring back to the board for approval. The conditional offer be made by Tuesday May 1st, and the conditions may include successful completion of a criminal back ground check consistent with our legal duties, confirmation that she has all legally required qualifications, and that such offer will be subject to delineation of its terms.
Melody seconded this motion.
Board members voted unanimously to approve the motion.
Note, that Karen Terhaar was not present for this vote.
Note: Karen re-entered the room at this point, and was informed of the motion that was made above.
START UP COORDINATOR’S REPORT
Made available to the board members, no questions or discussion
OTHER
Uniforms: will consider further in following months
Within next month, Karen recommended we need to make a decision about whether we offer 3rd/4rth grade, a combined class, or neither.
Current #s: 15 for 3rd, 15 for 4th.
We may want to consider adding an additional Kindergarten class.
MOTION
Motion was made by Patrick to accept Helen’s resignation, seconded by Lily. Motion carried
MOTION TO ADJOURN
Patrick moved to adjourn and Jenny seconded the motion. Motion carried adjourned at 9:47PM.
NEXT MEETING
Tuesday, 2007, 7:00PM, Crystal City Hall