SPECIAL MEETING
Great Bay eLearning Charter School Agenda
June 8, 2006 - 4:30 PM
Great Bay eLearning Charter School
PRESENT: Roy
Morrisette, Lucy Cushman, Linda Henderson, Peter Stackhouse and
Kent Chamberlin
ABSENT: Sara Baer-Sinnott, Tom Wisbey, Patty Lovejoy and Ben Hillyard
ADMINISTRATION:
Arthur Hanson, Steve Kossakoski, Nathan Lunney, Cheryl McDonough and
George McKenney
1. CALL TO ORDER: Chair Morrisette called the meeting to order at 4:31 PM followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.
1.1 Introductions
2. NON-PUBLIC SESSION: None at this time.
3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
3.1 May 18, 2006: Motion by Linda Henderson, seconded by Lucy Cushman and unanimously voted to approve the May 18, 2006 minutes with the amendment to remove Roy Morrisette as present and add Kent Chamberlin as being present (see Attachment #1 pdf).
4. VISITORS
5. BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL
5.1 School Finances 101 – Nathan Lunney, Treasurer: Nathan presented a Power Point presentation (see Attachment #2 pdf) and discussed each category of information to update the trustees on the finances at the school. Cheryl McDonough arrived at 4:30 PM. On the federal level, we receive federal funding (charter school grants come from federal money as does Medicare reimbursement). At local level, number of ways we receive dollars - mainly in property taxes, but also in impact fee monies that can be attributed to schools in local dollars, i.e. builder’s fees. Reviewed the Tax Impact; budget approval by the voting body on how much you can spend, i.e. bottom line; that Budget = Revenues – estimated revenue; monies that come from state aid, Equitable Education Grant and property taxes (local and state). Reviewed status quo of GBeCS. Talked about Senate Bill 76 (see below) and discussed that going forward GBeCS will need to: set up a checkbook, establish a general ledger, present and adopt a formal budget, maintain regular financial reporting and will contract with ERCSD for staffing. He also discussed the sustainability of the school and how the schools is “good deal” for ERCSD in terms of reducing numbers of SPED students, meeting educational needs of students that the traditional high school cannot meet and to date, have returned to “out of district” replacements back in-house. Suggest a future meeting with ERCSD board to find out what kind of an outline they would like to discuss regarding GBeCS and the long-term sustainability.
5.2 Senate Bill 76 – What This Means for State Charter Schools – Nathan: House Bill 76 – waiting signature of Governor; would send money directly to charter school from the state; “tuition rate” figure used by state for 2006-07 = $3598/student and rate grows by CPI each year; payment schedule to schools defined; monies come from Education Trust Fund; GBeCS changes from this law would mean that we would receive $360,000 directly. Having a checkbook, budget, etc. would require trustees to begin signing of manifests, having an independent financial audit, and naming of SAU/ERCSD as fiscal agent for grants. Handed out a proposed 06-07 GBeCS Budget Worksheet (see Attachment #3 pdf), noting this is subject to revision. Motion by Kent Chamberlin, seconded by Lucy Cushman and unanimously voted with no further discussion to accept the 2006-07 GBeCS Budget Worksheet that will be updated at the fall meeting.
6. GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE: None at this time
7. SUPERINTENDENT'S/ADMINISTRATION’S REPORT
7.1 Co-Principals for 2006 – 2007: Superintendent read letter from Peter Stackhouse stating Peter must resign as a member of the trustees. He then explained that Cheryl is interested in reducing her time at the school, even though this is her passion, monetarily, Cheryl feels she needs to continue her work with the Collins Writing Program. Cheryl would like to reduce her current time as a Teaching Principal to a 50-50 co-principal position. Peter is very interested in taking this co-principal position with Cheryl and continues 50% with his curriculum work. The superintendent explained why he sees this as a great win-win for everyone, especially GBeCS. Additionally, both CMS and EHS administration are on board with this. Discussion followed. Motion by Linda Henderson, seconded by Kent Chamberlin and unanimously voted with no further discussion to accept with regrets the resignation of Peter Stackhouse as GBeCS Trustee. George voiced his support of having both Peter and Cheryl as principals, especially since Peter is a known and well liked entity at the charter school. The superintendent noted he would recommend that the trustees hire Peter Stackhouse as 50% principal, along with Cheryl McDonough continuing on as a 50% principal at the charter school. Motion by Linda Henderson, seconded by Lucy Cushman and unanimously voted with no further discussion to accept the recommendation of the superintendent to hire Peter Stackhouse as 50% principal, along with Cheryl McDonough continuing on as a 50% principal at the charter school. Superintendent added that he has a replacement administrator in mind as a trustee for Peter’s position, Bill Perkins (Assistant Principal at CMS) and this will be discussed at the August meeting.
8. BOARD REPORTS/ POLICY
9.1 Review of Policies – Approval: Motion by Lucy Cushman, seconded by Linda Henderson and unanimously voted with no discussion to approve the following GBeCS policies: DJE – Bidding Requirements, DJF – Local Purchasing, DJG – Vendor Relations, EBBC-R – Standing Nurses Orders, EBCA – Emergency Plans, EBCA-R – Emergency Plans Checklist, EBCB-R – Fire Drills in Educational Occupancies, ECAB – Program Access at Public Events, JJF – Student Activities fund Management and JLCF – Wellness, Nutrition and Physical Activity.
9. OLD BUSINESS: Steve shared enrollment information
(see Attachment #4 pdf) for next year. If do not see our enrollment numbers increase
in January 2007, Linda noted we could consider 8/9 grade combo.
10. NEW BUSINESS: Next meeting – August 10th at 4:30 PM at GBeCS.
11. ADJOURNMENT: Motion by Linda Henderson, seconded by Lucy Cushman and unanimously voted to adjourn at 6:30 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Sally Boyd, Secretary