Great Bay eLearning Charter School Minutes

December 7, 20064:30 PM

Great Bay eLearning Charter School

 

Present:  Roy Morrisette, Lucy Cushman, Kent Chamberlin, Linda Henderson, Sara Baer-Sinnott, Patty Lovejoy and Bill Perkins

Absent:  Ben Hillyard  

Administration:  Steve Kossakoski and Peter Stackhouse

 

1.   CALL TO ORDER:  Chair Morrisette called the meeting to order at 4:35 PM followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

2.  NON-PUBLIC SESSION: None at this time.

 

3.   APPROVAL OF MINUTES

3.1  August 24, 2006: Motion by Lucy Cushman, seconded by Linda Henderson and unanimously voted with no further discussion to approve the minutes of August 24, 2006.

3.2  October 19, 2006: Motion by Lucy Cushman, seconded by Linda Henderson and unanimously voted with no further discussion to approve the minutes of August 24, 2006.

 

4.   VISITORS: Anne Sloan, parent was present, but had no comments.

 

5.   BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL

5.1  Financial Report – Nathan Lunney, Treasurer: Steve Kossakoski spoke in Nathan’s absence noting the financial report is the same as last month.    Motion by Patty Lovejoy, seconded by Bill Perkins and unanimously voted with no further discussion to accept the financial reports (see Attachments #1 pdf and #2 pdf) as presented.

5.2  Tuition payments from DOE – Update: Steve noted that Nathan has done research regarding if the tuition monies can be saved or held over and has found that no one is saying you cannot save them and other charter schools have been allowed to hold surplus funds.  We will ask out attorney about the next step.  Discussion by trustees that if the attorney thinks there are no issues with saving the tuition monies, we should consider going forward as we have done our due diligence.

 

6.   GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE

7.   SUPERINTENDENT'S/ADMINISTRATION’S REPORT 

7.1  Enrollment – Steve: Currently the school has 76 students enrolled and Peter added that they have received interest from four students at EHS to come to GBeCS next semester.  Within the last week, two new sophomores have transferred to school. 

      7.1.1 Enrollment Report: No written report at this time.

7.1.2 New Application Process: Peter reviewed the 8th grade information night GBeCS will hold and plans to possibly do an 8th grade parent mailing.  Trustees discussed having a GBeCS representative contact CMS about being added to the agenda of the “team times” so they can discuss the profile of students who do well at GBeCS.  It is the intent of GBeCS to send a letter in January-February 2007 to 8th grade parents sharing information about the school.  Discussion on being open for an 8th grade night that showcases the many options, other than EHS, that are available to parents.  January 22nd begins second semester and is an important time for EHS students interested in come here and those at GBeCS interested in transitioning there. 

7.1.3 Out of District Enrollment: Steve reported that Skip has spoken with Commissioner Tracy about the school opening up the enrollment to out-of-district students.  A limited number of out-of-district slots will be available after processing all SAU 16 student applications..  Having out-of-district students attend the school ties into the new application that will be discussed since students will be driving to the school.  It was clarified that if a student was allowed to attend GBeCS, s/he would be allowed to stay through graduation.  Steve also reminded the trustees that we will be told at some point, that by law, we have to include out-of-district students.  Trustees then discussed how many outside students would be allowed to attend and if the wordage in the charter on the “lottery” system for students would need to change to accommodate in-district students first and possibly have one deadline for in-district and then a second deadline for out-of-district students.  The trustees agreed with the different deadline proposal.  Sara arrived at 4:54 PM.  Discussion continued on GBeCS proposed total enrollment; current usage of classrooms and interacting with CMS 8th graders.  Motion by Linda Henderson, seconded by Sara Baer-Sinnott and unanimously voted with no further discussion to first accept in-district enrollment of SAU 16 students and then allow a limited number of out-of-district students the opportunity to enroll at GBeCS.  Steve reiterated that the no out-of-district student would cause additional expense to the school.  Motion by Sara Baer-Sinnott, seconded by Kent Chamberlin and unanimously voted that for the second semester of SY 2006-07, the maximum number of students should be 90.

     

7.2  Principals Report – Cheryl McDonough/Peter Stackhouse: Peter highlighted items in their recent newsletter: exhibition nights; NECAP and NWEA testing; and first quarter grade reports.  Peter will check to see if Cheryl has researched how college will review their non-letter grading system as it is important to know how our students will stand in the application process.  He also reviewed developing individualized learning plans students; projects occurring at school; outfitting lab at TLC; additional aide to be funded through IDEA; extracurricular activities by students; community service initiatives; and Cheryl/Peter will see if their A/P courses will meet the auditing criteria now occurring. 

            7.2.1 School activities: see 7.2

            7.2.2 Curriculum update: see 7.2

 

8.   EMPLOYEES

8.1 Resignation of Trustee – Chair Morrisette shared the resignation email (see attachment pdf) from Tom Wisbey and that we have an additional parent opening with two resumes that he also shared.  Trustees agreed that Patty, Lucy and Sara will be the interview committee for the two interested parents and will make a recommendation to the trustees by February.  Motion by Lucy Cushman, seconded by Kent Chamberlin and unanimously voted with no further discussion to accept Patty Lovejoy, Lucy Cushman and Sara Baer-Sinnott for the parent trustee interview committee.  Motion by Sara Baer-Sinnott, seconded by Lucy Cushman, and unanimously voted to accept with regrets the resignation of trustee Tom Wisbey. Trustees agreed to leave the trustee position open until NHCTH appoints a new full time president to possibly replace Tom Wisbey.

 

9.   BOARD REPORTS/ POLICY:

9.1  Review of Policies: Motion by Patty Lovejoy, seconded by Sara Baer-Sinnott and unanimously voted with no further discussion to adopt the following GBeCS policies: AA - School District Legal Status; EHB-R - Records Retention Schedule; IC - School Year; IC - School Calendar; IKE - Promotion and Retention of Students; JFABD - Admission of Homeless Students; JH-R3 GBeCS Absences and Excuses – Rules; and KEC – Public Complaints About the Curriculum or Instructional Materials.

 

10.  BUILDING AND GROUNDS: Peter gave an update on the status of the building and noted that they are in the process of planning the move in the spring to the Tuck Learning Campus.

 

11.  PUPIL RELATED MATTERS: None at this time.

 

12.  OLD BUSINESS: None at this time.

 

13.  NEW BUSINESS

13.1 Trustees consideration of New Trustee – Non-public Session under RSA 91-A:3 II.(c): Non-public deferred per agenda item 8.1.

 

14.  ADJOURNMENT: Motion by Lucy Cushman, seconded by Sara Baer-Sinnott and unanimously voted with no discussion to adjourn at 5:44 PM.

 

 

Respectfully submitted, 

Sally Boyd, Secretary