BELLOWS FREE ACADEMY

 

BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING

 

October 26, 2004

 

A meeting of the Board of Directors was held on Tuesday, October 26, 2004 in the Library Conference Room.

 

Present were:                                                    Absent were:

 

Lynn Dickinson                                     Jim Mercier (ex)

Donna Corrigan                                                Tom Koldys (ex)

Nilda Gonnella-French

Marilyn Grunewald, Superintendent

Sally Tarr

Laura Gonyeau

Sara Denny

Jean Prindle

 

 

I.                    CALL TO ORDER

 

The meeting was called to order at 6:30 PM by Nilda Gonnella-French, Acting Chair, who presided.

 

II.                 MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING

 

A.         September 28, 2004 Meeting Minutes – A motion was made by Lynn Dickinson and seconded by Donna Corrigan to accept the minutes of the September 28, 2004.  Discussion occurred during which two corrections were made to the minutes, 1) Page 2, D. first sentence, change “teachers” to “Administrators”.  A motion was then made by Lynn Dickinson and seconded by Donna Corrigan to amend the previous motion to reflect the corrections made to the minutes.  Motion carried unanimously.

 

October 5, 2004 Meeting Minutes – One correction was made to the October 5th meeting minutes, record Nilda Gonnella-French as absent from the meeting.  A motion was then made by Lynn Dickinson and seconded by Donna Corrigan to accept the minutes of the October 5, 2004 meeting of the Board of Directors as corrected.  Motion carried unanimously.

 

October 13, 2004 Meeting Minutes – One correction was made to the October 13, 2004 meeting minutes, record Tom Koldys as absent from the meeting.  A motion was then made by Lynn Dickinson and seconded by

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Donna Corrigan to approve the minutes of the October 13, 2004 Board of Directors meeting as corrected.  Motion carried unanimously.

 

B.         Superintendent’s Report – Marilyn Grunewald reported that Roger Derby is working three days per week as the Supervisory Union’s Interim Business Manager.  She had planned plans to interview four candidates for the Business Manager’s position this week. 

 

III.               OLD BUSINESS

 

A.         Governance – The Board was informed that Roger Derby provided the Supervisory Board with a presentation on the proposed governance structure for BFA; the same presentation submitted to the Directors and Trustees at their October 13, 2004.  Jim Mercier and Lynn Dickinson were in attendance at this meeting.  Marilyn Grunewald stated that her professional opinion is that the Directors have developed a model for governance and it is now up to the Administrators to examine the current functions and job descriptions and come to the Directors with issues and input on the process. She stated that she has been discussing this process with Paul Clark. 

 

B.         Adoption of B.F.A. Policies – A motion was made by Lynn Dickinson and seconded by Donna Corrigan to accept the existing Policies and Bylaws for B.F.A. as contained in the School’s Policy Book.  Motion carried unanimously.

 

C.         Business Manager Update – A report on this topic was presented under the Superintendent’s Report.

 

D.         Budget Process -  Marilyn Grunewald reported that the deadline for submission of budget information is November 5, 2004 following which a full day meeting will be scheduled to listen to the Department Head presentations.

 

IV.              NEW BUSINESS

 

A.    School Board Conference Report - Jim Mercier, Donna Corrigan and Marilyn Grunewald recently attended the School Board Conference. Attendees found the meeting to be very informative, and the strategic planning session well done.  Marilyn Grunewald strongly advised Board

 

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October 26, 2004

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members to attend the next Board Conference.  She stated that the conferences are always very informative and serves as a good networking opportunity.

 

B.     Supervisory Union Assessment – The Supervisory Union Board will be meeting on October 21, 2004 to review the FSCU Assessment and to discuss governance.

 

C.  Fiduciary – Agreements for Union District School - The Board reviewed an example of the Chittenden Central Supervisory Union District School Agreement.  Discussion occurred following which a motion was made by Lynn Dickinson and seconded by Donna Corrigan to authorize Roger Derby to draft an organizational agreement for BFA as quickly as possible.  Motion carried unanimously.

 

D. Joint Retreat Follow-up – The next joint retreat for the Directors and  the Trustees has been scheduled for November 10, 2004.  Board members will meet at the Northwest State Correctional Facility at 4:00 PM to meet with Prison officials to discuss the Prison’s Community High School, current educational programs, etc.  Dinner and the Retreat will follow the prison visit and will be held at BFA’s Hide Away.

 

V.                 OTHER BUSINESS

 

A.         Board & Administrator – Submitted to the Directors for their review and information.

 

B.         Curriculum Calendar – Submitted to the Directors for their review and information.

 

VI.              AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING

 

Discussion occurred on agenda items for the Directors’ next meeting.  Items presented were tentative agreement from Roger Derby, Governance Follow-up, and Retreat Follow-up.

 

VII.            COMMITTEE REPORTS

 

A.         Curriculum Committee – The Board was informed of the presentation received by Mr. Moulton regarding a new course of study at BFA.

 

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B.         Policy Committee – The Committee met on October 18, 2004 to review proposed contracts with Administration and Support Staff.

 

C.         Building and Finance Committee – No Report

 

VIII.         APPROVE WARRANTS

 

A motion was made by Lynn Dickinson and seconded by Donna Corrigan to accept the Warrants as presented.  Motion carried unanimously.

 

IX.              EXECUTIVE SESSION

 

A motion was made at 7:10 PM by Lynn Dickinson and seconded by Donna Corrigan to enter into Executive Session to discuss contract negotiations and personnel issues.  Motion carried unanimously.

 

A motion was made at 7:45 PM by Lynn Dickinson and seconded by Donna Corrigan to exit Executive Session.  Motion carried unanimously.

 

Lynn Dickinson made a motion to recommend to the Supervisory Union Board to have the high school curriculum coordinator continue her work at the high school, but to report to the Superintendent and have her salary paid out of the Supervisory Union’s budget.  The PreK-8 curriculum coordinator will remain at the Central Office and her salary will be paid out of the Supervisory Union’s budget.   Donna Corrigan Tom Koldys seconded the motion.  Motion carried unanimously.

 

X.                 ADJOURNMENT

 

A motion was made at 7:50 by Lynn Dickinson and seconded by Donna Corrigan to exit the meeting.  Motion carried unanimously.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

Susan C. Krupp

Recording Secretary

 

 

F:\Admin-ASST files\BFA New\board\minutes\FY 2005\minutes 102604 amended.doc