December 1, 2011• Notice of Regular Meeting of the Board of Directors
Agenda I. OPENING
A. Call to Order (7:00) B. Verse
C. Roll Call and Establishment of Quorum
II. PUBLIC COMMENT (7:05) This portion of the meeting is set aside for members of the audience to make comments or raise issues that are not specifically on the agenda or for those that are on the agenda. These presentations are limited to three (3) minutes per presentation and the total time allotted to non-‐agenda items will not exceed fifteen (15) minutes.
III. OPEN SESSION
A. Communications (7:20)
1. Board Member Questions, Comments, Clarifications of the Agenda 2. Approval of Minutes: 11.03.11 (Special Meeting), 11.17.11 3. Executive Director Report
4. Committee Reports: Transition Team, Board Development 5. Educational Program Report
6. RESIG Liabilities Report B. Board Development (8:20)
1. Board term lengths (discussion of amendment to by-‐laws Article VII, Section 5) C. Governance (8:40)
1. Revision of Independent Study Policy (action)
2. Committee Recommendation for 2011-‐12 and tentative chair assignments (action) 3. Calendaring
D. Report Items not covered in Packet: can include appreciations and reports from work groups
IV. ADJOURNMENT (9:00)
Please Note: Any writings or documents provided to a majority of Board Members regarding any item on this agenda after the posting of this agenda and not otherwise exempt from disclosure, will be made available in the Live Oak Charter School main office. All writings will be made available in appropriate alternative formats upon request by a person with a disability, as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act. Board meetings are held in ADA accessible facilities and Live Oak Charter School will make reasonable additional accommodations for persons having special needs due to disabilities. Please contact Live Oak Charter School at 762-‐9020 at least 72 hours prior to the meeting to ensure the necessary accommodations are made.
November 17, 2011• Regular Meeting of the Board of Directors
Minutes
I. OPENING
A. Call to Order (7:10)
B. Verse
C. Roll Call and Establishment of Quorum
Present:
Debbie Elam (DE)
Tom Gallup (TG)
Cliff Schlueter (CS)
Bobbie Smith (BS)
Metha Singleton (MS)
Julie Yarnall (JY)
Also present: Matthew Morgan (MM), Executive Director
Rainbow Rosenbloom, (RR), Consultant
Absent: Rachel Kaplan (RK)
II. PUBLIC COMMENT (7:11)
A parent commented that the work of the Board and the Executive Director are
visible around the campus. She also expressed interest in serving on the Facilities
Committee, hoping to bring a focus to implementing some green/environmental
projects.
III. OPEN SESSION
A. Communications (7:14)
1. Board Member Questions, Comments, Clarifications of the Agenda
No questions, comments, or clarifications
2. Approval of Minutes: 11.03.11
•
BS moved to approve minutes from the 11.03.11 Regular Board Meeting,
3. Executive Director Report
MM reviewed his report
MM shared that he had a meeting today with a parent and RR regarding the
possibility of establishing a homeschooling program. One focus was on the
importance of maintaining the required documentation needed for legal
compliance when operating such a program.
RR shared that one major benefit would be that it would cultivate a secondary
population of students who would be part of the greater school community and
possibly join the school if there were classroom openings.
MS shared that in doing the exit interviews last year she remembered 2-3
students/families that would have benefitted from a program like this.
DE questioned whether the school's charter would need to be amended should the
school pursue the development of such a program.
4. Committee Reports: Executive Committee, Board Development
DE went over the minutes of the Executive Committee meeting; minutes from the
Board Development meeting are forthcoming - quick conversation regarding
length of board terms and the staggering of the terms. One idea was perhaps to
visit other charter board meetings to get a sense of the issues and conversations in
which they are engaged.
B. Financial Health (8:08)
1. Monthly Financials: October (action)
TG went over the financials.
•
TG moved to approved - all approved
C. Board Development (8:12)
1. Election of Board Officer (action)
There is a compelling need to fill the vacancy of the vice-chair position since
DE's term is up at the end of this year and her successor has not yet been
identified.
D. Governance (8:15)
1. Committee Development Policy (action)
DE reviewed the changes made to the policy language.
"persistent" changed to "ongoing" in 1st paragraph
•
CS moved to approve as amended - all approved
2. Committee Recommendation for 2011-12 (discussion)
Discussion around the standing committees of the Board and how it needs to be
clear about the mission and authority of each of these committees and how they
meet the needs of the school.
A parent asked if there is any communication between committees as well as
between teachers in order to share knowledge - suggested archiving activities and
experiences for future classes.
MS raised the question of curriculum oversight of the Board on a global level -
making sure the students are getting the education they need.
MM suggested that the reporting structure would be something the Board could
codify and look to the faculty for what relevant data can be reported on a regular
basis
3. Agenda Structure (discussion)
DE reviewed that a change has been made to the structure of the agenda -
committee reports moved up into the Communications section
E. Report Items not covered in Packet: can include appreciations and reports from work
groups
DE and the Board wishes to send their thanks and appreciation to the Anderson
family for their kind gift.
BS raised the issue that the non-profit classification (as a supporting organization)
of FOLOCS may need to be examined.
IV. CLOSED SESSION (9:05)
A. Conference with Labor Negotiator
1. Agency Designated Representative: Matthew Morgan, Executive Director
2. Employee Organization: Live Oak Teachers Association
V. OPEN SESSION
Board approved changes to Article IV of the certificated collective bargaining
agreement.
VI. ADJOURNMENT (9:25)
November 3, 2011• Special Meeting of the Board of Directors
Minutes
I. OPENING
A. Call to Order (10:10)
II. OPEN SESSION
No public comment
III. CLOSED SESSION
A.
Public Safety
IV. OPEN SESSION
No action taken
V. ADJOURNMENT (10:20)
I .
O pening and Check- in (12:30 p.m.)
Committee M embers Present: D ebbie Elam, M ark Escalera, Julie
Yarnall
I I .
No public comment
I I I .
M ark Escalera provided a report on when the boards of other
charter schools meet. This report as well as the recommendation
that Board members attend the meetings of other Boards will
come to the Board meeting.
I V.
We discussed the need to elect a Vice- Chair and recommend that
the Board do so ASAP.
V.
We discussed the idea of incumbent Board members being able
to stand for a one-year term. Last year the committee
recommended an amendment to the by- laws to stagger two- and
three- year terms in order to ensure experience and stability of
the Board. I t was felt that this change would still support these
ideas and would like the Board to discuss it.
VI .
We discussed the need to clarify and provide a stronger
framework for the “M y Waldorf M oment” training to the Board.
The intent is to help keep the Board connected to the mission of
the organization as a Waldorf- inspired school. We discussed the
possibility of Board members keeping a response log and
providing time to share. We will continue to work on this.
VI I .
Adjournment (1:30)
Director’s Report
December 1, 2011
Contamination Update
Official notification of remediation from Petaluma City will be distributed to families in the
coming week. I do not have a timeline on work starting beyond knowledge that these notices
must be given at least 30 days in advance of work.
Student Culture Program Development
A draft of the Student culture program will be presented to staff at the faculty meeting this week.
Revisions will be made this week and next. I expect to bring a final document to the December
15 board meeting.
Website
Chuck reported that the Google site has limited aesthetic options; however we both agreed that
the functionality offered many benefits over the current site. I will make attempts at improving
the visual presentation as much as possible; we still hope to go live with the new site over winter
break.
Student Information System
Erate has apparently moved into the bid stage. We will await AT&T’s negotiated contract and
then we will finally here back on pricing. Given budget conversations we will need to examine
this prospect in a new context.
Garden Club
Marie Josee has been holding down the garden this fall and has put together a proposal for a
garden club to inject some much needed attention and energy into the garden space. The Garden
Club proposal is attached.
Grades Configuration Policy
Staff will discuss this issue at the faculty meeting this week. Metha will likely join us as well.
First Interim
School garden club proposal November 28 2011
Dear Mr Morgan, we are proposing to the school administration the creation of a school garden club. To make it easy to navigate this proposal, we are explaining the structure and process by responding to the questions what, why, where, who, when, how, and how much.
What:
Create a School Garden club with a volunteer membership basis (no long term commitment required) and participants. This will be described in depth under the who section.
Why:
Our understanding is that this year, the school administration and/or board of directors took the decision to answer the teacher’s request of having a change in specialty classes. Furthermore, the education budget crisis prevented the school from keeping a full gardening program. This school year 2011-2012, only two grades, 3 and 5 , are enjoying a one hour a week gardening class with a specialty teacher.
This has resulted in some negative consequences. Amongst others, the garden is under-used, and under-managed, resulting in a neglected garden that is loosing its vitality and beauty. We are witnessing some deferred maintenance that is not necessary a big issue in the present but that might become more serious or urgent if we do not listen to our garden’s cry for help.
Because of the current situation, some part of the garden are not taken care of. We thought that the creation of a school garden club, enlisting experienced gardeners as well as burgeoning ones, would help resolve some part of its management and use the garden to its potential.
Another issue resulting from the school garden program cut is that teachers, who were supposed to take over the task of using the garden as a teaching tool or teach gardening, are not finding the time or resources to do so. The garden Club in itself cannot substitute for a gardening program but it can surely inspire the use of the garden by creating well maintained, beautiful and inspiring places. Some of the garden club mandates could be to create at least one grade appropriate garden activity to encourage teachers to use this outdoor space as a wonderful learning tool. These reclaimed spaces would hopefully become a sanctuary for students who need a quiet place to reflect or relax during recess.
Where:
School garden club proposal November 28 2011
Therefore, we suggest having a garden club space in the two campuses so that even the lower grade and kindergartners family could use. Environmental literacy can start at a young age, even if this only means creating awareness of what is surrounding us and inspiring children to appreciate a garden.
We suggest having some delegated areas that are acknowledged by decision makers so there is no confusion and communication issues with who is doing what with which beds. The garden club is still, in this manner, helping the current garden teacher because he does not have enough time and resources to manage the garden is its entirety.
Who:
As stated earlier, there would be a voluntary membership base and participants. The members would be able to participate in some aspects of the decision making process, suggest projects and put them into action, when and if resources are available. The participants could show up anytime or on a garden club day and tackle one of the posted jobs or assist to a workshop.
We also suggest having one or a few garden club coordinator(s) taking charge of the garden club bed management, organizing task days, workshops and budget management.
When:
Depending on the school community response we would organize garden days monthly, bi-monthly or weekly. Some can accommodate working parents and be offered on the weekend if we can access the Fairgrounds.
How:
Garden club members could be connected online via a Facebook page, using Google docs
groups and calendar and promote our activities through Live Oak’s calendar. They could meet in the garden room to discuss future projects and ideas.
Garden participants would come on a drop-off basis and do whatever we are doing on that
day or help in garden maintenance (watering, weeding etc).
Workshop: If there is enough interest in the long term to offer such a thing, workshops
could be attended by all. If an expert is required, a minimal charge or donation would be asked to cover our expenses. This has the added benefit of increasing our volunteer knowledge base, thus enriching our garden and facilitating the garden maintenance.
Curriculum integration: One of our goal would be that all students at Live Oak will get
School garden club proposal November 28 2011
activity that can also reach some state standards. We need to be careful in offering this option as this would need more extensive time and resource on our part and might be more of a garden coordinator job. Since we have nobody in that position, we can at least offer this program as a experiment this school year. Upon evaluation, administration, faculty and the garden club coordinator(s) could decide if this is something worth continuing or if the curriculum integration through the garden should be done other ways.
Middle schooler’s involvement:
Some Waldorf readings suggest that Middle scholars are the most appropriate age group to benefit form a garden program. At this age, teenagers need to extend their horizons and be active in their community. We could have them started by being steward of our garden. Some more difficult task could be assigned to them such as garden mapping and landscaping. They could also act as mentor for some specific activities with younger grades.
How much:
Without acceptation of this project and laying down it’s roles, the scope of the fund needed is more challenging to determine.
One thing is sure, we would like to start by using what is already on site in terms of tools, maybe suggesting having a small amount of tools in the lower campus for easy access. The primary need might be some wood or other material to create new bed or repairing old ones, soil, compost and mulch. We suggest using the seeds and plants usually donated through the school garden network and other organizations. We have an extensive library of seeds that become usually expired before we can use them all.
Some of our needs could be met by donations or grants. Since we are working independently from the garden teacher, we do not want to take his budget for teaching material but think we could be using the previous relationships with donors since so far it looks like the teacher has not done anything in that direction. This is a lost opportunity and we want keep these relationship alive, thus requiring less money ffom the school to run our club. This include also grant writing, that could be done in conjunction of a garden club and teaching program. We plan on fundraising for the garden through seeds, plants and other garden related products sales during Winter Assembly farmers’ market, Earth Day and the usual rummage sale, where the garden has already a tradition of selling plant starts. After experiencing a full year, we would be in a better shape to reassess our financial needs. Therefore for the remainder of the school year 2011-2012, we ask for a budget of $200.00.
GRADE 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 AVERAGE
2 24 18 35 9 38 47 29
3 56 29 35 22 25 55 37
4 47 62 63 84 75 68 67
5 69 34 74 76 68 79 67
6 61 72 75 62 80 70
7 70 89 77 79
8 77 92 85
GRADE AVERAGE
2 62 55 52 16 59 44 48
3 56 29 16 28 42 77 41
4 47 58 54 55 100 36 58
5 38 43 56 35 73 46 49
6 38 44 59 42 64 49
7 50 70 64 61
8 100 50 Algebra 75
28 0 Gen Math 14
GRADE AVERAGE
5 38 40 60 60 64 79 57
8 44 63 54
SCIENCE
LIVE OAK CHARTER STAR TEST RESULTS 2006-2011 % of Students Scoring Proficient or Advanced
MATH
ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS
