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June 2015: Board Meeting Minutes

LE MONDE IMMERSION
Board Meeting
@Tonkon Torp LLP-1600 Pioneer Tower, 888 SW 5th Avenue, Portland
June 9, 2015
5:45-8:50 PM

 

Board members present: Shouka Rezvani, Dory Hobbs, Jarod Hobbs, Nicole Aas-Rouxparis, Jeffrey Scott, Karen Kitchen, Karyn Warner
Educators present: Chantal Dufour-Martel, Kate Gaudouen, Reena Gupta
Others: Sidsel Andersen

  1. Approval of May Board Minutes.
  2. The Board confirmed the consent votes from the month: (i) approval of new Facility contract; (ii) approval of writing off uncollectible account receivables (all of those from prior academic years, primarily consisting of AFCA fees that went unpaid, but also of assorted other fees); current academic year A/Rs if identified by President as being uncollectible); (iii) approval of entering into charter renewal contract once presented in final form by PPS.
  3. Discussion of Move/Approval of Moving Company Bid. Bids hovered very close in amount. Shouka proposed going with the bid from All Service Moving since they were the most professional, anticipating that the end cost of the move will be up to approximately twice the current bid as a result of additional move needs and furniture movement that will be needed. Movers will move most of our items during the first week of July into one room at new location while the new location is having the flooring refinished and the walls patched and painted. Then the rest of the items will be moved over at the end of July/first week of August as soon as the remodel of the new facility is complete. Board approved using All Service Moving for the move.
  4. Board Member annual Audit Reponses were completed and collected during the meeting.
  5. School Update from Chantal, including overview of assessment data.
    • We are now completing end of year DIBELS and IDAPEL testing, and expect all testing to be completed June 19.
    • Next year, students will be given the opportunity to visit a class ahead of them, this will help students look ahead and become comfortable with grade level progressions.
    • The last day of school is a uniform violations day.
    • Class lists for next year are being arranged by Chantal with teacher input.
    • The FLA book order is placed for the coming year. The program is from France and published by Nathan.
    • Molly and Chantal will work on the ELA order. The ELA program rep is looking for a trainer to do some PD with the teachers.
    • French Math workbooks are being ordered.
    • Sid will be working with the science consultant to integrate math and science programming.
    • Chantal and Terry are working on next year’s daily schedule.
    • Teachers will have a checklist of tasks to complete before they turn in their keys for the current facility.
    • The August training schedule is complete now.
    • The school is planning an open house so parents can visit the new location and familiarize themselves with it.
    • Assessments – the student data reflects that the students are performing above national means across the grades in French, English, and Math.
  6. MAP Testing Discussion and Resolution–The board considered the question of whether to renew MAP testing for the coming year, as well as how many data points to obtain. The board determined that students will do MAP testing a minimum of twice next year (at the beginning and very end of the academic year) and will rely on Chantal’s evaluations to determine whether a midyear data point is recommended.
  7. Update re Interns – Dory is interviewing intern applicants. Two interns have been hired so far.
  8. Lunch next year – The school will continue with Fresh N Local cold lunches next year, assuming the contract with them is satisfactory.
  9. Discussion of Specials Next Year (Art, Dance, Yoga, Zumba)–Each class gets art and music once per week, and some form of physical education twice per week. Next year’s art teacher has been hired. We will interview for a music teacher. NW Dance Project will continue to provide one dance lesson per week to each class. For the other PE class, the Zumba instructor has indicated she might be moving, so we will need to make sure we have an adequate number of PE teachers and subs. K will continue to do yoga as its alternate PE. The board would like to explore the option of Capoeira for the upper grades as its second PE class of the week. The Hiring Committee will place an ad for specials instructors.
  10. TAG Policy Discussion – Tabled until next month.
  11. Financial Review – The school is operating within budget. The start of the school year always is a lean operating time due to the way that funding is dispersed, and is even more lean this year when we will not have K extended day fees to assist us with cash flow. At this time we anticipate that cash flow will be quite lean as we move toward the end of summer, when expenses (especially payroll) for last year continue, but the PPS per student funding is not distributed until October.
  12. Report regarding Le Monde Programs LLC – The AFCA program has done wonderfully under Hadrien Gaudouen’s guidance as AFCA supervisor, though now that AFCA expenses are being accurately accounted for against the program it is clear that it is not as profitable as it was previously perceived to be. Nevertheless, the AFCA program remains an integral to provide support for the school, especially for working parents of students of the school. After conducting a parent survey, AFCA will run until 6 pm next year as long as there is sufficient demand.