October 2014:Board Meeting Minutes

Board Members Present: Shouka Rezvani, Dory Hobbs, Jarod Hobbs, Karyn Warner, Nicole Aas- Rouxparis, Robyn Pfeifer
Educators present: Chantal Dufour-Martel
Various public visitors

1. Adoption of September Board Minutes – Nicole moved, all were in favor.
2. School UpdateBuilding – David Wagstaff, a safety contact for NWA, would like to increase the safety patrol around the school. They would like Le Monde to pay into the cost of this. The board requested that NWA provide the school with a quote for what exact services they would provide at what cost. Teachers and Chantal request additional cleaning for the building as the landlord’s sextons are not always able to respond to our needs. Shouka will obtain janitorial service bids for board consideration. Dory will also look into services. School Resource Officer Tommy Stoffell visited and went to all the classrooms and delivered information on safety to the children. Chantal also met with Charlotte Richardson and discussed use of Lincoln field.Academics – DIBELS and IDAPEL are complete. Hall monitor Hadrien has been instrumental in setting up the systems, and the data is in now, so Chantal is compiling profiles of students who need interventions. All teachers received a data interpretation workshop and learned how to use the data they are receiving.TAG – Chantal concurs that we move forward with the TAG program the board adopted, and parents have expressed interest in TAG programming. Status of PBIS implementation – Independent Contractor Joanie presented to teachers in September and Chantal has been compiling data from a survey to teachers to identify strengths and weaknesses so that they may be addressed. Chantal emphasized that this is a collaborative, team effort on the part of the staff.Status of RtI (Response to Intervention) implementation – There should be a written policy that can be handed out as needed. This was started by a previous counselor at the school, but needs to be refined for use in our present situation. Chantal will review existing material and ask for board confirmation of a policy to send out to the staff prior to the next board meeting.

   Staff Review Plan Discussion – The board is requesting that all staff receive reviews. Some can be done by Terry, such as hall monitor reviews. Terry’s role and title should be revised as she is performing the duties of an office manager. Chantal will advise the board of the review process she implements. Record-keeping on employee attendance should be improved as part of this process.

   Lunch Program Update—The Board has requested a move to sack lunches to ease the burden on staff, and Chantal will edit the menu to reduce food waste. Chantal has ordered a Yakker Tracker to address the noise in the cafeteria. She is also contemplating having a story telling period during lunch to encourage students to eat more quietly since the acoustics can be quite loud in the cafeteria.

   Specials—Because of scheduling conflicts with our existing independent contractors, we still need at least one PE class for each first grade class. The cost of most independent contractor PE programs is above our budget. Shouka has talked to representatives at Regional Arts and Culture Council (RACC) and PPS to find referrals for licensed dance teachers. We have city Arts Tax money that can only be used for licensed music and arts instruction. We will try to locate licensed expert dance teachers to teach at least one PE class (dance) for each classroom weekly, using Arts Tax money, starting with the first grades who have no third-party guest instructors for PE currently. We will be able to use Run for the Arts money to get art-related field trips and visual artist guest residencies. Shouka will provide Chantal with artists in residence information for art education supplementation.

   AFCA students are coming into the classrooms the minute that classes end, which is inconvenient for the classroom teachers. Teachers would prefer that Le Monde Programs use the cry room as its initial meeting place. The board prefers that they take AFCA kids to the cry room for no more than 30 minutes due to size and lack of windows and exercise space. Hilary should handle this transition and the communication with teachers and parents.

   The Oregon legislature passed a law requiring all schools to hang US flags and offer opportunities to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. The board has asked the school to comply with this directive.

3. Fundraising/Financial Update –The auditors have been provided with all requested materials to complete the audit, but have not yet completed it. The fundraising chart is on the website, and various parents have volunteered to take on different roles for specific events. We continue to need to raise funds in order to meet budget and to create the school we envision.