July 2014 Board Meeting Minutes

Present: Dory Hobbs, Jarod Hobbs, Robyn Pfeifer, Shouka Rezvani, Karyn Warner
Excused absent: Nicole Aas-Rouxparis

Parent present: Patrick Warner

1. Adoption of June Board Minutes – Shouka moved to adopt the June minutes. All board members approved the adoption.
2. Assessments Update – Assessments were delivered to the board in a format that reflects class averages, and we don’t have individually tracked results. When our new Head Chantal is onboard in August, she will help interpret the data. The MAP testing (Math and English) was intended as a trial run, and it went fairly well. The school’s scores were above the national averages for both Math and English. The next round of assessments should happen in the first weeks of school, after routines and procedures are established.
3. Furniture Purchase – All board members approved the purchase of the classroom furniture for additional classrooms.
4. Singapore Training Guide Purchase – All board members approved the purchase of these guides for the teachers per request.
5. AFCA has not functioned as it should. Many families used the program for as long as the entire school year without paying their bills. Some of this involved the switch over in billing procedures in March, but much of it involved the entire year. There are families who owe hundreds to thousands of dollars in AFCA fees, which should be entirely fee-for-service. Going forward, the board approves that families will be denied access to the AFCA program in any month following a month in which families have an outstanding balance. The board approve restructuring AFCA, which is not generating sufficient revenue, and which creates some liability exposure. It will be structured as an LLC, of which Le Monde Immersion will be the single member. It will be a disregarded entity for tax purposes, but a separate employer for other
   purposes. The AFCA manager was informed of this potential change in March. She should be encouraged to reapply for the restructured AFCA position if she is not given a teaching position.
6. Teacher Health Insurance – The board received revised plans and price quotes from Kaiser for the coming year and costs have greatly increased. The board selected the program that keeps the coverage as close as possible to what the teachers already have, along with the smallest price increase (about $80). The board approved adopting the Kaiser Gold 500/20. The school will continue to pay $200 monthly toward teacher premiums.
7. Fundraising Discussion – We did not reach our goals this year; we are short around $50,000.

   1. Dine Out Options – Amy Wilde Taylor had approached the board asking if she could organize one dine-out option at a local restaurant per month, where a portion of proceeds go to the school. The board approved and expressed their gratitude.
   2. SCRIP update – The program has not been as widely utilized this past year as in prior years, but did generate some revenue. The board appreciates the effort Nicole Nadeau has put into this program; it has been a lot of work, and she has agreed to continue her efforts next year.
   3. Purchase Percentage Options – The school has accounts with Amazon, Target, and Fred Meyer. The school should get a page back up on the website for those options so parents can access them more easily.
   4. Iron Chef – the fundraiser made money for the school and was a fun event, but we need to work to maximize the reach next year. We should aim for higher attendance next year.
   5. Lands End – The board approved adding this as an option for uniform purchases that also serves as a fundraiser. Parent Penny Warner has volunteered to set up an account to add this to our programs that generate school funding via parent purchases.
8. School Dance – This will be scheduled for Dec 5 or 6. We should again combine the holiday bazaar with the dance, and begin asking the parents if they intend to hold the bazaar again.
9. TAG – The board has been exploring TAG programs that can be offered at the school. EPGY is a strong possibility and the board will continue to move toward a TAG program.
10. Lunch (and Snack) – The school consistently loses money on the lunch program. Although we can approximate food costs to the federal reimbursement (barely), the entire cost of staffing is always an expense to the school. However, for reasons of equity the board feels that it is imperative to serve lunch at a minimum to the free or reduced lunch qualifying students. The board determined that the only way to reduce staffing while providing a healthy lunch is to move to a provided sack lunch only option, instead of hot lunch. Although it does not want to do this move, it can see no way to avoid it in the face of over $20,000 of expense. The school will require parents to provide snack from a proscribed list in the parent handbook. The school needs to remind families that school policy has always been and remains that students may not consume candy or juice on site.
11. Volunteering – The school will add to the parent handbook a reminder that parents may not be onsite during the day unless they are fulfilling a scheduled volunteer shift. All parents must check in for shifts.
12. No Executive Session.