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March 2017: Board Meeting Minutes

LE MONDE IMMERSION
Board Meeting Minutes
Tonkon Torp LLP, 1600 Pioneer Tower, 888 SW 5th Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97204
Wednesday, March15, 2017
5:45-9 PM

Board Members in Attendance: Ben Melix-Stanciu, Jeff Scott, Nicole Aas-Rouxparis, Karen Kitchen, Shouka Rezvani (nonvoting). (Dory Hobbs and Jarod Hobbs excused absences.)
Other Educators: Chantal Dufour-Martel, Genevieve Maull, Beth Levin
Others: various parents

  1. Approved consent resolutions and leave request.
  2. Equity Reflection/Equity and Inclusivity in Education Committee update–TheCommittee held one Oregon Humanities Conference discussion regarding gender that was attended by some staff and parents, and will hold another regarding homelessness/poverty. International Day is fast approaching.
  3. School Report:
    1. Chantal is conducting teacher evaluations.
    2. Chantal feels that teachers are keeping better track of students and setting learning goals.
    3. Spring teacher evaluations will start after Spring break.
    4. MAP data in Math and Reading was reviewed.
    5. Carla has moved into assisting during ELA to better support lower grade instruction.
    6. David Maxey as Director of Student Support has been advocating for our students with the district and internally through identification of needs.
    7. Shouka and David organized having an Internet Safety Expert from the police department give an age-appropriate internet safety talk to 3-5th grade students. They also are working to finalize having a health educator give a presentation regarding puberty and reproduction to the 5th graders.
    8. We need to prioritize focus on French scope and sequence across grades. Also we need to determine a better method of verbal French assessment.
    9. The Parent Association is throwing the Science Fair in April and may coordinate directly with some teachers regarding same.
  4. Facility Discussion—PPS has approved the alternative requests Shouka submitted of having the school having options to (i) not have a kindergarten class next year, or (ii) have kindergarten and possibly a few other classes at a second location if one is found (likely one or two second grade classes, as that would minimize the number of families affected by the two locations since most the siblings of most of the incoming kindergarten would be second graders). If the school chooses to hold a kindergarten class in the current location, no PPS approval is required. Accordingly, these are all now permissible options. Shouka reports that there still are no final developments to announce. We are still in negotiations with two offsite locations, and many other options
    are being explored. All recognize the need to make a decision soon to help parents make decisions for incoming kindergarten students next year, but a premature decision might mean losing an opportunity for much-needed space, so all final decision-making will be balanced against that.
  5. Calendar—Unanimous vote in favor of 2017/2018 calendar. Shouka will ensure that the community receives a copy of the calendar via newsletter and posting on the website.
  6. Financial Review—Shouka presented and the board reviewed the Profit and Loss Statement and Balance Sheet through February. We continue to experience cash flow concerns, though we are operating within budget and with significant tightening of expenses as against budget. Fundraising remains the key way for the school to meet shortfalls between the budget and what the school receives from the state. Grants have been submitted but they are not for amounts that would significantly change the cash flow picture even if the grants were awarded.
  7. Budget for Fiscal 2017/2018–After submission by the Executive Director the board reviewed and approved the proposed budget for 2017/2018 for submission to PPS. The board acknowledged that it may need to adjust the budget prior to the start of the 2017/2018 fiscal year depending on the final determination of the facility situation, which may impact whether no, one or two kindergarten classes are offered next year.
  8. Le Monde Programs LLC Report—Shouka presented about AfCa, which is operating with less net revenue as against budget this year, primarily because so many school days were missed due to inclement weather, which resulted in no AFCA revenue for those days. We also have slightly more staffing than budgeted to meet student safety needs. Le Monde Programs will be operating a summer program this year if there is parent demand.
  9. Executive Session–The board went into executive session to discuss human resources matters.