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Voices for International Business and Education

Minutes

Board Meeting

Date and Time

Wednesday November 16, 2016 at 6:00 PM

Voices for International Business and Education http://public.boardontrack.com/VIBE_1

Directors Present

A. Tufail, C. Allen, H. Blumenthal, J. Carter, K. Katner, M. Roney, R. Keller, S. Retzlaff

Directors Absent

B. Schilling, C. Webb, S. Thomas

I. Opening Items

A.

Record Attendance and Guests

B.

Call the Meeting to Order

C. Allen called a meeting of the board of directors of Voices for International Business and Education to order on Wednesday Nov 16, 2016 at 6:01 PM.

C.

Mission

S. Retzlaf read the Mission for IHSNO

D.

Approve Minutes

It was voted to make an amendment to the minutes to reflect correct names of attendees. 
C. Allen made a motion to approve minutes from the Board Meeting on 10-19-16 Board Meeting on 10-19-16.
S. Retzlaff seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

II. Report of the Chair

A.

New item

  • Our guest student was not able to be present but we discussed his involvement with school activities. 
  • Board chair asked board members to submit their agenda items at least 24 hours in advance for the agenda to be posted within compliance time. 
  • There will be recommendations made for board members to participate in specific committees. 
  • C. Allen will review the proposal for a development committee and bring it back to the rest of the board for voting, 
  • Reminder that there will be a cocktail party hosted by the treasurer on December 10. 

III. Report of Head of School

A.

New item

  • The SPS was announced. We showed some decline in our EOC test scores. There were improvement in the number of students scoring fair. 
  • This year we have a full time remediation specialist to assure that students that need that support receive it. 
  • We have partnered with Entergy to provide tutoring in math for students struggling. 
  • Another factor that impacted our scores is that we had a high turnover in staff through the school year. This year, we have a pretty strong faculty which we don't foresee leaving us in the middle of the school year.
  • This year is the first one we will develop a strong curriculum to ensure academic improvement.
  • This is the first year that we are assessing students on the front end since day 1, middle of the year and end of the year in order to monitor progress.
  • Another way to ensure proper instruction is making sure that teachers are being observed, provided feedback and  improving during instructional time.
  • We've had significant improvement in important areas that do not account for "progress points". We are having conversations with the state regarding the target students considered last year. We were not made aware of who those students were, nor this year we know who the students are. 
  • This grade does not reflect the work that is being done at IHSNO. We do recognize that we are to meet the standards the state has established and are seeking ways to ensure they are met. 
  • Questions were asked around the target students selected and the process behind it. 
  • IHSNO is seeking clarity about the formula behind determining the score since there is some conflicting areas with what is published on the State's website. 
  • The school doesn't get anything from the State other than the score. There is no financial value attached to the score. 
  • We don't foresee any loss in our student body due to the change of grade. 
  • The progress of students are not tracked by cohort since the same student doesn't take the same test during consecutive years. 
  • The board will receive the detailed report. 
  • We had amazing celebrations, such as spirit week, homecoming, French festival and Diwali celebration

IV. Report of Executive Committee

A.

New item

Goals have been established for each of the committees
All committee goals will be turned in to Lynette and shared on the January meeting to the rest of the board. 

B.

New item

  • We are moving forward with the evaluation and there will be a report shared with the rest of the board for the members to provide feedback. 
  • The chair is proposing to have the rest of the board members involved in the HoS evaluation. 
  • The BOD chair and Governance committee chair are leading the HoS evaluation with periodic meetings. After each meeting, Carol and Rob will share the results with the rest of the board members to get input. 
  • Carol will send to the rest of the board members a copy of the first evaluation conference to get input before the next conference with the HOS

V. Governance

A.

Board Action

Ms. Meyers is in progress of completing all the requisites needed to become part of the BOD. 
K. Katner made a motion to Accept Thelma Meyers as a BOD.
C. Allen seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
  • The ethics training needs to be completed by December. We can be fined if training is not completed by all board members. 
  • Upon completion, the system will produce a certificate. It must be printed or forwarded to Lynette. 
  • Policy revisions are coming up along with other board documents. 
  • A rubric will be put in place to make sure we are in compliance with state.  

B.

Other Business of Governance Committee

VI. Facility

A.

New item

  • A meeting will be scheduled with Woody Coppel. 
  • The next meeting is on December 10 at 6:30
  • The committee will go over the list of projects the facilities department are currently working on 

VII. Finance

A.

Report of Finance Committee

  • The next meeting will take place on November 28th
  • A policy is on the works regarding the disposal of equipment. We are planning to circulate the proposal ahead of time to vote on it during the next board meeting.  

VIII. Academic

A.

Report of Academic Committee

  • The next meeting will follow the finance committee on November 28

IX. Recommendation of Board Members to Board Committees

A.

Recommendations to Governance and Developments Committees

C. Allen made a motion to Nominate Blair Schilling to the governance committee and leave the development committee for another time.
H. Blumenthal seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
C. Allen made a motion to Appoint Amer Tufail to the facilities and finance committee.
K. Katner seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
H. Blumenthal abstained from voting.  

X. Adjournment to Executive Session to discuss ongoing litigation

A.

Update from legal team

Executive Session.

XI. Closing Items

A.

Adjourn Meeting

R. Keller made a motion to adjourn the meeting.
B. Schilling seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 8:16 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
L. Lopez