Public comment given by M. Thompson and C. Rentz

C.Rentz Public Comment:

Good evening,
I want to speak plainly, and I’m going to use the board's own documents to do it.
Because right now, the issue is not a lack of clarity—the issue is that the roles clearly outlined in
the board's own governance documents are not being followed.
Let’s start with what the board's job actually is.
According to the Board Expectations document, the board's role is “Governance and
Oversight”—specifically to “ensure the school operates in compliance... while upholding
the Montessori approach in all governance decisions.”
Governance.
Oversight.
Not instruction. Not curriculum design. Not classroom management.
The board is also charged with “Collaboration: Work collaboratively with the school
leader.”
That means working with the director—not around them, not above them in daily operations,
and not in place of them.
And yet, that line is being crossed.
The board's own bylaws reinforce this structure.
They state: “The business affairs and property of LMS shall be managed under the
direction of the Board of Directors.”
Business affairs.
Property.
That is governance-level responsibility—not instructional control.
Nowhere in these documents does it say the board directs curriculum.
Nowhere does it say the board manages classrooms.
Nowhere does it say the board supervises teachers.
Because that is not the board's role.
The board's expectations also state that the board should “Support staff development” and
“encourage ongoing professional development for guides and staff.”

Support.
Encourage.
Not override. Not dictate. Not micromanage.
The board is also tasked with “Understanding Montessori principles.”
And Montessori is built on trained guides, prepared environments, and respect for professional
expertise.
When board members step into instructional decisions without that training or role, it directly
contradicts that expectation.
Let me be very clear:
When the board interferes in classrooms, it is not fulfilling its duties—it is violating them.
When the board bypasses or undermines the director, it is not leadership—it is dysfunction.
And when governance turns into micromanagement, it destabilizes the very system the board is
responsible for protecting.
The board's role is to:
● Ensure compliance
● Safeguard the mission
● Provide financial oversight
● Engage the community
● And collaborate with leadership
That is it.
Not curriculum.
Not instruction.
Not day-to-day school operations.
If this board wants to truly support Lowcountry Montessori School, the path forward is simple:
Return to your role.
Respect the structure outlined in your own documents.
And trust the professionals the board has hired to do the work the board are not tasked to do.
Because right now, the overreach is not just inappropriate—it is harmful.

And it needs to stop.
Thank you.

Presented by J. Strickland from Copper Advisors Report Attached

Days Cash on Hand 18 middle of the road- District Likes 30-45

Total  Revenue 3.79

Expenses 4.2

Net Before Construction 4.33

Unrestricted Funds-Pulled from Money Market and used to pay USDA 288k remains, we continue to earn interest with that account

379 Total Revenue

347 from Local Sources

Starting to see Federal Funding- Reimbursement for Special Education, IDEA, and Title 1  salaries

Working with Sara to stay up to date and claim whatever we can from Grants. If we have spent it we want to try to get reimbursed in Grants

4.2mil total YTD expenses

(433k) YTD net income

2.2mil in instruction spending 

Working on for the future

-Federal Funding Claims- especially with Salaries

-Working on Fiscal 2027 Budget

-Working to give updated Debt service coverage and compliance for end of year numbers

M. Thompson- Did the negative balance drop from March Financial Report

J. Strickland- Not from Financial packet. Biggest thing to focus on was the 130k paid in interest. There is going to be an increase in the debt service coverage, which is something that Sara and J. Strickland are focusing on, insuring that the school stays in operation, students get the care they deserve and Staff get paid.

M. Thompson do you have an idea in where we would be if we had that 405 students we had budgeted for?

J. Strickland that would be a layered answer, with many different components.

G. Alexander what is the YTD Cafe revenue

J. Strickland lunch sales YTD 28470.71

L. Lyles that would include pizza sales and everything?

M. Thompson Rose do we have a % of what the pizza sales and the cafe sales are?

R. Beck we do not have a breakdown between the two

S. Fox Jenn Dunn has been working with Julia for the cafe numbers with income and cost

R. Beck it is covering its cost, anything they are purchasing they are making enough to cover the cost plus extra. 

G. Alexander how much have we collected for rental fees?

J. Strickland $0

S. Fox camp this summer around $600, but they were already coming

M. Watkins that will be under next year's budget

G. Alexander have we advertised?

S. Fox not yet, parent letting use the kitchen volunteering to offset the cost. The hoops that she has to go through to use it are extensive. Can't have someone just come in and use the Cafe and Rental space. Reality much harder than we thought it would be, have not had the time to work on it. Hoping that once the advertisement for the school comes out to highlight those spaces, we can maybe move more on it. 

M. Watkins the Hub will be easier to rent out than the Kitchen. The kitchen will need SCDA and permits. But the Hub will still have challenges because if they want to dismantle things you will have to have someone here to do that work and then put the space back together. 

G. Alexander the only issue is that the board was presented with 22k that would be gotten from the rental space for the budget, and we are only at $600.

M. Watkins I was against that. 

S. Fox that is one of the things that will be adjusted in the upcoming budget, in order to do that we will need another person. Just like the first year of the Cafe, it's not going to offset the cost of it. It is an amazing concept, and it is growing, but in the first year it's not going to offset it.

G. Alexander with the Cafe we are at 28k, do you see what we have budgeted for that. 

S. Fox yes, that was unrealistic. There is no way that that could have happened Julia is doing fantastic, but there was no way that was a realistic goal. She has to go over and cook in the culinary kitchen in between classes. She is working with culinary trying to come up with ways for next year that culinary helps support the Cafe, maybe making pizzas one day. She has added smoothies and breakfast and grab and go stuff. To say that it should be cut out would totally backfire on us. We need to figure out a way to afford it and build it. It's really hard for me to look at the budget and understand the meat of it and understand where we are now, because the numbers are so off. 

A. Wright are you saying you want to cut them from the budget Greg or just saying it needs to be adjusted.

G. Alexander no, but public awareness, this is what was presented to the Board and we need to dig in. We are in this together, if we on the Board need to volunteer for the Rental then we need to. Help us to help you.

S. Fox as soon as that video comes out, I think it will help. I have put some stuff out on the Board and sometimes you guys are busy. But yes we will work on it.

M. Thompson can we have the 2027 budget by 5-14?

J. Strickland yes

A. Wright what is the deadline we have to have the budget approved by?

J. Strickland before the beginning of the next fiscal year, but the district requires a PDF uploaded by Sept 1st

A. Wright ideal it's June 1st?

J. Strickland ideally it is yes

G. Alexander budget workshop on 5-7 @ 4:30?

J. Strickland will email availability 

May 7th at 4:30pm for the next Governance Committee and Budget Workshop

Presented by S. Fox

report attached

Waterfest advertisement $550 for 88 spots over the 10 days on the Jumbotron. After it does, we will have ownership of the video. Covered by Talent Show fundraiser.

G. Alexander where are we with DSS

S. Fox Martha has been working on it- kind of a back burner item, will probably be more of a summer project. Working to get staffing and compliance stuff done, have had Fire Marshal inspection. Working with staff on how to do dishes, because there is a certain way they have to do those. 

M. Watkins there has been significant progress, the hardest thing has been getting the paperwork and working on the different things for compliance. 

M. Thompson in your opinion is there any reasons we shouldn't be jumping through hoops to get it done with the budget changes we talked about?

S. Fox our plan is having it ready for the fall.

M. Watkins the hard part is the staffing, with experience levels and training. 

M. Thompson but we feel pretty confident that it can happen?

S. Fox and M. Watkins yes

Presented by A. Wright

$406 profit from the Tea

$391 from the Drive In

$946.07 profit from Talent show. $1708.45 for the past two years from the talent show. 

Spring Fling 5-16-26 from Noon to 4pm

Next meeting Mon Apr 27 @ 4pm

Presented by J. Poole

Church is selling the lot behind the school that we use for parking. 

Asking 895 to pay off the rest of their mortgage. 

5 acres

Talked to realtor tried to find out why they were asking so much, does not seem very developer friendly, unknown for what is under or even on top.

K. Lyon what is it zoned for?

M. Thompson when we tried to have a soccer team practice on it and they were going to build a soccer field on it. Manor house who built the development just used it as a dumping ground, not very suitable for developing. 

J. Poole relator who is representing Praise suggested we create a committee to see if we can come up with the money, or what we can do about purchasing the land. Don't know if it is worth purchasing, if we can purchase, may need outside investors, may need to let the parents know, maybe have a go fund me. 

S. Fox have had parents reach out two of which are relators

K. Lyon still on county website just trying to find out if there is an easement for it

M. Thompson that would probably just be a plot number

G. Alexander let me interrupt you for a minute, this is something that has gone into a contractual matter discussion and needs to be in executive session. 

K. Lyon I was just trying to find out what it was zoned for.

S. Fox I have all of that and will have that go over it with the committee