Lowcountry Montessori School
Minutes
Board meeting
Date and Time
Thursday June 25, 2026 at 3:30 PM
Location
Lowcountry Montessori School
Directors Present
A. Chavarria, A. Wright (remote), G. Alexander, L. Lyles, M. Thompson
Directors Absent
A. Walker, J. Poole, K. Lyon, T. Brosnan
Guests Present
B. Shaffer (remote), C.Creamer (remote), M. Watkins (remote), O. Hawkins, R.Beck, S. Fox, V.Roming
I. Opening Items
A.
Call the Meeting to Order
B.
Determination of Quorum
C.
Reading of the Mission Statement
D.
Approval of Agenda
E.
Statement of Compliance with FOIA
F.
RFP Presentation
Agenda amended to move presentation to future date
II. Consent Agenda
A.
Approve minutes prior minutes
III. Public Comment
A.
Public comment period, limited to 3 minutes per person.
No Public Comment Given
IV. Committee Reports
A.
Finance Report
Presented by J. Strickland from Copper Advisers
YTD Revenue 4.7mil
YTD Expense 5.2mil
Days Cash on Hand 23.71
Unrestricted 347k slightly better than last month. 289k in money market account, still waiting for clarity from USDA for what needs to stay in money market account.
M. Thompson- asked what days cash on hand is, and if the money market account was interest bearing.
J. Strickland- Days Cash on Hand 23.71, and yes the account is interest bearing, but it's not fantastic, so have been looking at better options
Revenue: 4,763,193
Local Revenue 426,878
State EIA Funding 4,208,996
Federal Funding 127,230
Sara and Rose doing great job to get state and local funding funds, nearly done claiming federal funding
Expenses 5,228,795
YTD Instruction 2,733,083
YTD Net Income (465, 602)
Upcoming watch list
-Clear out federal fundings
-Make sure upcoming budget is good
M. Thompson- would it be better for us to leave the money in the money market account if it is bearing interest
J. Strickland- yes that is something we can look at in the future
B.
Maintenance report and RFP report
Presented by M. Watkins
Facilities Report Attached
Termite Bond:
M. Thompson- do we have any requirements for our insurance?
M. Watkins- not to my knowledge, will look into it
A. Chavarria- what was the 10-year cost?
M. Watkins-on the phone told more than annual but didn't give actual numbers.
Will put the numbers on the facilities report and send the updated report
RFP Process Report presented by M. Watkins
Created an RFP that went out, based on procurement policy, on our website. Our procurement policy only requires us to post on our website
Had company recommended by Copper Advisers, our current provider, and one other provide bids. None of the proposals included pricing.
At Finance Meeting G. Alexander recommended another company to have bid
Should put on STEVO to get more bids-put on today, looking to get true proposals
Created RFP and had lawyer look it over.
Was told there is a paragraph in RFP that went out preventing bidders from approaching insurance companies and providing quotes, no way to build apple to apple because they don't have an unredacted insurance information.
Typical process we would have one Broker and they would go to market for us (they would be approaching the insurance companies for us). Insurance companies will typically only work with one broker and shut out all other brokers.
Timeline that we gave people was unrealistic, typically takes 90 to 120 days
C.
Governance
D.
Line of Credit
Presented by S. Fox
Last meeting it was decided to leave in my hands, not really something that I wanted to do, but after last budget meeting it is something the board wants us to do. Have reached out to Misty Shipley from First Federal
E.
Vote on Finance Committee minutes6-24-26
V. Director's Report
A.
June Update
Presented by S. Fox
Report Attached
VI. New Business
A.
Fundraising Committee
Presented by A. Wright
Haven't met in the last month, will be reaching out to members to set up July meeting
B.
Second reading on the budget
Budget needs to be approved by 6-30-26.
Language for agenda second reading vote is approval of budget. Once second reading is voted approved the budget is approved.
C.
Board Members
Presented by G. Alexander
Discussed scheduling Board Retreat- will discuss further when we have new board members on board and more board members in attendance.
G. Alexander thanked Matt Thompson for his diligence with the budget and finance for the school.
VII. Executive Session
A.
Executive Session
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| K. Lyon |
Absent
|
| A. Wright |
Absent
|
| J. Poole |
Absent
|
| A. Walker |
Absent
|
| T. Brosnan |
Absent
|
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| K. Lyon |
Absent
|
| T. Brosnan |
Absent
|
| A. Wright |
Absent
|
| J. Poole |
Absent
|
| A. Walker |
Absent
|
VIII. Closing Items
A.
Adjourn Meeting
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| A. Walker |
Absent
|
| J. Poole |
Absent
|
| T. Brosnan |
Absent
|
| A. Wright |
Absent
|
| K. Lyon |
Absent
|
- 2026.05.31 LMS Financial Packet.pdf
- Director’s Report to Board June 2026.pdf
Read by A. Chavarria