Lowcountry Montessori School

Minutes

Board meeting

monthly board meeting

Date and Time

Thursday June 25, 2026 at 3:30 PM

Location

Lowcountry Montessori School

The mission of Lowcountry Montessori School is to provide an authentic Montessori education building a foundation for lifelong learning.

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

A. Chavarria called a meeting of the board of directors of Lowcountry Montessori School to order on Thursday Jun 25, 2026 at 3:39 PM.

B.

Determination of Quorum

C.

Reading of the Mission Statement

D.

Approval of Agenda

L. Lyles made a motion to amend agenda to change minutes date for approval to 5-18-26.
M. Thompson seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
M. Thompson made a motion to amend agenda to move Facilities Report to 4b to include a RFP report.
A. Wright seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
L. Lyles made a motion to amend agenda to change RFP Presentation to unknown future date.
M. Thompson seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
M. Thompson made a motion to approve agenda with amendments.
L. Lyles seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

E.

Statement of Compliance with FOIA

Read by A. Chavarria

F.

RFP Presentation

Agenda amended to move presentation to future date

II. Consent Agenda

A.

Approve minutes prior minutes

M. Thompson made a motion to approve the minutes from Board meeting on 05-28-26.
A. Wright seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

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

L. Lyles made a motion to move vote to July 2026 Board meeting.
M. Thompson seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

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

G. Alexander made a motion to table second reading of budget to special meeting.
L. Lyles seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

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

L. Lyles made a motion to go into executive session to discuss contractual matters.
G. Alexander seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
Roll Call
K. Lyon
Absent
A. Wright
Absent
J. Poole
Absent
A. Walker
Absent
T. Brosnan
Absent
M. Thompson made a motion to leave executive session.
G. Alexander seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
Roll Call
K. Lyon
Absent
T. Brosnan
Absent
A. Wright
Absent
J. Poole
Absent
A. Walker
Absent

VIII. Closing Items

A.

Adjourn Meeting

G. Alexander made a motion to adjourn meeting.
M. Thompson seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
Roll Call
A. Walker
Absent
J. Poole
Absent
T. Brosnan
Absent
A. Wright
Absent
K. Lyon
Absent
There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 5:24 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
L. Lyles
Documents used during the meeting
  • 2026.05.31 LMS Financial Packet.pdf
  • Director’s Report to Board June 2026.pdf