Lowcountry Montessori School
Minutes
Board Meeting
Date and Time
Thursday September 20, 2018 at 6:30 PM
Location
749 Broad River Dr., Beaufort, SC 29906
The mission of Lowcountry Montessori School is to provide an authentic Montessori education building a foundation for lifelong learning.
Directors Present
D. Fent (remote), D. Pickett, I. Deysach, P. Chester, S. Lemstrom
Directors Absent
C. Blumenstein, C. Lucas, K. Wiley, S. Wiggins
Guests Present
A. Horn, Joan Hall, M. Zappia, S. Fox
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance and Guests
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
D. Pickett called a meeting of the board of directors of Lowcountry Montessori School to order on Thursday Sep 20, 2018 at 6:36 PM.
C.
Reading of Mission Statement
D.
Approval of Agenda
D. Pickett made a motion to approve the minutes from the previous.
I. Deysach seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
E.
Statement of Compliance with FOIA
F.
Approval of Minutes from Previous Meeting
D. Pickett made a motion to approve minutes from the Board Meeting on 08-23-18 Board Meeting on 08-23-18.
S. Lemstrom seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
II. Director's Report
A.
August update.
Waitlist good. Not taking high school students during the 1st semester. Advertising with the billboard on 170 near the assisted living center. Working with two parents to have marketing material and updated website tomorrow night. Three for the year - another one for open enrollment and one for Raise the Roof. Working with a college entrance consultant. Mary Trask will be working with our interested seniors and possibly juniors next semester. She will be meeting with them every Wednesday after school. The appraiser should be here soon to do the appraisal. Looking for a third architect for the new space. Tomorrow is "Breakfast with Colleagues" from the Chamber of Commerce. We will have breakfast and tour them around the school in small groups. And we will sing around the flagpole at 9:30 am for International Peace Day.
III. Committee Reports
A.
Academic Excellence
Dan Mackin joined from Secondary. Looking for another Board member to join them first Wednesday of the month at drop-off 8:30 am. New Business - focusing on the Secondary program - field experience as the focus. Dan is looking for sites that are related to the courses they are taking. Dan will reach out to Jason in MS to see if he has recommendations based on his research of the area businesses. The mentoring program has begun and the HS students are helping the younger students with reading. The Give-Back Program is going well. Service work on campus from High School students. They help and they are able to leave early. Dan suggested a work-study program on campus and paying them. Talked about the Living Document for the curriculum map. Several staff are taking a training on this with Michael Dorer online. Analyzing the data from the DRA to submit to the state.
B.
Governance
Meeting canceled due to the storm. Need to get Board Member applications out. Then will need a special meeting of the Board in October to seat in November.
C.
Finance
Not met. The financials weren't ready yet. They will have to do two budgets next time. The preschool verbiage will have to be pushed back to the next meeting. Input from the staff is to wait until January to implement the changes in fees, etc. No more information on the credit cards to share. Amy reached out to Gregory Wing about dissolving the LP and he said the LP can't be dissolved until the building is purchased. We have to confirm. Tabled until next meeting.
D.
Fundraising
Fundraising Committee hasn't met.
E.
Facilities
Facilities committee did not meet.
IV. Old Business
A.
Update on appraisal
Will have something soon. The appraiser has been hired.
B.
Continued use of BoardOnTrack
Seth is no longer working with BOT. Amy got a new contact, Kyle McCarthy, and they are supposed to be connecting soon. Comments from the Board are in support of keeping the program for compliance purposes.
D. Pickett made a motion to continue using Board on Track for one year.
P. Chester seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
V. Closing Items
A.
Adjourn Meeting
D. Pickett made a motion to adjourn the meeting.
I. Deysach 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 7:37 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
S. Fox