Lowcountry Montessori School
Minutes
Board Meeting
Date and Time
Thursday February 25, 2021 at 5:30 PM
Location
https://meet.google.com/ojp-hamt-tgr
(US) +1 240-776-5768 PIN: 391 768 337#
The mission of Lowcountry Montessori School is to provide an authentic Montessori education building a foundation for lifelong learning.
Directors Present
A. Moody (remote), G. Alexander (remote), J. Dameworth (remote), P. Chester (remote), S. Lemstrom (remote), T. Vande Burgt (remote)
Directors Absent
K. Recchia
Guests Present
A. Horn (remote), M. Zappia (remote), S. Fox (remote)
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance and Guests
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
A. Moody called a meeting of the board of directors of Lowcountry Montessori School to order on Thursday Feb 25, 2021 at 5:32 PM.
C.
Reading of the Mission Statement
D.
Approval of Agenda
Agenda approved by unanimous consent.
E.
Statement of Compliance with FOIA
II. Consent Agenda
A.
Approve minutes from 1/28/2021 regular board meeting.
Consent agenda approved by unanimous consent. Votes are only recorded because the board management software does not support a true consent agenda.
A. Moody made a motion to approve the minutes from Board Meeting on 01-28-21.
G. Alexander seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
B.
Approve minutes from February Academic Excellence committee meeting
A. Moody made a motion to approve the minutes from Academic Excellence Committee Meeting on 02-17-21.
G. Alexander seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
C.
Approve minutes from February Governance Committee meeting
A. Moody made a motion to approve the minutes from Governance Committee Meeting on 02-19-21.
G. Alexander 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 to record.
IV. Director's Report
A.
February Update
Lottery complete and enrollment packets are being sent on 2/26. Twenty six applications have come in since lottery, and will be added to the waitlist and/or fill open spots. Tours have been held each Wednesday for interested families. Admin is working on a promotional video that will highlight the school and the new offerings that will go along with expansion.
V. Committee Reports
A.
Finance
T. Lloyd presented the January financials, which have been slightly impacted by a lower ADM count. A budget amendment will likely be necessary and will be presented in March (after the 135 day count comes in). Cash on hand metric is solid and reserves will cover any budgetary shortfall that exists after budget amendment.
G. Alexander made a motion to approve the January financial reports.
T. Vande Burgt seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
B.
Facilities
No committee report - no need for a Facilities Committee meeting in February.
C.
Governance
T. Vande Burgt made a motion to appoint Janie Ephland, Sydney Boggs, and Lari Young to the LMS board.
P. Chester seconded the motion.
Discussed the governance committee vetting process and the appointment process. Up to 50% of the board can be appointed, most will be elected via the standard election process in late April / May.
Discussed moving to in-person meetings this spring. Final determination will be made in March after addition of new board members. Overall consensus at this meeting was that in-person meetings with a virtual option would be acceptable.
D.
Academic Excellence
A. Moody and A. Horn reported on a new reading program that is showing strong results in K, and the associated teacher training. Also discussed summer programs and after school programs for extra learning opportunities.
E.
Fundraising
No committee report this month.
F.
Project Oversight and Planning
Reviewed the schematics/initial drawings of new buildings. Discussed the role of the committee in the design process. Committee will meet in March and report to board.
VI. New Business
A.
Vote to extend application deadline for 2021-22 school year.
S. Lemstrom made a motion to approve the application deadline extension for the 2021-22 lottery.
T. Vande Burgt seconded the motion.
A mail processing delay affected lottery advertisements, so the application deadline was extended accordingly.
VII. Executive Session
A.
Executive Session
No executive session held.
VIII. Closing Items
A.
Adjourn Meeting
G. Alexander asked about the LMS advertising budget, and whether there would be an upcoming budget workshop. Budget planning is underway and there will be three readings of the new budget in the upcoming months.
There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 6:55 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
A. Moody