Living School
Minutes
Living School Board Meeting
Date and Time
Tuesday December 13, 2022 at 7:00 PM
Location
Living School, 6003 Bullard Ave, Suite 16, New Orleans, LA 70128
All are welcome at Living School Board Meetings. Translation is available with 24 hours notice.
Public comment is welcome on any item on the agenda. At the end of each agenda item, there will be a time for public comment. Members of the public wishing to comment on any agenda item, may raise their hand at this designated time and be recognized by the Chair to speak for up to 2 minutes per person, per agenda item. On any matter up for a vote, public comment must be heard prior to taking the Board's vote.
For members of the public wishing to address the Board for longer than 2 minutes on any given agenda item, please give the Chair at least 24 hours notice to be added to the agenda. We will strive to accommodate longer items but cannot guarantee room on a given meeting's agenda.
Public comment is welcome on any item on the agenda. At the end of each agenda item, there will be a time for public comment. Members of the public wishing to comment on any agenda item, may raise their hand at this designated time and be recognized by the Chair to speak for up to 2 minutes per person, per agenda item. On any matter up for a vote, public comment must be heard prior to taking the Board's vote.
For members of the public wishing to address the Board for longer than 2 minutes on any given agenda item, please give the Chair at least 24 hours notice to be added to the agenda. We will strive to accommodate longer items but cannot guarantee room on a given meeting's agenda.
Directors Present
A. Medley, A. Odiduro (remote), B. Holmes-Nick, D. Cager, D. Lister, D. Mitchell, K. Mutepfa, M. Lehnherr, N. Kyle, P. Roussel, R. Ashmore, T. Simon
Directors Absent
M. Davis
Guests Present
A. Winzy, Pamela Recasner, S. Pasternak, Whitney Dickerson
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance and Guests
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
D. Mitchell called a meeting of the board of directors of Living School to order on Tuesday Dec 13, 2022 at 7:04 PM.
II. Voting Items
A.
Approve Board Meeting Agenda
R. Ashmore made a motion to approve the meeting minutes.
M. Lehnherr seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
B.
Approve Board Meeting Minutes
R. Ashmore made a motion to approve the minutes from Living School Board Meeting on 09-27-22.
M. Lehnherr seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
C.
Approve update to Staff Handbook re: Maternity Leave
D.
Approve update to the Staff Handbook re: Staff Accountability Framework
Board has questions about the process and finality of "Resolving" an Incident and wants a full report from Leadership about the way this policy will impact our school.
Board also raises questions about how we need to evolve our Democracy, boundaries, and expectations for the Staff to make sure we're effective at delivering upon our mission for our students.
Board is awaiting a full red-lined version of both the Staff & Community Handbooks from our Legal Counsel.
E.
Approve update to the Staff Handbook re: PTO
F.
Approve update to the Staff Handbook re: PTO Blackout Days
G.
Approve update to the Community Handbook re: Dress Code
H.
Approve Resolution Updating Banking Privileges
D. Lister made a motion to Approve the following Resolution with updated language:
Whereas, Living School, Inc. must keep up-to-date the signatories with banking privileges with our banking institution;
Whereas, there has been a significant amount of turnover with personnel who handle finances and confusion with our banking institution about who should have signatory powers and banking privileges;
Therefore be it
Resolved, that the Board of Directors of Living School, hereby acknowledge and approve that the following positions and named individuals currently holding those positions shall have signatory powers with full banking and borrowing privileges from accounts and loans opened with the Board's approval with a quorum:
Board Chair (currently Danneka Mitchell)
Board Treasurer (currently Traci Simon)
CEO (currently Stephen "Stefin" Pasternak)
School Director(s) (currently Ashona Winzy)
Any persons not named above shall no longer have banking privileges.
A. Medley seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| B. Holmes-Nick |
Aye
|
| M. Davis |
Absent
|
| D. Mitchell |
Abstain
|
| A. Medley |
Aye
|
| K. Mutepfa |
Abstain
|
| N. Kyle |
Aye
|
| P. Roussel |
Aye
|
| R. Ashmore |
Aye
|
| M. Lehnherr |
Aye
|
| A. Odiduro |
Absent
|
| T. Simon |
Abstain
|
| D. Cager |
Absent
|
| D. Lister |
Aye
|
P. Roussel made a motion to Adopt the amended Resolution above.
B. Holmes-Nick seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| M. Davis |
Absent
|
| A. Odiduro |
Absent
|
| D. Cager |
Absent
|
| T. Simon |
Abstain
|
| D. Mitchell |
Abstain
|
| D. Lister |
Aye
|
| M. Lehnherr |
Aye
|
| B. Holmes-Nick |
Aye
|
| N. Kyle |
Aye
|
| K. Mutepfa |
Abstain
|
| A. Medley |
Aye
|
| R. Ashmore |
Aye
|
| P. Roussel |
Aye
|
III. Executive Session
A.
Executive Session
R. Ashmore made a motion to have the Board meet in Executive Session.
D. Lister seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
IV. CEO Board Report
A.
CEO Report
The Board requires an update about progress toward graduation for our Senior class.
V. Board Committee Reports
A.
Governance & Evaluation Committee
B.
Finance & Development Committee Report
The Board requires Stefin and the Leadership Team to bring a proposal to close the FY23 Deficit by the next Board Meeting.
C.
Academic & Culture Committee Report
VI. Closing Items
A.
Adjourn Meeting
There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 9:04 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
D. Mitchell
Board has asked the Living School staff to gather data on the city-wide standard at schools and consider how to budget for this in order to adopt a final plan. Kieta offered to help with the data collection.