Seaside School, Inc
Minutes
March Governance Committee Meeting
Date and Time
Friday March 14, 2025 at 8:15 AM
Location
Dunlap & Shipman, P.A.
2063 S. County Hwy. 395
Santa Rosa Beach, FL 32459
Founded in 1996
Serving Students in Grades 5 - 12
We seek to sustain an educational community where an emphasis on academic excellence is complemented by our concern for each learner’s personal growth and intellectual, aesthetic, and psychological development. The curriculum is developmentally responsive – actively engaging students in learning skills in context, integrative – directing students to connect learning to daily lives, and exploratory – enabling students to discover their abilities, interests, learning styles, and ways that they can make contributions to society.
Information on procedures for public comment can be found at https://www.seasideschools.net/about/governance
If anyone needs special assistance to participate in the public input session, every effort will be made to provide an appropriate accommodation. When requesting accommodations for public input, please allow no less than 1 business day notice prior to the scheduled meeting.
Specific issues about a particular student should only be addressed to the school’s Director of Student Services, rather than the Board of Directors or any Committee of the Board.
All public comments will be taken under advisement by the Board, but will not elicit a written or spoken response. The names of persons providing public comment and a brief summary of topics or input will be included in the meeting minutes published. A response will be provided to the stakeholder within seven (7) days.
If a person decides to appeal any decision made by this body with respect to any matter considered at this meeting or hearing, he or she will need a record of the proceedings and, for such purpose, he or she may need to ensure that a verbatim record of the proceedings is made, which record includes the testimony and evidence upon which the appeal is to be based.
Committee Members Present
A. Winicki, C. King, D. Tinghitella, L. Blue, R. Kauffman
Committee Members Absent
J. O’Donoghue
Guests Present
T. Miller (remote)
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
C.
Approve Minutes
II. Governance
A.
Hearing on Appeals from Administrative Admission Determinations
This appeal was from a determination by administration which concluded that no application was timely submitted. The parents presented their appeal regarding communications with the administration and their request for priority placement on the waitlist. After discussion and a question and answer opportunity, the Committee voted as shown based on the evidence presented and The Seaside School, Inc. Application and Admittance Policy, which states that "Applicants submitting applications after the Application Deadline will be placed on the waiting list behind those applicants who were eligible for the enrollment lottery but were not selected in the order of their submission by grade level.
This appeal was from a determination by administration, which concluded that the application for this child had not established residency for the Walton County Resident preference as described in section 4.D. of The Seaside School, Inc. Application and Admittance Policy. The mother and her fiancé presented their appeal, including establishment of property ownership in Walton County by the fiancé and a lease of that property regarding the mother and child. On the application, the non-Walton County resident preference box was checked and a Colorado driver's license of the mother and current Colorado report card were submitted. After further discussion and a question and answer opportunity, in which it was discussed that the mother and child intend to establish primary residency in Walton County in May, 2025, the Committee voted as shown based on the absence of evidence that the Policy's requirements for establishing residency were fulfilled as of the application deadline, as required by the Policy.
B.
Review of Executive Director Review Committee Charter
The Committee and Dr. Miller discussed the proposed Charter and determined that additional input was needed from the Board chair to establish the need for the subcommittee and clarify its role as relates to the Governance Committee.
C.
Review of Officer Expectations Documents / Job Descriptions
Following discussion and review of each of the four documents, the Committee voted to recommend approval to the Board.
D.
Review of Board Member Expectations Agreement
The Board reviewed a template Board Member Expectations Agreement. Robert Kauffman will collate the input and present a draft for review at the next Governance Committee meeting.
III. Other Business
A.
Discussion Regarding Next Meeting
The Committee discussed the agenda for their next meeting, which is scheduled to include 1) Consideration of updates to the School's Bylaws, 2) additional review of the Executive Director Review Committee Charter, and 3) additional expectations/job description documents for committees.
Approval of the most recent meeting minutes (November) was tabled due to an error in the meeting notice.