Under the Canopy School
Minutes
General Board Meeting
Date and Time
Tuesday April 8, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Location
UTCS Office
1110 S. Yale Avenue
Tulsa, OK. 74112
Persons who require a special accommodation to participate in these meetings should contact the Under the Canopy offices, 1110 South Yale Avenue, Tulsa, Oklahoma, 74112, (918) 205-1193, or via Email: info@underthecanopy.org, as far in advance as possible and preferably at least 48-hours before the date of the meeting. Persons using a TDD may contact OKLAHOMA RELAY at 1-800-722-0353 and voice calls should be made to 1-800-522-8506 to communicate via telephone with hearing telephone users and vice versa.
Authority: Title 25 Oklahoma Statutes, Section 311.A.1.
Directors Present
Patrick Boulden, Shan Glandon, Stan Khrapak
Directors Absent
Allison Irby Vu
Ex Officio Members Present
Margaritte Arthrell-Knezek
Non Voting Members Present
Margaritte Arthrell-Knezek
Guests Present
Kris Miller, Stacey Leigh
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
C.
Approve minutes - March 25, 2025 General Meeting
II. For Vote and/or Approval
A.
Vote to add Stacey Leigh as Board Secretary
Welcome Stacey!
B.
Vote to approve the February 2025 Financial report
Presented by Margaritte as Allison was absent.
The board will always have access to the extensive financial spreadsheet, and this new version UTCS Financial template will use the OCAS system on the line items and will be presented for approval at regular board meetings.
C.
Vote to approve Mercurius Waldorf supply order
Margaritte explained these materials are for very specific Waldorf related curriculum and school activities. These supplies will stay with the students for longer and still be used in the next school year.
D.
Vote to approve revised contract with Salt Food Group kitchen design & work contract
Margaritte explained the child nutrition program consulting was added. These services will benefit us as we learn how to start and grow our school lunch program.
E.
Vote to approve contract with NWEA for MAP assessments
Stan commented the contract is for student assessments for 2 years. Margaritte explained how she pared down the contract services, and UTCS will not use this assessment for kindergarten students.
Stan expressed interest in attending an education committee meeting with Shan and Amber to explore NWEA MAP testing questions and data reporting.
F.
To approve the contract for auditors
Margaritte explained this is a required external audit.
III. Reports
A.
Head of School
- Margaritte read a verse from Calendar of the Soul by Rudolph Steiner.
- Enrollment - 105 have accepted, 40 still need to accept offer this week. Admin team has been calling the 40 families.
- Teacher hiring and recruitment - hired for K - 3, and Games and Movement, possible contract decisions for music & handwork and nature and garden teachers; interviewed for office assistants, TAs and paras. 2 strong candidates for SPED teacher to be interviewed.
- Summer Institute - start date in July. PD instructors are lined up and working with the budget. Hiring Oklahoma people to train our teachers in Waldorf and Lifeways program.
- Stan suggests a potluck with board and all staff this summer to build comraderie - possible date of Sunday, August 3rd, at 5 pm.
- Grounds Committee, first one, meeting is tomorrow at Zarrow Regional Library at 6 pm.
- Community Engagement Events - on a recent Pod 4 Good podcast to be aired just before 2nd enrollment window, Earth Day at Guthrie Green, SpringFest at the Tulsa Garden Center, Earth Day at Chandler Park, and the Tulsa Farmer's Market at KW Square.
- Fundraising - still waiting to hear back from the New School Venture Fund, interested student parents already reaching out to offer help.
B.
Education Committee
- Shan discussed she has been attending the teacher hiring interviews.
- She met someone who can help with assessments and gathering data of student successes in the classroom.
C.
Facility Committee
- Meeting vendors to gather quotes for work on the building.
- Met with Bret Pfeifer and Aaron Jones to get specifics on code compliant renovations for the building.
- Discussed internet access in the building.
- Discussed family council garden, water to the nature lab.
- Will be transferring utilities from TPS to UTCS.
- School sign in the works.
D.
Governance/Legal Committee
Patrick suggested we eliminate 'Old Business' on future agendas.
Discussed oaths for the board members to read and sign the Oath of Office and Loyalty Oath for the state of Oklahoma, as well as school employees to read and sign the Loyalty Oath.
- Loyalty Oath, Chapter 1, Section 36.1 (51 O.S., 36.2A)
- Oath of Office, Article 15, section 1 of the Oklahoma Constitution (Art. XV O.C. 1)
IV. Discussion
A.
Utilizing the savings account
Margaritte discussed setting aside and saving the money we need to pay our lease to purchase contract in March. This will need to be voted on. Shan suggested a savings account that earns money as it sits.
B.
Summer fundraiser
Margaritte asked the board to help plan, coordinate, and carry out fundraising. Stacey said she can assist. Allison will be asked when she returns to the next board meeting.
V. NEW BUSINESS:
A.
Board member profiles in Board on Track
Stan asked board members and UTCS admin team to complete their skills and strengths profiles before the next meeting.
Stan will discuss Board Assessments at next meeting.
We will be continuing to use Board on Track for the next year.