The Emerge School for Autism
Minutes
Board Meeting
Date and Time
Wednesday July 18, 2018 at 12:00 PM
Location
7784 Innovation Park Drive, Baton Rouge, LA 70820
Directors Present
C. Blaize, E. Jones-Morgan, J. Perrault, M. Juneau, R. Pettit, R. Thibodeaux
Directors Absent
A. Meyer, S. Broome, S. Waguespack
Directors who left before the meeting adjourned
J. Perrault
Guests Present
L. Bozard, Shelton Jones
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance and Guests
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
J. Perrault called a meeting of the board of directors of The Emerge School for Autism to order on Wednesday Jul 18, 2018 at 12:05 PM.
II. Board Member Approval
A.
Robert Pettit
J. Perrault made a motion to vote to approve Robert Pettit as a member of the board.
M. Juneau seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
III. Handbook and Policies
A.
Family Handbook
B.
Calendar
Leigh said:
- During the school year, we will have Early Release Days each Wednesday for teachers to participate in continuing education, rather than full closure for professional development
- Spring Break is aligned as closely as possible with the Center's break. This reduces disruption in related services provided by the Center.
- Leigh has coordinated with Melissa's staff to take into account the IEPs and the related services so the calendars match as best as possible so there's no downtime for Melissa's staff and vice versa
- End of school year conferences will be a chance to talk with new school representatives and parents about future placements.
- Calendar will be reviewed during parent orientation.
- Need to fix the Spring Break dates on the calendar.
- The calendar should include all teacher work days plus student attendance.
J. Perrault made a motion to to approve the calendar with said changes.
C. Blaize seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
C.
Seclusion and Restraint Policy
Leigh said:
- Seclusion and restraint policy based on EBR but tailored to our individuals who will be contacted.
- Melissa Leger, our special education coordinator, is at a crisis prevention training today which is designed to prevent needing to use seclusion and restraint.
- We will put this on the agenda for August 8th to vote and put this policy in place.
D.
Transportation Quotes
Leigh said:
- We got quotes from EBR plus two private companies.
- The best rate was $58,000 for two students. We have to provide this transportation to the students based on IEP and parents request.
- Buses are expensive - so we opted for a van but we still need a monitor in the van.
- Talked with 4th Sector about the budget ramifications - they had some other ideas of Medicaid transportation companies.
- We just got a quote from another company and Leigh will be sharing this info with the Board members.
- This could potentially be a better option for us financially if it meets our requirements.
- We will review new proposal, make sure it's what we need and then that info will be given to Board members.
- We will discuss at the next Board meeting and vote on the best option.
- It looks to be about half the cost of the bids we've received to date.
IV. Board Expectations
A.
Open Meeting Laws
Open Meeting Laws highlights:
- The business of the School Board must be conducted in an open meeting format and must be be conducted via voice vote and with the required notice.
- In person voting is required so attendance is going to be critical to get a quorum.
- 2nd Wednesday of the month at noon works for everyone for to meet.
- Remind App will tell Board members to check their Emerge School email. This will be a text message.
- Agendas and needed documents will be uploaded to board on track plenty of time before the Board meetings to allow for enough time to review documents.
J.P. said:
- Annual operating budget policy is included in the Board binder.
- Budget has to be submitted to EBR by August 30th.
- Have the meeting on August 8 and the budget will have been prepared for discussion. We will have another meeting to vote on it.
- August 8th meeting to present and discuss the budget.
- The budget is open for public comment for 15 calendar days after August 8th.
- On Wednesday, August 29th at noon will be a special meeting to approve the budget.
- As with all of our meetings, this will be a public meeting.
B.
Cross Pollination of Boards
Melissa said:
To foster alignment under a shared vision and culture of Emerge, the representation of leaders of each of the entities across Emerge in the following manner:
To foster alignment under a shared vision and culture of Emerge, the representation of leaders of each of the entities across Emerge in the following manner:
- Chairs of the Emerge Foundation Board and the Emerge School for Autism Board are members of the Emerge Center Board or they may appoint a designee from their board to serve in this role.
- Chair of the Emerge Foundation Board or an appointed designee may serve as an ex-officio non-voting member of the Emerge School for Autism Board.
- Chair of the Emerge School for Autism Board or an appointed designee may serve as an ex-officio non-voting member of the Emerge Foundation Board.
- Chair of the Emerge Center Board serves as a member on the Emerge School for Autism Board and Emerge Foundation Board or may appoint a designee to serve in these roles.
- The School Principal and Clinic Director occupy ex-officio non-voting seats on the Emerge Center Board and Emerge Foundation Board.
- The Foundation Executive Director occupies ex-officio non-voting seats on the Emerge Center Board and Emerge School for Autism Board.
- The CEO occupies an ex-officio non-voting seat on the Emerge Foundation Board and the Emerge Center Board.
- The CEO serves on the Emerge School for Autism Board as an ex-officio voting member.
V. Board On Track
A.
Logins
J. Perrault left.
Leigh presented the Board on Track website.
Under the Assessments tab:
Under the Assessments tab:
- Demographics and skills assessments need to be completed by Board members.
- The Board assessment is lengthy.
- Board packet can be downloaded as a PDF.
- In the future, paper copies won't be provided to Board members.
B.
Complete Assessments
VI. Outlook Email
A.
Via Browser
Leigh said:
- Board members can add school email to their phones using Outlook or Exchange app.
B.
Via Phone
Leigh suggested using the Outlook or exchange app.
VII. Closing Items
A.
Adjourn Meeting
M. Juneau made a motion to adjourn the meeting.
C. Blaize 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 1:00 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
C. Blaize
- Copies of the handbook were made available to the Board members. It's also available via boardontrack.com
J.P. said- We have a transportation portion of the handbook which will be updated once the transportation company is identified.
- There are particular items in the handbook that are tailored to special needs children.
Melissa:Charles said:
- Field trips - if parents are invited to attend, they are going to have to have a background check.
JP said- If parents volunteer at the school, a background check will be required as well.
Leigh said:- School lunch. Parents will have to purchase school lunches two weeks at a time.
- We are in negotiations with IDEA to provide lunches and hope to modify the two week requirement to encourage more flexibility for parents to offer new food options to children.
Erica said:- What if a child receives therapy elsewhere, would those instances be considered excused?
- Leigh said: if it's medically necessary, we would need a doctor's note.
- What if it's OT or speech somewhere else? Leigh responded: those therapy appointments would have to be scheduled beyond the parameters of the school day.
JP said: