Anser Charter School Board of Directors
Minutes
Anser Charter School Board of Directors Annual Meeting
Date and Time
Tuesday June 10, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Location
Anser Charter School
Anser's Mission is to educate the whole child in a collaborative learning community where individuals are inspired to be self-motivated and to feel a sense of connection and responsibility to the world.
Anser's vision is to foster learning that imagines a better world and works toward realizing it; set high academic standards; promote creativity, discovery, reflection and balance; embrace diversity; and use developmentally appropriate practices and real-world experiences to educate within a climate of collaboration, community, character, and compassion.
Directors Present
Brian Whitney, Erik Moncada, Hannah Read Newbill, Jessica Budzianowski (she/her), Katie Hanson (remote), Lynne Funke, Roger Stewart, Sarah Butler, Sasha Rojas Zaragoza, Suzanne Gregg
Directors Absent
Victor McCraw
Guests Present
Annie Edwards, Heather Dennis, Renee Bade
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
C.
Approve Agenda and the Minutes of the Prior Meetings (Action)
D.
Opening Crew
II. Finance
A.
May 2025 Budget Summary (Action)
Annie Edwards from Bluum presented the budget summary. Transportation reimbursement from the state remains up in the air. Heather and Annie continue to discuss the issue with the state trying to move to a resolution that results in Anser receiving the amount of transportation dollars that aligns with the transportation program at Anser.
Annie reported that the special education program has stabilized over the past several months regarding staffing costs. Anser has been undergoing, during the past two years but especially the 2024-2025 school year, a restructuring of the special education program resulting in reduced costs. The efforts have been successful and the stabilizing of the budget attests to this.
Medicaid funds are arriving as expected and are meeting goals for the 2024-2025 year.
B.
Public Hearing on the FY26 Anser Charter School Budget
Brian Whitney formally opened the public hearing for the FY26 budget at 6:29 pm.
Annie and Heather presented the FY26 budget. The budget reflects progress towards completion of strategic goals for Anser as it continues working through the expansion process. Based on the proposed budget, Anser will meet its loan covenants next year even after having given raises to all certificated and non-certificated staff. Importantly, fall enrollment and average daily attendance throughout FY26 remain critically important for Anser to be able to meet the FY26 revenue requirements.
Erik asked what the attendance target is for next year. Heather responded that it is 95.5%.
Jessica clarified with Annie that the loss incurred for 2024-2025 was around the $170,000 point that had been previously stated as the most likely outcome for the year.
Brian closed the hearing at 6:45 pm.
C.
Adopt the FY26 Anser Charter School Budget (Action)
Annie directed the Board that the amended budget for 2024-2025 needed to be approved before approving the new FY26 budget.
D.
Appprove FY26 Contracts (Action)
E.
Approve Executive Committee executing summer contracts (Action)
The Board does not meet between their June meeting and August when there might be contracts needing to be approved in a timely manner. Historically, the Board has granted the Executive Committee the power to approve contracts for the time period between the June Board meeting and the first meeting of the Board in August for the upcoming school year.
F.
Approve adding Renee Bade as a check signatory (Action)
III. Board Elections
A.
Board Elections (Action)
Anser by-laws require re-electing a member who was initially installed prior to the official start of a term of appointment, which for Anser is in June of each year. Lynne started on the Board during fall 2024 so she needed to be re-elected for her official term to begin June 2025.
Board members had reviewed a biographical statement written by Haley along with her statement of why she wished to become a member of the Board.
The board voted to approve the following officers:
Brian Whitney--president
Hannah Read-Newbill--vice-president
Roger Stewart--secretary
IV. Organization Integrity
A.
Executive Session pursuant to Idaho Code 74-206 (1)(b)
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| Suzanne Gregg |
Aye
|
| Sasha Rojas Zaragoza |
Aye
|
| Erik Moncada |
Aye
|
| Sarah Butler |
Aye
|
| Jessica Budzianowski (she/her) |
Aye
|
| Katie Hanson |
Aye
|
| Victor McCraw |
Absent
|
| Brian Whitney |
Aye
|
| Hannah Read Newbill |
Aye
|
| Roger Stewart |
Aye
|
| Lynne Funke |
Aye
|
No one had entered or left the meeting during the time of the executive session.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| Hannah Read Newbill |
Aye
|
| Sasha Rojas Zaragoza |
Aye
|
| Lynne Funke |
Aye
|
| Roger Stewart |
Aye
|
| Brian Whitney |
Aye
|
| Katie Hanson |
Aye
|
| Erik Moncada |
Aye
|
| Suzanne Gregg |
Aye
|
| Jessica Budzianowski (she/her) |
Aye
|
| Sarah Butler |
Aye
|
| Victor McCraw |
Absent
|
The executive session did not require Board action on the item so no vote was needed after the session closed and the Board reconvened in regular session.
Since this was Heather Dennis' last Board meeting, members took turns thanking her for her many years of service to Anser. After this, the Board and Heather welcomed the new Executive Director, Renee Bade, who was in attendance.