March 24, 2003
School Board Meeting Minutes

4:10 Committee Reports

1) Enrollment Report :: Nina Simonowicz
We have 39 students in grades K-8 from 25 families enrolled.
Barb & Nina will work on press release to be sent when we have 9 openings open.

2) Policies :: Patty Nordahl
Presented draft of handbook with directive for Board to read item 6 "Discipline Procedures" and make notes so the board can discuss discipline at the philosophical level.

3) Facilities :: Tom Dwyer
Tom presented updates and options. There will be a committee meeting on Thursday.
Will present an outline of potential temporary options next week.

4:50 New Business

1) Personnel Policies/Philosophy
Presented Teacher Interview Process including questions for phone interviews.
Job Description, Reporting Structure & Evaluation Process all need to be established by this committee. The Board anticipates the Personnel Committee will be the group that facilitates staff hiring, employee reviews and related policy updates.
Personnel Philosophy includes three key points:
Base Pay will be provided within a range dependent upon the experience, skills and background, relevant to Great Expectations School's needs, that an employee brings.
We have allocated $90,000 plus benefits (at 28%) and will hire three educators. The pay range will typically be $25,000 - $32,000.
Base pay of all employees will be reviewed annually by the board.
Employee Progress Plans will be developed for each employee and will identify expected areas of competence and progress. The EEPs will be used to review progress with each employee at the close of each learning block and in an annual performance review.
Merit Pay Increases provide every employee the opportunity to earn additional money for exceeding the goals identified in their EEPs. Merit pay will be awarded as a lump sum and will not impact the base pay.

2) Governance (tabled until March 31)
Board Meeting Agendas/Schedule
Discussion Meetings (2-3 hours)

6:25 Announcements

Next Board Meeting is Monday, March 31, noon to start at 12:30 at Isak Hansen's Conference Room. The focus will be Governance.
80 GES students and their families attended the first family get-together on Saturday, March 22nd. The gathering was a success. Many people signed up for committees and the sign-up sheets were distributed to committee heads.
Discussion of attending the Healthy Family Fair on March 29th occurred.

6:30 Meeting Feedback

Suzy acknowledged the hard work, stress and success of the board and staff and emphasized the positive outcomes acheived to date.

5:50 Adjourned

Motion: Suzy moved to adjourn, Nina seconded; ayes all.

Respectfully submitted, Nina A Simonowicz