Minutes
The School
Committee met on Saturday, March 31st at
Meeting
began with an Executive Session.
Present: Ron Knight,
Absent: Anita Richards, Jeff Kisling,
Staff
members present for the General Session included Nan Fawcett, Margie Figgins,
After opening with a moment of silence Lucy reported that Anita
had felt a need to resign from the School Committee.
She also reminded committee members to send in their evaluations
of the Director if they have not already done so.
Lucy reminded subcommittee clerks to email their reports to Jeff
so that they can be posted online.
She reported that she and Ken had met to sign his contract for the
upcoming year.
Richard showed a newly-revised form for the staff to use in
evaluating the Director. The School Committee approved the use of this form,
and it will be sent out to staff shortly.
George reported on his first meeting as a trustee of the
Scattergood Foundation. He encouraged us to build stronger bridges between the
School Committee and the Foundation.
A concern was brought about the commingling of restricted gift funds
with general operating funds. After a good deal of discussion, the School
Committee reaffirmed its minute from September 2000 that such restricted gift
funds should be pooled in an entirely separate interest-bearing account, and
not simply given their own account line within the general operating budget.
For the sake of reassuring donors that the funds will only be used as directed,
the funds will not be commingled even though it may cost the school a few
percentage points of interest to do it this way, and even though from an
accounting standpoint it is unnecessary. Funds for various restricted gifts may
be pooled with each other, but none may be pooled with general operating funds. The School Committee instructs the
Director to set up and fund a separate interest-bearing account for restricted
gift funds (e.g., sound wall gifts) before
Burt reminded us that as a group we need to be aware of the
financial situation of the school, keep the budget in mind when approving
future expenditures, and be aware of the capital expenditure policy.
Minutes
from the February 3 meeting were reviewed and approved with one change.
The urinalysis policy will only apply to students for whom it is a condition of
attendance at the school, and will not be applied to students whose attendance
is not under such restrictions. Accordingly, the minutes should be
changed to read:
The
first is a new protocol for dealing with substance abuse. The main discussion
revolved around the difficulty in detecting the use of certain substances and
the need to have objective means, such as urinalysis and breathalyzer tests, to determine that.
The staff's primary aim is to have such tools to serve as a deterrent,
to help students resist the temptations, AS OUTLINED IN THE SPIRITUAL AND
COMMUNITY LIFE SUBCOMMITTEE’S WRITTEN PROPOSALS. The Committee asked that the
school's lawyers evaluate the legal aspects of drug testing at the school.
Ken read the Director’s Report, and other subcommittee clerks and
staff offered additional comments along the way.
The Spiritual and Community Life subcommittee brought a proposal
for a Student Weekend Employment Program. The
School Committee approves the proposal as a pilot program for this spring.
We will hear a report later on how the project went and decide then whether to
continue to allow student employment.
The
School Committee accepts the annual financial review report (Draft A) for the
fiscal year ending
Ken reported on his meeting with the school’s attorney regarding a
variety of issues and proposals in progress.
The Consultation committee will make a report on the issue of
loans and paybacks after further review.
Burt called our attention to a letter to the editor by Jeff
Kisling in the current Friends Journal
and told us of the possible publication of Reck’s
manifesto in an upcoming issue.
Sarah French reported on the admissions projections for next year.
Ken and Belle have accepted the School Committee’s offer to take a
two month leave this summer. There was discussion of how to proceed with
appointing an acting director to cover the day-to-day operations of the school
during Ken’s time off. The attorney has given the o.k. to hire a School
Committee member to cover the position so long as there is a specific minute
from the Committee. Ken will work with Lucy to report next time with a proposal
for a candidate for Acting Director.
Jeff reported via email on the Technology Committee’s actions.
There was a discussion about asking Iowa Yearly Meeting to set
aside a time for a Scattergood interest group meeting. The school would need to
plan carefully for such a meeting. Burt will contact the IYM Planning Committee
to ask them to schedule a time that does not conflict with other meetings.
Scattergood would also like to schedule a tour of the campus.
The retreat planning group will report at the next meeting with
some recommendations for our November retreat.
School Committee discussed the afternoon workshops held on Friday,
March 30th with students and staff, and generally had upbeat things
to say. We were reminded of the importance of spending time on campus and
getting to know the staff and students.
Consultation Committee asked members to give recommendations for
new nominations to the School Committee. Also, School Committee members should
let Consultation Committee know if they need to be relieved from their duties
or if they would like a change in subcommittee assignment.
Barb and Bob W. offered their comments on how the meeting went.
Barb gave her support for the recent custom of having the Director’s report
interspersed with subcommittee reports.
Some concerns were expressed about the difficulty of meeting in
subcommittees, especially since so many people serve on several subcommittees.
Committee members expressed appreciation for receiving the
proposed minutes, agenda, and Director’s report online in advance of the
meeting. This has been helpful and is working well.
Temporary Recording Clerk