Scattergood Friends School Committee

Approved Minutes

March 30, 1996

The School Committee met on Saturday, March 30,1996, at 8:30 a.m. on the Scattergood Friends School Campus in West Branch, Iowa.

The meeting opened with a period of silence, followed by a review of the agenda. Members present: Burt Kisling, Barb Garlinghouse, Bruce Rohwer, Ron Knight, Dan Treadway, Dana Harr, Nancy Peterson, Clarence Perisho. Staff: Ken Hinshaw, Ardith Tjossem, James O’Gorman, Karla Hanson, Jan Luchini.

Minutes: Karla Hanson read the minutes from the February meeting. A couple of changes were suggested and have been made. (see attached)

It was noted that Burt and Ken met to execute the director’s note of agreement as stated in the February 24 minutes.

Director’s Report: The Director’s Report was read by Ken Hinshaw. He expressed satisfaction with the teachers at Scattergood, as shown by the course evaluations which were distributed to students at the end of block 6. Committee members were encouraged to stop by the main office to review the students comments.

Will Hardy, facilities manager, is chaperoning the Mexico trip during block 7. He has guaranteed that nothing will break in his absence, but has left a list of contact people and phone numbers just in case. The oil tanks which were to be removed last fall were taken out during spring break. The delay was due to frost levels. At the last meeting Ken talked about the need for installing a drainage system around the main. Since that time it was learned the the problem could be resolved by correcting the negative slope around the building. This will involve removing some trees and shrubs around the main and then building up the embankment so that water flows away from the building. It was also noted that removal of the root cellar should be added to this project. The committee agreed that the facilities committee could proceed with these two projecs if the cost does not exceed $4,000 - $5,000.

The recent development letter, which was written by senior Erin Lane, generated a very good response in pledges. 335 donors, most of whom give $50 or less per year, had not made a pledge to Campaign 2000. With 150 of these people indicating that they did not want to be called, it did not seem feasible to do a phone-a-thon as originally planned. By using Erin’s letter, we were able to contact all 335 potential donors.

Financially the budget continues to track very well. At 2/3 of the way through the year, we are running at 66% of the budget. It was noted that one of the underspent items was personal development. Some staff do take advantage of seminars offered by local agencies at a very low cost. Three teachers are also taking classes at the University of Iowa.

Summer Plans and Budget: At present there is no additional need for money in June. The boys dorm expansion may require more money, but this will not be seen until the next budget. At the May 18 meeting when next year’s budget is presented there will be more opportunity to talk about the needs for the summer.

Admissions: 10 students have been accepted, although one has decided to stay at home another year. We expect that approximately 25 current students will return next year. Increased advertising efforts have begun. The Friends Journal ad reaches 9,000 people. We will also place in ad in the Unitarian World which has a readership of 208,000. Advertising on the internet with Peterson’s has resulted in several inquiries. We will have our own homepage soon, but need to concentrate on getting a good design and finding the correct internet location and address for our needs. Ron Knight talked about the benefits of getting to kids at a young age. Nancy Peterson talked about promoting the school at the Northern Yearly Meeting. Ken and Belle are planning on taking students to that meeting and to Midyear Meeting. A major concern continues to be our image problem. People either don’t know what Scattergood is or they have midunderstandings about it.

Staffing Needs for 1996-1997 School Year: Staff members, Hilda Rasmussen, Jim Mills and Josh Goren, will not return to Scattergood next year. Ken would like to fill these three positions with two people with the right expertise. He noted that a lot of money will need to be spent to keep a good director of development. Second interviews for this position will take place April 2. Burt Kisling, Wilmer Tjossem, Don Laughlin, Ardith and Ken will all sit in on the final interviews. Each of the candidates have experience with deferred giving and grant writing.

Committee Reports: Please note that because of the short time period between meetings, not all committees met.

Instruction: Graduation requirements will be completed and discussed at the May meeting. The committee was unable to meet between the February and March meetings.

Facilities: Ron Knight reported that there were no formal meetings held, however, work continues to focus on the boys dorm expansion. Nels Larson has copies of the old prints and drawing and estimates will be available at the next meeting. Nels has offered to fly to Iowa to spend a few days on campus to assess the expansion possibilities.

Farm: Another hot, dry summer is being forecast. Belle is planning on laying an irrigation pipe out to the garden rather than continuing to drag hoses out to water the plants. Ken suggested that at some point a new well should be drilled, but for the time being the current water supply is adequate.

Spiritual Life: Barb Garlinghouse talked about how impressed she was with the willingness of staff and students to give up their free-time to participate in the retreat all day and into the evening. It was suggested that this be done each year, perhaps earlier in the year. Burt expressed interest in getting to know staff better through an informal gathering over coffee and snacks. Both staff and committee members could benefit from staff coming to the first meeting of the year for quick introductions. Dana Harr said that her experience made her realize that the problems said to be at Scattergood have been exagerated. A survey was distributed to the committee to get ideas about future retreats. The staff and students will also complete this survey. Special thanks to the spiritual life committee for going out of their way to make this event such a success.

The School Committee adjourned at 11:00 a.m. Karla Hanson

Recording Clerk