The School Committee met on Saturday, February 3rd at 9:00 am at Scattergood Friends School. The Meeting began with an Executive Session.
The general meeting open at 11:50 am. Members present were Lucy Hansen, Burt Kisling, Bob Winchell, Richard Johnson, Jeff Kisling, Ron Knight, Bruce Rohwer, Bob Rye, Dan Treadway, George Welch, Lowell Wilson, Joe Davison, Jim Kenney, Barb Garlinghouse and Perry-O Sliwa.
Absent: Anita Richards.
Staff members present included Nan Fawcett, Margie Figgins, Ken and Belle Hinshaw, David Rossell, Jennie Schmidt, Will Hardy, Irving Treadway, Sarah French, Mark Quee, Jan Luchini, Betsy Wentzel, Nancy Ryan, and Joey and Sarah Giffen-Hunter.
Also in attendance was Eunice Wilson.
The minutes from the September 30, 2000 meeting were approved with changes. The table of action steps will be included in the minutes and reviewed each meeting (in the interest of time, beginning next meeting).Salome Raheim has resigned from the Committee due to other commitments.
The 12/9/2000 School Committee meeting was cancelled because the school was dealing with the repercussions of over the counter drug overdoses by two students.
During the executive session the committee discussed the renewal of the Director's contract and his request for an extended vacation of two months this summer. Following this session, a contract for the 2001-2002 year was offered, and accepted by Ken. The request for the extended vacation this summer was also approved for the Director, as long as an "Acting Director" can be appointed by the school committee before then. Ken was agreeable and will look into the possibilities.
The Human Resources subcommittee was asked to begin the Director evaluation process. Richard will be speaking with staff members at the school and Lucy will collect and compile the information on the evaluation forms filled out by school committee members.
A second reading of the minute to make the Technology subcommittee a permanent committee was approved, making the Technology subcommittee a permanent committee now.
Sections of the Director's report were supplemented by the report of the corresponding subcommittee.
The school received confirmation of it's continuing accreditation with the State of Iowa, based on 100% of last year's graduates gaining acceptance into four-year colleges or universities.
The computer laptop program was implemented smoothly, largely due to the work of Technology Coordinator David Rossell and Philip Lightstone (see technology report, also), driving a paradigm shift toward more self directed learning. The biggest uses of the laptop computers include web based research, Graphing Calculator and Geometer's Sketchpad programs in math classes, and use of the EBSCO database of over 500 periodicals, many of which provide full text of the articles online, reducing trips to and time spent at the University library.
Academic Coordinator Sarah Giffen-Hunter is focusing on student's and parent's needs, and working hard to provide proactive support, such as extra study time, for younger students having motivational issues. 6 of 9 Seniors have been accepted by colleges/universities.
Curriculum Coordinator/College Advisor Jennie Schmidt summarized the report from the Academic subcommittee. Jennie has encouraged staff to attend professional development courses and to create their own professional development objectives. She is working to find stipends to support staff and curriculum development during the summer. Teachers have begun to participate in monthly teachers meetings and other department meetings.
Grant Wood is helping diagnose students with learning differences.
All students are participating in the development of portfolios. One student was able to choose the "Portfolio Path" to apply to Lewis and Clark College.
In early December two students were hospitalized after overdoses of over the counter drugs. Dean Nan Fawcett was invaluable in helping students and parents. By the end of the semester it was clear that several students should leave the school and 3 did. Very good community meetings occurred and the senior class continues to provide excellent leadership. Barb reported the Community and Spiritual Life Committee met in December to offer support and direction to the staff as they struggled with the crisis. Nan, Sarah, dorm sponsors and all others who went out of their way to care for one another are to be commended.
The Community and Spiritual Life Committee presented three proposals.
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.
The second proposal is for a trial of a weekend employment program (see 9/30/2000 minutes for the pros and cons of this issue). After extended discussion involving both staff and Committee members, it was decided to ask the school's lawyers to determine the school's liability in employing students and the maximum amount that can be paid before social security must be withheld. Assuming these issues can be reasonably dealt with, a 2 month trial of the program will be done at the end of this school year, followed by an evaluation to determine whether to continue the program.
The third proposal is to make staff housing on campus available to couples who the director recognizes as having a committed relationship. Ken states this issue is the one that has caused the most hurt and that has resulted in the loss of a number of very desirable staff over the years. Another aspect of the issue relates to the school's non discrimination policy toward same sex couples who cannot legally marry in the state of Iowa. Ken had also asked the Human Resources Committee to consider this issue, and they also agree with this proposal. Richard discussed a form used by Kirkwood College for the declaration of a committed relationship. The sense of the Committee was in favor of pursuing this, so the Human Resources Committee will present their version of such a form at the next Committee meeting.
There was a brief discussion of the issue of confidentiality of Committee business versus seeking input from those not currently on the Committee.
Admissions Director Sarah French presented graphics displaying sources of admissions inquiries. Most of the inquiries came from the Midwest Boards Schools publication, but since a request form for admission information was added to the school's web page, this has become the second highest source. Erin Lane and Sarah Giffen-Hunter have also been involved with admissions. There have been discussions regarding the qualities the school is looking for in applicants (independent learners, motivated, interested in social justice), and visits to Friends Meetings.
The school is now in total compliance with asbestos abatement requirements.
Two new transformers and power supply lines and completion of the wireless computer network represent significant improvements to Scattergood's infrastructure.
Ken discussed the capital projects update. A "town meeting" is planned to discuss a comprehensive land usage plan. It may be some time before the Yearly Meeting decides if the Meetinghouse is going to be moved. Presently, the plan is to see if the sound wall will take care of the Interstate traffic noise problem. It is hoped that the sound wall will be finished prior to this summer's Yearly Meeting sessions.
There were 5 change orders related to the 4-plex construction:
The Committee approves the additional cost of $6,829 for 5 change orders related to the construction of the 4 plex. This brings the total cost of the 4 plex to $317,570.
The Committee approves the Consultation Committee recommendation to borrow $200,000 to cover cash flow. This loan will be from Firstar Bank, West Branch, Iowa.
The report of the audit review is postponed until the next Committee meeting.
The discussion concerning the agreement between the Scattergood Friends School Foundation and the Scattergood Friends School Committee is on hold pending a decision by theFoundation Trustees
Nancy has been busy with the fall mail appeal. The Blackbaud program, The Raiser's Edge, is a very valuable development tool, providing a means for continuity of data and excellent reporting capabilities. Burt and his wife Birdie have updated data related to relationships, alumni and historical information. Nancy and Burt have been meeting to review database information on donors and planning visits in the coming months.
There are also programs for Admission and for Business Offices. The focus of our meeting was on sharing information between Development and Admissions. Admissions, for example, often has contact with alumni and can obtain current address and other information that would be very useful for Development. The data could be password protected to protect confidential information.
The Committee approves the Development Committee recommendation to purchase the Blackbaud Admissions software (approximately $6000).
The Committee recommends that the Consultation Committee look into purchasing and utilizing the financial database portion of Blackbaud.
Pursuing the long range plan goals related to strengthening external connections, the email discussion of Quaker education recently resulted in exchanges with Tom Farquhar, head of Westtown Schools. Our volunteer consultant, Reck Niebuhr has also had related contact with Earl Harrison, former head of Sidwell Friends School and current director of Friends Council on Education.
The account for designated funds has been created, but the funds have not been moved there, yet.
The Human Resources Committee is working with the school's lawyer to develop a letter of intent related to employment at the school.
The value of on-campus housing is approximately $850 per month.
The Human Resources Committee will be reviewing the Staff Handbook to see what changes are needed.
The Human Resources Committee agrees with the Spiritual Life Committee (see above) that on-campus housing should be offered to couples who have committed relationships.
The technology report again relates how smoothly the laptop computer program has been instituted. In Executive Session, the School Committee approved the following minute:
The decision to implement a laptop computer program at the school required significant work. The School Committee would like to express it's appreciation to Technology Coordinator David Rossell and Philip Lightstone for their excellent work in implementing this program and wishes Philip well as he moves on to other endeavors.
The third year of the educational research study related to the use of laptop computers in schools continues to find students in laptop computer programs are better writers and tend to collaborate with other students. "Laptop teachers showed statistically significant change toward teaching practices that put students at the center of learning, use discussion rather than lecture, encourage student-led inquiry and emphasize thinking skills."
QuakerNet continues to be one of the main technology efforts of the long range plan. Part of QuakerNet is the continually updated summary of the ongoing email discussion of Quaker education. The School Committee approves the additional cost of approximately $10/month to move QuakerNet (which also includes the password protected SFSC web site) to a Web hosting service that provides more services, including database access. Among other things, this will allow the Technology Committee to convert the Long Range Plan and it's action steps into a database format that will be easier to maintain and update than the present system of updating HTML pages manually.
The School Committee approves the following annual tuition:
The farm is preparing for the donation of bees/hives. Mark Quee has been pruning fruit trees.
The Long Range Planning Committee had it's first face to face meeting 2/2/2001, having previously worked via email and phone calls. There was extensive discussion of the process for making changes to action steps, and how to proceed with implementation of the Long Range Plan. It was felt that it is very important at this time for the School Committee, School staff and students to all meet together so everyone can become aware of what is being done for all parts of the Plan, and what remains to be done.
The School Committee approves the Long Range Planning Committee recommendation to use the March Retreat for the School Committee, School staff and students to meet and work on the Long Range Plan.
Tentatively, the March Retreat will be held the afternoon of Friday, March 30th. The planning committee for the retreat will be:
Joe (convener), Barb, Jeff, Margie, Nancy, Lucy and Ken.
Lucy reported she and Ken attended a Friends Council on Education Conference, and distributed related material.
In evaluating today's meeting, George asked that people be careful to speak loudly and clearly so they can be heard by all. Integrating the subcommittee reports into the Director's report seemed to work well. George also expressed his concern that we were sometimes harsh with one another, and urged us to be more careful with each other in the future.
The meeting adjourned with a moment of silence at 5:15.
Jeff Kisling, recording clerk
| Action steps | Responsibility | Status |
| Implement LRP action steps | All subcommittees and school staff | Submit updates to Joe (links available on LRP web pages) |
| Monthly meeting discussion of Quaker Education | Development committee | Ongoing |
| Coordinate data in databases | Nancy, Walter, Philip | Ongoing |
| Create separate account for designated gifts | Ken | |
| Full audit of school accounts | Ken | Will be done this year |
| Publish newsletter | Ken, school staff | Ongoing |
| Pond swimming policy | Ken, school staff | Started |
| Changes in SFS Foundation Agreement | SFSC | Review for next meeting |
| ISACS Accreditation | Ken, LRP committee, SFSC | Perform and report implementation of LRP |
| Drug testing policy | Ken, school staff, Community & Spiritual life, lawyer | Discovering legal issues |
| Weekend work program | Ken, school staff, Community & Spiritual life | Assumming issues related to social security and student employment issues are resolved, a 2 month trial will be followed by evaluation |
| Committed relationships, on-campus housing | Human Resources, Community & Spiritual Life | Form to document/evaluate committed relationships being developed |
| Comprehensive land use plan | Ken, SFSC | Being organized |
| Evaluate purchase of Blackbaud financial software | Consultation committee | Reviewing |
| March retreat | Planning committee | Planning |