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