Scattergood Friends School Committee

Approved Minutes – July 29, 1999

The Scattergood Friends School Committee met on Thursday, July 29, 1999 at 9:00 am at the Radisson Hotel in Iowa City.

The meeting opened with a period of silence. Members present included Bruce Rohwer, George Welch, Ron Knight, Burt Kisling, Jeff Kisling, Donnie Morehouse, Dan Treadway, Barclay Kuhn, Lucy Hansen, and Richard Johnson. Staff members present included Ken Hinshaw, Kara Hartzler, Dena Miller, and Nancy Ryan.

The minutes from the May 15 meeting were reviewed and approved as corrected. A sentence in the Nominating Committee report section was changed from “The suggestion was put forth…” to “The decision was made…” and the final sentence of the same paragraph was deleted. There were also two changes made to the March 13 minutes. The final sentence of the third paragraph was deleted, and, under the Human Resources paragraph, a sentence was changed to read, “The subcommittee acknowledged that the student handbook is outside its jurisdiction and is the responsibility of the Director and Dean to develop and present to the SFSC for approval.”

Five-year Capital and Financial Plans: Ken presented the five-year capital plan and noted that the projects were divided into three categories to indicate priority and need. The issue of providing a car for the Director (as called for in the Director’s employment contract) was discussed. Ken noted that, with the purchase of his new personal vehicle, it would be less expensive to have the school provide a three-year warranty for his existing vehicle (at a cost of $2000) than purchase a new car. The SC approved the purchase of a three-year warranty for Ken’s personal vehicle. It was also noted that in the paragraph describing an elevator for the Main, the term “wheel-chair bound person” should be replaced with a different term.

Relating to the five-year financial plan, Ken requested authorization to spend $55,000 as outlined in the first section of the capital plan, conferring with sub committees as appropriate. The SC approved the expenditure of $55,000 and approved the Five-year Financial Plan.

Nancy reported that anonymous donors have committed to continuing significant financial support of the school. There was general acknowledgment and appreciation expressed for Nancy’s work in maintaining donor relationships.

Director’s Report: Ken read the Director’s Report and brought up several issues for discussion. Dena Miller outlined the admissions report and provided the SC with an updated list of inquiry statistics and enrollment names. There was discussion about several changes taking place in the coming year and the retirement of Ardith Tjossem from editorship of the newsletter. The SC acknowledges Ardith’s work on the newsletter for the past four years and thanks Kara for her work on the summer issue.

The issue of a parent’s request to refund the tuition of a student who left mid-semester to spend a year in Japan was discussed. The SC agreed the money should not be refunded but could be applied towards her 1999-2000 tuition bill. Ken also noted that air conditioners had been purchased for the Meeting House for Iowa Yearly Meeting. The SC approved the expenditure for air conditioners.

Ken reported that the land swap has been legally finalized. Though still seeking a weekend girls’ dorm sponsor, the hiring has almost been completed for the coming year. He also noted that the 1998-99 operating budget was underspent by almost $20,000, though the auditors will figure it at $107,000 due to capital donations and depreciation expense.

1999-2000 SC dates: It was suggested that, due to the absence of new SC members, the dates for the 1999-00 SC meetings should not be set until the September meeting. However, it was decided that the first semester meetings would be held on September 11 and December 4. There was some discussion about changing the November and March dates so as not to coincide with the beginnings of school vacations and to have the July meeting coincide with Iowa Yearly Meeting.

Ken read the Iowa Yearly Meeting report, and Burt handed out an additional section of the report. These reports were approved by the committee.

Subcommittee Evaluations: Subcommittee evaluation reports were handed out by the Farm, Technology, and Development committees. Richard gave a verbal report on the Instruction Committee, noting that next year he will be a member of the committee but not the convener. Donnie reported that he will not be able to be the clerk of the Spiritual Life committee, though he would still like to be a member of it.

Nominating Committee Report: It was reported that letters were sent out to Monthly Meetings asking for nominees for next year’s School Committee. There was some discussion on possible candidates and whether to establish an “Honorary SC member” category to encourage participation by well-established people who cannot devote the time to being a full-participation member. The SC approved the submission of six names to IYM for nominating purposes and suggested names for co-opted members as well. The SC also gave George Welch permission to offer Salome Raheim a position on the SC.

Partnered Staff Housing: Donnie handed out a proposal from the committee concerning the changing of the school’s policy on partnered staff housing. There was a lengthy discussion on the definition of the word “appropriate” and how it can be interpreted as regards staff opposite-sex and same-sex cohabitation. There was also discussion on whether to present this recommendation to IYM or to first discuss it with the trustees. The SC decided to have Ken and Burt talk with the trustees and decide how to proceed on the matter afterwards.

Long Range Planning: Nancy handed out the Long Range Planning Action Plans and noted several minor changes. There was a discussion concerning the wording of the phrase “the Quaker Learning Process” and whether it should be changed to reflect the existence of other Quaker Learning Processes.

The SFSC went into Executive Session at 3:15 to discuss the Director’s evaluation and present the findings to the Director.

The SFSC adjourned at 3:55 with a period of silence.

Kara Hartzler, Recording Clerk