JOYFUL NOISE ADVISORY BOARD MEETING
January 22, 2015
Present: Claudia Simmons (SPRC Representative), Michelle Myers (Joyful Noise Teacher
Representative), Deb Cromer (Church Representative), Elizabeth Taylor (Transition Parent
Representative), Pastor Greg, Jane Grimes (Joyful Noise Director), Jackie Spadt (Children’s
Ministry Director).
Jane Grimes opened the meeting at 6:33 pm.
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Current enrollment
Currently we have 19 in the 2s classes, 23 in the 3s classes, 20 in the 4s
classes, and 12 in the Transition class. We have lost 4 students due to family
moving. Kathy Klersy, the 4s lead teacher resigned the end of December.
Assistant Linda Brenneman has moved to the lead position and a new hire,
Jaime Needham, is the assistant. Jaime comes to us with a degree in
childhood education and will take over as lead teacher next fall. Linda does
not want to continue as lead teacher next year.
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Financial Status
Current year is doing well. It is anticipated we will not only meet budget but
exceed it.
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2015-2016 Budget
It does not include raises for the lead teachers, but adds $.25 per hour to the
assistants.
It includes 2 hours of time added to the lead teacher and 1 hour of time
added to the assistant for additional planning.
It includes an increase in tuition and an additional 15 minutes to the 2s class.
2s - $85.00 Tu/Th & W/F 9-11:30
3s - $100.00 M/W/F 9-11:30 $85.00 Tu/TH 9-11:30
4s- $130.00 M/W/F 9-Noon $115.00 Tu/TH 9-Noon
Transition - $135.00 T-F 9-Noon
Discussion: The thought behind no raise for the teachers was to present
them with a lap top for their use. Pastor Greg would like Jane and Jackie,
along with him, to meet with Pastor Judy to discuss the purchase of the 4
laptops and having it connected to the church and therefore coming under
the church tech aid contract.
There was a lot of discussion on the tuition increase for the
Transition class. All were of the opinion it needed to go higher than $135.00
and it was suggested to increase it to $150.00 as this is a class with
kindergarten curriculum and taught by a certified teacher. Jane expressed
concern over such a huge increase due to the community from which we
draw.
The motion was made to: Give the lead teacher a laptop in lieu
of a raise, increase the planning hours for lead and assistant teachers, give
the assistant teachers the $.25 raise, increase the 2s and the T/Th 3s classes
to $85.00 per month, and increase the Transition class to $140.00 per month.
Motion was approved.
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Goals Retreat
There will be a mandatory teacher attended meeting February 16th to discuss
our space requirement dreams and to set goals for the next year and
following years to come. All board members are invited to attend. The
meeting will begin at 8:30 am with a continental breakfast, break for lunch
which Pastor Greg has offered to cover, and resume until 3:00 pm. Pastor
Greg spoke to the facilities study and architect plans happening within the
church.
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Joyful Noise Board Restructuring
Because Joyful Noise has changed over the years from a Play School to a
Preschool and continues to grow, it is felt the board needs to be restricted to
include parents, teachers, and pertinent FUMC committee members.
Discussion: Everyone was in agreement it needed to change as well as the
amount of times the board met.
The motion to approve meeting quarterly and the restructure to:
Voting Members: Parent representative from each class (4)
Joyful Noise teacher representative (1)
Staff Parish Liaison (1)
Church Trustee Liaison (1)
Member of First Church (1)
Senior Pastor of First Church (1)
Non-voting Members: Director of Joyful Noise
Director of Children’s Ministry for First Church
Motion approved.
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Website
The wish for a Joyful Noise website that can be administered by Jane and the
teachers has been tabled. Pastor Greg would like it to be a part of the
church website and that will require more discussion with Pastor Judy on the
website as a whole. Church staff is not really pleased with it either.
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Open Discussion
Pastor Greg wanted to know how those in attendance saw the relationship
of Joyful Noise to the church – Was there one? We need to see the
connection. In the discussion that followed most felt the church had no idea
Joyful Noise “belonged” to them. The church did not know Joyful Noise was
a ministry of the church. Pastor Greg wants us to think how we as a Board
can share Joyful with the church.
Jane introduced expanding the Grocery Card program to include “Scripts”
which offers gift cards for purchase. It was decided Jane needed to gather
more information before a decision could be rendered.
Michelle Myers would like to see the age requirement for the 2s class
extended from turning 2 by September 1 to turning 2 by September 30
therefore allowing some younger 2s into the class, which would also help
Transition in the long run. There was much discussion and after the input of
the public school educators on the board, the enrollment date will remain as
is. This also meets the public school requirement for age.
Early Registration for the 2015-2016 year begins February 3rd.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Jackie Spadt