Bilingual Charter School Board Meeting Minutes
October 18, 2010
Attendees: Kyle Tripp, Yolanda Bedolla, Laura Carrasco, Dan Lynch, Brian Skelton, Daniel Caceres, Kole Oswald,
Frida Adrian, Reme Bashi, Bill Curtis, Becki Hendrick
Call to order:
James Lewicki: James came to the Board to tell us a little bit about himself and the services that he could
provide to us. He made a very brief introduction of himself and asked if we had questions for him.
The first question was what is the difference between a charter school being an instrumentality and a noninstrumentality? James comment was that being an instrumentality was a lot less complicated because there
is no need to get a 501C3 for non-profit status.
The second question that was asked was what skills sets seemed to be lacking from the board. James
comment was that there weren’t any and that we all brought a wide range of skills to the table, but that we
are “just getting our sea legs.” He mentioned that we should have shared leadership and that there would be
a president but that the president doesn’t always have to be the facilitator. He also commented on the fact
that he liked to use the word council rather than board because of the fact that we do already have a school
board that we are working with. He mentioned that there should always be 2 governing council members on
each committee, but that we need to be surrounded by other people from the community that share our
vision. The governance council’s role is to make decisions and surround ourselves with others to let them be
the energy of the committees.
Thirdly there was a question about the amount of assistance James would provide us with in regards to
finance and fundraising. James mentioned that we need to hold to the heart of the vision then mentioned 3
other ideas: 1) We have an infusion of money but now we have to make decisions about further professional
development. 2)We need to look at spending outside of the startup funds. 3) We need to keep the dreams of
the school in mind, but develop and establish the school first and then go for the big ticket items later.
Another question asked was if there was something that James saw as a commonality among charter schools
that were not successful. He said that there were many reasons for failed charter schools – poor management
of money, lack of interest, low enrollment. He then said that many people got their hands on the money for
charter school development because it was available without really having a formal plan for it. Another
distinguishing factor of a successful charter school, which we already have in place, is that they have a mission
and a vision in place. It is a win/win incentive for both the charter school and the district. The ones that come
out of the gate and succeed do so because: 1) They work the pedagogy and the governance together 2) The
people driving curriculum are steeped in the philosophy 3) There is a good investment in the governance
council (he recommended visiting other councils.) 4) The taproot needs to be driven in deeper from the
beginning.
When asked to outline what James’ services would bring to us, his response was that he is currently working
with 4 schools within a 10 mile radius and that he doesn’t want to over commit to us. He then asked back
what we think we are going to need. His final comment in this area was that as board members we are
ambassadors and now that we’ve got the grant money, where do we go with it?
The final question that was asked was if we looked like we hugely needed a consultant. The answer to that
came back in the form of asking us what else we were focusing on other than language and what were 3-4
things driving the pedagogy aside from the language.
Discussion about James Lewicki: There was a lot of discussion and various questions were raised. Among the
questions were: Do we really need a consultant? Can we use James on an as needed basis? Should we wait to
see what John Gee has to offer us? It was decided that the discussion would be tabled until after we heard
from John Gee and that we should come up with some questions for the consultants that we as a
board/council feel would be most informative and useful.
Fist to five: Bill and Dan brought up another voting/weighing in procedure to the group to possibly be utilized
in the decision making process of our council. When asked to weigh in, everyone puts up their hand will 0-5
fingers held up. 5 fingers means I’m all in and possibly willing to lead, 3 means I’m good with this and 0 fingers
or a fist mean I completely disagree with this. We did try it out in the meeting successfully.
Council roles: Reme and Kole nominated each other for the role of Chairperson. Both described why they
think the other would fit the role well. Discussion ensued about whether the two of them could co-chair or if
we wanted to have two distinct roles. The fist to five procedure was used to determine that the group would
rather have two roles, so Kole and Reme left the room so the other members could vote. Kole was chosen to
be the Chairperson and Reme the Vice Chairperson. Laura Carrasco was nominated as the secretary and Kyle
Tripp was nominated as the Treasurer. Since neither had any opposition, the two were voted into those roles.
The roles are Kole Oswald – Chairperson, Reme Bashi – Vice Chairperson, Kyle Tripp – Treasurer, Laura
Carrasco – Secretary.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:30.
Bilingual Charter School Names Suggested
Supernova
Supernova Dual Language School
Dos Voces Unidas
Mundo Mejor
Momentos Mágicos
Voces Unidas
Appleton Bilingual School
Margaret Mead Bilingual School
Pablo Neruda School of Appleton
Americas Unidas
Ranking of names
FIRST
SECOND
THIRD
FOURTH
Supernova
Dos voces Unidas
Mundo Mejor
Momentos Mágicos
Supernova
Mundo Mejor
Momentos Mágicos
Dos Voces Unidas
Supernova
Momentos Mágicos
Voces Unidas
Appleton Bilingual School
Supernova Dual Language
School
Bilingual Charter
School of Appleton
Voces Unidas
Supernova
Mundo Mejor
Dos Voces Unidas
Mundo Mejor
Supernova
Momentos Mágicos
Neruda Immersion
Dos Voces Unidas
Una escuela Bilingüe-
Puente Immersion
Supernova
Pablo Neruda Spanish
Immersion School
5)Américas Unidas
5) ASIS: Appleton Spanish Immersion School
5)Margaret Mead Bilingual School