B uilding E xcellence Through G lobal E ducation
Sheridan Japanese School Foundation Board
February 17, 2014
Sheridan Japanese School Foundation Regular Board Meeting Minutes for 2-­17-­14 I. Call to Order and Roll Call – 6:32 p.m.
Amend/Supplement Agenda
Under “Foundation Business, D. Policy Discussion” change SJS 7013 to SJS 7012
Postpone discussions about Governance Policies and School Council Parameters until the March meeting.
Ann moves to approve agenda as amended above; Gay seconds; unanimously approved II. Approve Minutes
Regular Meeting – 1-16-14
Amend minutes to read as follows: Under “High School Credit,” add “per trimester” at the end of the sixth bullet; under “Transportation,” first line of third paragraph, change “bust” to “bus”; under “Treasurer’s Report” add “Budget line item transfers over $1000 need board approval” at the end of the second paragraph. Executive Session -­1-­16-­14 Gay moves to accept the Regular Meeting Minutes as amended above and the
Executive Session Minutes as written; Ann seconds; unanimously approved
III. Treasurer’s Report
Jesse does not get the bank statement first each month due to check and balance system in place The budget is down on professional services since SJS does not employ contract instructors this year. Also, the budget is off on the revenue side, but SJS receives more from the state than is reflected in the budget. The forthcoming fundraiser will add more revenue as well. Kathryn is always searching and applying for grants. Federal Form 990 is due on Tuesday. Jesse prepared the form, and Ann reviewed it, Jesse has corrected the
form, which is now ready for approval.
Ann moves to approve the Federal Form 990 as prepared; Gay seconds;
unanimously approved
IV. Public Input
None
V. School Business A. School Report
SJS lost two students, a 5th grader and a 4th grader, and is down to 86 students. One student from the wait
is deciding whether or not to attend. Most parents do not want to switch schools this late in the year, and
integrating students into the SJS culture can be difficult after so much of the school year has passed.
Kathryn presented information about SJS’s website, which has become a valuable way of
communicating. Meeting minutes from the Board and School Council can be added to the website.
Kathryn also reviewed the format and organization of student portfolios. These are one way of proving
that students meet all the standards. She continued to explain that common core standards in science and
math are a new generation of standard, unlike the previous common core standards. She and the teachers
had to reenter the new standards, which took quite a bit of work. Students keep a digital copy their
portfolios over the summer and download them the next year.
Also on the website are videos of activities about human rights, which shows multi-age collaboration.
The human rights elective decides the focus point and designs activities, and home rooms participate.
Kathryn is trying to make the website a community board so everyone knows what is going on. Also, all
teachers have assignment calendars so everyone knows what is due when.
Las of all, in the last couple of weeks, the staff has pulled together to work for the betterment of the
school.
B. School Council Report
Fund raising – Very few people are working on the Fun at the Beach fundraiser on March 1.
The School Council has fundraising as one of its jobs and wants to be in charge of spending the funds
raised on March 1st. Dick will go to next SC meeting with a print out of the SJS budget to explain what
the budget demands are for funding the entire school.
C. Classroom Expectations
One classroom teacher has an educational philosophy different from the others. The teacher is refusing to give retakes on tests. Kathryn is working with the teacher to allow students to learn material and take tests again. The Employee Handbook needs to include a teacher expectation of allowing test retakes. VI. Foundation Business A. New Bank CD
Do we want to move $100,000 from Columbia Bank to Bank of the West, which is offering a deal of 2%
interest for a 5-year CD with a $100,000 minimum? Moving these funds would keep money in
Columbia bank under the FDIC limit of $250,0000 and to earn interest and a higher rate.
Jan moves to transfer $125,000 from SJS’s Columbia Bank savings to Bank of
West, Tualatin Branch, for investing in a 5-year CD at 2%; Gay seconds;
unanimously approved
B. Credits Related to Online and Overseas Classes
Attaining Academic credit when studying abroad –
This discussion serves as the first reading of the “Students Studying Abroad Policy.” Studying abroad organizers ask program directors of schools where student exchanges take place, to
comment on classes taken overseas and to define some parameters of the classes. The form to apply for a
student exchange would be in the student handbook, and rest of the information about student exchanges
would be in a policy.
When students return from a foreign exchange, staff members are in charge of evaluating placement tests in order to award credit. SJS needs a disclaimer stating that it saves spots for students who take classes overseas. The students still need to reapply for the returning year, as do all students. This information should be added to the last part of the students foreign exchange information under school responsibility, saying that SJS will reserve student placement upon reapplication. Also, would it be a good idea to mention that possible $500 scholarship with the above information? The Board does not believe that to be a good. Ann moves that this discussion is a 1st reading of Students Studying Abroad Policy; Jan seconds; unanimously approved Alternative Instructional/TAG/Online Programs – This discussion serves as the first reading. For the “Alternative Instruction Policy.” A student is limited to three online courses per trimester as long as the student is also taking five SJS classes. Correspondence courses will be eliminated as a type of class for which a student may earn credit outside of SJS. An official transcript will be necessary to receive credit earned outside of SJS. Ann moves to adopt above policy; Gay seconds; unanimously approved Grade Appeals A grade appeal made by a student should be less than one month from the time the grade is assigned. The Director should be the final word on grade appeals since Boards typically do not concern themselves with grades. Last of all, a statement about eighth graders earning high school credit should be added in the last
sentence of the first paragraph.
C. Graduation Policy (including modified diploma)
This is the first reading of “SJS5005 Diploma Requirements.”
The following corrections need to be made:
• Add 27 credits
• Delete class of 2014 and “course”
• Add the information about the requirement to pass ODE required state assessments with
necessary bench marks and/or essential skills portfolios requirements
• #13 -- modified diploma – add toward SJS diploma with regular SJS diploma requirements
• #16 -- add information about informing in writing
Do we want to add Japanese language requirement? What about students entering as 11th graders?
A discussion followed about this topic but no agreement was reached.
Dick would like Andy to read the graduation requirements and comment.
The Board needs to see how the policy is printed online and in the handbook.
Gay moves to approve this discussion as the first reading of the above policy; Ann seconds; unanimously approved D. Policy Discussion --SJS 7012, Record Keeping
This discussion will be considered the second reading of the “Record Keeping Policy.”
Lisa is not comfortable with specifying the number of years for maintaining individual items since there
are differences among documents.
Someone asked if SJS documents are archived at Online Northwest. Ann moves to approve SJS 7012, Record Keeping; Gay seconds; unanimously approved
E. Property Tax Exemption Dick declares related party interest. SJS needs to file for tax-­‐exemption status for the new lease. This document must be filed by the school since it is receiving the benefit of the property taxes. The Board needs to authorize the book keeper to act on a specific clause in the lease that cites the specific amount money that SJS realizes from the tax-­‐exempt status. Ann moves to authorize Lisa to process the application for property tax exempt status for school property; Jan seconds; unanimously approved F. Busing Update Kathryn and Dick talked with the SSD superintendent and collaboratively worked out a series of points on a possible proposal for accepting funds from the McMinnville Parents LLC for transportation funding. This document was sent to an OSBA attorney to check for the legality of such an agreement. All parties concerned are waiting for a call back from the OSBA attorney. G. 2014-­2015 Budget One of the SJS teachers in particular can teach all science and all math classes. Due to the upcoming adjustment in poverty payment calculation, which is switching from free and reduced lunch to census data as the indicator of poverty, the number of students falling under the poverty category rises by 80%. SJS may realize an extra two or three students from this change, which will raise the funds received. Along with the rise in funding, this would allow SJS to increase teacher salaries. In addition to a salary increase, it may be possible to add a teaching assistant. The activities covered by Kathryn and Andy during the school day leads to the conclusion that the staff places importance on study hall and review time. If it is the staff priority to maintain these opportunities for students, then the Board needs to fund them. One idea would be to share and teacher aid with SSD. The person would have 2 half-­‐time jobs. SJS can start looking into the feasibility of that scenario. The questions under investigation are 1)Is it possible for SJS to share an aid with SSD? 2) Is there someone who would like to work two half-­‐
time jobs? H. Board Performance The Governance Policy is related to board performance. Do board members want to mandate that board members must have training? In addition to training, do board members want to require so many hours per year for staff development? Another question is do board members want to prohibit someone being on the Board while having an immediate relative employed by the school? How would a parent as board member work? Is it possible to find a sample clause for board requirements? The Board might also consider appointing a liaison between the Board and staff. Other questions include should board members require that a survey be given to each member, analyzing the how the board and its members function? Last of all, does the Board want to put more emphasis on staff and parent evaluations? Dick will send samples of performance policies and requirements. I. Board Resignation Dick read Alex Beecher’s resignation statement. He is resigning due to time conflicts with his job. J. Board Terms and Recruitment The Board reviewed the terms of the board positions. Jan moves to appoint Charles Broadwell to position IV of the SJS Foundation Board; Ann seconds; unanimously approves VII. Adjournment at 9:43 p.m. Sheridan Japanese School Report February 7, 2014 Kathryn Mueller I. Attendance Student/Grade Level – January Enrollment A.
4th-­12 B.
5th-­12 C.
6th-­13 D.
7th-­8 E.
8th-­12 F.
9th-­6 G.
10th-­9 H.
11th-­8 I.
12th-­8 1. Total: 88. 2. 2 IEP students (High School) J.
4th-­8th grade 30M 27F Total 57 – 95.64% attendance K.
9th-­12th grade 18M 13F Total 31 -­ 98.60% attendance II. Professional Development a. Kathryn Mueller completed CAL application and submitted to TSPC
III. Sports Activities a. Middle School Basketball – 2 girls b. High School Basketball – 3 boys
c. High School Track – 5 boys, 2 girls
IV. February Activities – www.sjsupdate.com a. AMC High School Math Competition 2/4 b. NHS/NJHS Applications due 2/7 c. OBOB qualifying competitions continue d. Taiko Performance at Asian Festival, Eugene 2/15-­‐16 e. Taiko Performance at Lakeside HS 2/27 f. “Fun at the Beach” dinner/auction fundraiser March 1 (WVCC) V. January Activities a. SJS Information Night 1/23 b. Oregon Battle of the Books (OBOB) competitions begin c. NHS and NJHS Applications d. International Night 1/31 VI. Volunteer Hours MONTHS
McMinnville
Sheridan
Other District
Community
TOTAL
MONTHS
EL
ML
HS
Community
July
Aug.
Sept.
6
245
7.5
36
294.5
July
2.83
37.83
217.84
36
30
208.1
14
56
308.1
Aug.
34
90
128.1
56
42
45.75
29.5
6
123.25
Sept.
21
71.25
25
6
Oct.
37.5
195.75
32.25
8
273.5
Oct.
49.75
116
99.75
8
Nov.
20.5
51.25
22.5
12
106.25
Nov.
25.75
21.5
47
12
Dec.
Jan.
4.5
26.5
38.5
7
76.5
Dec.
20
36.5
13
7
27
70.25
38.25
12
147.5
Jan.
55
44.25
36.25
12