Río Gallinas School

RGS Governing Collaborative Council

September 23, 2009

Meeting Minutes

Procedural Items:
1. Welcome/Call to Order: Meeting called to order by Chair Naomi Swinton at 6:12 PM

2. Establish quorum : Quorum established

3. In attendance: Director Cindy McLeod; GC Members Naomi Swinton, Chris Cudia, Caroline Garduño-Lopez, Diana Whitten, Kim Kirkpatrick, Pat Leahan; Student reps Cat Leger, Marisol Meyer, and Jaibo Bailey [Diane Moore and Steve Flores are excused] [Steve is sick and we send him our “get well” wishes. We’re thinking about you, Steve.]

4. Approval of agenda: Motion by Caroline, second by Diana, all approved, motion passed

5. Approval of Minutes: Motion by Diana, second by Chris, all approved, motion passed

6. Confirm date of next regular meeting and review dates for rest of year – Wed. Oct. 28th 6-8PM, Thu. Nov. 19th 6-8PM, Wed. Dec. 9th 6-8PM, Wed. Jan. 27th 6-8PM

Public Comments, Student and Amigos Reports:    
7. Director’s Report (See attached)                    Cindy McLeod

8. Amigos de Rio Gallinas Report: Naomi reported that Amigos is strengthening and expanding; Fall Harvest Festival, Sat. Oct. 10th, 11-3, more details to come soon; Goal is to raise $10,000 this school year; Great things going on with the Grow-Dome (Abi is doing great work); On-going grant meetings will begin happening; minutes by Anny Ruge will be posted on the RGS website.

9. Student Representatives: Questions were asked about planning for school trips and funding for trips. Cat: 8th grade class wants clarification around the snack policy; Cindy will go through school budget w/student reps to see if snack budget is available; Ideas for recycling were discussed. Lots of good ideas were generated. Water fountain question was asked and research will be done. Some questions about electives were asked and discussed.  Student reps were encouraged to gather input from their classmates in preparation for their monthly student rep report to the RGS Governing Council.

Executive Session:  none needed

Action Items:        
10. BAR – None for this meeting

11. Approval of Stipends — Policy re: $30.00 per night for camping trips for certified classroom teachers and educational assistants — Motion by Diana, second by Caroline, all approved, motion passed

Approximate Annual Amounts;
First/Second::  $150.00
Third-Fourth:  $480.00
Fifth-Eighth:   1,200.00

12. Approval of Annual Stipends: Certified classroom teachers
$300 for reading and bilingual
$150.00  TESOL endorsement
$300 bus driving certification
Motion by Chris, second by Diana, all approved, motion passed
TESOL   $150
TESOL and Reading   $450
Bilingual   $300
Bus Certification       $300

13. Teachers recommended to attend training prior to their employment will be reimbursed at the current employee rate, incl. summer 2009: $75.00 per day, 8 days  $600
Motion for approval by Diana, second by Kim, all approved, motion passed

14. Approval of money collection policy:
Motion by Kim to table, second by Diana, all approved, motion to table was passed

15. Approval of use of sick days as personal days, amended to include stipulation that days cannot exceed 5 days in succession: Motion by Kim, second by Caroline, all approved, motion passed

History:  West Las Vegas Schools approves 2 personal days per year; Cannot exceed five days in succession; Cannot exceed 8 days annually; Requires approval of director at least two weeks in advance; Approval of governing council for director and personnel with conflict of interest w/director

16. Approval of EPSS: Motion to table by Kim, second by Caroline, all approved, motion passed

17. Approval to have December 18, 2009 not on calendar as a school day: Motion by Diana to correct error in calendar (from 178 to 177 days), second by Chris, all approved, motion passed

18. Personal Days Requests:
October 21-23, 2009  and  December 14-17, 2009
Cindy McLeod and John McLeod
Motion by Chris, second by Kim, all approved, motion passed

19. Budget Transfers  — none at this time

20. Approve modifications to the bylaws: Motion by Naomi to table, second by Diana, all approved, motion passed

Old Business:
21. Circle Description: RGS student Fiona Whitten wrote up an excellent description of the Circle Process and Kim will post it to the website

22. Student rep. plan: Student reps are now on board, and meetings are open to all

23. Governing Council Self-Evaluation draft criteria: Naomi has a call in to the National Charter School Institute to look at GC self-eval templates; Naomi, Caroline and Diana will get together, look at the templates, and report back to the GC.

New Business:
24. Reading from Carpenter book – Let’s choose a section to read for each month, and a facilitator to lead the discussion:
October – “Section 1: A New Kind of Accountability”; Kim will lead discussion
November – “Board Development Basics”; Chris will lead discussion
December – “Top Priorities for Boards”; Naomi will lead discussion

25. Reminder – Upcoming Fall Festival, Sat. October 10th, 11-3

26. Celebrating Five Years of Rio Gallinas School – Event will likely happen Jan.; Volunteers from GC are needed as a host committee to plan the event

27. Kim is asking for all of us to look at the RGS website (http://www.riogallinasschool.org/) and please give input. He wants all of us to provide feedback (email Kim: kirk [at] newmexico.com) so the website is shaped by the GC and other members of the school community.

Adjournment:
28. Motion by Naomi, second by Caroline, all approved, motion passed
Meeting adjourned  8:05 PM