Wheels-for-Life®

Gordon Nagle called the meeting to order at 4:10 p.m.<= /p>

ATTENDANCE

Board Members: Lisa Kent (treasurer - teacher), Gordon= Nagle (president – parent), Brandon Mehling (secretary – teacher), an= d Tina Beckman (member – teacher).

Board Members Absent: Kim Jurgerson (member - parent)<= /p>

Staff Members: Darin Shepardson (director), Mary Feath= ergill (business manager)

Other:

POLICY REVIEW

Board Poli= cies 301, 302 and 303 were reviewed and approved. Board Policies 401, 402, and 403 wi= ll be reviewed for the next meeting.

AGENDA

Agenda was discussed. Agenda was approved.

PUBLIC COMMENTS

None

REPORTS

Teachers:

Lisa Kent re= ported that Iowa Test of Basic Skills for grades 1-5 were administered and complet= ed the week of October 5 – October 9, 2009.

Tina Beckman reported that Dakota Area Community School will be taking a field tr= ip to the Big Muddy River Rendezvous in = Winona on Tuesday October 13.

Brandon Mehl= ing reported that Grandparents day was held on September 25, 2009 and was a success.

Lisa Kent re= ported that Dakota Area Community School will have a visitor from Zimbabwe talking to classes on Wednesday, October 14.

Tina Beckman reported that Dakota Area Community School practiced an= all school evacuation to the community center and toured the fire station on Monday, October 12, 2009.

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Director:

Darin Shepar= dson reported that he filled out a survey on what the impact of the 27% increase= in the hold back funds to all districts for the 2009-10 school year will do to charter schools. <= /span>

Darin Shepar= dson talked to Eugene Piccolo, Minnesota Association of Charter School’s Director, regarding the legislation asking that charter schools be offered a low interest loan similar to regular school districts, to assist with the c= osts of maintaining cash flow due to the state hold back. State government is looking at wor= king with charter schools on a low interest loan.

Darin Shepar= dson reported that he has submitted compliance reporting to Minnesota Department= of Education.

Darin Shepar= dson reported that Pearson testing company is looking to improve the MCA tests a= nd is asking schools to help with the reevaluation of the tests. Pearson has a website available to schools in order to look at ways to make improvements.

Board electi= ons are coming up and Dakota Area Community School will be look= ing for people to run for the two open board positions.

Darin Shepar= dson is starting to pull things together for the 2008-09 charter school’s ann= ual report, which is now due on January 15, 2010.

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Business Manager:

Mary Feathergill stated that the auditor, Pamela Ristau, is work= ing on finishing up the final closing journal entries. These will be reviewed by t= he Finance Committee and brought to the board at their next meeting.

Mary Feathergill stated that all of the 2009 third qua= rter payroll liabilities and reports have been filed with the state and federal governments.

COMMITTEES

Personnel Committee

Committee met on October 12, 2009 and discussed 2009-1= 0 staff schedules, four half school days on current year’s calendar and staff compensation procedure, even wage payments to hourly employees, and boiler check schedule on non-student service days. Next meeting will be on Novembe= r 16, 2009 at 2:30 pm.

Technology Co= mmittee

Committee met on September 14, 2009 and discussed the = use of another wireless router in the building, the use of Microsoft-Minnesota CyP= res dollars, renewing the school’s technology plan, and the increase need for technology in the classroom. Next meeting will be on October 12, 2009.

Finance Commi= ttee

Committee met on September 23, 2009 and reviewed preli= minary financials for the 2008-09 school year, 2008-09 school year deficits in 02 = and 04 funds, and reviewed current budget projections for the 2009-10 school ye= ar. Next meeting will be on Wednesday October 21, 2009.

The Finance Committee recommends that the school trans= fer the deficit in the Food Service 02 Fund of $5,769.05 and the Community Enrichment 04 Fund of $837.01 to the General Education 01 Fund for the 2008= -09 school year. (see action item)

Community Enr= ichment Committee

Committee met on October 12, 2009 and discussed activi= ties for the first early release day. Games, snack, and activities for Wednesday, October 14 have been pla= nned and are in place for the students attending. First Drop n’ Dash will be h= eld on December 11, 2009. Staff will= be asked to volunteer to work the event. Next Community Enrichment meeting will be Monday, November 16,⁼2009 at 2:30 p.m.

OLD BUSINESS

Public Relations – Connections newsletter was se= nt out August 27, 2009. The fall connections will go in November. Grandparents/Special Person Day was held on September 25, 2009. Dakota Area Community School placed flyers at the flea market during Apple Fest.

Operation Round Up – Tri-County Electric Coopera= tive grant that the Dakota Cub Scout Pack #15 applied for on behalf of Dakota Area Community School has been granted. The school received $100 for physical education equipment= .

Authorizer renewal update - Darin Shepardson spoke to = Winona Area Public Schools Charter Liaison, Scott Hannon, today about the Winona schools authorizing Dakota Area Community School. Dr, Hannon will be getting back in contact within the next week. We would l= ike to wrap up who will be the school’s authorizer within the next couple months.

The charter school’s 2008-09 annual report updat= e – Annual report is usually due October 1^st. Due to lack of new information nee= ded in the 2009-10 annual report the charter annual report was not completed. New information and format for ann= ual report is now available and the annual report will be due January 15, 2010.=

NEW BUSINESS =

Board elections – Board elections will be held d= uring conferences on November 5 and November 9, 2009. Voting time will now be a window o= f time instead of a one day election in order to incorporate all voters. Discussion was held on the make up= of the board. Should board consi= st of a majority of teachers, or should it be changed. Some of the recent changes to the = state statues require the board make up to change. Licensed staff will be approac= hed about their ideas about changing the make up of the school board to no long= er be a teacher majority required. Discussion was held on the new requirement of a community member bei= ng on the board. Darin will make calls and attempt to find a community member.=

Wellness Policy – Wellness policy will be review= ed by board members.

Archery Program – An Archery Program in Schools = grant was approved. The matching grant = is being done with the Ridge= way Community School. Discussion was held about training for this program and who the school will send to the training. It was decided to ask Jim Jurgerson, parent, and Stephanie Peterson, PE teacher to attend the training.

Board training – Board members will need to atte= nd state mandated board training. Date= s were discussed and training options were evaluated. All board members have to start the training within six months and have it completed within a year. We need to look at setting policie= s and procedures for covering costs of the registration, pay, and meals for these= trainings.

Fall Survey – Was reviewed and will be handed ou= t to parents on conference nights in November.

CONSENT AGEND= A

Tina Beckman motioned to approve, Lisa Kent seconded, = and the motion carried for the consent agenda item as follows:

Approve minutes – September 14, 2009

September bank statements and reconciliation reports.<= /p>

September payment register and deposit summary.

Transfer from Merchants Bank Checking account to Edward Jones Savings done by board member and bank signer, Lisa Kent, on October 1= 2, 2009 for $10,000.

Journal Entries –

1st Quarter Journal Entry done in April, May, June was reviewed

Auditing reversing journal entries will be brought to = the board after the financials for 2008-09 are approved closed.

Donation:

Mrs. Albrecht donated $5.00 to the school.

Ridg= eway Community School donated two wireless linksys routers to the school.

Tri-County Electric Trust through the Boy Scouts of Am= erica Pack #15 donated $100 to the school’s physical education program.

Josh and Shannon Merchlewitz donated birdseed to the s= chool.

ACTION ITEMS

Lisa Kent motioned to approve transferring the Food Service 02 Fund deficit of $5,769.05 to the General Education 01 Fund for the 2008-09 school year

Tina Beckman seconded, motion carried.

Gordon Nagle motioned to approve transferring the Community Enrichment 04 Fund def= icit of $837.01 to the General Education 01 Fund for the 2008-09 school year. The $837.01 will be covered by the Federal Rural Education Achievement Program (REAP) funds. Tina Beckman seconded, motion carried.

Meeting adjourned at 6:01 p.m.

Next meeting will be on November 16, 2009 at 4:00 p.m.=

Respectfully submitted,

Brandon Mehling = &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Gordon Nagle

DACS Board Secretary = = &nb= sp; = DACS Board President