Wheels-for-Life®

Lisa Kent called the meeting to order at 404: p.m.

New Board mem= bers were acknowledged: Melanie Anderson and Shirley Pierce

Exiting were acknowledged: Tina Beckman and Kim Jurgerson

ATTENDANCE

Board Members: Lisa Kent (treasurer - teacher), Kim Jurgerson (member - parent), Tina Beckman (member – teacher), Melanie Anderson (teacher), and Shirley Pierce (community member)

Board Members Absent: Gordon Nagle (president – parent) and Brandon Mehling (secretary – teacher)

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

Other: Stephanie Olson (Minnesota Department of Educat= ion), Charles Speiker (Minnesota Department of Education)

POLICY REVIEW

Board Poli= cies 401, 402 and 403 will be reviewed at the next meeting.

AGENDA

Agenda was discussed. Agenda was approved with additions under new business.

PUBLIC COMMENTS

Stephanie Olson (Minnesota Department of Education) and Charles Speiker (Minnesota Department of Education) requested that they be given approval at this meeting to be able to make public comments throughout the meeting. Motioned by Lisa Kent, seconded by Shirley Pierce. Motion for public comments throughout the meeting was approved.

REPORTS

Teachers:

Lisa Kent re= ported that she attended a training provided by The Minnesota Department of Educat= ion related to special education due process procedures for evaluations and individual education plans. T= he information shared was very relevant to the upcoming file monitoring that w= ill be taking place in February 2010.

Lisa Kent st= ated that she is signed up to attend the ADSIS Program Sharing Meeting, which wi= ll be a webinar on November 24, 2009. ADSIS program is the Special Education Alternative Delivery program the school participates in.<= /p>

Melanie Ande= rson reported that parent/teacher conferences took place on Thursday, November 5= ^th and Monday, November 9^th. These conferences were well attended.

Lisa Kent re= ported that the teacher workshop afternoon on Monday, November 9^th focu= sed on writing quality substitute plans followed by the creation of plans and curriculum planning.

Melanie Ande= rson reported that Dakota Area Community School held a Hallo= ween party on Friday, October 30. Students participated in activities and games, and enjoyed a treat a= nd juice at the end of the day. = The snack was provided by the Parent/Teacher Association (PTA).

Melanie Ande= rson reported that the PTA Chili, slippers, and book fair event took place on Thursday, October 22^nd.

Lisa Kent re= ported that Deputy Kate Rusher was at Dakota Area Community School on Wednesday, October 28 in honor of red ribbon week.&nb= sp; She spoke to all classes about drug awareness and being safe on Halloween. =

<= /o:p>

Director:

Darin Shepar= dson reported that the school submitted to The Minnesota Department of Education the 2009-2010 school year’s Assurance of Compliance with State and Federal Law Prohibiting Discrimination.

Darin Shepar= dson reported that the school staff are adjusting their schedules to cover staff member o= ut due to injury.

Darin Shepar= dson reported that he completed the CSPR Minnesota Department of Education survey on Title Grants and the Consolidated Title Grant application requested amendments.

Darin Shepar= dson stated that he will be reporting on the Fall Iowa Basic student tests results at t= he next board meeting.

Business Manager:

Mary Feathergill stated that she has completed the final closing journal entri= es with auditor, Pamela Ristau. Member’s review= ed all remaining 2008-09 school year journal entries and the trial balance sheet. = UFARS data was uploaded to Minnesota Department of Education with no errors recei= ved. Members reviewed UFARS Turnaround reports. Mary will upload audited UFARS d= ata prior to the November 30^th deadline. The final 2008-09 audit with financials is due November 30, 2009. Members reviewed a draft of the entire 2008-09 audit. It was requested that the auditor get more specific regarding the Limited Segregation of Duties finding on this audit. Mary will follow u= p on this request to Pamela Ristau. (see action item)

Auditor, Pamela Ristau, completed the school’s 990 tax form for the 2009 year. Members reviewed the form. Form was mailed to the State Attorney General’s office along with our $25 Charitable Trust renewal fee and = one was mailed to the Interna= l Revenue Service Center.<= /span>

Mary Feathergill stated that she has completed the annual State filing requireme= nts for business renewal of D= akota Area Community School and Friends = of Dakota, Inc. for the 2009 year.

Mary Feathergill stated that the 2009-2010 school year’s first STAR report= ing for licensed and non-licensed staff and contracted professionals has been completed with Minnesota Department of Education. The school currently has = no licensure discrepancies.

Minnesota Department of Education Finance Award - Board discussed the Minnesota Department of Education Annual Finance Award for the 2009-19 School Year. The board decided that we are in good standing to seek= this award. For compliance the current school year budget will be published on t= he school’s website.(see action item)

COMMITTEES

Personnel Committee

Committee met on November 16, 2009 and discussed 2009-= 10 staff schedule changes with filling in for employee on compensation, update on worker’s comp claim, highly qualified requirements, job qualifications descriptions for certain positions, and made edits to the handbook regarding emergency closing days. Next meeting will be on December 14, 2009 at 2:30 p= m.

Technology Co= mmittee

Committee did not meet on October 12, 2009. Next meeti= ng will be on December 14, 2009.

Finance Commi= ttee

Committee met on October 21, 2009 and discussed the cu= rrent audit, reviewed changes to the financials for the 2008-09 school year, and reviewed current budget projections for the 2009-10 school year. Next meeti= ng will be on Wednesday November 18, 2009 at 3:30 pm.

Community Enr= ichment Committee

Committee met on November 16, 2009 and discussed the f= irst Drop n’ Dash of the year. The Drop n Dash will be held on Friday, December 11th from 5:30 to 9:00 p.m. Di= nner will be served to all participants and activities will be planned for the evening.

After School enrichment activities have been going well. Parents have been pleas= ed with the year long calendar of events and have commented on how helpful the calendar has been.

Next Community Enrichment meeting will be Monday, Dece= mber 14,2009 at 2:30 p.m.

OLD BUSINESS

Public Relations – Fall Connections newsletter w= ill go out in November.

Authorizer renewal update - Darin Shepardson attended = the Winona Area Public Schools (WAPS) board meeting where they discussed being an Authorizer to our school. Darin sent all of the school’s formal docum= ents to the Charter Liaison for WAPS, Scott Hannon. There are new Authorizer requirements that WAPS will need to do before they can become the Authorize= r of Dakota Area Community School.

Board elections were held on November 5 and 9, 2009 wi= th the ballots check by Secretary Brandon Mehling. The ballots held the names of Mela= nie Anderson, and Shirley Pierce running as new members and Lisa Kent running a= s an incumbent. Melanie Anderson, teacher, Lisa Kent, teacher, and Shirley Pierc= e, community member, were elected to the board and their terms begin on Novemb= er 1, 2009. Lisa Kent and Tina Beckman terms are completed as of October 31, 2= 009. Members discussed method for exchanging a current non-teacher member with t= he new community member. Kim Jurgerson decided to step down. In review of the school’s By-laws and the new state requirements the school realizes t= hat changes to some specific areas in the By-laws will need to be done. These w= ill be brought to the next meeting.

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

Char= ter School required Boa= rd training – Board members are now required to attend state mandated bo= ard training. Dates for the initial Minnesota Department of Education approved charter school board training were considered. Those dates are December 8 a= nd 9 and December 11 and 12, 2009. It was decided that our members will wait for additional trainings to come and further guidance from Minnesota Department= of Education. The board realizes that we will need to complete some training within six-months for all members.

Fall Parent Survey – the school’s Fall 2009 Parent Survey results were shared with t= he board. The school received eleven of thirty-four surveys – 33%. Overwhelming positive comments from parents were received on the survey. The school will continue to monitor parent input with Fall and Spring surveys. Prior to the Spring surveys the Director, Darin Shepardson, will hold parent meetings at= the school for further parent input.

NEW BUSINESS =

Data Practices Act is now required to be followed by C= harter School’s - Minnesota Statues, Chapter 13 and Minnesota Rules 1205 def= ines the data practices law for schools, which charter schools are now required = to follow. One item administration will do currently is put the Tension warnin= g on most all of our documents that request information from students, staff, parents, and community members. There will be a workshop on this topic, whi= ch members will look into attending. Board will continue to review this topic.

Web Filtering service update – the school’s SonicWall hardware filtering equipment’s annual renewal is this month= . It is suggested by the administration to consider using a free to K-12 schools= and libraries website filtering service that is fully compliant with Federal regulations.

Schedule New Board member in-house training with Direc= tor and Business Manager – training occurred today for both of the new members.

Appointment of board officers – Gordon Nagel was appointed President, Lisa Kent was appointed treasurer, and Brandon Mehling= was appointed the secretary. (see action item)

Board meeting schedule – members agreed to keep = the once a month board meetings on the second Monday in each month starting at = 4:00 p.m.

Board Committee assignments – This was tabled fo= r the next meeting.

CONSENT AGEND= A

Melanie Anderson motioned to approve, Lisa Kent second= ed, and the motion carried for the consent agenda item as follows:

Approve minutes – October 12, 2009

October bank statements and reconciliation reports.

October payment register and deposit summary.

Journal Entries –

Final end of year journal entries done by Business Man= ager for the 2008-09 school year.

Audit closing journal entries for the 2008-09 school y= ear. AJE1 to AJE 6.

Closing year 2008-09 reversing journal entries done in= July 2009 in the 2009-10 school year.

Donation:

Eric and Danielle Lam donated suet feeders and suet bl= ocks to the school.

ACTION ITEMS

Lisa Kent motioned to approve the 2008-09 school year closing journal entries, p= reliminary financials, and audit report with the requested edit to the finding. Melanie Anderson seconded, motion carried.

Melanie Anderson motioned to have the school complete = the application for the Minnesota Department of Education Annual Finance Award = for the 2009-19 School Year. Lisa Kent seconded, motion carried.

Shirley Pierce motioned to appoint officers: Gordon Na= gel was appointed President, Lisa Kent was appointed treasurer, and Brandon Mehling= was appointed the secretary. Melanie Anderson seconded, the motion carried.

Meeting adjourned at 6:25 p.m.

Next meeting will be on December 14, 2009 at 4:00 p.m. Policy review will be at 3:30 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Mary Feathergill = ; &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; Gordon Nagle

DACS Business Manager = = &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; DACS Board President