[0:00] first um

[0:04] our April 21st board meeting. We're so

[0:07] grateful to have everyone here.

[0:08] >> Recording in progress.

[0:10] >> Sorry. There we go.

[0:14] >> We have Sarah and Christian, Carrie,

[0:17] Thesisa, uh myself, and Carol and Carol

[0:22] Gregory, the director for the for Azure

[0:25] Fields Charter High School. Um

[0:29] we um want to begin with our verse. So

[0:33] I'll read it if everyone can just um

[0:37] listen. We'll start with our verse for

[0:40] America. May our feeling penetrate into

[0:44] the center of our heart and seek in love

[0:47] to unite itself with human beings

[0:50] seeking the same goal and with spirit

[0:52] beings who bearing grace strengthening

[0:55] us from the realms of light and

[0:58] illuminating our love are gazing down

[1:00] upon our earnest heartfelt strivings.

[1:04] Rudolph Steiner. And I will turn the

[1:06] time over now to um to Christian Swenson

[1:10] who has a who has um a Steiner study for

[1:13] us.

[1:14] >> Thank you. Um I appreciate that. Um so I

[1:17] was asked to talk today um if I remember

[1:20] correctly Susan about the intersection

[1:23] between curative education and a wal of

[1:26] concept and teenagers basically the

[1:29] adolescent phase

[1:31] >> and uh cuz you said you hadn't been able

[1:33] to find much about that. Um

[1:36] >> I couldn't find much about it either to

[1:38] be honest. I did a lot of searching. In

[1:40] fact, there this is a gap. This is a gap

[1:42] that Steiner that that people have

[1:44] talked about that uh a lot of the

[1:46] curative work describes children and not

[1:49] a lot of it describes describes

[1:51] teenagers. Um but given that what I

[1:54] wanted to uh what I wanted to kind of

[1:57] bring up is the

[2:01] I want to help us understand

[2:04] what the developmental task of the

[2:06] teenager is according to Boler pedigogy.

[2:09] Um, for him there are three seven-year

[2:13] phases as you know, right? That the

[2:15] first seven years according to him is a

[2:17] state in which children like my

[2:19] 2-year-old daughter McKenzie um imitate.

[2:22] They perceive through imitation. You

[2:24] know, they're looking at dad over here

[2:26] and you know, dad is is is nailing

[2:28] something into the wall. So, she does it

[2:29] too, right? If she, you know, she sees

[2:31] you on your phone, she's on her phone,

[2:33] too. She wants or on your phone. Um

[2:36] because the seven-year-old child wants

[2:38] to learn the the young child wants to

[2:40] learn from the adult through beat

[2:44] through activity through movement. But

[2:46] at around age seven, the child learns

[2:49] through authority and uh from the for

[2:52] the next seven years according to him

[2:54] the the teacher and parent is supposed

[2:58] to act like

[3:01] a representation

[3:03] of the truth of the world. the way the

[3:05] world is in a way that the child can

[3:08] understand. In other words, through

[3:09] images.

[3:11] My sense is that the teacher at that

[3:13] stage is supposed to be a host for the

[3:16] world. Something that that embodies the solidity and strength of truth and

[3:23] shares it with the other with the

[3:25] students as a way of teaching them to

[3:27] inhabit that true world. Um again it's a

[3:31] translation from truth into feeling from

[3:33] truth into beauty. Um but then the more

[3:36] interesting thing is the stage from 7 to

[3:39] 14 which is when suddenly a child learns

[3:43] through truth right um and what happens

[3:49] when you turn 14 according to this model

[3:51] is that you suddenly see that the world

[3:54] isn't a story right there's a sense in

[3:57] which when you turn 14 you stop seeing

[3:59] the world in terms of images and symbols

[4:01] you stop being as immersed in it you

[4:04] stop seeing it as a the whole thing and

[4:05] all of a sudden you think some of these

[4:07] adults don't know what they're talking

[4:08] about, right? The the the structures

[4:11] around me, there's something behind them

[4:13] that I can't really see until I turn 14.

[4:16] It's like, yeah, yeah, the word adults

[4:19] are kind of stupid, but not the way I

[4:21] thought earlier. Like they like

[4:22] sometimes they actually don't know what

[4:23] they're doing. And I think I know

[4:24] better, says the teenager. I have a

[4:27] better imagination of what could happen.

[4:30] And they might be right. you know, all

[4:33] the great innovators were once

[4:34] teenagers, right? But um it's the it's

[4:39] the responsibility of the high school

[4:41] teacher to honor that impulse,

[4:44] to honor their rebellion,

[4:47] to honor their their dream for the world

[4:52] and to help them hone it in ways that

[4:54] will help them thrive when they are

[4:56] directing themselves. when at age 21

[4:59] they take hold of themselves in a new

[5:01] way. Um that's my sense and so it's very

[5:05] important to let an adolescent of this stage that

[5:11] we're teaching to to start to see the

[5:14] world in their own way cuz you know we

[5:17] are how we see and if we honor how they

[5:20] see you help them become who they are.

[5:22] That's what I say. That's a little

[5:24] spiel. Um I'm your spiel. Well, thank

[5:27] you. I appreciate that. Um I uh I I walk

[5:30] along UC Berkeley a lot. I'm in when I'm

[5:33] in California. I'm not in California

[5:34] now. And there's a bunch of college

[5:36] students there all the time, you know,

[5:38] UC Berkeley and um like freshman and

[5:40] sophomores. And I think I don't know. I feel like they they embody an energy

[5:48] that we often too often dismiss. And I

[5:50] think there's something really valuable

[5:51] there. That's what I'm saying.

[5:54] any any thoughts or questions or

[5:56] suggestions or connections?

[6:00] >> I thought it was interesting when you

[6:01] said that they look at adults and think,

[6:05] "I know a better way." Well, sometimes

[6:07] they do. Guess what? Sometimes they do.

[6:10] And you have to say, "Well, you might.

[6:14] You just might know better."

[6:17] So, don't dismiss that. You know, it's

[6:21] not there's nothing wrong with it. We

[6:23] don't have all the answers.

[6:28] » How do you think you should handle when

[6:31] I'm wondering what you think about this,

[6:32] Carol, when a teenager challenges the

[6:35] teacher intellectually or morally?

[6:39] Like if there's a a lesson, what do you

[6:41] think what do you think is the right

[6:43] thing to do?

[6:47] » Let me step back into the classroom for

[6:49] a minute.

[6:51] far removed from the things that I've

[6:52] been thinking about lately.

[6:54] >> Um,

[6:56] >> it's important to validate where they're

[7:00] coming from and um and have a a humility

[7:05] and um and creating

[7:08] an environment of discourse. you know,

[7:10] we as as we're preparing for the high

[7:12] school and and working on preparing our

[7:14] teachers, um we we talk about, you know,

[7:19] having clear expectations, but also

[7:22] bringing things in a balanced and an

[7:24] appropriate way. Um and I think um if

[7:28] when you are approaching the curriculum

[7:32] in the correct way to begin with with

[7:35] like the the high schooler should never

[7:38] know exactly how I feel about this

[7:39] topic. They need to know that I'm here

[7:43] to bring topics to them for their

[7:46] experience and to bring multiple

[7:49] balanced views that that there is um

[7:53] always somebody's perspective in the

[7:56] narrative of history and the experiences

[7:58] that we have. Um, and so when the class

[8:00] is structured in that way, there's less

[8:04] opportunity, I would say, for for a a

[8:06] student to say, "Well, that isn't

[8:09] completely true, right?" Or like to to

[8:11] challenge me as an authority. If I'm

[8:13] presenting my own personal views, yeah,

[8:15] that's open all the time for like what

[8:18] makes you so right. Um, and and you get

[8:22] that kind of disciplinary thing. But if

[8:24] you're bringing the curriculum in a way

[8:25] that explores and values multiple

[8:28] perspectives, when the student brings

[8:31] that new perspective, that's folded into

[8:34] what we're doing anyway and isn't a

[8:36] power struggle.

[8:37] >> It's like instead of the teenager asking

[8:40] you, "What makes you so right?" You're

[8:42] asking yourself, "What makes me so

[8:44] right?" Um, in other words, you have

[8:46] intellectual

[8:47] >> and we're we're we're it's not even

[8:49] asking me what what makes me so right,

[8:51] but it's looking at the content and

[8:53] saying, "What makes this right or not?"

[8:56] And and why do I value this person's

[8:59] perspective over this person's

[9:01] perspective? What can I learn from the

[9:03] differences in addition to the

[9:05] similarities and the perspectives? Um,

[9:08] and is there a perspective I don't know

[9:10] about yet in this discourse? Because

[9:12] there's rarely just two. what are some

[9:14] of the other marginalized perspectives?

[9:17] And so when you create that culture

[9:20] um in the way that we bring the

[9:22] information um it it helps empower the

[9:26] students to discover for themselves

[9:29] without the power play of you're the

[9:31] adult and you you can't be right.

[9:34] >> That's really cool. Thank you, Carol. I

[9:37] think I'm out of time. Um that's my felt sense. Um thank you. Um,

[9:42] and I I appreciate your presence and I

[9:44] appreciate your sincerity. Thank you.

[9:47] >> I just have to add that I think this is

[9:50] why there are so many homeschooling

[9:52] parents that are like, I can't do this

[9:54] anymore when they hit this age

[9:57] because this just describes my life so

[9:59] well of just my 14-year-old being like,

[10:03] you can't be right, mom, no matter what it is. And it just is

[10:07] wearing as a parent to do that all day

[10:10] long with all the school stuff and then

[10:12] to do that with your normal parenting

[10:15] roles. And I think that's a good thing

[10:18] for us to recognize and why I think all

[10:20] of you are amazing to do it in school.

[10:22] But like that is one of the reasons why

[10:25] we will pull homeschool families is

[10:28] because

[10:30] it gets exhausting for parents to do

[10:32] that when they hit this age.

[10:36] That's all.

[10:40] » Thea, you might have to speak up. Your

[10:42] volume's not coming through very much.

[10:46] >> I don't know that your microphone is on.

[10:48] You're not muted.

[10:49] >> Yeah,

[10:50] >> you're not muted, but I don't hear your

[10:52] microphone on.

[10:53] >> You might need to change the microphone

[10:55] settings, like which microphone it's

[10:56] coming from. Um, because maybe it's

[10:59] coming from some microphone you don't

[11:00] realize is plugged in somewhere else or

[11:03] that's happened to me before.

[11:07] No, we can't hear you. Do you want to

[11:09] put it in the chat?

[11:11] >> Can I add to what Carrie said then?

[11:15] >> I was just talking to a friend of mine

[11:17] and we were discussing um there are

[11:20] things that were my grandparents

[11:22] generation or my great-grandparents

[11:23] generation that we don't do now. And we

[11:26] were discussing

[11:28] what was it going to be for us when

[11:30] we're older? What is it going to be that

[11:32] we are the old ones that are out of

[11:34] touch that our kids are going to change

[11:36] the rules on? And not that we're bad or

[11:38] our parents are bad or our grandparents

[11:40] are bad, but I think it's good that

[11:42] sometimes, not always, but sometimes we

[11:45] are wrong. And we allow our kids to be

[11:48] like, I'm not sure how you feel about

[11:49] that or how I feel about that because

[11:52] it's good not just for them or for the

[11:55] society at large, but for our growth as

[11:57] well. And I would agree with you,

[11:58] Carrie. It's really hard to look at that

[12:00] sometimes when you're trying to raise

[12:02] teenagers, too, and try and see your the

[12:06] places where you're missing.

[12:12] » I think this is totally

[12:13] >> Oh, sorry. I think this is a Oh,

[12:16] >> go ahead, please.

[12:17] >> Sorry. No, I think this is a um a a a

[12:21] particular problem in Utah County um

[12:24] because there's a sense in which um the

[12:27] local culture

[12:29] values family so much that independence

[12:32] from the family unit can sometimes be,

[12:34] you know, seen as threatening a dominant

[12:37] paradigm even if it's not thought of

[12:39] that consciously. Um, and so I wonder if one of the things we can do

[12:45] at the school to kind of help help with

[12:48] uh to work with that culture is to value

[12:51] the impulse to rebel in a healthy sense,

[12:53] right? in a way that yeah that's my

[12:55] sense because that's that is important

[12:58] >> and I ask if the Socratic method will

[13:01] help the students with that

[13:07] you know isn't it welcome challenge and

[13:12] outside the box thinking

[13:18] yeah creating them a space to contribute

[13:20] to the discourse and challenge their

[13:22] thinking and take a side that they're

[13:23] not um predisposed for

[13:27] >> getting good skills for making those

[13:29] decisions. And and I think it's

[13:31] important to be to to have um

[13:33] conversations with the parents that you

[13:35] know we our goal is to empower students

[13:38] to be successful in life and and to make

[13:41] powerful decisions about um where they

[13:44] want to go in their life by providing

[13:46] with them a solid foundation. Um we're

[13:49] not here to undermine the parents. We're

[13:51] here to help the parents empower their

[13:52] students.

[13:55] >> Well, and that the goal is to raise

[13:57] children that are better than us, right?

[13:59] So, I think that's important for parents

[14:01] to remember. But one of the main reasons

[14:03] why I'm not putting my kids in public

[14:05] school is because I don't want their

[14:08] teachers forcing their views on them.

[14:11] And so I love what Carol said about the

[14:14] students should not know what side of a

[14:18] especially like a polarized topic a

[14:20] teacher's on. They should be presented

[14:21] the information

[14:23] >> there. We're not teachers are not meant

[14:25] to you know indoctrinate children. So I

[14:29] love I love the way that Carol said that they shouldn't know where you

[14:33] stand. Mhm.

[14:37] >> And the point the point is not

[14:39] rebellion. The point is to to to be

[14:42] thoughtful and think about the issues

[14:45] related to a topic. So in history you

[14:48] have the different perspectives and if a

[14:49] student were to bring up his own or her

[14:52] own perspective. Um here's what I see

[14:55] usually in high school that they've

[14:56] heard these things from other people.

[14:58] It's not really their own perspective

[15:00] yet. So what you're trying you may

[15:02] incorporate what they say to you um as

[15:05] well let's let's write that down as part

[15:08] of our our thought process and what

[15:10] we'll think about this issue also. But

[15:12] you don't want to promote a

[15:14] 14-year-old's perspective on everything

[15:17] because it's usually very shallow and just the something they may have

[15:21] heard from others. So again I I think

[15:24] you know we don't want a political

[15:25] perspective. We don't want to have we

[15:27] just want to present the history and the

[15:30] humanities from the perspective of

[15:32] people themselves because remember we

[15:34] follow biographies. So we want their the

[15:37] famous people that we teach about. We

[15:39] want their ideas presented to the

[15:40] students and we want everything to come

[15:43] together in the students mind in in a

[15:45] way that is their own. But but we want

[15:47] to present the perspectives that that we

[15:50] think are valuable and important. That's

[15:52] the whole point of Waldorf education.

[15:54] It's not just independent thinking like

[15:56] in a monastery setting. We actually

[15:58] present something a curriculum that we

[16:01] believe is important to teach. And of

[16:03] course the state has its curriculum to

[16:04] teach for us to teach in a high school

[16:07] setting. And then we you know we'll take

[16:09] the students uh we can take the students

[16:11] ideas into into play interplay with the rest of the curriculum we teach.

[16:17] Remember I talked about the

[16:18] philosophical framework where you start

[16:21] with an idea or metaphor surrounding

[16:24] your topic and then you teach all of the important stories and aspects of

[16:31] that of that teaching and then you break

[16:34] things apart for a time and analyze

[16:36] ideas. Then you bring everything

[16:38] together again in some way at the end to

[16:40] pres make a presentation so that you're

[16:42] united again at the end in in in a in a

[16:45] type of you know um important idea again

[16:49] that you're presenting. We don't just

[16:51] keep everything as a fragmented uh

[16:54] disconnected um

[16:57] you know pre presentation like everyone

[17:00] is just lo lost as to you know what we

[17:04] feel are important values and ideas that

[17:06] are part of the lesson. So

[17:09] >> put in the chat that the teenager wants

[17:10] to know that the teacher is an expert in

[17:12] their field and that brings respect. So

[17:16] we we make sure that we do know the

[17:18] information and the facts. um and can

[17:21] present the information well. Um and

[17:23] being an expert also removes our our

[17:27] personal biases. Um and so at the same

[17:30] time, students ideas have room to grow.

[17:33] >> I think that that I think that means a

[17:35] teacher needs to show off a bit on the

[17:37] first day. Um

[17:38] >> I think that doesn't hurt at all to show

[17:41] that they really know something about

[17:43] the topic they're teaching. Yes, that's

[17:44] right.

[17:46] So that's, you know, there's still a

[17:48] little bit of author authority that you

[17:51] present to the the classroom. We better

[17:53] move forward just a little bit. Um, I

[17:56] did write some some ideas I found about

[17:59] curative education because it's

[18:01] something we we don't usually think

[18:03] about as teachers because we have

[18:06] experts that that work in that area in

[18:08] special in Waldorf special education

[18:10] circles. But there was a concept I

[18:13] really loved. This is just oh again

[18:15] everything about Waldorf education kind

[18:17] of just surprises me and enlightens me

[18:19] and I just want to read one of the core

[18:21] philosophies about so think about this

[18:23] is special education for the teenager

[18:26] for students that are struggling in many

[18:28] various ways the un the unharmed core

[18:33] the idea that a child has and operates

[18:35] on the belief that every person has an

[18:37] intact spiritual core or individuality

[18:40] that is never disabled regardless of

[18:43] physical or mental limitations. And I I

[18:47] just believe in this so wholeheartedly

[18:49] that every child uh has an has a core uh

[18:54] of their spirit and of their their being

[18:57] that is whole and healthy, unharmed. And

[19:00] I really think we just we can find that

[19:03] through a couple of things. But one of the things that's that our school

[19:07] is going to be the best at if you look

[19:09] at the um key methods for for working

[19:12] with the students that are struggling um

[19:15] it is rhythmic living having a good

[19:18] rhythm in their lives and their their

[19:19] daily schedule. So we can adjust

[19:22] schedules uh for students in our school

[19:25] to a healthy rhythm for them. It's doing

[19:28] artistic therapies like music, painting,

[19:31] drama and other kinds of things which

[19:33] our school incorporates.

[19:36] It's doing crafts and manual work skills

[19:38] like weaving, h woodwork and gardening.

[19:41] Um and then also self-development uh

[19:44] working constant with their inner

[19:46] development, humor and courage and

[19:49] healing presence of the child

[19:51] themselves. And so you you set up a

[19:54] beautiful rhythm for the child in

[19:56] curative education and also set up

[19:59] things they can be successful in. You

[20:01] know, cooking, gardening, all these

[20:03] things that our school is going to

[20:04] incorporate will be healthy for every

[20:07] child, but also for the child that is

[20:10] struggling in in any anyway um with

[20:15] needs that are a little harder to meet.

[20:17] But our school is set up to meet those

[20:19] needs beautifully, I think. So that's

[20:23] why I just wanted to share that before

[20:25] we move on. All right. And then I'm

[20:27] going to share again, sorry everybody,

[20:29] our board capacity building tonight is

[20:31] about a chapter in the the uh charter

[20:35] school board university book and it has

[20:38] to do with setting up an orientation

[20:40] process for our new board members. And

[20:43] we have not really had this. We've got

[20:45] to work to build this. So, I have a a

[20:47] PowerPoint I wanted to show and I'll try

[20:49] to go through it as quickly as I can

[20:51] about having a booklet for all our new

[20:53] members and what should be in that. So,

[20:56] this is what the the Charter University

[20:58] uh book says that should be in an

[21:00] orientation binder for our new board

[21:02] members. So, let and for all of you

[21:05] also. We should have one for you that we

[21:07] create. So, if you could put that on the

[21:09] screen for us to see, Carol. Yeah, let

[21:12] me find the right

[21:16] one.

[21:19] Let's see.

[21:21] Sorry. Let me share the right

[21:25] um

[21:27] Sorry about that. Let's see.

[21:35] It's not giving me the right option to

[21:37] share the right screen. So, give me just

[21:39] a second.

[21:42] And

[21:50] um

[22:00] we close some of the other windows and

[22:02] see if that will help.

[22:04] There it is. Okay.

[22:12] All right. So, in the board

[22:15] university, it's um um booklet a book.

[22:19] It says that each board member should

[22:22] start with a um a booklet that they've

[22:24] that they receive. So, the orientation

[22:27] booklet should come to them um as

[22:29] they're starting their work in the

[22:31] board. The first thing is they should

[22:33] have a list, a contact list with the

[22:35] names, phone numbers and email addresses

[22:38] of everyone on the board and the

[22:40] executive director, current board

[22:42] members and their offices held and also

[22:45] their term expiration dates. We should

[22:47] all be able to see those for each other

[22:49] um so that we know you know when someone

[22:52] will be moving out of the board and

[22:54] coming in. Then the next one is the

[22:57] school's articles of incorporation and

[22:59] bylaws. These two documents form the

[23:01] legal basis for the existence of the

[23:03] school. The bylaw should indicate the

[23:06] date they were adopted by the board and

[23:07] a signature signifying they are

[23:10] official. And then third, the school

[23:12] charter. This is a performance contract

[23:14] between the board and the authorizer. It

[23:17] is time limited usually for 3 to 5

[23:20] years. I don't know does ours have a

[23:21] time limit, Carol? Our charter.

[23:25] >> Yeah, there we go up for review every 3

[23:27] to 5 years.

[23:28] >> Okay. It contains the outcomes the

[23:30] school's required to produce and usually

[23:32] some limits within which the outcomes

[23:34] are to occur. And then the fourth thing

[23:37] should be like a tab for the names and

[23:39] contact information of the board's

[23:41] attorney which we I don't know if we've

[23:43] hired a certain attorney yet. Should

[23:45] have we done that, Carol?

[23:47] >> Yeah, we did that several months ago. Um

[23:49] Chris Jorgensson um on just an hourly

[23:52] basis.

[23:53] >> Okay. So a letter of agreement maybe.

[23:56] Um, it should say just agreement, not o

[23:58] agreement stating the terms of the

[24:00] employment and the and his job

[24:02] description. So that's something that

[24:04] should be in the binder. Also, if your

[24:06] board has hired documents governing the

[24:08] board's formal arrangement with an

[24:10] executive director. So if your board is

[24:12] hired, which we have an executive

[24:13] director, there should be a letter or

[24:15] agreement page stating the terms of

[24:17] employment and the job description

[24:19] there. And we should have a a section of

[24:22] board member job descriptions, which

[24:24] we've already created that. So, we

[24:26] should have that in a binder though for

[24:27] our members. And a summary also the date

[24:30] of the school's performance on the most

[24:33] recent round of state testing, which we

[24:35] don't have yet, but we will have in the the coming years. And we need to

[24:40] know the percentage of the kids in our

[24:42] school that are at or above grade level

[24:44] in core subjects.

[24:46] Okay. And then board minutes from the

[24:48] previous six months. These tell what the

[24:51] board has been talking about in all its

[24:53] meetings for the last six months.

[24:55] Uh they said we should have a

[24:57] certificate of insurance for directors

[24:59] or officer liability. Carol, have you

[25:01] talked to us about does our state have

[25:04] liability for board members?

[25:08] >> Um I think Shannon probably knows more

[25:10] about that than I do. Um it's one of the

[25:13] things that's on our list to talk about

[25:14] with

[25:15] >> to work through.

[25:17] >> So there

[25:19] >> what's that?

[25:20] >> Um in our readiness to open this is one

[25:22] of the things that we have to do. Okay.

[25:25] Um, I thought it was Shannon. Um, you

[25:27] are assuming a tremendous liability when

[25:29] you agree to serve as a board member.

[25:31] The decisions your board makes or fails

[25:33] to make can adversely affect students,

[25:35] employees, and others. As such, there's

[25:38] always a high risk of being sued. Some

[25:40] state indemnity of the board if if you

[25:43] can prove uh if there it's a reasonable

[25:45] decision. It's recommended that you have

[25:48] insurance you the school carries

[25:50] insurance to protect personnel assets of

[25:53] their directors and officers. So this is

[25:55] just something we need to get together

[25:57] in time and put put in a board. Um

[26:00] >> Susan Jeff has joined our meeting and so he can also speak to that.

[26:05] >> Oh great. Jeff, would you speak to that

[26:07] for a minute?

[26:08] >> Yeah, sorry. I didn't want to just jump

[26:10] in there. Um so there's a couple of

[26:12] different ways you can get insurance. um

[26:14] one is through the state's risk

[26:16] management policy. Um those applications

[26:19] are it's a little bit harder your

[26:20] startup year um to get that. So um that

[26:24] timeline has already passed. It was last

[26:26] December in order to get signed up for

[26:28] this coming year. Um but without

[26:31] >> without knowledge of our building and

[26:33] things like that, it was just kind of a

[26:34] hard thing to do, which is typical for a

[26:36] lot of schools. So we will need to get a

[26:38] third-party insurance um at least for

[26:41] your startup year. Um, there is an

[26:44] agent, uh, his name is Jeff Hurst with

[26:46] American Insurance that, um, does a he

[26:49] writes a lot of charter school policies.

[26:51] I shouldn't say he writes them, but he

[26:52] bids them out and helps get insurance

[26:54] for a lot of charter schools. Um, it's a it's not the easiest uh, industry

[27:01] to get insurance for. And so, it's kind

[27:04] of nice having someone who knows it. So,

[27:06] um we can reach out to him and get that

[27:08] put in place, but we'll need um

[27:10] liability insurance, property insurance,

[27:13] cyber insurance, and a few different

[27:15] things. So, he'll help us get set up

[27:17] with all of those things for next year.

[27:19] >> Great. These are just things they

[27:21] mentioned. So, we'll we'll try to work

[27:23] towards this for next year. Um and then

[27:26] 10 most recent financial statements and

[27:28] audit reports. Again, we don't really

[27:31] have official well, we have some we have

[27:33] some reports we could put in there now

[27:35] about the beginning opening of the

[27:37] school, but this is just one of the

[27:39] items that recommended copies of all

[27:41] debt instruments. So, we the the school

[27:44] board members should be able to see who

[27:46] we're who we're receiving, you know,

[27:49] monies from in loans and interest rates,

[27:52] etc. Okay. Number 12, board policy

[27:56] manual. I I know that we've we've have

[27:59] we finished that, Carol, yet our policy

[28:01] manual or are we still working on that

[28:02] now?

[28:03] >> Um, as as far as the board policies, I

[28:06] think we have most of them done. There

[28:08] might be a few others that

[28:10] >> we need we still need to address the um

[28:12] grievance policy and and a few other

[28:14] things. Um, but we have a lot of it

[28:16] mostly done. Um, the board policy manual

[28:19] is different from the student handbook

[28:21] and the teacher handbook and and then we

[28:22] have the policy manual. So there's

[28:24] multiple things that kind of do a

[28:26] similar um and we've been talking as a

[28:29] office staff about an efficient way of

[28:31] putting those things together that they

[28:33] can all be linked to the core policies

[28:36] um and for efficiency and and unity

[28:39] between um all of our things. So

[28:43] >> good to have like a a comprehensive

[28:45] policy manual. I think that would be

[28:47] good. um unless there are some specific

[28:50] things that related to the board that

[28:52] but we should have a copy of that for

[28:54] our board members when they come in. And

[28:56] then 13, let's see. Oh, I guess that's

[28:59] all. So, my thought is um we may need to

[29:04] have

[29:05] I mean I hate to put more on your plate,

[29:07] Carol, but we may need to have you and

[29:10] the um and and uh Tanya work on putting

[29:14] together manuals like this because I

[29:17] think you have most of the documents and

[29:19] most of the things there in the office

[29:21] with you. And then if we could keep

[29:24] maybe give one manual with with sections

[29:28] for each of these things to board

[29:30] members and then keep maybe six on hand

[29:32] for for others coming in that are new.

[29:36] That would be really great. So this is

[29:37] just thoughts of important things to put

[29:40] into a board manual. And I know another

[29:42] option is is having it in the board

[29:45] drive electronically for so that we save

[29:48] on printing costs. um having a few

[29:51] available in the office if someone wants

[29:53] to to check one out and peruse a paper

[29:55] or um we can obviously make a copy for

[29:57] someone if they prefer a paper copy. Um

[30:00] but having it electronically it's also

[30:03] um

[30:04] >> I I love that idea. I just don't think

[30:06] about doing that. So yes, we could have

[30:09] it and then we can change it as needed

[30:11] and add things to it.

[30:13] >> Yes. So have tabs for each of the

[30:15] different things maybe on an electronic

[30:17] version. So, if we could just work

[30:20] towards that. I know it's still new and

[30:22] our board is still putting together the

[30:24] fun the um the daily kind of working

[30:27] board members, but I would I would have

[30:30] liked more information like that when I

[30:32] first came in also. And and so I'm

[30:35] wondering if we could start the process

[30:37] of that, Carol, as a as a school. All

[30:41] right, that's all I wanted to present

[30:43] today. um those things to think about

[30:45] and and look towards the future at at

[30:48] having for our school.

[30:50] Um we are reviewing the minutes from the

[30:53] previous meeting and were they they were

[30:55] sent out. Um Sarah, did you you for the

[30:59] 24th?

[31:00] >> Yes, there were sent out. Um if we have

[31:03] any public comments, too. I don't know

[31:04] if

[31:08] » I don't know if you're Oh, I'm sorry.

[31:10] >> Give you a if you wanted it.

[31:12] >> Public comments. Yes,

[31:15] >> we do want those.

[31:17] >> Okay, I don't see any

[31:19] >> then. Yes, I did send out an email.

[31:21] >> Shannon has a comment though.

[31:23] >> Oh, okay. All right. I took I was trying

[31:25] to get the the speaker to come on and

[31:27] each time I clicked it, it went off.

[31:29] >> Oh,

[31:30] >> no. I just wanted to just congratulate

[31:32] you on the things that you were doing

[31:35] and I was part of your CSP interview. I

[31:38] thought you did well.

[31:39] >> Thank you.

[31:40] >> Um, thank you. So just just wanted to

[31:43] shout out the hard work that you're

[31:45] doing, the the hard things you're doing

[31:47] and the progress that you're making and

[31:49] you know we wish you the best. So just

[31:51] that's all.

[31:52] >> Thank you Shannon.

[31:53] >> Thank you.

[31:56] >> Okay. So our review for the minutes if

[31:58] you could review for us Sarah a little

[32:00] bit about the 24th. And I think some of

[32:04] us read through them, but maybe we need

[32:06] to review the minutes again

[32:09] >> and pull those up real quickly.

[32:14] » We have added a link in our current

[32:16] minutes to the previous board meeting so

[32:17] that they're really easy to access for

[32:20] everybody. Also, I also um put a link in

[32:23] the chat for um the agenda for tonight

[32:27] if anybody wanted that. Those of you

[32:29] that joined a little bit later, I can

[32:31] add it again.

[32:34] Just a very quick overview um in case

[32:36] people didn't get a chance to read them.

[32:38] We had our Steiner study um which was on

[32:41] the biography and practice of becoming

[32:43] human. And then we had our board

[32:46] capacity building where we went over the

[32:47] board government's framework and that we

[32:50] need to have a board retreat. We need to

[32:51] pick a time for that this time around.

[32:54] We didn't have any public comments but

[32:56] we approved the meetings the minutes for

[32:58] the previous two meetings.

[33:01] We had a building update from Clint and

[33:03] our admin report from Carol Gregory

[33:06] where we talked about our charter

[33:07] amendment application, the CSP grant and

[33:09] marketing. We also discussed enrollment

[33:12] and some of the issues we're having on

[33:14] that and how we're working through them.

[33:16] We discussed our hiring and how we're

[33:18] dealing with that and that about half of

[33:20] our positions have been hired. We had a

[33:23] report from Marta that from our finance

[33:26] committee and we went over that we are

[33:28] still on budget and we were approved for

[33:30] the revolving loan.

[33:37] Okay. So, could we have a vote? Is there

[33:39] someone who would um vote to approve the

[33:43] minutes read by Sarah uh Archbald?

[33:52] I propose that we vote to approve the

[33:54] last meeting's minutes.

[33:57] >> And do we have someone to second that?

[33:59] >> I'll second it.

[34:01] >> Thank you, Sarah.

[34:03] Okay. And let's have a vote on approving

[34:05] the last month's minutes. All those in

[34:08] favor say I or raise your hand. So,

[34:12] let's see. We have

[34:14] Thank you. I I see an icon from

[34:16] Christian.

[34:18] All right. That is the minutes have been

[34:21] approved.

[34:24] Um

[34:27] okay. Um let's move forward to new

[34:31] business now. Uh we do need to have a

[34:34] final vote on our on our retreat for the

[34:37] end of the year in June. Um this this

[34:40] year uh we're thinking of doing it from

[34:43] 11 to 4:00 p.m. on June 6. What date is

[34:46] that? Let me just look at the

[34:48] >> I think that's a Saturday.

[34:49] >> It's a Saturday. Okay.

[34:52] >> I'm out of town on June 6th. Sorry.

[34:56] >> Okay. Let's see.

[34:58] >> I think we did discuss that last time.

[35:00] >> Yes, we did.

[35:02] Yes. Okay.

[35:05] Um should we is there any discussion we

[35:08] need to have or or um can most of us

[35:11] attend? I would still

[35:14] um

[35:15] >> is there in person?

[35:17] >> Ideally, we'd like this one in person. Um

[35:21] but you could you could zoom in on this

[35:24] call. Like thea may want to zoom in from

[35:27] on our board on our meetings.

[35:31] So is there anyone else who has an

[35:34] objection to that date? Carrie, when do

[35:37] you leave? Is there a day earlier in

[35:40] that week that would be more possible?

[35:43] So, we leave I'm trying to get my

[35:48] physical calendar because I can't do it

[35:50] on my phone. Um, we leave like the

[35:54] that's the end of my trip. So, I'm going

[35:56] to be coming home that day.

[35:59] >> And we leave on the 28th of May.

[36:05] >> So, I will be in the car all day with my

[36:07] kids. I can listen in, but I won't. It

[36:11] will be really hard for you guys to hear

[36:13] me probably.

[36:16] >> Would the next Would the next Monday

[36:19] like early in the next week work for the

[36:22] rest of the board?

[36:27] » Do you mean on 13th?

[36:29] >> Um,

[36:31] so the 13th is the Saturday, but like I

[36:34] mean it's June at that point. So, um,

[36:36] the 8th or the 9th or the 10th on that.

[36:39] >> When do we have our UAPCS conference? It

[36:43] looks like I show something there

[36:44] >> on the 10th.

[36:45] >> I think that's the 10th. Yeah,

[36:48] >> I actually realize we come home on the

[36:50] 7th

[36:51] >> instead of the 6th. So, that will be I

[36:54] will be really busy with a family

[36:56] reunion on the 6th.

[36:58] >> Yeah.

[37:03] Okay. So,

[37:05] >> sorry guys.

[37:06] >> Yeah,

[37:07] >> has her fingers up for the eth.

[37:10] >> For the eth on a Monday,

[37:15] >> we have a we have a finance board

[37:17] meeting that's scheduled for the for

[37:20] Monday.

[37:21] Of

[37:28] » course, if we meet from 11 to 4, that

[37:31] doesn't cause conflict.

[37:34] I'm all right with Monday.

[37:37] >> I'm sorry that you guys have to

[37:38] rearrange for me.

[37:42] » We're discussing a date.

[37:45] Nothing has been to finalized yet. That

[37:46] was the only date that was proposed last

[37:48] time. So, this is your negotiation time.

[37:51] >> Hey, what is this, Carol? I have on the

[37:53] 9th the Charter Board Conference for the

[37:55] Founders.

[37:57] What does that mean? I don't know cuz I

[38:00] don't have that on my calendar.

[38:06] And Azure Fields Forum in Leighton

[38:09] on the 10th

[38:11] and that's when the UAPCS conference is

[38:14] the 10th and 11th.

[38:16] Okay. So that's the APCS conference in

[38:19] Leighton on the 10th.

[38:22] >> Okay.

[38:22] >> Um I I don't know what the other items

[38:25] that you are talking about. We have a a

[38:28] cottage meeting here at the school this

[38:31] at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday um at our new

[38:35] building. But I say just I wrote the

[38:38] note charter board conference founders

[38:42] but I don't know what that meant now.

[38:45] Okay. So, the eight has been proposed as an

[38:54] option for the board retreat.

[38:59] >> Okay.

[39:01] Um,

[39:03] is the ETH easier for everyone to have

[39:06] three days in a row with a board retreat

[39:09] and then the conference or is it better

[39:12] to separate them? If you do it on

[39:13] Monday, the conference is on Wednesday

[39:15] and Thursday, so your board retreat

[39:18] would be

[39:19] >> and then there two for the 10th and

[39:21] 11th.

[39:22] >> Yeah.

[39:23] >> Oh, I was thinking it was the 9th and

[39:25] 10th.

[39:26] >> The works for me.

[39:27] >> That works then.

[39:31] >> June 8th works for me also.

[39:36] So, should we have a vote about June 8th

[39:38] then from 11 to 4 pm?

[39:44] Okay.

[39:47] So, let's do let's have a vote to

[39:49] approve June 8th as our board retreat

[39:52] date. Do I have someone who would be

[39:54] willing to make a motion for that date

[39:57] on the 8th? Thank you, Thesa. And

[39:59] someone who would second that date, June

[40:02] 8th. Okay. Thank you, Martha. And so

[40:05] let's have a vote of the board members

[40:07] on

[40:11] uh June. So Monday, June 8th has been

[40:14] proposed as the board retreat date.

[40:16] Let's have a vote for that. Hands yes or

[40:20] no with hands up.

[40:23] Um that works for me. I might be a

[40:26] little like on a little exhaustion, but

[40:30] I'll be there.

[40:31] >> Let's see. So, we have Christian and

[40:34] Carrie, myself, Sarah,

[40:38] Marta,

[40:40] and Thisa. Okay, that's a unanimous

[40:42] Well, well, aside from Alicia, Alicia,

[40:45] we have a unanimous vote for that for

[40:48] that.

[40:50] >> One moment real quick. Um, who was the

[40:53] one who proposed and seconded that?

[40:55] Sarah's looking at flight information

[40:57] for that day.

[40:58] Oh, the one who proposed was

[41:02] >> didn't Thea proposed its proposed

[41:05] >> and Marta seconded it.

[41:08] >> Thank you.

[41:10] >> Sarah brings up a good point though if

[41:12] Sarah's having to fly in. We may want to

[41:15] consider when a good time for her to fly

[41:18] in is.

[41:19] >> That's perfectly fine. They're actually

[41:20] slightly cheaper than the times around

[41:22] it. I'm going to go visit a bunch of

[41:23] friends.

[41:25] >> Excellent. I would love to have you

[41:27] here, Sarah. That would be great.

[41:30] Okay.

[41:32] >> All right. So, our next part uh place on

[41:35] the agenda is an administrative report

[41:37] from Carol. If we could uh turn the time

[41:40] over to her now.

[41:42] Sure. Um so, this CSP grant update is

[41:46] that we did our capacity interview. Um

[41:48] we all feel really good about it when we

[41:50] find out next Monday. Um so, we're just

[41:53] waiting on pins and needles until that

[41:54] happens. Um, as far as our building

[41:57] update, we were able to get keys

[41:59] yesterday afternoon for the office at

[42:02] our building here in Provo. Um, so we

[42:05] have the office available from 4:30 in

[42:07] the afternoon once they've cleared the

[42:09] building from their current school um,

[42:12] hours. And we are scheduling tours um,

[42:16] on three days a week, Tuesdays,

[42:18] Wednesdays or Thursdays when people

[42:20] reach out to us for a tour that we can

[42:22] take them and and show them through the

[42:23] site. When they come for a tour, we plan

[42:26] on handing them um a calendar for next

[42:28] year and the graduation requirements,

[42:31] answering their questions about the

[42:33] program and and helping them get a

[42:34] picture for what we're doing. We also

[42:38] have a grand um opening planned and

[42:41] community outreach um for um a birthday

[42:45] party for Azure Fields on May 2nd. Um

[42:49] and um that'll be here at the Provo

[42:52] building in the back of the parking lot

[42:54] from 10 to noon. Um and we're pulling in

[42:59] our partners. We've got some community

[43:02] partners that can talk about um kind of

[43:04] some of their program offerings as well

[43:06] as our um initial teachers that we're

[43:09] talking we're talking to um for our

[43:12] initial faculty to come and meet the

[43:14] families as as well as those who are

[43:15] interested in enrolling. So, we're

[43:17] trying to get the word out to the

[43:18] community that we're here. Um, I am

[43:21] ordering banners to be printed um that

[43:24] demonstrate that um say future home of

[43:28] Azure Field Charter High School. Um we

[43:31] have t-shirts um that we will our

[43:35] faculty people will be our office people

[43:37] will all have a t-shirt with our logo um

[43:41] for that event. Um let's see. Um there were some other um state updates

[43:49] in in one of the meetings I was recently

[43:51] in. Um there is a new Senate Bill 186

[43:56] from this past legislative session um

[43:59] that our charter board members must take

[44:01] an oath of office um like the school

[44:04] districts do. And so I'll be giving more

[44:07] information to the board in the next

[44:08] couple of weeks as we dive into what

[44:10] that looks like and what those

[44:11] requirements mean. Um, so just put on

[44:14] your radar at the board retreat. We can

[44:16] address um the oath of office. Um, and

[44:20] there was also a piece of legislation

[44:22] around um firearms in school safety um

[44:26] and and having a person um designated on

[44:29] campus if we don't have a resource

[44:31] officer. um they if if faculty members

[44:35] want to have a concealed carry um that

[44:38] they can do that privately um and I

[44:41] don't need notice of that um but it has

[44:44] to be completely concealed um at all

[44:47] times. So there's some more information

[44:50] on that. Um I don't know if Shannon

[44:52] knows any more about that than I do, but

[44:54] those are some things that we're all

[44:56] trying to figure out. How do we stay

[44:57] compliant with the law? Um we have sent

[45:02] out initial offer letters to um three of

[45:05] our initial core teachers um for next

[45:08] year and they have responded positively.

[45:11] So we're working on background checks

[45:13] and checking lensure. Um so we have a

[45:16] social studies teacher, a special

[45:19] education teacher, and a PE and

[45:22] facilities manager teacher that we have

[45:25] um

[45:27] sent initial offers to. We're getting

[45:29] these initial people together on April

[45:31] 25th to kind of see how they work

[45:33] together as a faculty um and talking

[45:37] about next steps and and how we're going

[45:38] to build. We had a um

[45:44] we had a lot fewer science and

[45:47] mathematics teachers apply and and

[45:49] English teachers also took a while to

[45:51] get some good applicants in the pool.

[45:53] So, we're doing some um final interviews

[45:56] for um science and and um English this

[46:02] week. Um we have a math teacher that um

[46:05] we feel confident in moving forward, but

[46:07] they just haven't sent his offer letter

[46:08] yet. Um and and science is tricky

[46:13] because most um science certifications

[46:16] are either life sciences or physics and earth sciences. It's either biology,

[46:22] chemistry, or physics or science. Um, we

[46:26] do have an applicant that has some

[46:29] experience in both. While they're not

[46:31] fully certified in physics, they do have

[46:33] um quite a bit of physics in their um in

[46:36] their undergraduate and graduate work.

[46:38] Um, so that's what we're looking at as

[46:42] far as that goes. um for recommending um

[46:47] some specifics. I'm I think that we

[46:51] should be in a closed session for that.

[46:53] Um talking about some specifics of

[46:55] personnel um for some of the offers that

[46:57] I want to send out.

[47:02] Um and that would need to be a a board

[47:04] action um to discuss those specifics.

[47:09] >> Okay.

[47:11] Do we have someone who could make a

[47:12] motion to approve a closed session to

[47:14] discuss personnel proposals?

[47:18] >> I motion to go in.

[47:21] >> Go ahead, Sarah.

[47:22] >> Go ahead, Carrie.

[47:23] >> Thank you, Carrie. We'll we'll take

[47:25] >> to go into a close session

[47:27] >> and Sarah uh mo seconded the motion.

[47:30] Let's have a vote on that to to have a

[47:32] closed session.

[47:34] Two, three, four.

[47:38] Marta, are you there?

[47:43] Let's see.

[47:48] My hand is up.

[47:50] >> Thank you, Marta.

[47:51] >> Oh, thank you, Shannon.

[47:52] >> Just a reminder that the reason for

[47:55] going in is um to discuss personnel

[47:57] issues and that's the only thing that we

[47:58] can discuss in um in the closed session

[48:03] that we go to. And then um the vote

[48:07] actually goes by name. So um Susan, you

[48:09] would go down the um

[48:13] the list. So the character and

[48:15] competence of of an individual um would be the reason. Um Shannon, can I

[48:21] ask a clarifying question?

[48:25] » Go ahead. Sorry, I

[48:28] >> No, thank you, Shannon.

[48:29] >> This is something that could, you know,

[48:31] is a legally binding thing. So, I just

[48:33] wanted to make sure you're getting it

[48:34] right. But, what is your question?

[48:36] >> Um, so, so some of the details, um, if

[48:40] we're discussing the the qualifications

[48:42] of a specific person for the position,

[48:45] um, and and then, um, if I ask for an

[48:49] exception to the pay scale um, to

[48:51] negotiate, which parts of that would be

[48:54] close session and which not.

[48:57] So

[49:00] you could

[49:01] >> yeah you could discuss the does this

[49:03] character does this individual meet the

[49:05] criteria that you need and discuss that competency. Um

[49:10] if you're asking for a variance to your

[49:13] published pay scale that probably should

[49:15] be more of a public discussion.

[49:16] >> Okay.

[49:17] >> You can you can discuss it in here

[49:19] >> and make sure the board is

[49:20] understanding. But then when you come

[49:21] out, you're going to vote to

[49:24] >> approve a scale, whatever that is, so

[49:26] that it's open and transparent in

[49:28] public. But there's nothing about that can't be done in public.

[49:32] >> Okay.

[49:32] >> If you would choose.

[49:34] >> Okay. Um, great. So,

[49:36] >> so do I need to try again to propose

[49:38] that with the correct wording?

[49:40] >> Yes. Okay.

[49:42] >> Thank you so much, Shannon.

[49:44] >> Yeah.

[49:44] >> Thank you so much for helping us learn

[49:47] this this.

[49:48] >> Okay. I propose that we go into a closed

[49:51] session to discuss the character and

[49:54] competence of an individual for hire.

[50:00] » You know someone who could second that

[50:02] motion.

[50:05] » Did Sarah say that she second?

[50:07] >> Yes.

[50:08] >> Okay. Sarah is seconding. So then we'll

[50:11] have a vote to of going into a closed

[50:13] session to discuss personnel proposals

[50:16] and

[50:17] >> then Susan, you'll just go down the list

[50:19] for this one.

[50:20] >> Okay.

[50:20] >> So you'll say your vote and and

[50:22] >> and I vote yes. Sarah votes

[50:25] >> yes.

[50:26] Marta,

[50:29] yes. We have a yes vote. Christian,

[50:32] we have a yes vote. Carrie,

[50:35] >> yes.

[50:36] >> We have a yes vote. Visa

[50:39] yes vote. Okay. And so we have a

[50:42] unanimous vote to go into close session.

[50:44] Okay. So let me move the board into a

[50:47] breakout room. Um Shannon

[51:12] Carol, were you wanting us to hear you

[51:14] just then?

[51:15] >> Yes,

[51:16] >> I'm muted. I was just making sure that

[51:17] everybody made it back.

[51:27] » Who's going to summarize?

[51:30] I am adding to the

[51:33] >> Did you want to

[51:35] >> summarize that?

[51:38] » I was just going to say

[51:41] >> I added something to the minutes if

[51:43] you'd like me to read that.

[51:44] >> Go ahead.

[51:45] >> Yes. Thank you, Sarah.

[51:46] >> The close session discussed specific

[51:48] individuals and their qualification for

[51:51] a position.

[51:53] just very

[51:59] » and an adjustment to the salary

[52:01] schedule.

[52:03] >> So So now you continue that conversation

[52:05] here.

[52:06] >> Okay.

[52:08] >> So um so I I can take that piece. Um so

[52:11] as executive director I am proposing

[52:13] that we give an exception to the salary

[52:16] schedule um for one of the individuals

[52:18] that we are looking to hire. Um and he

[52:22] would start um the

[52:26] um his employment um we would count

[52:29] every 2 years of his experience as one

[52:33] year instead of every 3 years as one

[52:36] year um to start him on step um four of

[52:40] the salary schedule instead of step two.

[52:43] and also that there would be a stipen

[52:45] for him

[52:47] to take on the position of facilities

[52:49] management.

[52:50] >> I don't know that the board needs to

[52:53] approve that component. The exception

[52:54] that I'm looking for is is just to um

[52:57] give him an exception for the salary

[52:59] schedule.

[53:00] >> Okay.

[53:01] >> I would propose that we vote to give an

[53:03] exception to the salary schedule to

[53:06] count two years as one year instead of

[53:08] three.

[53:11] >> I second the motion.

[53:13] Okay, if we could have a full board vote

[53:16] on that motion. Raise your hand, please,

[53:18] for I of course. So, we have myself and

[53:22] Sarah. Marta is an I vote. Christian

[53:28] is an I vote. Carrie is an I vote. And

[53:32] Thesisa, that's our that's our unanimous

[53:35] vote.

[53:37] >> Thank you. I'll continue working with um

[53:41] with our new hires. Um, let me see if

[53:43] there was anything else that I had on my

[53:47] um update.

[53:51] Um, I think the other um updates to to

[53:54] have I have it down on marketing and

[53:56] outreach after the finance committee

[53:58] report.

[53:59] >> Okay, let's move now to our board

[54:01] committee reports. If we could have

[54:03] Marty give us a finance committee

[54:05] report.

[54:07] Yeah.

[54:08] Um,

[54:11] the

[54:13] information that I get via email from

[54:16] Jeff Bisinger is that everything is on

[54:20] budget. Um, we're being paid as

[54:26] forecast.

[54:27] Um, salaries are being paid. Um, the

[54:32] venue, workspace, the building, whatever

[54:35] you call that, is being paid. Everything

[54:37] looks good as far as being on budget.

[54:43] Waiting the news of the CSP grant.

[54:49] Carol, did we get news on our revolving?

[54:53] Yes, we do have news on the revolving

[54:55] loan. Um

[55:01] so the um we got the promisory note and

[55:05] Susan and I got that signed last Friday

[55:08] and um those funds will be released on

[55:10] May 1st. Um and and so we'll get that

[55:13] into our bank account. Um and and we

[55:17] also are working on um a year-end review

[55:20] of the budget for the board retreat um

[55:23] so that we can do the final um approval

[55:27] and and updates to our budget for our

[55:30] pre-operational year and um and prepare

[55:34] budgets for next year for operations.

[55:40] Hey, are we ready now to move on to our

[55:42] marketing and outreach report? We'll

[55:45] move to Carol for that marketing and

[55:47] outreach report. Um, oh, one final note.

[55:50] >> Oh, one final note on the on the budget

[55:53] review. Um, when you review and approve

[55:56] the budgets in June, um, we have 30 days

[55:59] from that date of approval to upload

[56:01] that to the state. So, we'll that's kind

[56:03] of the process there. Jeff, was there

[56:05] anything that you wanted to add um to

[56:07] that piece?

[56:09] >> No, I think you guys covered it. Um I I

[56:12] think uh just the the revolving loans

[56:15] coming at a good time. You know, we've pretty much spent the um startup

[56:20] grant at this point, which is what was

[56:22] planned. Um but, uh the the revolving

[56:25] loan funds are coming at a good time.

[56:26] So, um, as long as we get that kind of

[56:29] in the expected timeline, we I don't

[56:32] think we'll see a gap in in anything.

[56:34] But Caroline and I talked the other day

[56:36] if if that is delayed a week or so, we

[56:38] may need to um kind of hold off on a

[56:41] couple of payments, but nothing too

[56:42] drastic or big and and Caroline's been

[56:44] great about being upfront with that with

[56:45] everyone, too. So, um, but the revolving

[56:47] loan is coming, so even if it is an

[56:49] issue, it's going to be a five issue,

[56:52] like not anything long term.

[56:57] Okay. So then um with the marketing and outreach um our billboard signs um I

[57:05] still get um so one of the applicants

[57:07] that we had we interviewed today said I

[57:09] saw your billboard and had to go find

[57:11] out more. So I know that traditionally

[57:13] billboards don't get a lot of hits but

[57:15] um our experience with this has been

[57:17] highly successful in in a lot of

[57:19] connections. Um we are updating those

[57:21] with a call to action of people to come

[57:24] and tour now that we have access in our

[57:26] building to provide those tours. Um we

[57:29] are also inviting our families to come

[57:32] into the building. Our office hours um

[57:34] are 4:45 to 6:00 p.m. um Tuesday,

[57:38] Wednesday, Thursday for parents to drop

[57:40] in their um enrollment documentation. Um

[57:45] so we have now the keys to the Provo

[57:47] building and are starting those tours

[57:50] and events. Um we have calendared um

[57:53] cottage meetings here at the building as

[57:57] well as online um access for each of

[57:59] those events and they will be um once a

[58:03] week from now until June so that we can

[58:06] build momentum of people know that they

[58:08] can come. The first week will be on a

[58:10] Tuesday, the second week on a Wednesday,

[58:12] the third week on a Tuesday, and then we

[58:14] go back to Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.

[58:17] Um, and those are clearly calendared so

[58:19] we can hit um whatever evening is free

[58:22] for parents in that. Uh, we're building

[58:24] momentum with our enrolled families and

[58:28] um are planning an Azure Charter High

[58:31] School birthday party for May 2nd. Um we

[58:34] have flyers that we will share with the

[58:35] board for you to um help distribute and

[58:38] get the word out there to come and

[58:40] celebrate. Um we will have um simple

[58:45] activities like a a cornhole or um like

[58:48] a um horseshoe throw game. Um we are

[58:53] inviting the yarn store in in Provo.

[58:56] There's a I don't remember their name,

[58:58] but they're um a handwork store here in

[59:01] Provo that we've already been talking

[59:03] with um where we plan on purchasing a

[59:06] lot of our supplies for our handwork

[59:08] program. Um so, um we'll be inviting

[59:11] them to come and talk to our families

[59:12] about um the resources that they offer.

[59:15] We're also inviting um the farm school

[59:18] down in um Spanish Fork to come and talk

[59:20] to people. um as well as the the butcher

[59:23] that reached out to us about

[59:25] farm-to-table butchering um and using

[59:28] 100% of the animal. Um so just some of

[59:30] our community connections so families

[59:32] can get a sense of these are the types

[59:33] of opportunities they will have when

[59:36] they enroll at Azure Fields. Um, so

[59:39] we'll also have some small crafts like a

[59:41] macrome keychain or um planting um a

[59:46] little pot of plants of of some wild

[59:48] flowers. Um, so they have something that

[59:50] they can take with them. We're also

[59:52] putting together um some swag bags for

[59:55] our first 50 students who enroll. They

[59:58] get a hand dyed um chabori dye um indigo

[1:00:01] dyed bag um with a keychain with our

[1:00:05] logo, a pen, um perhaps a little

[1:00:08] notebook. Um so we're still putting

[1:00:10] together what that looks like, but those

[1:00:12] first 50 families who enroll um when

[1:00:14] they bring their paperwork to us will

[1:00:16] get a um a little bag saying thank you

[1:00:19] for being part of our founding families.

[1:00:22] Um

[1:00:24] and I I think that is it. Oh, so this

[1:00:27] Thursday um so in 2 days um Braden our

[1:00:31] registar and I are also making a visit

[1:00:33] up to Wasatch to set up the articulation

[1:00:37] agreement of how that's been approved

[1:00:40] and so we'll be discussing with them how

[1:00:43] are we going to work together what which

[1:00:44] contact person is going to help send um

[1:00:47] interested families and getting

[1:00:49] information to their parents. So we'll

[1:00:51] be working with them on Thursday for

[1:00:52] that.

[1:00:55] I anticipate three to five students

[1:00:58] perhaps this year up to 10 students a

[1:01:00] year that might be interested in coming

[1:01:02] down from Wasatch um just because it is

[1:01:04] a farther distance.

[1:01:09] Okay. Do we have any other business we

[1:01:11] need to take care of tonight that is not

[1:01:13] on our agenda?

[1:01:15] If not, I will move to adjourn our

[1:01:18] meeting tonight. Thank you so much for

[1:01:20] everyone for coming. Um, can we have

[1:01:23] someone vote or has maybe something?

[1:01:26] >> Okay.

[1:01:30] » Uh, where there wasn't a budget

[1:01:32] amendment at this time, it was um just

[1:01:34] an update that we'll do that in June.

[1:01:39] >> Do

[1:01:41] make a motion to Oh, sorry.

[1:01:44] >> Can we Did we get an update on how many

[1:01:48] students we have so far? Is that

[1:01:50] something we can discuss in here?

[1:01:51] >> We have 18.

[1:01:53] >> Okay. Does it today?

[1:01:55] >> And what was there was a date in June

[1:01:57] that we have to have 100 by. Is that

[1:01:59] correct?

[1:01:59] >> June 18th.

[1:02:01] >> Okay.

[1:02:02] >> That's the next

[1:02:05] Oh, that's the um next that's the state

[1:02:08] charter school board meeting in June and that's when we report to them on our progress.

[1:02:17] Um, is there any advice you can give us

[1:02:20] besides continue to market like crazy?

[1:02:23] Um, or have you seen schools with this

[1:02:26] before from your perspective? You know,

[1:02:29] it is getting tight and it's towards the

[1:02:31] deadline. So, what have you seen?

[1:02:33] >> So, I know that you've got an

[1:02:35] articulation agreement that was approved

[1:02:37] with Waldorf um holder.

[1:02:40] >> Yeah. I don't think it would hurt if you

[1:02:43] hit the other charter schools in the

[1:02:45] area

[1:02:46] >> and asked them just gave left a flyer.

[1:02:50] >> Would you share this with your parents?

[1:02:51] Would you be comfortable adding this to

[1:02:53] your next family newsletter so that

[1:02:56] those elementary schools that are near

[1:02:58] you know that you're there? And maybe

[1:03:03] um and I must admit I know you've moved

[1:03:06] into new building but I'm not I cannot

[1:03:08] picture it in my head. So, but I would I would canvas the rest of the

[1:03:12] area and any other charter schools. Even

[1:03:15] if it's a different philosophy, parents

[1:03:17] might be interested in an option. So,

[1:03:20] ask take flyers in invite them to come

[1:03:23] to your big birthday celebration. Invite

[1:03:24] those people. I know that you mentioned

[1:03:27] I've heard tonight um homeschool

[1:03:29] families.

[1:03:30] >> I'm I'm assuming you've already tapped

[1:03:32] into that market to make sure you're

[1:03:34] doing that, which is great. We were at

[1:03:36] the um BYU.

[1:03:40] >> Yes.

[1:03:41] >> Fits all. Utah fits all. We were there.

[1:03:43] Yeah.

[1:03:44] >> Good. Good. I mean, I wasn't there, but

[1:03:45] I just saw the the um advertising or

[1:03:48] posting of it later. I know that you are

[1:03:52] further away from Mountain Sunrise

[1:03:55] Academy, but I don't think it would hurt

[1:03:57] to stop in there and leave some of your

[1:04:00] flyers and your information because

[1:04:02] there might be families further south

[1:04:05] that would consider it. And at this

[1:04:07] point, you have nothing to lose.

[1:04:10] >> Yep.

[1:04:10] >> Other than just reaching out. So, I

[1:04:12] would I would do that and look at

[1:04:14] additional schools

[1:04:16] >> that might feed into your school.

[1:04:20] And then also,

[1:04:22] >> right, I've also connected with Tam

[1:04:24] Watson and and we discussed other

[1:04:26] options for that as well. Um,

[1:04:29] you might school that's near MSA also,

[1:04:32] Lakeside. Have we done any advertising

[1:04:34] through them? Okay, good idea there,

[1:04:36] too. I one of our enrollments was a um

[1:04:42] referral from a John Hancock 8th grade

[1:04:44] teacher that said, "I think this school

[1:04:46] will be a good fit for you." So we we

[1:04:49] we're getting it out there. No, that's

[1:04:51] where you're networking like when you

[1:04:52] come to conference and network with

[1:04:54] people if they know then that's great. I

[1:04:56] know that Tamara was extremely excited

[1:04:58] when she came back and to tell us about

[1:05:00] some of the things that are going on.

[1:05:02] She's an advocate and if you can utilize

[1:05:04] her in any way,

[1:05:07] >> please do. I'm reaching out to her again

[1:05:09] this week. She was on she went out of

[1:05:11] the country for a bit. So we'll be

[1:05:13] reaching out again this week.

[1:05:14] >> That's great. So yes, if she's whatever

[1:05:17] she offers, take her up on it because

[1:05:19] she I know that you connected over

[1:05:22] brunch or breakfast or something, but

[1:05:24] she is she was excited about your your

[1:05:27] opportunity. So So we'll be definitely

[1:05:28] reconnecting with her. One last thing

[1:05:30] before Car's hand, um we are attending

[1:05:34] Treeides Mayfair on May 9th. Perfect. So

[1:05:38] we'll be talking to the families in that

[1:05:40] community on on May 9th.

[1:05:42] That's excellent. Are we going to be at

[1:05:45] MSA's Mayfair as well? Um, I know we've

[1:05:50] been talking about it. We were at their

[1:05:52] winter fair and and had great

[1:05:54] connections with the families there. Um,

[1:05:56] and and so I don't know if we were able

[1:05:59] to find that date yet or not. Um, I know

[1:06:03] we looked at it and talked about it. So,

[1:06:06] >> yeah, I can send you the date.

[1:06:07] >> Okay. Um,

[1:06:10] okay. This is an uncomfortable idea for

[1:06:13] me, but I it won't leave my mind. I know

[1:06:15] that we talked about it, Carol, a little

[1:06:18] bit, but it was before we had the

[1:06:20] building.

[1:06:21] >> I have just been kind of scheming with a

[1:06:24] friend to um host a mom's night out,

[1:06:28] just like a dance party.

[1:06:30] >> Great.

[1:06:31] >> And we know that there's like tons of

[1:06:33] moms that just want to be able to dance

[1:06:36] in like a safe environment.

[1:06:37] >> Mhm. Would it be crazy for us to host

[1:06:40] that the building now that we have it?

[1:06:43] Because I think that would just be a way

[1:06:44] to get our name out there. It could have

[1:06:48] with the building principal. We're

[1:06:49] trying to be very respectful that that

[1:06:51] we're just borrowing the space right

[1:06:53] now. Um and they've been very gracious

[1:06:55] to clear out this office for us. Um

[1:06:57] they've been pretty open to those kinds

[1:06:59] of things. They make second event um for

[1:07:03] as long as it doesn't coincide with

[1:07:04] their school schedule. So I would need

[1:07:06] to clear that with them. um they're

[1:07:08] generally out of the building by 4:30,

[1:07:10] by 5 definitely. Um and and so we could

[1:07:14] look at doing that in the space and we

[1:07:16] would just want to be very respectful

[1:07:17] about um making sure everything is is

[1:07:20] really cleaned up and put back in place

[1:07:22] um after such a thing.

[1:07:24] >> Yeah. And we could do that. All we would

[1:07:26] need is like a little bit of gym gym

[1:07:28] space.

[1:07:28] >> Mhm.

[1:07:29] >> And it it would be really like low key,

[1:07:32] but that's something that's shared on

[1:07:34] more spaces if we created an event like

[1:07:38] that that would be shared on different

[1:07:40] spaces but still with moms.

[1:07:42] >> Mhm.

[1:07:43] >> So

[1:07:45] something to consider.

[1:07:47] >> If you if you can ask about that, get

[1:07:50] back to me. I'm happy to.

[1:07:53] >> We're going to do it anyways. Let's

[1:07:56] help you with your venue. You'll

[1:07:57] probably need to I don't know that we

[1:07:59] have access to their sound system in the

[1:08:00] room, so you don't want to bring in your

[1:08:02] own um speakers or whatever, but um

[1:08:04] yeah, come in and look at the building

[1:08:06] and see what you think.

[1:08:08] >> Okay. A lot of times sound system, you

[1:08:10] know, you just have to have the right

[1:08:12] plug.

[1:08:12] >> I know from a previous I had with them,

[1:08:15] um I think their their stuff is in a

[1:08:19] separate lock room

[1:08:20] >> that isn't in the main room in itself.

[1:08:23] So,

[1:08:24] >> okay.

[1:08:25] >> Well, just an idea.

[1:08:27] >> Okay.

[1:08:29] Thanks, guys.

[1:08:32] >> All right. So, um, do we have a motion

[1:08:36] to vote to adjourn our our meeting

[1:08:40] closing?

[1:08:41] >> I sure do. Yes, I do. Do you want me to

[1:08:43] read that?

[1:08:44] >> Yes.

[1:08:46] that a healthy social life is found when

[1:08:49] in the mirror of each human soul the

[1:08:51] whole community finds its reflection and

[1:08:53] when in the community the virtue of each

[1:08:56] one is living.

[1:08:59] Thank you.

[1:09:01] So um if we could have a vote now to

[1:09:04] adjourn our our April meeting of the

[1:09:08] Azure Fields Charter High School. Could

[1:09:10] we have someone make a motion to to

[1:09:13] adjourn this meeting?

[1:09:16] Thank you, Lisa.

[1:09:19] >> Okay. And thank you, Sarah. And then

[1:09:23] let's have a vote from members.

[1:09:28] If you could raise your hand to say I.

[1:09:31] >> My hand is up.

[1:09:33] >> I see you, Marta. Okay. Just a minute to

[1:09:36] get my voting chart here. So that is a

[1:09:39] vote by Susan McDonald. Sarah Archipald,

[1:09:44] yes. And Marta, yes. Christian,

[1:09:49] yes. Carrie Shippers, yes. And Thea

[1:09:55] Kimos. Thank you all for your attention

[1:09:59] and for coming to the meeting tonight.

[1:10:02] Appreciate you all and have a good

[1:10:04] evening.

[1:10:05] >> Bye everyone.

April 21 Board Meeting

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