[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.