WESTERN MENNONITE SCHOOL BOARD Monday, April 24, 2017 Equipping Students for a Life of Faith and Learning Present: Allen Schrock, Kirk Jespersen, Zach Nicoli, Cheeri Barnhart, Bob Baker, Naomi Quesada, Linda Dibble, Andy Kauffman, Chad Hochstetler Guests: Diana Blackstone-Helt, Dottie Kamilos, Sandi Martin Devotion: Eric shared from the heart. He is doing a Bible study on Acts. The early church usually prayed not for safety and comfort but for courage and boldness. When they suffered, they would count it as pure joy. They had very little compared to us. We should not forget to thank God for what he does. Guests: The guests shared some areas of concern and thanked board members for their service. Their goal is to see how the board and faculty/staff can work together. One area might be to have a current teacher serve on the search committee. Board members asked questions of the guests. Minutes from 4-4-2017 were approved. Admin reports were briefly discussed. Andy discussed the staff’s request to extend the school year by a week. Moved by Linda and seconded by Bob to extend the school year for 2017-18 at request of faculty with no additional pay, which was part of the request. Approved unanimously. Finance Committee Report: Tuition – Chad H. shared the committee’s discussion about tuition. Our high school tuition is high in comparison to other school. However, when fees are considered not as far apart as it appears from just looking at tuition. Committee recommended leaving high school tuition at $8,950, middle school at $7,390, and international at $29,500. Moved by Cheeri, seconded by Linda to leave tuition at current rates. Approved unanimously. Outsourcing – The committee reported that the final proposal from the potential outsourcing firm was fairly expensive. Therefore the committee recommended that we not outsource accounting functions but work to improve current situation. It is possible we might outsource tuition management. Financial Report Example - Approved by unanimous consent.
Budget – The committee presented a proposed budget. This is a moving target with all of the changes that are in process. It is based on 155 students and 26 employees. It currently has an accounting loss but is cash positive. Moved by Linda, seconded by Kirk to accept the budget as presented. Approved unanimous. Personnel committee: An exit interview document had been emailed. A question was asked as to whether the intent was to just give the form to people or try to talk in person. Also, is this for families, employees, or both? We can attach to the check out list for employees. Maybe put the form online for others. Faith Statement – okay to give to faculty & staff for feedback. Status of search process – there are three viable candidates. Interviews will occur in near future. Status of board members – Kirk will be leaving the board. Eric will be leaving since he has taken a position in Virginia. Meeting adjourned at 10:30. [Public minutes – may be redacted for confidentiality]