WESTERN MENNONITE SCHOOL BOARD Monday, February 27, 2017 Equipping Students for a Life of Faith and Learning Present: Kirk Jespersen, Linda Dibble, Zach Nicoli, Naomi Quesada, Eric Martin, Cheeri Barnhart, Bob Baker, Chad Hochstetler, Allen Schrock, Andy Kauffman Guests: Kyle Mast, Denise DeGroot, Chad Rush Devotions: Kirk shared from a book by David Jeremiah, Hopeful Parenting, in which he talked about how a Christian home can be a light to the world – like city lights seen at night from an airplane. Families are here for the perpetuation of the faith. Similarly, Western is a bright light for family, teachers, and staff. Then from the book, Jesus Calling: keep our eyes on God. When waves of adversity wash over us and we are ready to look elsewhere, God will care for us so don’t worry about tomorrow. Focus on God (Ps 73:23). Kyle Mast reported on the endowments and how they work and are invested. He said we would save on fees if we combine the smaller endowments together with the larger ones into one account and keep track of the separate endowment fund balances through the accounting system or on a spreadsheet. He recommended that we have a policy whereby a certain percentage of every gift goes into the endowment. This may not be possible in the current circumstances but something to be considered in the future. Even if the percentage were small (e.g., 2%) it would add up over time. Also, we could change the way we handle them to allow the principal portion to grow so that in the long term the amount we take out each year grows as well. Chad Rush and Denise DeGroot reported on accreditation. We are basically done gathering information and answering questions. The site visit is scheduled for March 14. Our AdvancedEd self-assessment revealed fairly good numbers but there is always room for improvement. The MEA self-assessment had similar results. The feedback from stakeholders also returned good averages. Student performance data was discussed. The external accreditation team will give results on Friday, March 17. The lead person will come present to the faculty and there will be a written report. Board members are welcome to attend. It is not a pass/no pass situation and we will continue to be accredited. The accreditors are mainly interested in school improvement. The surveys and summary reports have been made available to the Board. Consent Agenda: The minutes from December 5, 2016 and January 28, 2017 were approved with changes to name spelling. Administration reports: Question was raised regarding enrollment. We are still working with Tim Fahndrich on the online platform. He will be identifying the school’s “champions” and we will engage them in reaching out to prospective students. We have a regular weekly meeting with the advancement team in which we discuss plans and
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keep people on track. We are putting yard signs out where people will allow this. Allen talked to Rich Martin about our relationships with the feeder schools. Eric reported on the Strategic Planning Committee meeting. We had a new member who is a parent and who has a good business/marketing background. The committee got rolling pretty well and Eric hopes to meet again before our next regular board meeting. Old Business: Want to keep the direction for the Personnel Committee to propose an exit interview process on the agenda. [Executive Session] Motion made by Eric and seconded by Linda that we charge the Strategic Planning Committee with starting the process of “branding” the school with a goal of having the process completed by the beginning of the 2018-19 school year. The committee may delegate work to an ad hoc group. Passed unanimously. Motion made by Andy and seconded by Linda that the Executive Committee of the Board work up a draft revised faith statement for the school and bring it back to the Board for the March 20, 2017 meeting. Passed unanimously. Meeting adjourned at 10:00pm. Next Meeting: March 20, 2017 (Andy) Public minutes – may be redacted for confidentiality
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