Rocky Mountain Academy of Evergreen

Board Meeting Minutes

Page 1

Meeting Date: January 15, 2009

Meeting Location: RMAE Middle School Building - Spanish Classroom
Meeting called to order at: 06:48 PM by President John Morrill
Board members in attendance:
John Morrill (President) Bill Tomasi Ryan Lucas (non-voting)
Jeff Wilhite Nancy Fiore Jeff Robertson
Karen Hines Mike Novick

Others in attendance (from sign in sheet):

Dave Snead Jill Snead Edred Benton
Tracey Benton Joe Zementz

A Quorum is reached with those present, on the phone, and through proxies received.
Meeting notification requirements have been met.
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all in attendance.

Board and Public Comment:

• Joe Zementz informed the Board that his family is a previous RMAE family and that they
had to move to Madison, WI for business purposes. He also stated that he and his family are
in the process of moving back to Evergreen from Wisconsin and he would like to get his
children (5th grade, 3rd grade, and kindergarten) back into RMAE as soon as possible. He
also informed the Board that were long term RMAE families and were founding family of
the preschool.
• Edred and Tracy Benton have a child in 1st grade now and another who will be in
kindergarten next year. They were enrolled in RMAE pre-k but then decided to move their
child to Marshdale for logistical (shortened commute) purposes only. Edred said that they
didn’t realize what a large difference there would be between RMAE and Marshdale. Less
than 1 year has passed since they left RMAE so they are petitioning the Board for re-
enrollment under the current wait list by-laws.
• David and Jill Snead have a son (Nolan) in 8th grade here at RMAE and a daughter who was
in the 5th grade over at Evergreen Academy. Evergreen Academy unexpectedly shut down
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the 4th through 8th grade classes over the holiday break and he is petitioning the Board for
enrollment of their daughter as soon as possible.

Consent Agenda:
• Minutes from the 12/11/08 and 12/18/08 meetings were read and approved.
Motion: John Morrill motioned to accept the 12/11/08 and 12/18/08 meeting minutes;
Mike Novick seconded the motion.
Discussion: Mike Novick wanted clarification on the 12/18/08 minutes as to why the later
votes were totaling 6 votes and the earlier votes were totaling 7. Bill Tomasi informed Mike
that the vote counts changed because Karen Hines had to leave the meeting early as is
notated next to her name in the attendance section.
Vote: 7-0, approved (no one abstained).

Updates:
• Director – Ryan sent his Directors report electronically to the Board. Some highlights from
his report are as follows:
o Snow and accident.
o Enrollment.
o Delayed Start vs Snow Days.
Ryan also informed the Board that they had a Master Schedule meeting last Monday and that
it was a very good meeting. February 11th at 3:45pm is the next full meeting. Ryan informed
the Board that last week he was late by 30 minutes to a new parent orientation meeting due to
a scheduling error.
• PTO – PTO sent the report electronically to the Board. Some highlights from the report are
as follows:
o Auction – Volunteer Hours. Ryan expressed a concern that the ability to buy
volunteer hours could become a slippery slope where families of means could buy out
their volunteer requirements so that this has to be on a try-it-and-see basis.
o Log Pile – John informed the Board that he has been in discussions with a local wood
cutter who will make 8 foot benches for us at $100 per bench. Ryan indicated his
request to make 2 classroom areas: 1 out front by the parking lot between the Admin
and Lower El building and 1 out by the greenhouse. Ryan also would like to get as
many as possible so that we can put the extras around the traffic circle sidewalk for
the kids as well. The ability to get your family name burned into a bench would be a
good auction item idea. Mike Novick mentioned that we would still need to decide
what to do with the extra logs and/or the logs that are too small to make benches out
of.
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• Preschool – Debbie Caruso will have a school calendar ready by next month. She mentioned
that the Preschool is not tied to RMAE with regards to snow days. She stated that as long as
she and one other teacher are able to make it in then they will be open. Ryan will check into
the ability to split the preschool apart from the main campus with regards to calling into the
news to report closure. Debbie also informed the Board that family night has been moved to
May 20th. Debbie has 1 staff member out due to a death in the family until the end of January
but she has someone filling in so there isn’t a coverage issue. She also informed the Board
that the kid art project is going well.
o Preschool Lease – Debbie informed the Board that she and Dina have met with Andy
regarding the lease and will present our list of redline changes to them at a meeting on
1/23/09 at 1:30pm. Jeff Wilhite informed the Board that there is a potential issue
with the security deposit that we paid to the synagogue back in 2003 - we show a
check with this written on it in the comment section but they don’t have a
corresponding entry in their bookkeeping system. Additional research on this topic is
required on our part.
• AAA – Nancy Fiore informed the Board that they had the first of a series of 5 meetings
related to the Math Curriculum. They are having parents go through the books from the
different curriculums and compare the content against CORE knowledge requirements. They
have completed the process on the first curriculum, MacMillion McGraw Hill, and the
remaining curriculums are scheduled as follows: Monday January 26th will be Investigation,
January 27th will be Scott Foresman, and February 2nd will be Saxon. The committee is
scheduling February 9th as its decision day. The committee will then present the results to
AAA at their February meeting. Ryan hopes to have the grade transcripts from our previous
students who are now high school students so we can evaluate how they are making the
transition. Nancy also indicated that Sue Larson will be helping out with the GT program
and that is looks like we will finally get this accomplished.
• Financial – Jeff Wilhite handed out an updated budget spreadsheet to the Board. Some
highlights from the spreadsheet and the discussions that ensued are:
o Annual Giving to date = $50k received + $14k pledged. 60% participation so far.
Estimated $50k from auction = $114k and the budget requirement was $125k so we
are going to be close.
o PE busses…75% of middle school families paid something. To date the school has
collected $6,015 from 75% of the Middle School Families. Jeffco has charged
$173.50 per day or $1041. If the per trip charge holds and with 14 more days
remaining the total cost should be an additional $2429 leaving a $2,545 surplus.
Davey coach refund still has not appeared on our credit card yet.
o Rich Goben is a JeffCo employee again in order to have system access and this has
caused Dina to split some invoices a couple of times which may be confusing on our
budget spreadsheet but will not impact the bottom line.
o Lauren Caruso is helping out more than expected in the math class which is a good
thing but will cause a minor additional impact on the teacher aide budget line item.
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o Dina Walton would like to early register for the CLCS conference in order to save
some money but the Board needs to approve this expense item. Ryan informed the
Board that on February 6th there will not be any elementary school because the
teachers will be at the conference.
o Jeff Wilhite informed the Board that the copier is still a large monthly expense item.
Rich Goben informed the Board that he has been monitoring the use and that the
teachers are aware of the expenses and that they are monitoring their own use closely.
o The quarterly meeting with SKS (our bond holder) is scheduled for the week after
next and we are not expecting any issues.
• Facilities – John informed the Board that they are making some progress. SKS helped the
Montessori School of Evergreen build their multiple purpose building and we were able to
take a tour of the facility with them. The next facilities committee meeting is scheduled for
next Wednesday at 6:00pm at the Morrill’s house.
• Assistant Director – Rich Goben informed the Board that he has now been working for
RMAE for 13 days now (2 to 3 days per week) and that he feels that the job is bigger than he
anticipated but that he is still excited and feels he is making an impact in the day-to-day
operations. He feels that he is an asset for the Elementary classes due to his background and
experiences and can offer teachers suggestions and ideas. Karen Hines mentioned that the
teachers really appreciate Rich’s involvement and efforts. John asked Rich about the level
effort and skill set that is required for the jobs that he has taken off of Ryan’s plate so far.
Rich indicated that he feels that the position requires someone with experience (not someone
fresh out of school) and that it would be a plus if the person has a charter school background
instead of a neighborhood school background. Rich feels that the person should also have a
Masters degree in education, a minimum of 10 years experience, and an elementary school
background since Ryan has middle school background.

Motion: John Morrill motioned that the Board move the class size and enrollment exceptions up in the
agenda; Jeff Robertson seconded.
Discussion: None.
Vote: 7-0, approved (no one abstained).

New Business:
• Enrollment exceptions and class size – Ryan Lucas informed the Board that there are the
following class sizes and vacancies in the school (vacancies based on a 23 student class):
2007-2008 2008-2009
o K = Current: 48 Vacancies: -2 Estimated Vacancies: 12
o 1 = Current: 40 Vacancies: 6 Estimated Vacancies: 0
o 2 = Current: 44 Vacancies: 2 Estimated Vacancies: 0
o 3 = Current: 46 Vacancies: 0 Estimated Vacancies: 0
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o 4 = Current: 24 Vacancies: -1 Estimated Vacancies: 0

o 5 = Current: 24 Vacancies: -1 Estimated Vacancies: 0
o 6 = Current: 46 Vacancies: 0 Estimated Vacancies: 7
o 7 = Current: 46 Vacancies: 0 Estimated Vacancies: 0
o 8 = Current: 35 Vacancies: 11 Estimated Vacancies: 0
Motion: Mike Novick motioned that the Board accept the 5th grade daughter of the Snead
family into RMAE immediately due to the extenuating circumstances; Jeff Wilhite seconded.
Discussions: Mike mentioned that the fact that she is going to be here in 6th grade due to
expected openings in that grade and that she is a sibling of a current RMAE student so she
would have wait list preference anyway so it makes sense to admit her now instead of having
to force her to get into another neighborhood school for 4 month and then make the move to
a 3rd school next year. Mr. Sneed informed the Board that their daughter is currently at home
and isn’t enrolled in any school. John reminded the Board that there were two exceptions
requested, the Sneeds, which we were discussing now, and the Bentons. Ryan Lucas
informed the Board that the 5th grade teacher is against the addition of another student due to
the makeup of his classroom this year. Mike Novick mentioned that what separates Charter
Schools from Neighborhood schools is the fact that Neighborhood schools have to take kids
in and we as a charter school have the ability to make the decision based on the
circumstances of the situation and grant exceptions. Ryan Lucas indicated that he called the
Evergreen Academy teacher and was told that the student in question is a good student and
not disruptive influence in the classroom.
Vote: 5-2, approved (Jeff Robertson and Bill Tomasi against; no one abstained).

Motion: Mike Novick motioned that the Board accept all of the Zementz family into
RMAE immediately due to extenuating circumstances; Jeff Wilhite seconded.
Discussions: Ryan mentioned that the classes are all at capacity and that this would put the
5th grade classroom up to 26 students, the 3rd grade classroom up to 24 students, and the
kindergarten classroom up to 47 students. Mike Novick mentioned that the 5th grade
classroom issue goes away next year due again to the pending openings in 6th grade. Karen
Hines informed the Board that the Kindergarten classroom has had to remove tables already
in order to accommodate the existing class size and she is not sure that they could accept
another student. Ryan mentioned that the early grades are most impacted by classroom sizes
and he would support not taking the kindergartener at this point in time. Rich Goben said
that in his opinion all teachers would answer 'no' to anyone asking if it were okay to add
students to their class midyear. He further informed the board that he has been successful
with 34 kindergartner students in the past and that this is more dependent on the students
coming into the school. Karen Hines stated that this is a good family and that can make a
difference. Mr. Zementz informed the Board that he feels that his wife would be willing to
volunteer in the classroom in order to help offset the class size increase. Ryan indicated that
in order to support his teacher he would have to add another part time classroom assistant
(about a $4,000 cost) in order to support the 5th grade teacher and to get the student to teacher
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ration down to 13:1 (there is already a half time assistant in the class). Jeff Wilhite
(Treasurer) indicated that RMAE does have money in the budget to fund this expense item.
Vote: 4-2, approved (Jeff Robertson and Bill Tomasi against; John Morrill abstained).

Motion: Mike Novick motioned that the Board allow the Benton family to by-pass the
waitlist for next year’s enrollment per RMAE bylaws due to the fact that their departure has
been less than 1 year; Jeff Wilhite seconded.
Discussions: None.
Vote: 7-0, approved (no one abstained).

• Vacant Board Positions – John Morrill informed the Board that we have received 2 letters
of interest for the open position: Ann Lane and Seanna Mulligan. John further stated that he
was uncertain if Maureen Graff was interested and asked Mike Novick if he had another
letter of interest. Mike said that Maureen was not able to make the meeting but may be
interested. Seanna Mulligan is the only candidate present at the meeting. Mike Novick stated
that out of the 3, only Maureen is a true community member and not a parent of a RMAE
student. Ryan indicated his concerns about Maureen’s ability to blend in with the Board
based on feedback that he has received from various past co-workers of Marie.
Motion: Ryan Lucas motioned that the Board accept Seanna Mulligan in order to fulfill the
vacant community representative position; Jeff Robertson seconded.
Discussions: Ryan informed the Board that Seanna has experience with both neighborhood
schools as well as our charter school so he feels she is qualified to fill the vacant community
member position. Mike Novick informed the Board that he feels we should wait and at least
meet the other community rep candidate first before we vote on this position.
Vote: 4-3, approved (Mike Novick, Nancy Fiore, and Bill Tomasi against; no one abstained).

Motion: John Morrill motioned that the Board move the Board Composition up in the agenda; Bill
Tomasi seconded.
Discussion: None.
Vote: 7-0, approved (no one abstained).

Old Business:
• Board Composition – John Morrill informed the Board that he had discussed in the past
bringing on more Board members and he would like to increase the size of the Board by 2
more Parent Reps with a 2 year alternating cycles in order to have 3 positions up for re-
election every year. He stated that he feels that it is important to make sure there are enough
“doers” to get committees formed and moving along. Too often the work only gets done by
those on the Board and it would be helpful to have Board positions assigned as liaisons or
head of areas.
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Motion: John Morrill motioned that the Board amend the by-laws in order to add two more
parent representatives with terms aligning so that we have 3 positions up for re-election every
year; Jeff Wilhite seconded.
Discussions: Ryan mentioned that he feels strongly that if we are expanding the Board
composition that we should also add an additional Teacher Representative position. Mike
Novick informed the Board that he feels strongly that we have too many voting positions
already compared to other charter schools and getting parent involvement by adding Board
positions is the wrong way to go. Lengthy discussions ensued around Management Boards
vs. Governance Boards, which type of Board we are, the type of Board we should be, and the
pros / cons of each option.
Vote: 4-3, motion failed (by-law changes require a 2/3 approval) (Nancy Fiore, Mike
Novick, Jeff Robertson against; no one abstained).

Motion: Ryan Lucas motioned that the Board modify the by-laws in order to add a single
parent representative board position in order to avoid an even number of voting positions,
and that the position is elected every odd numbered year; Karen Hines seconded.
Discussions: John Morrill informed the Board that he feels strongly that if this motion
passes, that it is not to be filled tonight and that it should go through the public posting
process and is appointed for only 5 months until a RMAE family wide election can be held.
Vote: 7-0, approved (no one abstained).

• Focus (Asst Director, Facilities/PE, GT) – No additional discussions were held on these
topics as they were covered earlier in the meeting.
• Annual Giving – Annual Giving information was covered earlier in the financial update
section. Jeff Robertson will update the board in the pickup/drop-off area as soon as
physically possible.
• Set long range planning for 2nd Board meeting in January & select invitees – John
Morrill said this will be a short business Board meeting with a section where we need to
discuss the long range plan of the school. Ryan will begin the discussion with a 20 minutes
vision. Invitees: present presidents and president elect of PTO, Cheryl Hadsell, Mike
Munier, and Jim Griffin. Ryan asked each Board member to write up a paragraph outlining
the strengths and weaknesses of our school (both over the short term and long term) and send
these out via the email to the other Board members by next week Friday.
• CDE capital construction grant – Jeff Wilhite informed the Board that Dina has found a
state grant that could possibly be used to help finish the basement of the administrative
building. Seanna informed the Board that she has worked with the GoCo grant in the past
with good success. Ryan asked if we could use this money in order to offset the costs
associated with projects like: creating an ADA accessible path between CDE and RMAE,
creating a ADA accessible path from the lower parking lot to the upper parking lot, creating a
sidewalk that connects the pioneer path with the path to the open space, creating a cross walk
between the pioneer path and the new path, putting in warning signs reminding drivers that
we are a school zone, creating a sidewalk in back of each of the buildings for emergency
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egress, creating a fire access lane at the back of the property, and installing a fire suppression
system in the admin building? Jeff Wilhite will take these suggestions back to Dina.
Executive Session:
• Pursuant to section 24-6-402(4)(c), the Board is going into executive session at 9:40pm for
the discussion of a matter required to be kept confidential by federal or state law or rules and
regulations. The Board has invited new Board member Seanna Mulligan to attend the
executive session.
Motion: John Morrill motioned to come out of executive session at 09:52 PM; Karen Hines
seconded the motion.
Discussion: None.
Vote: 7-0, approved (no one abstained).

Action Items to be Completed Before Next Board Meeting -

• All – send John list of strengths and weaknesses for next discussion at the next meeting
• John –Post the open Board position in the GG.
• John - Reschedule next Board meeting from 1/29/09 as it conflicts with Science Fair
• John - ask Rich Goben to provide written report

Board and Public Comment:

• None

Next board meeting scheduled for: January 29th, 2008 at: 6:30 pm

With no further business, this meeting was adjourned at: 9:58 PM

Motion: John Morrill moved to adjourn the meeting; Nancy Fiore seconded the motion.
Discussions: None.
Vote: 7-0, approved (No one abstained)

Respectfully submitted

William Tomasi
Secretary