Back to Basics Charter School Foundation, Inc.

Board of Directors Meeting

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

7PM

In attendance:  Dr. Terrie Nolinske, Ms. Margie Lanoue, Ms. Nancy Hutson, Mr. Vinny Medero, Kelly Jo Lamb, Esq., Ms. Lynne Volpe, Mr. Scott LaBaw, Mr. Andre Buford, Gary Hocevar, Mr. Gil Schisler, Ms. Alba Mas and Mr. Thomas Ries

Excused absences:  Dr. Steve Shivers and Dr. Lew Kirk

1. Call to Order: Mr. Schisler, Board President, called the meeting to order at 7:04PM.

2. Approval of Minutes – Mr. Gil Schisler -A motion was introduced to approve the minutes from the November board meeting by Ms. Lanoue and seconded by Ms. Mas.  Mr. Medero requested that a correction be made to 8 (b) on page 2.  The minutes should reflect that:   “Senator Victor Crist has volunteered to be an honorary member of the Steering Committee and will be working with Representative Ed Homan to co-sponsor and formally request State matching funding for the new land and facility, up to $2.25M (see attached report).”

The board voted unanimously to approve the minutes as amended.

3. Treasurer’s Report – Ms. Nancy Hutson:  See attached report

4. Principal’s Report – Mr. Hocevar

• Mr. Hocevar discussed the article that was included with the board packet this month regarding electronic textbooks and the “new face of learning.” 
• Mr. Hocevar has requested that each grade level house select a community service project for the second semester in which all students in that particular grade participate
• The faculty and administration will continue to work on aligning the curriculum.
• FCAT testing season will begin in February.
• The 2007 Drama Production is scheduled for January19&20.
• Mr. Buford reported that reading and language is being stressed across the board.  Faculty is reading Lay That Trumpet Down, which is the school-wide book for spring.
• TCMS has been nominated to become an NCLB Blue Ribbon School for the 2006/2007 school year.  TCMS falls within the criteria required by the federal government, which states that a school must either be in the top 10% of the top performing schools in the state of Florida, or have at least 40% of at-risk students.  Mr. Schisler responded by stating that he and board could not be any prouder of what the faculty and staff have been able to accomplish.

5. Faculty Report – Mr. Scott LaBaw

·        Reported that faculty is currently working on course descriptions for next year.

·        Stated that the faculty was concerned about the status of the new facility, expressed sentiment that several teachers wanted an update, and hoped that things were progressing so we’d have our own facility next year.   He stated that this was a critical year and that the teachers are currently making many sacrifices to work in the crowded conditions and would like to know that they will not have to stay here next year.

·        Mr. Schisler stated that the board’s official position is that they plan for TCMS to be in the new school for the 2007/2008 school year.

6. PRA Report – Mrs. Lanoue – (see attached report).

Mrs. Lanoue asked what the board was going to do as far as sponsoring a table at the February auction.  Mr. Schisler recommended that the board contribute towards sponsoring a table, as it always has in the past.  Mrs. Lanoue then motioned that the board contribute towards the Royal Star sponsorship ($1,500).  Mr. Medero seconded the motion and the board then voted unanimously to approve the motion.

7. MOSI Report – Dr. Terrie Nolinske reported that MOSI’s annual fundraiser, Einstein on Wine, would take place on Sat., Feb. 3.  She also said that she had recently been placed in charge of creating the new health exhibit for MOSI, and that she would like to use our students as part of a focus group to determine what should be in that exhibit.

8. Committee Reports:

·        Finance – the budget will be presented to the board in March.  Ms. Hutson had no other report to share with the board at this time.

·        Development – (see attached report).  Mr. Medero reported that Rep. Traviesa, at the request of Mayor Affronti, would like a tour of the school (tentatively scheduled for next Friday).  Mr. Belfiore and Mr. McPhillips have joined the Steering Committee.

·        Nominating – No report (Dr. Shivers was not in attendance).

·        Transition – Mr. Schisler reported that the proposed annexation of the property by the City of Temple Terrace has been put on hold by the county until the legal people work out issues of continuity are worked out.  Bond will be approved at the February Board of County Commissioners meeting, and a tour of the school by the investment group will occur in later March or early April.  Mr. Schisler requested that a motion be introduced to allow him and Gary Hocevar to enter final negotiations with schools, currently 3 schools are interested in subleasing the current facility.  Ms. Volpe made the motion, which was seconded by Ms. Mas and the board voted unanimously to approve the motion.

·        Building Committee:  All County approvals obtained, except for the transportation concurrency, which is still awaiting comments from their staff.  MBSI has been authorized to order the steel and materials for the buildings and to begin fabrication.

9. New Business:  Mr. Schisler requested a motion to make whoever is elected to the position of Board Secretary, the “Registered Agent.”  A “Registered Agent” is a person who accepts legal documents (i.e., notice of lawsuit) on behalf of the board.  Ms. Mas moved; Ms. Lamb seconded the motion and the board voted unanimously to pass the motion.  He asked Mr. Hocevar to draft the resolution and place it in the board policies.

10. Old Business: Mr. Medero then requested that all board members make a cash donation towards the Building Fund so that families would see that the board had 100% participation.  Vinny motioned accordingly, seconded by Mr. Ries, and the board voted unanimously to approve the motion.  The faculty and staff of the school will be asked to do the same.

11. Adjournment – A motion was introduced by Ms. Lamb to adjourn the meeting; seconded by Ms. Hutson.  The board voted unanimously to adjourn the meeting (Meeting was adjourned at 8:35 pm)

Minutes taken by Helen Ratcliffe

Minutes supplemented by Thomas Ries, Board Secretary

Minutes respectfully submitted by ____________________________________________

                                                            Thomas Ries, Board Secretary