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Board Meeting January 11 2024

Horizons K8
Board Meeting Minutes
1/11/2024

Facilitators:  Jasmine GBC/Mike Tadros
Timekeeper: Adam Brink
Process Observer: Mike Ashmore
Secretary/Minutes:  Michelle Bargo     

Call to Order: 6:05 PM

Present: Travis Lockhart, Kristin Hauger, Michelle Bargo, Mike Tadros, Jasmine GBC, Fran Cohen, Rob Horansky, Jim Freund, Mike Ashmore, Emmy Kurtz, Adam Brink, Kristy Lewis
Present Online: Shoshana Zerbock, Stephanie Landrum, Lynn Pence, Jannell Eagan, Lauren Yedell, Hilary Merina
Absent:  None

  • Quorum established - yes

Public Comment: None

Consent Agenda:  The board reviewed minutes from 12/14/2023 and agenda for 1/11/2024.
Agenda  Board Meeting Agenda – January 11, 2024.docx - Google Docs

  • Motion to approve: Mike Tadros
    Second: Jim Freund
    Concorded

HOS Update: GBC
Enrollment:  Our known openings for the 24/25 school year are as follows: 40 kindergarten, 7 first grade, 2 second grade, 1 third grade, 1 fourth grade, 0 fifth grade, 0 sixth grade, 7 seventh grade, 4 eighth grade. These numbers would bring us to our maximum enrollment capacity of 375.  We can table the conversation about further increasing class sizes at this time.

Board Committee Updates:

FRC: Mike Ashmore – Met 1/10/24 - Our budget is entirely balanced without having had to make a council transfer!  The budget was balanced for several reasons, including: most families paid outdoor ed fees for 23/24, BVSD refunded Horizons additional SPED money, faculty cut winter sports in 2023, not all staff benefits were used last school year.

The Hawks Bucks campaign is currently at $76K.

Budget preparation for 24/25 is beginning.  Board members signed the relevant appropriation document.

  • Motion: Mike Ashmore - To hold 100K in Wells Fargo checking account and transfer the remainder (approximately 300K) to the C-SAFE account in order to earn interest on that money.
    Second: Adam Brink
    Concorded

Development Committee:  Kristin Hauger – Hawks Bucks is currently at 76K and the focus is on the spring auction.  We need everyone to gather donations for auction items!  Spring auction planning meeting on 1/19/24 at 8:30 AM. 

Compensation Committee Updates: Mike Tadros - The committee work is in progress but distinct proposals are not ready yet.  The next Compensation Committee meeting is TBD.

  • Faculty Salaries: The board reviewed data related to the differences between the BVSD and Horizons salary schedules.  Horizons salary schedule was compared with Peak to Peak and Summit salary schedules.  Generally speaking, Horizons salaries are higher than those at Summit and Peak to Peak but not necessarily higher than BVSD.  
  • Hilary Merina was asked to present her salary analysis to the Board.  She noted that the salary placement guidelines are different for BVSD district schools as compared with Horizons, and also that teachers might not necessarily receive credit for all of their years of teaching when hired.  This information changes some of the previous analysis that has been completed.
  • Horizons is a teacher-led school with a different structure, so there are additional demands on our faculty that other schools’ teachers don’t have.
  • Para Pay Rate: Horizons’ pay rate was compared with the BVSD pay rate.  There is a strong desire to increase para compensation because our paras are integral to our educational model and highly effective.

Other Board Business:

Board Member Skills Assessment - Michelle Bargo - All board members completed the survey!  Results of our collective skills assessment were emailed.  This information may be used to plan a continuing education opportunity, recruit future board members whose skills balance our skill set, or recognize when we need to seek expert input.

Process Observer:  Mike Ashmore – This was a respectful and informative meeting.  Many thanks to Jasmine & Kristin, and to Adam’s class for ALL the extra cleaning this week!!

Adjourned:  7:52 PM