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Council Notes February 16 2023

Horizons K-8 School
Council Meeting Minutes

Date: 2/16/23
Time: 6:00pm
In Attendance: Maggie, Lucas, Mike T, Elizabeth P, Allyson, Julie, John B, Suzanne, Adam, Diana S, Lynn, Fran, Karen, Jim, Nicoleta, Suzy, Brooke, Kristen, Annabelle, Caroline, Sara, Micah, Chris, Hilary (+3), Kali, Melissa, Jannell, Elizabeth C, Julie S, Lauren, Teran, Rob, Joy

Minimum of 20 member quorum established
Facilitator: Allyson DeSart
Notetaker: Maggie Anderson
Timekeeper: Maggie Anderson

6:00 Introductions

6:05 Communication Agreements/Procedure/Concordance/Minutes – Jim: we want buy-in from everybody

6:10 Committee Reports

  • DAC (District Accountability Committee) – John Bogosian –  Meeting Notes; Strategic Partnerships; Draft Strategic Financial Plan; DAC Presentation; Discussion about equity and restorative justice, Dr. Anderson fielded a lot of questions, Strategic Financial Plan presented, Gifted & Talented Support – state did an audit, universal PreK seats are doubled, district is challenged to find more special ed teachers, discussed lockdown in Lafayette
  • DPC (District Parent Council) – Kristin – will be recruiting for this position for next year, Head of IT presented and asked questions, career exploration work being done (even in lower grades) [email kristenmartindaly@gmail.com if you have questions]
  • FRC (Fundraising Committee) – Elizabeth – monthly payment plan option – CO Gives, discussed whether it would be beneficial to go to a fee based model, working on promotional material showcasing winter sports to show at the spring gala, check out Skylines for Krispy Kreme fundraising info, Karen is leading our Boulder Boulder team, Micah suggested child care credit, company matches, selling spirit wear outside of the tshirts given this year (new parent night), Discussed how we will communicate these needs next year, 136K raised this year
  • EDB (Equity, Diversity, & Belonging)– Allyson – planning next workshop, Booksale thru Boulder Bookstore during conference week (20% goes back to books for classrooms), Mia got a grant for diverse books in the classroom, create more opportunities for diverse students to feel like they belong at Horizons (after school clubs), idea is in early stages, four students used the new OE preference, hosting book club coming up
  • HCG (Horizons Community Group) – Elizabeth – Wednesday is Board Game Night, Plant Sale is coming up
  • FRC (Financial Review Committee) – Elizabeth – accounting team created one page document to summarize recommendations and potential budget solutions, discuss creative solutions to offset future shortfall, Horizons has a diversified leadership model, at current pace, we would not be financially viable after three years, Sarah Townes helped keep things in a positive light (things that seem negative might not be), philip gursky/accounting team/other parents used modeling software to plug and play different budget options, 700K deficit, faculty convened a budget subcommittee to discuss what options they are going to plan for and decide how much input they want in the budget, they will propose three different scenarios, hopefully concord, bring to board and then see where we’re at at that point, present at next board meeting, John: is monthly donation going to affect fundraising amount and is the modeling accounting for that? John recommends having more eyes on an email that goes out.
  • Board Report – Allyson – talked about head of school updates: staffing, principal hiring committee, proposed budget, fundraising, literacy change for BVSD.

6:50 Budget update and long term sustainability – review our process

  • Do we need a communications committee, increase strategy about how we communicate with parents, Kristin recommended “Smart Brevity” (book about communication)
  • FRC meeting first Wednesday of every month, open to parents, discussion about the complexities of moving budget money around, adding students vs removing positions – lots of options are being discussed, come to the FRC meetings if you want more information or to give input

7:10 Head of School Selection Process – design interview questions, 10 candidates – meeting tonight is to narrow down choices and interviews will happen next Friday with faculty and parents

7:20 How can we practice communication agreements to strengthen our community?

  • Expectation that our kids are using this approach and we (as in parents) could benefit from using them too, using curiosity instead of accusations to communicating about problems, Fran – we strive to uphold these agreements with students and amongst staff, Jim suggests having times to really highlight how important these are for our community, Allyson mentioned listening groups and how powerful they can be, have a speaker in the fall (Tracy and Jeff?) for reinvigorating.

8:45 Adjourn

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