Board Meeting Minutes – 08.04.21
Lake Country Classical Academy
Board Meeting Minutes (at LCCA West Campus, 818 W. Wisconsin Ave, Oconomowoc)
August 4, 2021
ATTENDEES
Board Members in Attendance:
– Kristina Vourax – Taryn Whipple – Royce Hix
– Ali Schweitzer – Tim Peterson
– Dan Fuhrman
Also in Attendance
– LCCA Principal, Bart Williams
1. Opening of Meeting
a. Meetingcalledtoorderat7:03p.m. b. PledgeofAllegiance
c. Approval of Agenda
2. Citizen’s Forum
a. Members of the public address the Board on an item not on tonight’s agenda. Christy Webb spoke, offered the words of support and encouragement with a few other remarks.
3. Consent Agenda
a. Meeting Minutes from July 21 regular board meeting approved.
4. Action Items
a. RevisedDPIImplementationGrant5-yearbudget:Bartgainedclarificationfrom DPI/WRCCS last week that we have a five-year, $750,625 budget, not four years as the grant application instructions imply. As a result, the first-year (2021-22) budget approved by the Board on 7/7/21 did not change at all. The budget for years #2, 3, 4, and 5 is $157,457 (20.98% of the total grant), $126,080 (16.80%), 166,751 (22.21%), and $75,150 (10.01%), respectively. The main restriction is that year #5’s budget must be at least 10% but not more than 20% of the total budget. A motion was made by Tim Peterson, seconded by Taryn Whipple, to approve the revised LCCA’s 5-year budget for utilizing its DPI implementation grant. The motion carried unanimously.
5. Principal’s Report
- Enrollmentupdate:Bartrecappedenrollment.Wehaveabout427studentsin various stages of completing enrollment, and approximately 34 open seats, primarily in 1st grade and 9th grade. Anything that can be done to fill those grades especially would be appreciated. Calls and emails have been made to parents to remind them to finish enrollment.
- Outreach & events: Bart recognized board and staff for doing specific outreach in Waukesha a couple of weeks ago. Bart thanked in advance several board members who have already volunteered to do additional outreach in similar areas. Door hangers to support recruitment of 9th grade students are being developed.
- Staffing changes: To accommodate an urgent internal need, one teacher each in kindergarten, first, and second grade was reassigned. Going forward for the 2021-22 school year, second grade will have two sections. The LCCA website is being updated to reflect these changes.
- Facilities update: All permits have been approved for the LCCA East remodel project and construction has begun. Landscaping has been tended to, and the exterior of LCCA East will be painted soon. Volunteers are needed and can help paint the new drywalled areas on Sat. 8/14 and Sun. 8/15. Volunteers are also needed to help move items between both campuses on 8/15. At West, the carpets have been steam-cleaned, stripping and waxing of the tile floors has been scheduled, and painting of the first floor has been set up. New air conditioners, where needed, have been purchased. Progress is being made on the lawn and playground areas. The new sink in the nurse’s room will be installed later this month.
- School Opening Task Timeline: Bart shared and discussed this list of approximately 110 tasks that need to be done before LCCA opens. About a half- dozen are done, and the rest are in-progress. Bart will update the board on progress at each of the next several meetings.
- Ribbon Cutting event/invites: Bart reminded the board of our LCCA ribbon- cutting event on Friday, 8/27, from noon until 1:00 p.m. at LCCA West. It will be held in the backyard (near the lake) if there is good weather, or in the gym if it rains. Advocates and friends of LCCA are being invited.
6. Treasurer’s Report
The unfavorable variances in the Operating Revenue categories are merely a timing issue due to the simplistic calculation of the ‘expected’ figure. We should see a favorable variance upon our first state payment in Sep/Oct. Operating Expenses are ramping up as expected, nearing the beginning of the school year. The Liberty Gala event appears to have been successful, and the related transactions should largely be posted & accounted for by the next report. From a cash standpoint we are holding $847k. Net of $842k in booked debt we have a positive position of $5k. We will develop additional reports as time permits, though it may make sense to wait until Skyward is implemented (ETA late September / early October) to see what built-in reports & transaction exports that offers. Based on this data, my opinion is that we remain in a stable position to continue the critically important pre-opening work at both campuses, have sufficient funding to do so, and remain on track for opening as planned in September.
7. Committee Chair/Liaison Reports
a. Facilities&Finance-TimPeterson
- FY2022 Budget to be broken into months and provided along with monthly financial statements as soon as the Skyward software in installed and training is completed but will be in current from in Excel for the next four months as this all is scheduled in through Skyward.
- Enrollment: Student enrollment applications that have not been completed have caused us to need to target certain grade levels which are not yet full. We will target economically disadvantaged students in Waukesha.
- Accounting Software: The preferred accounting package is Skyward. Staff is working diligently to get the software installed and staff trained however this will take months.
• Bussing: Bart indicated a used shuttle bus, or two vans are being budgeted for use by staff and parents to get students between campuses and minimize travel commutes. It was also discussed that if we can get a solid number of students from a cluster community such as Waukesha we could arrange for transportation.
b. Communications&Fundraising-KristinaVourax
• Event updates:
o LCCA Liberty Gala was a huge success with 230 attendees.
Preliminary numbers are showing $115K gross, netting $95K for LCCA. A tentative date for next year’s Liberty Gala has been set for July 23 at the Ingleside Hotel.
o First annual LCCA Sporting Clays FUNdraiser set for Sat., Oct. 16, at Wern Valley.
o LCCA Ambassadors Ball set for Sat., Nov. 6 at Bristlecone Pines Country Club.
• The Legacy Committee update:
o The first Legacy Committee meeting will be held the third week in
August (date TBD)
o Fall fundraiser is underway – Bloomin’ Bucks Fall Bulb Sale
o Additional sub-committees will be formed, including but not limited
to: Box Tops, Scrips, School Carnival, & Trivia Night.
8. Adjournment:
Motion to adjourn at 7:48 p.m. made by Tim Peterson. Seconded by Royce Hix. The motion carried.
