FUMP Board Meeting Minutes: November 12, 2007

Members Present: Ellen Miura, Cindy Roberts, Heather Schuelke, Kirstin Keener, Darcy Hamre, Celeste Hubert, Kerry Ugarte, Renae Alsobrook, Trish Parker, Martha Williams, Kathy Carr

Non-Voting Members Present: Sandy Pennington, Paula Steirnberg

Member Absent: Veronica Devine

Ellen called the meeting to order at 6:35pm and opened the meeting with a word of prayer.

Old Business: The minutes from the October meeting were reviewed. A motion to approve the minutes was made by Kerry and Cindy seconds the motion. All board members voted to approve the minutes.

New Business: Sandy touched briefly on the Austin Rising Star program which is a new program designed to let families know of quality childcare establishments. The standards appear to be in-line with our current standards and there is no cost associated with becoming a member. We will be able to roll into the membership based on our current NAEYC status.

Directors Report: Sandy provided information regarding our recent inspection. The school had two minor citations which were immediately fixed. Regarding the NAEYC letter notifying families of our decision to not renew our accreditation, we received only positive feedback from our families. Sandy also mentioned that Jim (on church staff) has been very helpful with projects around the preschool.

Sandy and Ellen spoke about the lock-down that occurred in early November. Sandy mentioned that this was a learning experience and that in hindsight there are a few things she would do differently. She met with the staff and will be creating a list of ‘jobs’ for each staff member to have in the event of another emergency situation. She did receive very positive feedback from the school community and the board regarding how she handled this surprising situation.

Finance: Kerry and Sandy spoke about the December budget meeting and made a presentation regarding a tuition tier system that will put our current tuition more in line with what other area half day programs are currently charging. This plan will increase our revenue by approximately $5,000 per semester.

There was much discussion regarding merit increases for staff in the upcoming year. Board members expressed their concerns with merit increases. Sandy spoke to these concerns by explaining her idea for each staff member to receive a cost of living increase and/or a bonus that is merit based. Her goal is for every staff member to have a bonus plan and by meeting the goals stated in their bonus plan, the staff member can have control over how much their bonus will be. She is hoping that this will be a motivator for the staff and that this will inspire them to new heights.

Equipment: Renae spoke about receiving $2,000 from the annual fund to use on additional playground equipment. She would like to add a water feature to the playground across from the sandbox. She has done a lot of research into what type of water feature will be most agreeable in this area. She is looking into play systems that are low maintenance and will not require large amounts of water or construction changes to the current drainage system.

Volunteers: No report.

Personnel: No report.

Publicity: No report.

Chapel: Paula reported that they had a great turn-out for the children’s singing program. She also reminded us about the upcoming Advent Festival on Dec. 9.

Special Projects: We were reminded that the FUMP Family Music Festival is getting closer. This year the performers will be the Biscuit Brothers, Joe McDermot and a steel drum band. Ann is creating a new logo for the festival that will be printed on the t-shirts. We spoke briefly about having business sponsors. It was also reported that the Sally Foster fundraiser brought in $3605.

Hospitality: December 8^th will be the date for the staff/board Christmas party. Once again it will be hosted by the Muira’s and catered by Foodheads.

Adjournment: Ellen stated that the next meeting will be held Monday, December 10th. Renae motioned to adjourn the meeting and Celeste seconded the motion. The motion passed unopposed. Meeting adjourned at 8:12pm.

Adjournment: Chris stated that the next meeting will be held January 9th. Andy motioned to adjourn the meeting and Trish seconded the motion. The motion passed unopposed. Meeting adjourned at 8:30pm.