General Information

Government Type

Charter School

Entity

Salt Lake Arts Academy

Entity Website

http://www.slarts.org

Public Body

Salt Lake Arts Academy

Notice Information

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Notice Title

Salt Lake Arts Academy Governing Board Pending Minutes

Notice Tags

Schools

Notice Type(s)

Meeting

Event Start Date & Time

September 18, 2020 03:00 PM

Description/Agenda

Salt Lake Arts Academy Governing Board Meeting Pending Minutes September 18, 2020 3:00 p.m. Via ZOOM (invitation sent to Board members and interested parties on 9/18/20 Board Members Present Anneliese Booher, Jennifer Goldman-Luthy, John Bakken, Julie Livers, Matt Nelson, Melissa Block, Rob Scott, Stacey Mahan Board Members Excused Denise Begue, Lon Huntsman, Tatiana Mixco Staff Present Amy Mautz, Heather Shepherd, Jen Guillory, Jennifer Burrow Sanchez, Katy Andrews, Moni Schwaerzler; Ann Simms, Ben Slivnick, Dan Armstrong, Holly Winn, Jason Call, Jeni White, Jeremy Theriot, Judson Armstrong, Karen Lynne, Katherine Pioli, Lindsay Bayles, Michael Clark, Norma Iglesias, Skeet Couper Others Present Abigail Risz, Christina Hesley, David Witherspoon, Jan Nystrom, Jim Kreeck, Julie Tille, Leanne Hawken, Suyin Chong Note: Several participants joined during the Zoom meeting and their attendance may not be recorded above Welcome Jennifer Goldman-Luthy, for Lon Huntsman 3:00 Thank you all for being here; thank you for teaching our kids in 'whatever' format :) Approve Minutes of Governing Board Meeting 8/21/20 All 3:05 MOTION: To approve Minutes from 8/21/20 Governing Board Meeting Julie Livers moved to approve Melissa Block seconded Motion approved unanimously Requests to Speak 3:10 The Board received email input but no requests to speak. Return to School Plan for 2020-21 Heather Shepherd 3:25 Metrics for Return Timing What Teachers need for Return Safety Plan John - Not a good week for Covid; rolling average over 16% and increasing; can't really make much movement at this meeting JenniferGL - SL District meets today with Health Dept to discuss possibly changing metrics; pressure to get students back in; SLArts Board is not looking to change metrics today; district policy puts pressure on SLArts John - Some schools are not testing / tracing / reporting; metrics may be underreported JenniferGL - Don't know about lag time in reporting on SL County website, but data are shown by school; noted that some (public and private) are not listed that she knows have cases Heather - Money is being allocated for teachers to get tested with or without symptoms; right now teachers are not comfortable with being back in the building with kids; still getting a handle on schedule - always adjustment time, plus online, plus learning curves, plus windstorms JenniferGL - Question about why would we change metrics: Recognize that there are pressures to change metrics and we may need to adjust in the future 5. Remote Learning Feedback Heather Shepherd 3:45 Teachers Students and Families 'Tweaks' and Adjustments Heather - Reviewed Teacher Survey (in handouts); still getting more teacher responses Discussed trends; two topics included Friday Bookclubs and teachers feeling overwhelmed, partly by grading duties John - Are some teachers available to provide Friday bookclubs or other activities? Katy - Meeting Monday to discuss Parent Connections Survey (144 responses so far) to get some things set up - possibilities are informal parent organized activities, teacher-led connection activities, paid After-School-type activities Stacey - Can parents somehow help with helping enter grades Heather - No, it's private information; we are brainstorming ways to help decrease grading time John - Can we hire an intern to enter data Heather - We can look into; privacy issue Katy - Admin and support staff are constantly in communication with families and helping troubleshoot; may need to do some fine tuning on schedule if online goes on for a long time, but not right now; the longer we are in remote, the more we learn we need to help our kids socially and emotionally and we are working to help with that JenniferGL - Commend faculty/staff for the thoughtful and intentional work going into this, and appreciates that we are not changing course routinely to address individual voices Moni - We bought 100 Chromebooks but taking a while to come in; some of our older ones are giving families trouble; also getting 100 hotspots that should arrive in about 2 weeks; we are trying hard Matt - Heard from a parent of 5th grader who was appreciative of faculty/staff reaching out to support Heather - All our 5th graders have Mindfulness with Holly; Holly is hearing a lot from them and she hears of struggles but more and more the positives; Holly is a very safe place; we do really care and the students have a place to talk and share 6. Committee Updates Finance Moni - shared handouts - provided overview We applied for everything we could for Covid support amounting to $130,000 (restricted in use) Annual reporting is up to date Construction Moni - On time, at or under budget Will be done by end of month; starting to clean If money leftover, might consider upgrading lights/electrical; change to LEDs? But ~$30,000 Fence area by sycamore trees; cannot raise dirt/mulch without damaging trees The trees survived the windstorm Trying to get waiver to enclose bushes within fence JenniferGL - any money available to make an outdoor classroom? Open air structure with roof? Moni - Can rig up sails for shade canopy? (She bought 3) - This is cheap; can buy many Heather - Would be nice if we could do something that kids could be in within rain and snow Governance - Nomination of Suyin Chong, to be considered for Governing Board JenGL - Leanne Hawken has been nominated but not formally voted; Suyin has pending nomination Both will serve on Committees prior to a formal vote later in the fall Would someone like to formally nominate Suyin? MOTION: To nominate Suyin Choong to be considered to join the Governing Board Stacey Mahan moved to approve John Bakken seconded Motion approved unanimously JenniferGL - More context: We had lost a few board members at beginning of year and are seeking replacements, we are reviewing applications, plus there is training As a Committee we have worked on ability to provide oversight of Moni and Heather, and on leadership, communication; plus some issues to be discussed in closed session If any questions, please ask her, Lon, John, Melissa (Governing Committee) Optimistic about moving forward, everyone has been working very hard; thank you to Heather for patience and understanding - we have been a little hard on her as we are learning, too New board committee soon? Construction and Transition Committees coming to a close; possibly new School Improvement Committee proposed by Heather Heather - Important for our school to have certain goals Julie L has agreed to head up new committee, with Leanne, other Board member(s), and three teachers Representative of academics and arts; look at data, assessment numbers, growth of students - plus standards of excellence, whole child, etc.; how do we describe and report; how do we compare RISE assessments with 'nothing' from last year? JenniferGL - Anyone is welcome to participate on a committee - do not need to be a board member Have talked about a 'Vision' committee, but may not be the time right now - maybe in a year; build on survey from three years ago Training - Offering training today - 18 minute video on Open Public Meetings for new board members; trying to incorporate trainings into Board Meeting time, especially withmore meetings than usual Development and Community Outreach Melissa - Look at Community Outreach; Katy put out a parent survey; great start for how to engage safely; people are craving connection; we are trying to figure out in this weird Covid environment; we are an arts school - hope we can be creative! Katy - 30-40 parents have said they would like to help out - great level of engagement!! We will make shared SLArts shared Google Calendar to add/find activities to engage families in our SLArts community Development - $7500 from Sorensen Legacy Foundation; developing Annual Campaign materials currently; this year, bold goal to combine Annual Campaign with SLArts 24; kick off in late October 7. Open and Public Meetings Training by video All 4:05 Katy will stay on now to host video, then John B will start new session for closed meeting (must be recorded) (Video was viewed) MOTION: For the Governing Board to move into a Closed Session John Bakken moved to approve Matt Nelson seconded Individual Votes taken to approve: Stacey Mahan, Julie Livers, John Bakken, Melissa Block, Jennifer Goldman-Luthy, Matt Nelson, Annaliese Booher, Rob Scott, all in favor Motion approved 8. Closed Session Board Members 4:25 The Board may move into closed session to discuss items allowed under the Utah Open and Public Meetings Law. A separate Zoom link will be sent to Board members, and the closed session will be recorded per the Open Meetings law. Upcoming Meetings: October 23, 3 p.m.; November 20, 3 p.m.

Notice of Special Accommodations (ADA)

In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, individuals needing special accommodations (including auxiliary communicative aids and services) during this meeting should notify Jen Guillory at 801-531-1173. .

Notice of Electronic or Telephone Participation

NA

Meeting Information

Meeting Location

844 South 200 East
via Zoom
Salt Lake City, UT 84111
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Contact Name

Jen Guillory

Contact Email

jeng@slarts.org

Contact Phone

(801)531-1173

Notice Posting Details

Notice Posted On

October 02, 2020 10:04 AM

Notice Last Edited On

October 02, 2020 10:04 AM

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