Manhattan Beach Education Foundation
Board of Directors - Regular Meeting
July 13, 2004 at 7:30 p.m.
MBUSD Office, 325 S. Peck Avenue, Manhattan Beach

Present:

Directors (15/24): Geoff Bremer, Webster Burns, Randy Dotemoto, Mike Dunitz, Linda Figel, Chuck Kaminski, Craig Kline, Carolyn Leserman, Diane Levitt, Julian Ryder, Freddi Segal-Gidan, Jeff Thaler, Ida VanderPoorte, Gary Wayland, Pam Yarbrough

MBUSD Trustee Representative: None present

MBUSD Representatives: Gwen Gross, Steve McMahon

MBEF Staff: Sherry Kramer

Guests: Rich Weiss, Susan Warshaw (Pennekamp PTA), Tammy Choy (Pennekamp PTA), Vanessa Benya (Meadows PTA), Dr. Jennifer Johnson-Jones, Mr. Bill Mason

Presiding: Carolyn Leserman, President

Recording: Webster Burns, Vice President

Handouts: Agenda, Minutes, Financial Report, Flyers about Upcoming Events

Recognition of Donation
Ms. Kramer introduced Mr. Bill Mason, Corporation Community Liaison for Honeywell Corporation. Mr. Mason was recognized by the Foundation for Honeywell’s contribution supporting the implementation of the Saxon Math curriculum in the elementary schools and for its consistent support for the Foundation and School District.

President’s Notes:
Ms. Leserman announced that at the closed session following the June meeting, the Board had authorized the renewal of the contracts for Ms. Wanda Kaminski, Ms. Debra Bowen, and Ms. Sherry Kramer with an increase in their compensation. She announced that the Board did not renew Ms. Susan Patterson’s contract. The Foundation hosted a luncheon for Ms. Patterson and gave her a gift in recognition of her contributions to the growth and success of the Foundation.

Ms. Leserman informed the Board that Mr. Jim Furlan had tendered his resignation. He was concerned that he did not have the time to be as active as he felt necessary to make a meaningful contribution to the Board.

Ms. Lesserman thanked the Wine Auction Committee for a very successful event. Attendance was at an all time high and, while the final accounting is not complete, the event earned substantially more than last year.

Ms. Leserman announced that the Executive Board was considering proposing by laws amendments that would allow one-year director terms for PTA Presidents who join the Board in that capacity. Another possible amendment would change the regular Board and annual meeting dates to the second Tuesday of the month. This change would allow more time for preparation of the monthly financial reports and present fewer conflicts with PTA and MBUSD meetings. The Executive Board is also considering proposing a privacy policy for the Foundation in September.

Ms. Leserman also expressed her belief that the Board needs a Public Relations and Communications Committee to explore a more proactive and integrated approach to publicity for the Foundation. Such a committee would be responsible for developing a media and public awareness plan, preparing contributor and solicitation communications and handling media relations. She asked that Board members consider whether they would like to participate in this committee.

The Superintendent Circle Reception will be on Thursday, July 22 at 5:30 PM at the Manhattan Beach Unified School District headquarters building. Board members were asked to attend and to wear the name badges distributed for the Wine Auction.

Ms. Leserman also asked for the sense of the Board on whether the Board needed to meet in August. The consensus was that the Board did not need an August meeting, and it was decided that the next meeting would be in September.

Minutes:
Upon motion duly made and seconded by Mr. Thaler and Ms. Segal-Gidan, respectively, the minutes of the meeting of June 1, 2004 were unanimously approved.

Financial Report:
Ms. Ida VanderPoorte reported that a series of computer problems prevented her from having a complete financial statement and grants update. She did, however, present a preliminary balance sheet for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2004.

Additionally, she reported that, while the final accounting was not complete, it appears that the Wine Auction would generate a substantially larger net income than last year. She also reported that the independent audit of the Foundation’s books and records will begin next week.

Ms. VanderPoorte reported that the newly created Endowment Committee had held its first meeting. Committee members expressed a number of ideas to consider for changing the way in which the Foundation manages and oversees its endowment.

As an initial matter, the Committee recommended that the Foundation reduce the endowment contribution for contributions to the Annual Appeal for 2004-2005 from 20% to 5%. The contribution level for all other fund raising would remain at 20%. On a motion made by Ms. VanderPoorte and duly seconded, the Board unanimously approved this action.

Business Education Partnership Report:
Ms. Sherry Kramer thanked the Board for renewing her contract. She informed the Board of the upcoming 1st Annual Mayor’s Golf Tournament to be held Monday, October 11 at Candlewood Country Club in Whittier. The tournament will benefit the Foundation.

She also reported that the Sports and Entertainment Committee of the Manhattan Beach Chamber of Commerce was sponsoring “Serve it Up for Education” at the Home Depot Center, during the upcoming JPMorgan Chase Open tennis tournament on July 23. This event will also benefit the Foundation.

Ms. Kramer reminded the Board that the Superintendent’s Circle Reception will be July 22 at the District Offices. State Superintendent of Education Jack O’Connell is scheduled to attend and speak. She thanked Mr. Ryder for the excellent job on the invitations, as well as all of his other graphics design work for the Foundation.

Superintendent’s Report:
Dr. Gwen Gross discussed developments in the school district. She informed the Board of the substantial reduction in District Administrative staff over the past 3 years.

She also discussed the many end-of-the-year events, including the concerts, theatrical programs, Middle School promotion and High School graduation. The events showed the strength of the District, its students and its teachers.

Dr. Gross discussed the newly hired principal for Mira Costa High School, Dr. Scott Wilbur. She reviewed the broad community and teacher involvement in the hiring process and described his outstanding background and his charisma. She also discussed the new Special Education Director who is expected to improve the educational programs for special education students and improve relationships with their parents. Dr. Gross is also enthusiastic about the new teachers who have been hired at the high school.

In other news, Dr. Gross reported that a large summer school program is being run at the high school, thanks to the support of the Manhattan Beach Athletic Foundation, and a remedial program is being run for elementary students. The District will conduct workshops this summer concentrating on developing standards for the writing curriculum. CAT6 test results are due by the end of August, and the District expects strong performance by students at all levels.

Dr. Gross told the Board that a comprehensive report on Special Education in the District would be presented at the next School District Board of Trustees meeting. The emphasis of the report is differentiated instruction for all students, and it points out the need for more special education training within the District. In anticipation of this recommendation and as an initial response to it, the school principals participated in 2 days of training before leaving for the summer

Dr. Gross and Ms. Levitt also reported that Mira Costa High School received a $410,000 grant for establishing a foreign language lab over the next three years. This is a project in which the Foundation has long had an interest.

MBUSD Board of Trustees Report:
None

Wine Auction
Mr. Dotemoto and Mr. Thaler expressed their appreciation to Ms Kramer, Ms. Kaminski and all the other volunteers who made this year’s Wine Auction a success. They reported that preparations for next year would begin with a Wine Advisory Board meeting this Thursday, and they invited anyone interested in participating in the preparation for next year’s event to join them.

Golf
Mr. Dotemoto reported that preparations for the August 23 event are going well. They will do more promotion this year to raise community interest in the event to insure the long-term success and future sell-outs. (This year’s event has only 16 remaining slots.):

He reported that the committee needed help selling the opportunity drawings and asked those willing to help to contact him or Ms. Kramer.

Annual Appeal:
Ms. Linda Figel reported that she and Ms. Levitt had worked with the PTA to develop a unified approach to this year’s annual appeal. The group has collectively developed a brochure regarding school funding sources, current year grants and background on the Foundation. Mailing by the PTAs will begin this summer.

Old business

Ms. Kramer reported that the concept of a Wine Garden at the Hometown Fair was approved by the City Council.

New Business
None

Meeting Adjourned to Closed Session: 8:55 p.m.

Next Meeting:
There will be no meeting in August. The next meeting will be Tuesday, September 14, 2004, 7:30 p.m. at the District Office, 325 S. Peck Avenue.