JAMES ISLAND CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL

Governing Board

Board of Directors November Meeting - Monday November 18th, 2019 @5:30 PM

Meeting Minutes

Attendance Summary

Name Status Arrival Time Departure Time
Henry Meeuwse present Treasurer On Time At Adjournment
Robert Woodall present member On Time At Adjournment
Greg Hays present member On Time At Adjournment
Tom Hatley present member On Time At Adjournment
Kathleen Beebe present secretary On Time At Adjournment
Abby Wilkins present chair On Time At Adjournment
Timothy Thorn present ex-officio On Time At Adjournment
Jeffrey Wiseman not present co-chair

Welcome and Call to Order

The meeting will be called to the order, beginning with the pledge of allegiance and a moment of silence.

Approval of Minutes from Oct 21, 2019

Approve the minutes as submitted

By: Kathleen Beebe Seconded by: Tom Hatley

There was no notable discussion on the motion.

Approval of Agenda

So that there is agreement between board members on the agenda, and the amount of time spent on the meeting, the board shall vote to approve an agenda for the meeting. To the best of its ability, it will follow that agenda, and allow for the chair to move the board through the agenda as specified.

Approve the agenda as submitted

By: Henry Meeuwse Seconded by: Kathleen Beebe

There was no notable discussion on the motion.

Public Comment

Our Public Comment period is for members of the public to address the board. Each member of the public may sign up to comment at the meeting and will be allotted two minutes. The board will listen, but may not directly respond to any comments. Our meetings are open to the public and public record. As such, if your comment is about a private matter, please contact the board via email, or speak to the board chair privately.


  1. Cynthia E Smalls
  2. Tony Lewis

Prestige

Presenting JISCH monthly Financial Statement.


Attachments

Leadership Report

Presented by Leadership Chair Sheli Ballard.

LEADERSHIP TEAM: 




ROTC: 

  • During a field trip to the Mighty 8th Air Force Museum in Savannah, GA, JICHS ROTC cadets received high praise from their two tour guides for the respect, attentiveness, and engagement they displayed. Their exemplary behavior represented the Air Force, JICHS, and our ROTC unit well. The lead tour guide advised, "Your cadets were both refreshing and a delight to guide."
  • Two ROTC seniors have already received notification of their acceptance to become members of the Citadel's Class of 2024.
  • Our ROTC unit's "Raider Team" secured Second Place honors in a 5k team race at a JROTC competition day held at Fort Dorchester HS.
  • After receiving permission to re-paint the ROTC classroom, cadets spent a day doing so. The much needed make-over of their classroom (still on-going) is being done to not only improve the classroom aesthetics, but to better reflect the unit's heritage and professionalism and to promote unit esprit de corps.
  • Cadets from our unit have already or will participate in multiple community service events by the next BoD meeting. They supported the ALS Walk for the Cure event on November 9th held at James Island County Park. Event coordinators were so appreciative of the support rendered that they asked if they could count on support from JICHS ROTC each year going forward.
  • On Sunday, November 17th, JICHS ROTC cadets will be working at the 23rd Annual Toys for Tots escorted motorcycle ride event sponsored by the Marine Corps Reserve and the Law Riders Motorcycle Club. This event raises both monetary and holiday gift donations for the Toys for Tots program by the participation of hundreds of riders and/or passengers for the escorted ride.




LIBRARY:

  • The Project Lit and JI Reads program hosted two authors during November.  The first one, Mark Oshiro, who wrote Anger is a Gift, provided a welcoming, encouraging, and supportive environment for our students as they discussed all the issues raised in his book, ranging from school violence to personal stories.  Thank you to Ms Scruggs who made this happen. The second one, Dashka Slater, who wrote 57 Bus, came on an actual visit after skyping with our students last spring. Kudos to our teachers, Mr. Weckenman, Ms Scruggs, and Mr. Jurecki, who read her book with their classes and whose students came prepared, enthused, and polite to her talk.  They made us proud!
  • The library is working with the freshman health classes - the students will be choosing and defining positions on a topic concerning drugs/alcohol/tobacco, doing some high quality research, and finally presenting and defending their viewpoints.  It's a great quick way to expose students to all aspects of research, and we're happy that the library and health teachers can collaborate this way. These same teachers have had their students reading a fiction book about some health issue; we appreciate their efforts to get literacy into a crowded curriculum.




SCIENCE:

  • Marine Science Classes
  • *went on a field trip to DNR and boarded the Discovery boat where we explored organisms in the Charleston harbor. 
  • *went on a field trip to the Aquarium where students modeled the health assessment of a stranded dolphin and explored the aquarium
  • *guest speaker from the international diving institute in Charleston
  • Biology
  • *Reading the book Mercies in Disguise or Wild Trees with all honors biology students
  • *Greenwood Genetics visited our school to have students practice running a gel electrophoresis
  • *Planned oyster bagging event in December for our ecology unit
  • IB Biology HL Year 1 
  • Poster sessions for their research on sea turtles will take place on December 5 from 2:15-3:30 in the JICHS Media Center.
  • IB Biology HL Year 2
  • Students are collecting data for their IAs.  Mrs. Lyles room has a 'greenhouse' that is made out of plastic sheeting, lights and lab tables on risers.
  • IB Biology HL and IB ESS
  • Planning a field experience to Marine Lab in Key Largo, Florida in March.  Participating students will snorkel in seagrass, mangrove and coral reef habitats.  They will also attend lectures related to the plight of our coral reefs and perform labs with the Marine Lab staff.


Whenever any board members are on campus they should visit the science building.  There is a lot of student research work posted as well as classroom assignments and pictures of the students at work.



PERFORMING ARTS:

  • Upcoming Band Performances--You are bound to see us somewhere!:
  • Publix Ribbon Cutting (11/20, Drumline)
  • Holiday Festival of Lights (12/2, Jazz Band)
  • James Island Christmas Tree Lighting (12/5, Jazz Band)
  • Stingray's Hockey Game (1/17, Jazz Band)Folly Beach Christmas Parade (12/14, Pep Band) 



VISUAL ARTS:

  • Coastal Carolina Fair Winners:
  • Coastal Carolina Fair  Youth Art Show
  • Grayson Blair---Judges Award
  • Bella Pontel---Exchange Club of Charleston Coastal Carolina Fair Award 
  • Coastal Carolina Fair   Creative Arts Youth Division
  • Maryna Dilligard--Best of Show
  • Maryna Dilligard--First Place Creative Arts 
  • Sadie McDonald--First Place Creative Arts






Athletic Report

Presented by Athletic Director Jeremy Holland.

Athletics Report November 18th, 2019

Individual Sports Reports:


Football –   Varsity 2-7 (0-5 in region)      Junior Varsity 3-6 Middle School 4-3


Volleyball- Varsity Finished second in Region and lost in 2nd round of playoffs



Cross Country

Girls won Lower State Championship and Hannah Vroon was the 1st place runner in the event. Girls team competes in state Tuesday and Darren Frasier qualified for state on the boys side. 


 

Girls Tennis – Finished 2nd in Region and lost in 1st round of playoffs.


Girls Basketball - Augusta Dixon was selected as a Top 5 senior by the South Carolina Basketball Coaches Association

 

 


 

Athletic Director Report

 

Athletics Facilities update:

·         2 quotes are in and waiting on someone to give me a third quote on turf fields

  

·         Maintenance has done a great job with keeping grounds maintained

 


Upcoming Events:

·         Girls and Boys Basketball first home games are December 9th

  

·         Golf Tournament February 8th Oak Point

·          

 

Future Plans:

·         Hall of Fame 

      New Gym

      New Turf fields


Maintenance Report

Presented by Mr. Thorn


              November 18th, 2019



  1. CCSD replace a defective manhole ring and cover in the student parking lot last week.

 


  1. JICHS Facilities maint. dept. has installed 15 new benches along the breezeway across from the cafeteria with 11 more assembled to be installed.


 

  1. A damaged electric gate in front of the gym has been replaced.

      

             

  1. JICHS Facilities maint. dept. has received and processed 86 work orders from Oct. 21st to the present.     

               

     


               Marty Monette

               Facilities Director, JICHS



School Leader Report

Presented by Mr. Thorn

Principal’s Report 11/18/19

Charter Goals

Goal #1 Show an annual increase in the percentage of graduates that are college and career ready as defined by the state.

Goal #2 Show an annual increase in student participation in additional rigorous coursework through positive relationships, community building activities, family engagement, and student support.

Goal #3 Show an annual decrease in the achievement gap for historically underachieving populations (SPED, ELL, socio-economically disadvantaged, and minority students).


Academics/School Update of Events


10/25 Teacher workday

Maintenance Department and Thorn grilled hamburgers for the staff.  

10/31 Halloween

The staff theme for Halloween was the JICHS community of Minions and Mr. Gru. Please see the picture below. The students enjoyed seeing the staff get into the Halloween spirit. The staff picture made CCSD’s website!



11/1 Food Truck Fridays

The School Spirit Committee has once again planned monthly Food Truck Fridays for the staff. This month was Wally’s Gyros. 


11/8 National Guard/ROTC Staff Lunch- 

Sergeant Friskhorn, National Guard, sponsored a cookout to show appreciation for our staff.  


11/7 James Island Bus Lot

On November 7th, CCSD hosted a public meeting for James Island Bus Lot. Approximately 40-50 residents from the surrounding neighborhood attended the event. Those that attended were against a bus lot on our campus. This project has been going on for nearly ten years at the expense of this community. A centralized bus lot is necessary for this community. A centralized bus lot will improve service and reduce costs substantially.  


The James Island Bus Lot project will be at the City BZA-Z Meeting on December 3, 2019, at 5:00 pm (moved from 11/19/19). The meeting will be held at 2 George Street in the first floor conference room.  


11/7 Dinner and Discussion

On November 7th, the first Dinner and Discussion event was held at St. James Presbyterian Church. Approximately 50 people attended. The guest speakers were from MUSC’s Youth Collaborative Program and The Edge Drug Prevention Alliance. Future events are currently being planned by the C Holland, D Richardson, and A Drake.   


11/11 Veteran’s Day Breakfast

Coach Hilyer once again hosted a Veteran’s Day breakfast on 11/11/19. Students from his classes made posters highlighting local James Island veterans, some of which are on our staff. Many of the veterans were able to get breakfast. Staff, students, and the vets enjoyed coffee, donuts, and conversation.  It was an extremely successful event. 


11/11 Fall Staff Appreciation Week-

The  Faculty Recognition Committee planned a Fall Faculty Appreciation Week. You can never show enough appreciation for those who work in public education.  

  • Monday- bundt cakes
  • Tuesday- bagels and coffee
  • Wednesday- mailbox treats
  • Thursday- taco bar provided by Bohemian Bull
  • Friday- meal from Jimmy Johns
  • JEANS all week!





ILT/SLT Highlights

  • 38% of 9th grade students exited SLT by the end of the first quarter. 
  • Biology went from 57 students in SLT for quarter 1 to 28 students in quarter 2.  

Technology Update (Gilbert)

JICHS IT has issued the 100 additional Chromebooks that were purchased to address needs for the Fall term.  We've evaluated current and future needs for the Spring term. Ongoing, routine and planned maintenance of existing hardware has been on-schedule.  Evaluation of software for possible new courses and current courses is ongoing, especially with the new Computer Science requirement.   


School Safety Update

Continuing to conduct bi-weekly metal detector searches in the morning and weekly classroom searches.

  • Worked with SRO to investigate rumors of weapons being brought to school and to address social media posts involving weapons.
  • Scheduled a canine sweep of the school with the sheriff's office.


Construction Update

CTE and Competition Gym

We had a construction meeting on 10/30/19. We are working on finalizing a school store and Hall of Fame in the lobbying of the new gym. In the CTE wing, we worked through some minor details for the Culinary and Building Construction labs. We will be able to go with a lower roof in the high bay area, which will reduce costs.  

Practice Field Project

We have currently received two bids for this project. Once we receive a third bid, we hope to move forward with this project.     


Board Training

Tentatively, I have scheduled the Public Charter School Alliance of SC to provide board training after December 16, 2019, Board of Directors meeting. The training will last approximately one hour.  



Executive Session

  • Contracts- Baseball Irrigation Bids
  • Personnel- Issue
  • Legal- 
  • Student Privacy-  Student Appeal

Go into Executive session

By: Henry Meeuwse Seconded by: Robert Woodall

There was no notable discussion on the motion.

Out of executive session

By: Kathleen Beebe Seconded by: Greg Hays

There was no notable discussion on the motion.

Motions From Executive Session

~

To overturn expulsion with stipulations.

By: Henry Meeuwse Seconded by: Greg Hays

There was no notable discussion on the motion.

The Meeting was Adjourned

The meeting adjourned at approximately 7:33 pm

Motion to adjourn

By: Kathleen Beebe Seconded by: Henry Meeuwse

There was no notable discussion on the motion.