News & Announcements

School updates, important dates, and other notices.

Board of Directors Meeting Minutes: May 21, 2015

  1. Call to Order, Roll Call and Recognition of Visitors and Board Co-Chairs
    1. Yelena Hardcopf: Present
    2. Oksana Cox: Present
    3. Natalia Kormina: Present
    4. Elizaveta Lindman: Present
    5. Christian Schmidt: Present
    6. Tim Luts: Absent
    7. Ben Wallace: Absent
    8. Alex Brusilovsky: Absent
    9. Jake Nelson, Director – ex-officio member: Present
    10. Visitors in attendance:Gedaly Meerovich, Sher Tischner
  2. Approval of the Agenda for this meeting. Motion by Christian Schmidt. Second: Oksana Cox Approved: 5-0-0
  3. Read the Nasha Shkola Vision
  4. Open Forum for members of the public wishing to address the board Gedaly Meerovich addressed the board to update the board on his efforts to market the school and to bring ideas to the board to be considered for marketing. Mr. Meerovich said that Terri Bonhaff a member of the MN legislature will attend the opening bell ceremony for Nasha Shkola’s 2015-2016 school year. He also said he would meet with members of the community to discuss youth issues. Mr. Meerovich suggested the school have a garage sale to bring in members of the community Mr. Meerovich also asked that the school make use of Amazon.com’s .05% contribution of sales to non-profit organizations as a way to raise funds.
  5. Reports
    1. Co-Chairs Executive Report – Yelena Hardcopf
      1. Annual meeting: The information about the annual meeting was posted in the newsletter and website. Three positions are open for community members. Currently Alex Brusilovsky and Oksana Cox will be on the ballot for the open positions. Eligible voters include the following: current board members, all parents, and teachers.
      2. Annual goals. The board discussed the need for reflection upon the schools strategic vision at the next board meeting in June.
    2. Director report – Jake Nelson
      1. Current Enrollment 130 students.
      2. Enrollment Projections for 15-16
      3. Student achievement/testing
      4. Leadership implementation team/SIG grant
      5. Curriculum
      6. Staff update
    3. Financial Report
      1. Monthly Finance Report – Sher Tischner, BDKA Ms. Tischener explained that the school is in a “generally good position” to finish the school year with regards to finances. Ms. Tischenr explained that the school is running a deficit and the board should consider ways to increase revenue as the CSP Grant funds will not be available for the 2015- 2016 school year.
      2. Federal CSP Grant Report – Jake Nelson CSP funds have nearly all been spent. The board asked questions of Mr. Nelson with regards to the spending of CSP Grant funds on curriculum.
  6. Consent Agenda
    Motion to approve the consent agenda by Christian Schmidt. Second: Oksana Cox. 5-0-0

    1. Minutes of April 19, 2015 Board meeting
    2. April 2015 Financials
    3. Resignation
      1. Celeste Olson
      2. Svetlana Lazarev
    4. 2015-2016 employment contracts
      1. Tatyana DeLaRiva-Blinova – .50 FTE ESL
      2. Kayla Lemon – .60 FTE ESL
      3. Natalie Hansen – 1.0 FTE Elementary
  7. Old Business
    1. Nasha Shkola 2015-2016 programming
      1. Pre-K partnership with New Horizons update The board discussed updates and ideas with regards to the partnership with New Horizons on preschool. The following issues were discussed: the location of the partnership and how the division of responsibilities between New Horizon’s and Nasha Shkola would operate with regards to staffing and finances.
      2. High school partnership with ERA follow-up Director Nelson and the director of Eagle Ridge Academy met and discussed the possibility of future partnerships for high school. Eagle Ridge Academy currently does not have the physical space to accommodate more students for the 2015-2016 school year. However, ERA is planning on moving to a larger space in Hopkins for the 2016-2017 school year. This extra space may create the opportunity for the current 7th grade class to attend ERA for the 2016-2017 school year as ERA would need more students. The board discussed the need for a document to describe how this partnership will work for 2016-2017 and the fact that there will not be a partnership for the current class of 8th graders at Nasha Shkola for the 2015-2016 school year.
      3. Draft of the 2015-2016 budget – Update
        The board was given an update for the 2015-2016 budget based on 130 students. The school would have an $80,000 operating deficit for the 2015-2016 school year if there are 130 students. The board discussed the need to schedule a budget meeting to for the 2015-2016 budget. The board decided June 1st or June 2nd would be a good day for this meeting.
  8. New Business
    1. 2015-2016 MACS membership resolution MACS membership costs $3,137.28. The board discussed the cost and the idea of not continuing the membership for the 2015-2016 school year. Board members were advised to get any training needed done by the end of our membership for 2014-2015.
    2. Contacts with private contractors: Audit Firm The board discussed the bids from competing audit firms.
    3. Review and update Board policies: The board discussed the need to review and update the school’s policies listed below. Our current policies conflict with requirements from the state regarding admissions/enrollment, conflict of interest, and capital assets.
      1. Admissions/Enrollment Policy
      2. Conflict of Interest Policy
      3. Capital Asset Policy
      4. Motion to approve revise policies on admissions/enrollment, conflict of interest and capital assets: Elizaveta Lindman Second: Oksana Cox 5-0-0
    4. 2015-2016 duty assignment
    5. School Publicity The board was reminded to make sure to approve all possible publicity of the school with Director Nelson. This elicited a response from a member of the public who felt the board had not listened to members of the community with regards to marketing and outreach.
    6. Board self-evaluation
    7. Other
  9. Adjourn

Action items:

  1. The uniform policy must be enforced and the board needs to look into getting uniforms with the logo printed on them.
  2. Identify space for a library or reading resource room for the school.
  3. Identify space for the ELL program for 2015-2016.
  4. Identify space for the reading corps program for 2015-2016.
  5. Determine the schedule for the last bell on Friday June 5th .
  6. The personnel committee must discuss responsibilities, title and job description.
  7. Revise policies on admissions/enrollment, conflict of interest and capital assets.
  8. Board members are advised to take 200 and 300 level courses through MAC’s before membership ends.
  9. Monthly follow up with regards to ERA partnership for 2016-2017.
  10. Lead teacher/curriculum specialist position: discuss job responsibilities

Next Board Meeting: June 18, 2015 – 6:30 Nasha Shkola School

The Nasha Shkola Board meets the 3rd Thursday of each month at 6:30

The Finance Committee of the Board meets the 3rd Thursday of each month at 5:30

NS Annual Board vote and meeting –June 5th, 2015, 9 am

About Nasha Shkola

Nasha Shkola — Russian for Our School — is an academically rigorous K-8 charter school, providing a highly-structured learning environment for students interested in Russian language and culture.

Contact Us

    School Info

    Nasha Shkola
    6717 85th Ave North
    Brooklyn Park, MN 55445

    Phone: 763-496-5550
    Fax: 763-424-8520

    School Hours
    Monday – Friday:
    8:30 am – 4:30 pm

    Office Hours
    Monday – Friday:
    8 am – 4 pm