News & Announcements

School updates, important dates, and other notices.

Board of Directors Meeting Minutes: June 21, 2022

  1. Call to Order, Roll Call and Recognition of Visitors and Board Co-Chairs
    • Alexej Abyzov: Present
    • Mark Eilers: Present
    • Natalya Johnson: Present
    • Elizaveta Lindman: Present
    • Marisol Serdiouk: Present
    • Nicole Nelson: Present
    • Yelena Hardcopf, Executive Director, ex officio board member.
    • Visitors: Dr. Lora Lepisto Brown, Svetlana Kazanecki, Paul Kinsley, Cindy Lavorato, Lisa Hasledalen, Laurie Shroeder, Eugene Serdiouk, Louis Martin, Yuliya Carroll, Marina Serdiouk
  2. Approval of the Agenda for this meeting
    A motion to make an amendment to move the agenda item 9.1 to item 5.Motion to approve
    Motion by: Nicole Nelson
    Seconded by: Liza Lindman
    3-0-3

    Since the vote was split, counsel clarified that the first motion was only regarding moving the agenda item. Additional motions would be considered after the approval of the initial motion.

    Motion to approve
    Motion by: Nicole Nelson
    Seconded by: Natalya Johnson
    6-0-0

    Motion to approve the rest of the agenda.

    Motion by: Natalya Johnson
    Seconded by:

    The motion was interrupted. Alexej Abyzov proposed additional amendments to the agenda. Mark Eilers addressed the board and visitors about misconceptions about the future of the Russian program.

    Counsel guided us to focus on approving the amended agenda and continue with the vote.

    New motion to approve the amended agenda.

    Motion by: Nicole Nelson
    Seconded by: Natalya Johnson
    4-1-1

  3. Authorizer (IQS) to address the board.
    Laurie Schroeder addressed the board about board conduct and ethics. The “Standards for School Board Leadership” was shared through the chat and also made visible on the screen. The document outlines standards for conduct.
  4. Counsel to address the Board on the procedural rules board should follow in the conduct of the meeting.
    Legal Counsel, Cindy Lavorato, addressed the board about “Robert’s Rules of Order.” She summarized various points of conduct and steps in how to carry out motions and meeting adjournment.
  5. Read the Nasha Shkola Mission and Vision
    Mission:
    Nasha Shkola aspires to be a multi-cultural charter school committed to exceptional education in all areas of academic inquiry with an emphasis on Russian Language and Culture, providing structured and responsive learning environment based upon educational best practices for all students and their families.
    Vision: To be an academically rigorous school preparing students for continued success as motivated learners and global citizens.

    1. Approve Budget FY23Motion by: Alexej Abyzov
      Seconded by: Liza Lindman
      6-0-0
  6. Reports
    1. Director report
      1. Annual election results
        32% of stakeholders participated in annual election
        Lydia Tonoyan, parent (2 year term) elected by 74% of votes
        Peter Keller, parent (3 year term) elected by 88% of votes

        • Lydia Tonoyan and Peter Keller have been voted in as parent board members. They will be seated during the July board meeting.
      2. Academic achievement (NWEA)
        • Students in grades K – 8 are given the NWEA assessment three times a year with the exception of Kindergarten which does not take it in the fall.
        • Kindergarten had strong results in math and reading on the Spring NWEA test.
        • First graders have low scores in Reading and Math, however, they have made a lot of progress from last year.
        • Second grade had strong results in math and reading.
        • Several new third grade students who are English Language Learners joined our school towards the end of the school year. This affected the overall math and reading scores for the grade. As a result, there was no overall improvement in math or reading.
        • Fourth graders showed strong growth in math and reading.
        • Fifth graders had a steady growth in math and a decline in reading.
        • Three new sixth graders joined our school over the course of the year who are English Language Learners. This affected the overall scores for the grade. There was a sharp decline in math, however, there was improvement in reading.
        • Seventh graders showed growth in math and a slight decline in reading.
        • Eighth graders had a lot of growth in math and no change in reading.
        • All of the students in grades 3 – 8 took the MCA tests this year. This includes the new English Language Learner students. Due to this, scores may have been affected. Results will be shared at a later meeting.
    2. Financial Report
      1. Monthly Finance Report: May 2022
        • General Fund 01
          • As of May 31, 2022 the school has received in Fund 01 a total of $1,495,200 of current Fiscal Year State, Federal, and Local revenues which is 81% of its current budgeted amount.
          • As of May 31, 2022 the school has expended in Fund 01 $1,373,926 which is 84% of its current budgeted expense.
          • Nasha Shkola Charter School ended May 2022 with a current fiscal year to date Fund 01 positive balance (revenues received less expenditures incurred) of $121,274.
        • Food Service Fund 02
          • As of May 31, 2022 the school has received in Fund 02 a total of $57,141 of current Fiscal Year State, Federal, and Local revenues which is 90% of its current budgeted amount.
          • As of May 31, 2022 the school has expended in Fund 02 $61,642 which is 97% of its current budgeted expense.
          • Nasha Shkola Charter School ended May 2022 with a current fiscal year to date Fund 02 deficit balance (revenues received less expenditures incurred) of ($4,502).
        • Nasha Shkola Charter School had a total cash balance of $383,779 at the end of May 2022 reflected across all funds.
        • Nasha Shkola Charter School had a balance of $2,188 in accounts receivable at May 31, 2022.
        • There was a balance of $44,828 in current liabilities for general accounts payable and payroll liabilities at May 31, 2022. A portion of the liability is for payroll withholdings on the last day of the month which are not paid until the first days of the next month, thus they are reflected on the current balance sheet.
        • Nasha Shkola Charter School had an overall audited fund balance of $278,559 at June 30, 2021 which includes its investments in fixed assets.
        • The Revised Budget Approved is based on 130 ADM and 135 pupil units. State aid is being paid on 130 ADM or 135 Pupil Unit. The May MARSS report shows 134.43 ADM and 138.1 pupil units.
  7.  Consent Agenda
    Mr. Abyzov made a motion to amend the June 8th, 2022 Special Board meeting minutes.
    The Board Chair continued with the vote to approve the consent agenda.

    1. Minutes of May 17th, 2022 Board meeting
    2. Minutes from June 8th, 2022 Special Board meeting
    3. Financials May, 2022Motion by: Natalya Johnson
      Seconded by: Nicole Nelson
      3-0-3

      Counsel will research how to proceed when an item on the consent agenda does not pass.

      (The board chair continued on to the “Old Business” portion of the agenda. Later, the board returned to vote on the consent agenda items 7.1 and 7.3.)

      The consent agenda was reconsidered to approve items 7.1 and 7.3.

      Motion by: Nicole Nelson
      Seconded by: Natalya Johnson
      6-0-0

  8. Old Business
    1. School relocation
      • June 27-30: we are needing help with the move. Steve Widerski was not able to secure a moving crew. Yelena and Steve are working together to find other options.
      • Parent survey: the annual parent survey has been completed.
      • GoFundMe: the school has raised $1,220.
    2. New building operations
      • Building readiness status & inspections: Work on the building has just begun. The fire inspection was conducted today 6/21/22. Fire inspection violations need to be addressed for Lease Aid application. Unnecessary cables that were hanging from the ceiling and along walls are being removed; this comes at a cost to the school. Cables will be housed within metal tracks that will run along the walls. Since the building is not ready, we may postpone moving school materials into it. We may rent moving pods in the mean-time to store school materials.
      • Lease Aid application FY22: board members need to complete and send the Lease Aid application certificate form to the director.
      • Vendors (Janitorial services): We will use will work with Vivel LLC that work on this site before and came highly recommended. We will also have a part-time custodian contractor working at the school for a few hours in the afternoon on a daily basis.
      • Safety & security: Steve Widerski will set up a key-fob system. Peter Keller will review our safety plan and provide advice on improvement; it will be adjusted to fit the new building.
      • Air Filtration Technology: Remaining COVID testing grant funds will be used to purchase an air filtration system for each classroom. This grant will expire at the end of the month.
    3. 22-23 Planning
      • Pre-kindergarten update: We are waiting for final approval of pre-kindergarten funding from the state.
      • Summer PD for staff: we are looking into summer social & emotional and literacy training for teachers.
    4. School Policies:
      • Uniform Policy update: We provide support for families that may not be able to afford the traditional school uniforms through donations from families and funds from Title 1 that are allocated for “homeless” children.
        • We will continue to review this policy and make any necessary changes by the July board meeting.
        • There is a need for creating a committee that would be responsible for reviewing school uniform policies and making recommendations to the school board.
          • The committee will be composed of Mrs. Serdiouk, Mrs. Lindman, and the director. Additional people may be added at a later time to the committee.Motion to set up the School Uniform Committee.
            Motion by: Marisol Serdiouk
            Seconded by: Liza Lindman
            6-0-0
      • Cell phone/electronic device policy: The director would like for the school uniform policy committee to work on the cell phone/electronic device policy as well.Motion to combine the school uniform policy committee and the cell phone/electronic device policy committee.

        Motion by: Marisol Serdiouk
        Seconded by: Natalya Johnson
        6-0-0

  9. New Business
    1. (updated 9.1 item) IOwA (Identified Official with Authority) designation fo4 22-23
      The Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) requires that school districts annually designate an Identified Official with Authority to comply with the MNIT Enterprise Identity and Access Management Standard which states that all user access rights to Minnesota state systems must be reviewed and recertified at least annually. The Identified Official with Authority will assign job duties and authorize external user’s access to MDE secure systems for their local education agency (LEA). The Board recommends to authorize Yelena Hardcopf to act as the Identified Official with Authority (IOwA) and add name to act as the IOwA to add and remove names only for Nasha Shkola Charter school 4208-07Motion to approve
      Motion by: Nicole Nelson
      Seconded by: Natalya Johnson
      5-1-0
    2. School Satisfaction Survey results (Parents, Staff and Students):
      • The results are collected for school data purposes. They are shared with IQS and included in the annual report.
      • A suggestion was made to have a question added to the survey regarding what people may not like about Nasha Shkola.
      • Counsel advised that we could entertain a motion to create a committee that would work on the survey or that the director could present the survey questions in advance to the board for review; other than that, comments regarding the survey at this point in time are out of order.
      • Parent and student surveys were anonymous; teacher surveys were not anonymous.
      • There is a need for creating a committee that would be responsible for reviewing survey questions and making recommendations.Motion to create a Satisfaction Survey Committee for parents, staff, and students.
        Motion by: Liza Lindman
        Seconded by: Alexej Abyzov
        6-0-0
    3. Establish dates for board governance training:
      • New board members need to complete board governance training before being seated on the school board.
      • The remaining board members also need to complete the board governance training.
      • Counsel will conduct the training for all board members prior to the July board meeting.
  10. Adjourn
    Next Board Meeting:
    July 19, 2022 – 6:30 Nasha Shkola School
    The Nasha Shkola Board meets the 3nd Tuesday of each month at 6:30PM.
    The Finance Committee meets at 5:30PM prior to the board meeting.
    See the Nasha Shkola web page for the agenda and minutes of meetings.Motion to approve
    Motion by: Nicole Nelson
    Seconded by: Natalya Johnson
    6-0-0

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