Policy Council Minutes May 17, 2021

Mini Training:  Community and Self-Assessment
Ms. Hawthorne shared and reviewed with the Policy Council the Management Systems Wheel.   She explained that we will be providing a mini training on each of the 12 areas as outlined on the wheel.  Ms. Shannon Vaughn explained that the Community Needs Assessment is updated annually and entails information on the demographics and needs of the communities throughout our four county service areas.  We are required to conduct a full community assessment every 5 years.  Our Self-assessment is updated quarterly and a complete self-assessment is conducted annually. Ms. Hawthorne explained the recommended practices for conducting the self-assessment.  She reminded the Policy Council that our progress on program goals and objectives was identified in our recent grant application.  We want to make sure that we are meeting the program goals that we have put in place.  We want to identify our program strengths, weaknesses and identify where we want to improve.  We want to be innovative and creative in how we are progressing on program goals.  Program staff, parents, Policy Council, Community Leaders and the Board of Directors are needed to participate in the self-assessment process.  We will provide a report to our Policy Council and Board when the self-assessment is completed.  Teams must be open minded and value the opinions of all team members.  Team leaders will facilitate and provide an orientation for their service area.  We will encourage dialogue when information is presented.  We need recommendations on where we want to improve.  The five phases of the self-assessment include designing the process, engaging the team, analyzing and dialogue, making recommendations and preparing and reporting information.  Ms. Vaughn informed the Policy Council that we will further discuss the self-assessment plan during our regular meeting and will seek approval of the Policy Council.

Regular Meeting
Members Present:  Brittany Lyle, Corine Scrieber, Kanisha Davis , LaShun Martin, Yaniqua Eyabi, LaKeisha Johnson, Donnittia Robinson, Millicent Glenn, Donna Mansell, Sylvia Vandross, Lisa Butler, Chaquanna Smith, Rovanda Dunlap

Members Absent:  Tiffany Norris, Malcolm Wiley, Lily Farciert, Sharterria Rucker, , Bethany Stokes, Leslie Witschi, Lashell Davis, Bretani Robinson, Sandra Robinson                                                                                 

Excused Absence: Dorett Gunter

The meeting was called to order by LaKeisha Johnson, Vice Chair.  A quorum was met.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
- The minutes from the last meeting were reviewed by the Policy Council (See Attachment). LaShun Martin made a motion to accept the minutes as presented. Corine Schreiber seconded the motion.  Motion carried.

APPROVAL OF PERSONNEL REPORT:

The Personnel Report was given by Melissa Botsoe, Information Coordinator II.   All perspective new employees have been interviewed and being recommended for employment with our program. All applicants are subject to Background Investigation as mandated by the S.C. Department of Social Services. This includes State and Federal Background Investigation and the Child Registry Search to determine if any abuse or neglect has been made against a child and Pre-employment Drug Screenings. Also, we will conduct reference checks on all perspective new employees. Appointments are conditional based upon the receipt of satisfactory references, state, and federal background investigation and approval from the Head Start Policy Council. Each full-time employee must serve a three-month introductory probationary period before obtaining regular appointment status. Substitutes are on an as needed basis.  After discussion, LaShun Martin made a motion to approve the perspective employees as presented.  Brittany Lyle seconded the motion.  Motion carried.

APPROVAL OF 2021 SELF-ASSESSMENT PLAN:
Ms. Vaughn explained that we are seeking approval from the Policy Council and the Board of Directors so that we can move forward with conducting our program self-assessment.  We would like to begin coordinating teams and looking at self-assessment tools.  The self-assessment will be conducted virtually.  We want to inform our Policy Council and Board of Directors on understanding the data that we will be bringing to the teams.  The data that we are tracking is from our program goals and objectives.  We have completed quarters 1 & 2 and are currently completing our 3^rd quarter.    Ms. Vaughn shared and reviewed our program goals and objectives with Policy Council.  These goals were written and submitted with our recent grant application (See attachment).  We are currently in the third year of our 5-year grant cycle.  We will look at the progress that we’ve made on each of these goals and objectives.  We will use different tools to conduct the self-assessment, such as interviews, surveys, questionnaires…….etc.  We feel that we are now tracking program goals more effectively.  With on-going monitoring and follow-up, the Policy Council and Board will be able to track goals better and will be able to process data more effectively.  After discussing our Self-assessment plan, Corine Schrieber made motion to approve the plan as presented.  Rovanda Dunlap seconded the motion.  Motion carried.

DIRECTOR’S REPORT:
The Director’s report was provided by Shannon Vaughn, Interim Director of Children and Family Development.  Ms. Vaughn provided the Policy Council with a copy of the Director’s report.  She explained that COR at Home is an important assessment tool that shows how virtual learning is taking place at home.  The assessment tool allows for on-going communication between the parent and teachers.  The parents are able to share what the child is learning at home with the teaches and the teachers can share the type of learning taking place in the classroom.    Ms. Vaughn shared that we provided recruitment days to assist us with recruiting children for vacant slots.  We need a lot of applications and registrations for next school year.  Parents can help share program flyers on their Facebook page and any other social media platforms.  Our children started back last week.  We feel that we were well prepared for the children to return face to face.  After discussion, LaShun Martin made a motion to accept the Director’s report as information. Kanisha Davis seconded the motion.  Motion carried.

Ms. Hawthorne informed the Policy Council that we will be hosting a Cooking with a Chef parent activity at the end of the month.  8 parents have been selected to cook along with the chef.  We will provide parent participants with a bag of ingredients for the cooking project.   Transitioning ceremonies will be on June 10^th.  We would like to use parent activity funds to make parent bags. We will distribute bags at each transitioning ceremony. Ms. Lakeisha Johnson reported that this month’s Financial Literacy workshop is on “Rent to Own, You Pick the Home”.  We are working with financial institutions to assist parents with home ownership and credit repair.  Ms. Hawthorne provided an opportunity for other community representatives to share upcoming events and/or activities with the Policy Council. 

TRAINING NEEDS SURVEY:
Ms. Hawthorne explained to the Policy Council that we want to make sure that the Policy Council and our Board of Directors have the training that they need to carry out their roles and responsibilities.  She explained that we provided an orientation at the beginning of the school year where we trained on several topics. We provided our annual Governance training in November 2020.  Training is on-going throughout the year.  Ms. Hawthorne asked the Policy Council to complete the training needs survey and return it to her as soon as possible.  We are asking that you specify your training needs.  Brittany Lyle made a motion to accept Ms. Hawthorne’s report as information.  Corine Schrieber seconded the motion.  Motion carried.

BUDGET REVIEW:
The Budget Review was provided by Tammy Gore, Assistant Director of Business & Finance. The Policy Council received copies of the financial reports, CACFP and credit card expenditure reports.  We have spent 72.45% of Head Start funds and 73.39% of Early Head Start funds.  We are where we need to be at this time of the year. We have spent 60.39% of COVID funds for HS and EHS. Ms. Gore asked the Policy Council if they had any questions about any of the statements.  After discussion, LaShun Martin made a motion to approve the Budget Review as presented.  Rovanda Dunlap seconded the motion.  Motion carried. 

No further business, meeting adjourned

Recorded by Brittany Lyle, Secretary
LaKeisha Johnson, Vice Chair