Policy Council Minutes August 2022

Monday, August 15, 2022

Brittany Lyle, Tamika Rowe, Cherrie Kelly, Kanisha Davis, Satyn Gardner, Dorett Gunter, Lisa Butler, Donnittia Robinson, Donna Mansell, LaKeisha Johnson, Demetria Hall

Members Absent:  Avis Neal, Janelly Ortiz, Megan Crocker, Crystal Gray, Brianna Williams, Brittany Money, Justin Grant, Jessica Godfrey, Melissa Gregory, Shashettia Banks, Carl Powe, Krashanda Snead, Rosalind Moss

Excused Absences: Angela Brown, Yaniqua Eyabi

Mini Training:  A mini training was provided for the Policy Council. Ms. Hawthorne presented a short video for the policy council to watch.  The video was facilitated by Jennifer Reid, Consultant.  Ms. Reid highlighted what programs should expect from a Focus Area Two monitoring review.  She discussed service areas and how the staff, families and governing bodies should be prepared to engage in conversation. Information was shared on the types of data that is collected and program outcomes.  Ms. Vaughn informed the Policy Council that we will continue to discuss FA2.  We are expected to receive a monitoring review this school year. 

The meeting was called to order by Dorett Gunter, Chairperson.  A quorum was met.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

The July 18^th minutes was presented to the Policy Council by Dorett Gunter, Chairperson. After discussion, Brittany Lyle moved to approve the minutes as presented. Donna Mansell seconded the motion. Votes were submitted to the chat box for approval. 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, Satyn Gardner moved to approve the personnel report as presented. Brittany Lyle seconded the motion. Votes were submitted to the chat box. The personnel report was approved as presented.

APPROVAL OF 2019 NON-FEDERAL SHARE WAIVER: 

Tammy Gore, Assistant Director of Business & Finance explained to the policy council the need to seek approval for the 2019 budget amendment for non-federal share.  Ms. Dorett Gunter asked Ms. Gore to elaborate more on the non-federal share waiver.  Ms. Gore explained that the Non-Federal Share required by our program was $3,860,345.  Prior to closing the agency due to COVID, we had $3,238,793 in Non-Federal Share and was unable to get the balance of $621,552, which is the amount of the request and amendment. LaKeisha Johnson asked an additional question.  She wanted to know if the waiver amount because of not having enough volunteers in the center.  Ms. Gore explained that non-federal share is our in-kind.   We did not have enough volunteer hours to get the amount needed for 2019.  After discussion, Satyn Gardner made a motion to approve the 2019 Non-federal share waiver request.  Brittany Lyle seconded the motion.  Motion carried.

DIRECTOR’S REPORT:

The Director’s report was provided by Shannon Vaughn, Interim Head Start Director.  She explained child outcomes data for each county which included all children (See attachment).  Children showed growth and improvement in all domains.  We have provided Munch Boxes for children enrolled in our summer enrichment program. Children were able to take home munch boxes each weekend.  We also had food donations from an anonymous donor.  The families really appreciated the food boxes. Data revealed that over 455 food boxes have been distributed to parents throughout the school year.   Ms. Vaughn talked about our Triple P parenting program.  We have two staff that are trained practitioners.  They have provided on-going parenting sessions throughout the school year. Ms. Vaughn provided outcomes data on Triple P for the school year (See attachment).  We are thinking about adding an additional parenting curriculum.  The Ready Rosie curriculum will help us to make connections with children and families from a classroom standpoint.  Ready Rosie meets parents where they are by allowing us to send interactive videos and short clips to families via text and e-mail.  We are looking to pilot Ready Rosie in some of our Head Start centers.  We are currently working on an action plan to implement the Ready Rosie curriculum.   Ms. Vaughn informed the council that we have created a new Head Start advertisement for accepting applications. We used the old advertisement for many years and thought is was necessary to update.  We are still focusing on hiring staff.  We have been holding job fairs and tracking the number of staff that we are hiring as well as losing.  The background checks are still taking a long time to process new hires.  We have made this issue known to DSS Licensing, but they tell us it is an issue with programs across the nation.  This year we are wanting to stabilize our classrooms much more than last year.  We have looked at enrollment and have made decided to close some classrooms due to staffing. We have tried to combine classrooms, however the age of the children is a factor when trying to combine children having different ages, meaning putting children that is an early 2 year old with children ages 3 & 4.  LaKeisha Johnson asked a question concerning providing an anonymous survey for staff that are leaving the agency. This will allow them to provide input as to why that are resigning.  Ms. Vaughn explained that each staff must go through an exit interview with Ms. Sims, President / CEO and/or HR staff to determine why staff are resigning.  Ms. Vaughn stated that there are many factors as to why staff may be resigning.  We are dealing with a number of children with challenging behaviors.  Many teachers state they get burned out with dealing with challenging behaviors.  Low wages have also been identified as a reason why teachers are leaving the program.  We hope additional funding will be considered from OHS to assist with more competitive wages. After discussion, Brittany Lyle made a motion to accept the Director’s report.  Tamika Rowe seconded the motion.  Motion carried. 

APPROVAL OF BUDGET REVIEW:

The Budget Review was provided by Tammy Gore, Assistant Director of Business and Finance. Ms. Gore informed the council that we have spent 3.07% for Head Start and 3.94 % for Early Head Start.  Our combined total spent is 3.4%.  The American Rescue funds and Consolidated Appropriations funds will end in March 2023.  We have spent 65.69 % of the American Rescue funds and 66.05% of the Consolidated Appropriations funds.  Ms. Gore discussed the credit card reports and asked the policy council if there were any concerns.  After discussion, Donna Mansell made a motion to accept the budget review as presented. Britany Lyle seconded the motion. Motion carried.  

Dorett Gunter asked Ms. Patrice Hawthorne if she had anything to share before dismissing the meeting.  Patrice informed the policy council that parent orientations for each Head Start center is scheduled during the month of September.  During this time, we will be electing officers and members to serve on the policy council.  Ms. Vaughn shared that we are planning to slowly transition back to face to face with families in the centers. Our plan is to allow parent officers and members of the policy council to come into the centers for parent café meetings. Others participating in meetings will be encouraged to join via zoom.  Ms. Vaughn informed the policy council that we are encouraging centers to provide outside activities for families if weather permits.  Last school year, we saw an increase in participation when activities were offered outdoors.  The policy council accepted this report as information.

No further business, meeting adjourned.

Recorded by LaKeisha Johnson, Acting Secretary

Dorett Gunter, Chair