Approved June 21, 2004

The meeting was called to order by Frank Rottinghaus, Chairperson. Members present were Virgil Pickar, Jr., Frank Rottinghaus, Cheryl Jahnel, Larry Hicok, Karla Kelley, Kim Wendel, Deb Freeman, and Jennifer Bauer.

Frank Rottinghaus moved to approve the agenda. C. Jahnel moved to amend the agenda by adding discussion regarding a computer for L. Edson. V. Pickar, Jr. second. The agenda was approved as amended.

J. Bauer moved to appoint Kim Wendel as the daycare representative to the board, serving a one-year term and Rev. Solomon Odoom as the faith representative serving a two-year term. D. Freeman second. Motion carried.

L. Hicok moved to approve the March board minutes, V. Pickar, Jr. second. Motion carried. A written report was submitted from Head Start. There were no questions, concerns or discussion.

The TEACH program was presented by Barb Merrill. This is a program that supports daycare providers in receiving their AA in Early Childhood. The providers must have a licensed center serving children from birth to six. For 12 months they receive a $2,000 scholarship which is 15 college credits. They can then renew the scholarship for a second year, should they want to continue the commitment. They asked for assistance in telling potential daycare providers about the scholarship.

An update on our website was given by Justin DeVore.

Mary Odell and Nancy Beenblossom were present to give an update on Families Together. Nancy is the supervisor of the HOPES program in Blackhawk and will now also be supervising the Families Together program. Amy Mitchell continues to be an in home worker and they have hired a second staff as well.

The scholarship committee workgroup gave a report and recommendation on how to handle the scholarships in the future (see the attached recommendation). L. Hicok moved to accept the recommendation, J. Bauer second. C. Jahnel brought up in discussion that she would like to see the applications for the scholarship get out to the preschools in the spring instead of summer. It was explained that getting them out that early is difficult to do because the new income limits aren’t out at that time of the year. Through discussion it was motioned by V. Pickar, Jr. and seconded by C. Jahnel to amend the original motion to add a number 10 to read: Once a scholarship is awarded it is set for the year. Should income decline, a family should reapply for a scholarship or to go from a $3 to a $4 scholarship. That motion was carried, as was the original motion.

There was discussion about the State Empowerment Training that some individuals attended in Waverly, regarding state indicators. Everyone that attended felt it was informative and very worthwhile.

There was then discussion regarding Laurie’s computer. Her current computer has crashed and needs to be replaced. She has a bid for $1,900 from Mark’s Computers in Floyd. K. Kelley moved to purchase that computer, D. Freeman seconded. C. Jahnel brought up in discussion that she thought there should be a second bid. She suggested getting a bid from another company. L. Hicok said we would need specific specifications that we want in order for the bids to mean anything. K. Kelley said she thought we should just let Laurie purchase the computer from the current bid so she could get back to business. Rev. Odoom suggested we take what the current bid offers and see how much the same system would run with DELL. However, he also thought that going with the local bid would be good to have that technical support in the area. V. Pickar, Jr. brought up the ideas of having Laurie buy whatever system she wanted and have the board rent it from her. After the discussion, it was decided to vote on the motion on the table without amendments. For the motion were: L. Hicok, K. Kelley, F. Rottinghaus, V. Pickar, Jr. K. Wendel, D. Freeman, and J. Bauer. Against the motion was: C. Jahnel. The motion was carried.

The term limits for everyone on the board was discussed. There are still some positions open on the board that J. Bauer is trying to fill for the next fiscal year.

The proposed budget for both funds was presented. There was much discussion about carry-over funds in the Public Health line item, discussion regarding the Heads Up program that it is not currently in the budget for that program. It was decided to give everyone a month to respond to the proposed budget. K. Kelley moved to table action on the budget until a June meeting; J. Bauer seconded. Motion carried.

Next meeting will be June 21 at 6:30 p.m. at the library. The annual meeting will be the 3^rd Monday of July. Time and place to be announced.

The meeting was adjourned.

Respectfully submitted,

Jennifer Bauer

Secretary