Louisiana Council for Exceptional Children
Executive Committee Meeting
Minutes
November 3, 2007
ULL

Members present: Cindy, Wanda, Karen, Barbara, Marcy, Bonnie W., Jackie, Bill, Donna, and Sassy.

 

 

1. 1.0    Call to order by Bill at 10:20 AM
2. 2.0    Minutes- motion to approve minutes with following corrections: misspellings (Bridgette, Gerlinde) and add comment about Karen providing update/report for Barb on mini-grants and scholarships.  Motion made by Wanda and seconded by Barb.
3. 3.0    Treasurer’s report- updated by Donna, hand-out provided for secretary’s records

6 CD’s have been renewed with a current value of $78,794.68

(2 of these renewed since last board meeting at 4.97% rate)

Regular checking balance   $15, 660.83

Super Conference checking account balance $18,800 ( $10,000 of this is seed money from last year)

Savings account   $26, 074.55 ( Moved to new type/minimum balance of $10,000 account which increased interest from .61% to 2.28%.)  Donna will keep an eye on this to make sure we do not go below $10,000

Jackies moves to accept, Barb seconds

 

1. 4.0    Standing committees
1. 4.1    Membership- Ashley submitted report via email. Membership is up!  ULL added 15 members and NSU 17 members in October.
2. 4.2    Newsletter- Paul was absent but Bill reported that he is waiting for preliminary program information for newsletter.
3. 4.3    Government relations- Larry- absent
4. 4.4    Publicity/Awards- Cindy gave report for Bonnie B. 10 Yes I Can award applications and 10 para-pro applications. Bonnie B. also sent out a “Save the Date” to all directors of Sp.Ed.
5. 4.5    Constitution/by-laws—Jackie reports that new constitution was to be posted on website. She sent a blurb for newsletter. We need to address duties and responsibilities of officers for Super Conference.  Constitution was emailed to all committee members.
6. 4.6    Finance- Donna reports she is still getting addendums to insurance policy. When an official is received, she will the company what exactly are we paying for since there are so many exclusions.  Jackie’s husband may also be asked to review the policy for us.
7. 4.7    Scholarship/mini-grants- Barb reports that there are 19 applicants for mini-grants and 1 scholarship applicant. It was decided we would extend the scholarship deadline to Nov. 10.
8. 4.8    Multicultural- Cindy reported for Bridgette that she’s preparing a board and hand-outs for S.C.
9. 4.9    Technology- Bill reported that Charlotte requested the registration form to put on the website. Jackie and Cindy reviewed an updated hard copy of the registration form which will be emailed to Charlotte for the website.
10. 4.10 Student CEC—Sassy is reporting for Gerlinde and has Art/Cover for voting later.
11. 4.11  DEC-  Mary and Toni were both out of state so on their behalf,  Donna reported that DEC would like to request have a table at SC to showcase new topics in DEC including a powerpoint.  Jackie and Donna will cover electrical costs.  DEC officers will do a presentation titled “DEC Showcase” at SC.   Toni and Mary will also present the “DEC Showcase” at Dept. of Ed. Early Childhood Conference to recruit new DEC members.
    
    
2. 5.0    Super conference
1. 5.1    Vendors- Karen supplied board with 3 hand-outs covering potential vendors, paid vendors, and vendors who plan to exhibit but have not paid.  We have 31 paid booths at this time.  La. Computer Using Educators will be emailing her a copy of the vendors for their conference. Karen will also attend this conference to recruit more vendors for SC.   Extra tables—Karen will check with Clark on the cost and ask those requesting extra tables to pay her ahead of time to avoid credit card issues at conference site.  ** It was noted that Jim said prices remain the same for this year.
2. 5.2    Program- Cindy reports on presenters for SC.  A handout of the rough draft of the preliminary program was provided. It was recommended that we list invited speakers on the day they speak as well as the special section at the beginning.  Some titles were added (Dr., PhD) that were not included in submissions.   It was suggested that in the final program, vendors such as Dee Dee Holmes be listed as “consultant from Holmes.”   Cindy reported a group of teachers she selected will assist her in prioritizing presentations to determine room size. She also shared that a New Orleans attorney would present if compensated for mileage. It was recommended she contact Nathan Roberts who is local first.   Cindy reported she had several poster sessions.   She will send in the preliminary program in JPEG format by Tuesday after she and Bridgette does final touch-ups.  It was also recommended that private schools should receive a preliminary program.  If such schools are not in the directory Lisa did last year, they can be added this year.
3. 5.3    Hotels- an email version will be sent to board. See handout for prices for Hotel Acadiana, Hilton Garden, and Comfort Inn.   It was suggested that invited speakers be placed at Hilton  with the “state rate” discount they offer for 5 of our rooms.  Donna suggested that if board members want to stay at Hilton they pay the difference in rates. She will create a table with rates for review by board.  Hotel Acadiana and Comfort Inn free rooms earned could be used for student volunteers.  Bill recommended we consider $70 as the state rate for hotel rooms and he will also contact Comfort Inn regarding their rates for Monday.
   
   
3. 6.0    Art- Sassy reported for Gerlinde.  Five finalists were selected by Gerlinde’s graduate classes.  The board voted.  The first vote led to a tie between #1 (Girl on world) and #3 (world on book.)  The second vote was 10 to 5 in favor of #1 by Casandra Palmer of Harrisonburg High in Enterprise, La.   Top 5 art finalists should be displayed on a poster board for SC.  The winning art will be framed like last year- keeping within budget.

 

1. 7.0    Next meeting—No meeting scheduled

 

Bill will email to determine who needs rooms for SC. He reminded us that rooms are supplied for board members “who work the conference.”

Pre-Conference Meeting January 28, 2008 at Cajundome. Bill will notify us of time when that’s cleared by convention center.