A description of the meeting, who was there, action items and the next meeting date.

Note: all minutes are marked “Draft” until official approved by the next committee meeting.

Minutes from the Executive Council meeting on November 12, 2007

Present: Laurie Singer, Madeline Young, Dave Cobb, Nancy Erickson, Lynn Coale, Tim Crowley, Meg Powden, Peter Evans, Dick Kraemer, June Sargent, Judi Maynard, Pat Burke, Bob Johnson and Bob Stevens
Absent: Joe Bowen, Frank Spencer and Steve Houghton

1. It was moved by June Sargent and seconded by Dave Cobb to accept the recommendation from the nomination committee to have Patrick Burke serve on the Executive Council. Pat was unanimously approved. He replaces Debi Price.
2. Delina Benway, our newest office staff member, was introduced to the EC and she thanked the EC for hiring her, plus she shared a short background history.
3. Laurie Singer, President, welcomed everyone and provided very thoughtful remarks about the current state of educational activity and her involvement on several committees. One specific note was the Business-Education Collaborative.
4. Dave Cobb moved and Madeline Young seconded the motion to accept the minutes from our summer retreat in Manchester on August 9 and 10. They were unanimously approved with no corrections.
5. Written committee reports were sent in the mail. Dave Cobb spoke about the Northeast Elementary Zone I Conference and the by-law work that was done. He also covered other topics in his written report. Madeline Young also spoke about federal legislation and the by-law work. Dave announced that he was running for Zone I representative. It was moved by Judi Maynard and seconded by Lynn Coale to support his candidacy not to exceed $1000. Unanimously approved.
6. Bob Stevens showed the film “Celebrate What is Right with the World” as an introduction to the future EC work. It is available to members since the VPA will slowly try to develop a video library. Several EC members have already asked for it. EC members also received lifetime pens and the book “Bowling Alone”.
7. Dick Kraemer outlined the mentor program as it has been developing. Four districts have requested support and we pay half of the $90. For the first ten participants, for this year only. It will be funded from the VSAC grant , as is the stipend to Dick for coordinating the program. Dick has received a cell phone and is also paid mileage.
8. Bob Johnson handed out a written Activities Standards Committee report and quickly provided information on each of the topics.
9. Names of non- VPA members were shared and individual EC members agreed to make personal calls
10. Bob Stevens asked for an approval of the June 30, 2007 audit. It was unanimously approved. He then quickly went through specific sections of the budget and explained that it is still a work in progress to better align codes and reorganize parts of the budget to make it more user friendly. We are specifically working on including all of the Leadership Academy income and expense in the same year. Support documents such as affiliate and membership information spreadsheets were distributed as Bob went through the presentation. There was also a lengthy discussion about the legislative expectations for Bob. Concensus seemed to indicate that Bob should determine when and how much he needed to be in the statehouse, but the Council continues to want VPA visibility and involvement.
11. Bob Stevens asked for volunteers to work on a plan for Marie’s retirement. Lots of interest, but no lead person stepped forward.
12. Quick conversations at the conclusion of the meeting included: thoughts about replacing Burns Page and what should the position become, sponsorship requirements, how to best develop VPA positions on legislative issues and a review of a draft strategic plan. These topics will be part of our winter retreat on February 7-8, 2008 at the Wildflower in Lyndon. The site and dates were approved at the summer retreat.
    Meeting adjourned at 2:48 p.m.