The regularly scheduled quarterly Board Meeting of the New Hampshire Homeschooling Coalition was called to order at 9:05am. Board members, officers, HEAC members, and NHHC members present: Jane Grady, Sheri Walker, Chris Hamilton, Kemlo Aki, Ginny Kern, Maura Barber, Jenness Nordstrom, Michelle Levell, and Stacey DesRosiers.

Minutes: Kemlo motioned to accept the December 1, 2007 meeting minutes as presented. Passed.

Officer Reports:

Coordinator: Jane reported that Beth Nelson, our District 4 Representative, has resigned form the Board. Jeanne Fogg will not be returning as District 1 Representative. The ballots for the annual elections will go out on May 24^th. Currently, Districts 1, 4 and 8 are vacant.

Treasurer: Ginny reported she conducted an analysis on the funds. The CD rolled over on 2/28/208 and we are currently receiving good interest rates. She recommended however, that money be not moved into the CD because it has been one year since we have collected dues/donations. Since the last Board meeting there has been an increase in guidebook sales. At the end of February a total of $128 worth in guidebooks was collected. Ginny suggested we might need to reorder guidebooks due to an increase in sales.

Webmaster: It was reported that due to the changes in hosting, it will allow Stef to be able to set up the website so that it is more “user-friendly” for any changes which may need to be made on the website in the future. It was also stated that we are receiving services at a lower cost.

Next Meeting Date: It was proposed to discuss having the Quarterly Board meetings on a “fixed” day of each month. Jenness motioned to make the Quarterly Board meetings to be held on the second Saturday in the month. Passed.

The next quarterly board meeting will be Saturday, June 14, 2008.

Jane stated she would check out the Elkin Library and the Concord Library for room availability to hold the meeting. There was discussion regarding making a donation to the Elkin Library for the use of a room for the Board meeting. Kemlo motioned $20 be donated to Elkin Library for the use of the room for the Board meeting. Passed.

HEAC Report: Chris reported that the DOE will provide the Coalition with a list of public schools to add to our current list we have on the website.

Representatives’ Reports

District 1: No Jeanne on next election ballot.

District 4: Beth has resigned.

District 5: Jenny Courser will stay on as District 5 Representative.

District 6: Michelle reported there have been a lot of inquiries in her district regarding homeschool issues. It seems that the information has been moving from group to group allowing for great connections to take place.

District 9: Kemlo reported she has been assisting families to find groups in her district. She stated that “nice” groups have been formed and are being maintained.

District 10: Stacey reported she is receiving a lot of emails from families in Manchester. Goffstown Library has also set up a workshop geared toward puppetry play that will be going on for 4 weeks.

District 11: Jenness reported that a Montessori school is closing so she has been receiving a lot of calls regarding schooling options.

District 12: Sheri reported of a family who were inquiring about homeschooling their teen daughter. The family will be moving from Pennsylvania to New Hampshire due to some difficulties their daughter had been experiencing at school.

Old Business

Spring Workshop 2008:

Date: May 3, 2008

Location: Annichiarico Theater Concord, NH

Topics: Homeschool Sampler and Homeschool Teens and Beyond

There was discussion regarding Board members to recruit parent and teen panelists.

Format: 9-9-30 registration; 9:30-11:30 parent panel; 11:30-1:00 break for lunch; and 1-3:00 teen panel

Funding: There was discussion regarding funding for the workshop. Jenness motioned that there be the authorization of an expense of up to $600 for the Spring 2008 Workshop. Passed.

Sound System: Jane will look into the sound system set up.

Signs: Kemlo has two metal stands to use for posting signs.

Registration: Stacey and Sheri will help out. Michelle will make a box for the feedback forms. Jenness will supply the door prize.

Refreshments: In regards to refreshments we will provide “light” refreshments in the morning such as baked goods, coffee, tea, and water. A donation will be requested and a basket will be made available to collect the donations. Jenness requested an email to her in regards to what baked goods will be prepared by Board members. Michelle and Jane have coolers for water.

Teen Social Group: Jenness motioned to remove the teen pizza social for the 2008 Workshop. Passed. There was discussion regarding the lack of room to host a teen pizza gathering this year.

Miscellaneous: Jane has ordered the catalogs. By the date of March 30^th, we need to have our sponsors and their donations for the workshop. Kemlo will visit Borders and Stacey will visit Barnes and Noble. Flyers are circulating to district libraries to inform the public of the workshop event. Homeschool materials (child’s work) are needed for display. Please make sure materials are labeled with your name on them.

New Business

Guidebooks: As of 2/14/08 there were a total of 49 guidebooks left. It was reported that 9.4 books have been sold a month since 9/07-2/08. Jenness motioned to authorize an order of 100 more guidebooks to be placed. Passed.

Forwarding Questions to Board List: There was a question regarding if emails should continue to be forwarded to the Board list? Stef has a great deal of email questions submitted into her sometimes by families she does not know and may not know what particular district the family is from. A question raised was, “Should we add a privacy policy?” There was concern that there may be some privacy issues when we do not know whom the emails are from and the emails are then forwarded onto a Board member(s) who may be able to answer that person’s question more accurately. At this time the Board members will continue to forward emails from families who have questions to other members. It was also suggested that we could let the “emailer” know that their information will be viewed by all the Board members and ask them if that is “okay” with them. We will revisit this issue in the June meeting.

Two Issues: First issue. It was agreed upon that we would not seek financial support from political and religious groups. Second issue. The question rose, “Do we list them as a resource?” The Board decided to keep Chris’s website and other websites as a resource for anyone needing more political/religious information so they can have access to that information. That way this does not require the Coalition to take a position.

Book: Chris presented a book called, When Your Grandchildren Homeschool. It was recommended that copies should be purchased to make them available to families in the libraries. We will revisit this issue at the June meeting.

The meeting adjourned at 11:32 A.M.

Respectfully submitted,

Maura Barber

Secretary