March Board Meeting

We had a very productive Board meeting last night.

The Development Committee reported that they will invite a consultant company to the April committee meeting to investigate whether they could help us evaluate and enhance our development efforts. In addition, the committee will be preparing to lead a discussion in the April Board meeting about what makes Maranatha different in the marketplace.

The Finance Committee received approval to proceed with an engagement of a consultant to do an evaluation and make recommendations for enhancing our programs and marketing for our preschool. That will start this month.

The Planning Committee facilitated a rich discussion around the feedback from the focus groups on succession planning. Now they will take all of the feedback and start building a competency model for updating/building a job description for the superintendent role for the years to come. Additionally they started the process of accepting board nominations and considering what changes in committee roles might be needed for next year. Andy Hageman is moving his family to Nebraska as he accepted a job in a ministry called One City International. Therefore he submitted a letter of resignation to the Board which was accepted and we pray many blessings to Andy and his family and they engage in this wonderful ministry and appreciate all he has done for the school.

The Facilities Committee reminded the Board of all the progress that has been made on the North Campus over the years up through this year. The momentum is not slowing as we now have over $25,000 in the Bleacher Buddy program so we will be adding those bleachers this summer. Praise the Lord! and thank you for your generosity. We still need $8-10,000 to cover all of the costs, so any amount you can make to this needed project would be appreciated. Additionally we are continuing to exam options for increasing the security at the North Campus with a new security/communication system.

Finally, the Board declared a direction for the plans for facilities for Maranatha. Please understand, this is not a building plan. However, this does provide a clear statement of intent and should remove some of the ambiguity that has been present about our facilities. So our statement is that by consensus, the Board has elected to focus all future development efforts on the North Campus and begin by examining the viability of whether we could meet current and future needs at that location. We will continue with the 5 year plan that I referenced in a previous post with specific efforts to maximize the existing buildings. This statement adds direction and authority for the Facilities Committee to examine the viability of handling current and future facility needs of the school at the North Campus.

With all that said, there are many important, significant actions underway in each committee that could very well have significant impact on the school. Please pray for wisdom and sensitivity to God's will in these matters.