Minutes of Asha Seattle meeting on 06/21/2006.

Venue : RTC LWSD No 414, Morton Johnson Room, Redmond, WA

Attendees: Srijan, Palani, Tapoja, Mahadevan, Arvind, Sujit, Vibhavaree, Binay, Vani, Kavita, Ken, Deb, Swati, Manohita, Pavan,Theresa, Marina, Sri, Anand, Madhavi, Ashish, Jyotsna, Rahul, Tullika, Priya, Raghav.

Project Co-ordination - Presenter:  Vibhavaree

 

  • Project co-ordinators update for new/existing volunteers: Vibhavaree will be in-charge of check sending, Venky will handle site visits, Sudharshan will handle new project proposals.
  • All project stewards must send their project-specific implications of the RTE to Vibhavaree as soon as possible.
  • Project stewards need to send checks during April and October. Those who haven’t sent April checks as yet must do so immediately and get in touch with Vibhavaree regarding this.

Project : Betsy Elizabeth Trust (BET). Presenter: Sujit Kuruvilla

Presentation for a proposal sent by the Betsy Elizabeth Trust (BET) for a total of $11,300 aiding 4 creches. Details at http://www.ashanet.org/projects/project-view.php?p=704

  • Site visit was completed and found to be satisfactory.
  • After discussions, the following clarifications were sought:
    1. The number of hours/day spent by the kids in the different creches.
    2. The high teacher to student ratio in certain creches.
    3. The role and budget allocation for –reporter-.
    4. Skewed electricity and utility expenses across the different centers
    5. BET had FCRA clearance
    6. Driver and his duties mentioned in the different centers.
    7. Impact of this creche on the local community and progress of the former students.
  • The project was approved after voting:

13 Yes, 0 No & 7 Abstentions

Project : RHEDT. Presenter: Vani and Binay 

 RHEDT status update http://ashanet.org/projects/project-view.php?p=148

  • The project was started in 2001 with the initial intention of procuring land for a school. Asha Seattle has supported to the tune of $4000 annually.
  • Site visit was completed by Jessica and found to be unsatisfactory - poor infrastructure, financial discrepancies, attendance irregularities and questioned the intentions of the board members with regard to the functioning of the school.
  • Based on the findings it was decided by vote on a plan to issue an ultimatum to the board to improve their functioning and provide a proper transition plan for the kids to enter schools. With 13 Yes and 11 Abstentions, Asha Seattle agreed to extend conditional support for one more year only to the tune of $3000.
  • Based on the current experience it was agreed to examine infrastructural-related funding more carefully and perform regular site visits.

 

Discussion of items in the RTE Bill. Presenter: RTE group
 

  • Introduction by Ken to get feedback from members and drive towards formulating the chapter policy statement.
  • The issue of local control versus centralized control of SMCs was debated.
  • The issue was voted upon - whether to limit the role of SMCs to being an advisory body; or to expand its role (after recommendations on how the SMC governing body needs to be constituted) allowing more powers. The former received 7 votes, while the latter received 9 votes. There were no abstentions.
  • A consensus for the role of the SMCs could not be reached and will be re-visited later.

 

 

 

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