Minutes of Asha Seattle meeting on 11/21/06 Venue : RTC LWSD No 414, Morton Johnson Room, Redmond, WA Attendees: Ken, Srijan, Swami, Tulika, Swati, Saurabh, Lakshmikumar, Sahar, Shayon, Vibhavaree, Kannan C, Ravi, Aparajita, Palani. New Volunteer Orientation – Presented by Swati § NVO - need of new volunteers to present during New Volunteer Orientation - Kannan C volunteered. KGBV (Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya) - Presented by Tulika § residential schools for girls for the disadvantaged. § Govt. project, to be implemented by Mahila Samakhya - 1180 schools targeted, 100 students per school. § Track record/requirements not known § 20 lakhs per school ( +6 for other expenses) sanctioned, 35 lakhs estimated § 10 schools in rented buildings functioning already § 1180 schools all-India, 124 schools in UP, run 60 by MS, we are funding 15 of these § 15 lakhs per school, out of 60 schools Questions regarding project: § Swati: Admission criteria? To be verified § Ravi: Is MS govt-controlled or an NGO? § If MS is not NGO - funds can't be sent for non-NGOs § Why do schools have fewer students? Are they having trouble filling schools? (of the 10 running) § How many toilets per school? 14 per 100 § How did they choose the architect (process of choosing)? - work-of-mouth § How much is architect paid? § Is the architect the same as the one who designed a previous project? § Comparison of the govt design and the new one? And what are the benefits the additional cost is going to buy? § Are they meeting all the goals they have in mind with the new funds? § Information on curriculum/guidelines proposed § Would 1 year be sufficient to meet the goals? § How much are the other chapters willing to support? § If funds are not available for the schools, can they be build with the current level of funding? § How long are they willing to wait to before building non-funded schools? § How do they plan to support the increased spending due to the improved design? ARC Representative Needed – Presented by Srijan Details: ARC Representative needed - Rohit leaving - no volunteer yet. Presented an overview of the funding situation in Seattle. According to the estimates for 2006, we will be disbursing more than we expect to raise (in the order of $600k). However, we have buffer funds available from previous years that need to be disbursed properly. Ken suggested that every year we disburse some x % more than what we expect to raise, until we reach a point when we have just enough buffer funds for future. There was a discussion on how to divide our project support: % One-time + % Recurring + % Mixed Kannan C will work with Srijan on projecting past income and expenses, and how much more we can commit for the next few years It was decided we will have minimum buffer of 1 year given our huge yearly commitments CMS – Presented by Shayon/Swati/Aparajita Currently they are in bad financial shape … they're in loans and are looking at closing down the school. Moved from SAC to full project … project amount was based on SAC estimates Initially funded by one donor, whereas the enrollment shot up. As a result underfunded for the last 1-2 years. Where did the compromise happen? How did it affect the quality of education? How much debt has the project incurred in previous years?  Can we help pay off this amount? Need to find out if the money we are sending now will go to pay off loans incurred before the May 2006 - April 2007 school year. Vote for Budget of $11,787 for this year Yes: 11 No: 0 Abstain: 1. Approved.

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