Vermont Business Teachers’ Association

Vermont Business Teachers’ Association

Annual Meeting Minutes

November 2, 2007

1. Call to Order

Meeting was called to order at 1:00 by President Mike Gilbert. 

Mike thanked Mary Brouillette for setting up the conference.  Nicely done!!

2. Secretary’s Report – November 3, 2006

Motion was made by Jan Stratton to accept the minutes of the November 3, 2006 annual meeting as written.  Motion was seconded by Nancy Gilbert and voice vote was unanimous.

3. Treasurer’s Report – November 2, 2007

One minor correction to be made was to the “Expenditures since November 3, 2007” heading; to change the year from 2007 to 2006.  Motion was made by Nikki Forrest to accept the treasurer’s report, as corrected, with a balance of $2,856.20.  Motion was seconded by Jan Stratton and voice vote was unanimous.

4. EBEA Report

Sue Ladd gave the EBEA report.  She showed people the new Business Education Forum book that is out, and explained that you can get this book as well as others when you join EBEA.  She indicated that the national conference will be in San Antonio, Texas on March 19-22, 2008.

5. Old Business

Committee Reports:  Sue discussed how she and Nancy Gilbert met with Ebony Sikat from DOE as Ebony wanted to discuss her role with the business teachers.  Sue indicated that not much actually came about from the meeting.  Sue also discussed that she, Nancy Gilbert and Pam Brown met and worked on the VBTA Mission Statement.  It took them all of a couple of hours to work it through and feel that it is a good representation of what VBTA and the business teachers stand for and believe in.

6. New Business
   1. Elections of officers and directors – The proposed slate of officers up for election are as follows:  President – Michael Gilbert (Spaulding High” School/Barre Technical Center), Vice-President – Sue Ladd (River Bend Technical Center), Secretary – Pam Brown (Chelsea Public School), Northwest director – Mary Brouillette (BFA St. Albans), and Southeast director – Melissa Connor (River Valley Technical Center, Springfield).  Jan Stratton motion to accept the slate of officers as presented.  Motion was seconded by Tamie-Jo.  Voice vote was unanimous.
2. By-law amendment vote – Mike discussed the proposed change to the by-laws as adding one additional member to the executive board at the college/university level.  The proposed changes under he BY-LAWS heading, Article I, section 5 to now read, “ There shall be seven (7) regional DIRECTORS, one representing each of the districts in the state – southeast, southwest, central, northeast, northwest, and one at large representing high school and technical centers and one at large representing Vermont colleges and universities,” as well as changes to Article II, section 5 to now read, “the At Large Director representing high school and technical center teachers will be appointed by the executive board beginning in 2005.  The college/university At Large Director shall be elected for the first time at the 2008 annual meeting.  Directors’ terms will be 2 years.”  The question arose as to how we would find the college/university representative.  Mike indicated that it could possibly be a nomination from the colleges and that the nominees must be VBTA members.  Mike will mail a notice/letter to all the Vermont colleges that offer business courses describing the position on the executive council and the role they will play.  Jan Stratton motioned to accept the proposed by-law changes.  Betsy Calhoun seconded the motion.  Voice vote was unanimous.
3. Incorporation vote – Mike stated that the main purpose behind the reason for suggesting VBTA become incorporated is the principle of limited liability.  Mike had talked to an attorney and he said that the if VBTA was found responsible for any personal or property damage, for whatever reason, the individual executive council members could be liable for the damages.  The initial cost of incorporating would be approximately $600.00 for the legal fees and the filing of articles of incorporation with the Vermont Secretary of State’s office.  There would be a report that would have to be filed every two years.  The procedure for incorporation is as follows:

                                                               i.      Vote to form a mutual benefit non-profit corporation, - motion made by Barbara Foley, seconded by Jan Stratton and voice vote unanimous.

                                                             ii.      Vote to accept the current VBTA constitution and by-laws, as the constitution and by-laws of the “new” corporation, -- motion made by Nikki Forrest, seconded by Tami-Jo, voice vote unanimous, and

                                                            iii.      Vote to accept the current members of the executive council – motion made by Tami-Jo, seconded by Jan Stratton, voice vote unanimous.

4. Awards

The following awards were decided upon by a committee made up of the executive council which received nominations from the building administrators.  It was noted that there were a number of exceptional candidates to choose from, but there were two that stood out.  The recipients of the following awards are:

                                                               i.      Warren Clifford Award – Brattleboro Savings and Loan

                                                             ii.      Barbara Gerardi Foley Award – Christine Pietryka.

Marybeth Dedeko and Sue Ladd will send letters to those people who were nominated.

7. Other

Discussion was once again held regarding when to hold the VBTA conference, during VEA days or in November.  One suggestion was to have it as a 1/2 day conference on the Wednesday before VEA days.  There were points made about each time and Mike indicated that they would be taken into consideration when the executive council schedules next year’s conference.

8. Adjournment

Motion to adjourn the meeting at 1:45 pm was made by Sue Ladd and seconded by Judi Estes.  Voice vote was unanimous.

Respectfully submitted,

Pamela Brown

VBTA Secretary