Committees at the Anna Maria Island Community Center have been working since May to prepare additions and revisions to the center’s policies and procedures that will be presented to the board of directors June 20.
The committees were formed following the events of early April involving some female teenagers at the center and former counselor Andy Jonatzke.
Jonatzke resigned April 8, one week after he was suspended by the center pending internal and Manatee County Sheriff’s Office investigations of alleged improper activities between Jonatzke and several youths. Both investigations are now closed.
Center executive director Pierrette Kelly said the regulations being prepared for adoption are intended to replace the “stop-gap” measures the board implemented following the April complaint.
Those measures included no texting or social messaging between staff and center youth except about official center activities, no after-hours interaction between staff and youth, a review of the center’s code of conduct for staff, youth safety procedures, and the implementation of outside counseling programs for youths involved in the April incident.
The committees are made up of volunteers with backgrounds in juvenile law, youth issues, education and social behavior, Kelly said.
Committee findings and recommendations will be forwarded to BoardSource, a Washington, D.C., national reviewing agency for policies and procedures for nonprofit organizations and boards.
Kelly said BoardSource is “considered the gold standard for nonprofit organizational rules and procedures.”
BoardSource will forward its review and recommendations to the board for discussion and possibly adoption at the next meeting, set for 8 a.m. Monday, June 20, at the center, 407 Magnolia Ave., Anna Maria.
Kelly added that, to protect confidentiality, the center arranged for offsite counseling for the youths involved in the April incident. She did not know if any of the teens attended counseling.