Someone asked for an agenda to be shared. And agenda was shared in the chat. 

No additional comments

J. Kunz representative for CEFC as well as D. Jauregui talking about an update for asking about ESS bargaining for the contract. 

ESS bargaining team spent all day today in mediation for the first contract. At the end of mediation there are no agreements on crucial areas (including salary, benefits). Main message to the board is to settle the contract and settle it quickly. ESS bargaining team has been in negotiations for a very long time and they have been a very important part of the schools. They deserve wages that mirror their importance to the school communities. Many of the other members have shown up to support and may have things to share as well. 

C. Jaramillo commented on the salary should match the cost of living. D. Diaz shared that they are hard workers and have to wear different hats and believe they should get what they deserve and to feel appreciated. S. Mora shared that they have had so many staff members out because of the pandemic and there has been more to be done by others and desires additional compensation for the extra work that has been added. M. April shared that the ESS staff that have incredible relationships with the students and families and how vital the ESS staff are to the school communities. 

D. Jauregui sent over a petition that was mailed to board members of signatures of people who would like this contract resolved. 

V. Almendarez shared that the meeting discussed COVID and how they are receiving messages about COVID. Discussed feedback from independent study work from parents and there was talk about adjusting the work level. There was also a request asking for feedback on communications to know what families are experiencing. 

OUSD Chart committee are potentially navigating a change on how charters are renewed each year. There will be some representatives to share at a upcoming meeting. 

Recently met and main topic was a follow up to the board assessment and to focus efforts to think about board goals and develop them. Desire to push toward fundraising efforts to support the schools and the need to kickstart the onboarding process for new board members and how to bring in new board members in the future. 

M. Barr shared and they talked about financing, home office fee and the big topic was the audit. Charter school audits are due in Dec. (there was an extension) and the audit will not be completed in time and there will need to be an extension until Feb. 28th. There was plan to bring action tonight to share with the board but that did not happen. 

R. Leyva shared that there is an upcoming meeting but there has not been a meeting since the next board meeting. 

L. Adam shared Superintendent report and talked about coming back after break into COVID high cases. Talked about the complex time to navigate the constant changes to guidance. New safety guidance has finally settled a bit more. Up to 80% of attendance now where it was about 60% in the beginning of January. There were many staff exposed as well and there was a gap in staff coverage for a bit. Only one school was needing to be closed during this past month because of cases. Staff has been incredible in stepping up and covering over the last few weeks to help provide instruction to students. 

Attendance impacts: Attendance to 47%-80% at any given site over the last three weeks because the amount of students needing to isolate. Desire to keep students caught up and making sure there is support to help students. Absence rates are higher than they were pre-pandemic. Shared chart with those numbers. In past week there was an amendment to the Senate bill to include charter schools in "hold harmless". It has not passed yet. 

Hold harmless means that they would be funded this year and the pre-pandemic year to help the budget and school adjust for low attendance and enrollment during the pandemic. 

More of a focus on supporting teachers & leaders moving forward to help support staff as they work with students. There will be added training for teachers to master the BeGLAD framework. 

Staffing: Filling staffing potions has seen progress and we are down to one position which is a huge improvement from the fall. There is also a shortage of credentialed substitute teachers especially when the subs we do have have had to isolate. 

Recently approved for a Scully Family Foundation grant for $40,000. There will be a fundraising committee created to help with fundraising efforts for the sites. 

M. Barr and N. Driver shared about the Home Office fees. This has been the second discussion about this and thinking about having a consistent discussion about home office fees. There should be consistent reviews of the responsibilities of what the home office does and the fees needed to take on those responsibilities. 

There has been an added amount of CMO's to help the staff focus on students. For the first many years EFC had about a 16% home office fee. Included finance, payroll, HR and SPED. After a lot of discussions that was high and a few years ago that was cut to 12.5%. Pushed the remaining % into school sites and classrooms. 

As interim CFO N. Driver saw that there was a current crisis and there was more work being put on the Home Office. Where the schools can have pandemic funds to help through the pandemic the Home Office is not a school and did not receive pandemic funds. Funding came with a lot of compliance duties, laws and regulations that need to be followed. Realized that as the pandemic continued that the home office was not delivering on the services, or there were gaps all because there were not enough hands to plug the holes. New recommendation that the home office fees should be adjusted to 14%. Budget will not be approved until June but we are in budget season and N. Driver suggested this is what the fee should look like. 

3 critical needs around funding, HR and finance. Major amount around lost revenue has been within existing services. Board is not making hiring positions but board can take this action to allow home office to not make cuts in people or salary levels and rather invest in the staff that help support our schools and make them better. 
Boards job to make sure the home office has the support to do what they need to do. There are a lot of moving parts that will need to be navigated before finalizing in June. 

Public & Board Comments:

R. Leyva stated she does not like the name Home Office Fees and it does not share what the services are. Naming the services and value that is being provided through positions and programs to help be transparent of the process on where the funding goes. 

L. Hsu - Principal at Latitude- Wants to know if there will be more of a discussion with school administration before this decision is made. Wants to make sure there is the right amount of funding to the services and positions needed. Wants to know what the trade off will be for the school sites to fund the home office. Desires to see the financial projections for the next few years as EFC moves forward in order to be able to grow and sustain. Felt really heard a few years back when cuts were made and wants to keep the conversation going. 

J. Bosman - part of CEFC & Latitude - Shared that it is hard to hear there is ADA challenges and also wanting to cut funding to sites and increase to home office. EFC is starting strategic planning and this should be a conversation that goes into the next year alongside that strategic planning. Encouraged others to engage and mindful as conversations continue and what will be cut. 

D. Grant shared that it would be helpful to hear and understand the $ and numbers behind the percentages and wanting to know where the money will be coming from.

K. Friedman echoed the desire for transparency on what happens as we move forward with this process. Including knowing if there would be a need for people or better systems. 

D. Jauregui shared that during the pandemic there has been more eyes on Home office members because of the need for filling in where needed. Also shared a reminder of how this budget would effect the ESS bargaining. 

J. Koelling advocated for engagement with other principals. Wanted to reflect back on the audit done a few years ago of the home office and see if there was progress made or not made. And based on that audit should there things be done before increasing fees. 

L. Adam added that there will be sharing of information of all the compliance changes being made and how those have impacted the home office. Most of those are not pandemic related. Important to note there were gaps created when there were cuts made a few years ago. Explained more of the details that will be shared in the next month to inform the board before there is a vote.