Ken Merritt welcomed everybody to the first board meeting of the new (2026) calendar year.

Aswathi Zachariah highlighted the successful basketball season.

Financial Literacy (FL) is a required class in order to graduate. Recently, the FL students enthusiastically welcomed a few outside guests.

• Ken Merritt and son
• Eagle Bank representative

WLPCS received PLATINUM level for AP SCHOOL HONOR ROLL 2025 from COLLEGE BOARD in all 3 categories.

• college culture - percentage of seniors who took an AP during their time in high school
• college credit - percentage of seniors who passed at least one AP class
• college optimization - percentage of seniors who took 5 or more AP classes

Geovanna Izurieta reported the following financial update.

• projected revenue is higher than budget
• expenses are higher than budget
• forecasted cash position is above budget - with a gain year over year

Starting this year, both campuses have the same food vendor and food is partially prepared in house at AJC. The quality of the food has improved resulting in an increased popularity of the food.

The finance team was commended for keeping WLPCS in good financial health.

Tom Porter gave a brief project update about the Anna Julia Cooper Campus.

Peter Anderson mentioned that there is an uptick in students who have been brought to the attention of the mental health team. There is also an increase in the number of evaluation requests for accommodations by 11th graders and 12th graders.

A new H1B visa requirement is an issue of concern. WLPCS is not likely to hire H1B visa candidates because the new fee is prohibitive.

There are currently 13 board members on the WLPCS board. The maximum is 15 board members. There are a few candidates being considered for the remaining 2 vacancies.

The WLPCS board handbook needs to be reviewed/updated.

So far, approximately 85% of the Capital Campaign goal has been raised. The Capital Campaign completion target is Jun 2026. With less than 6 months, a current challenge is the need to accelerate momentum.

The proposed public phase strategy is a 3 phase approach from Jan to Jun that features a pre-launch, a public launch, and momentum to celebration.

The board can help in the following ways.

• personal giving (target - 100% participation)
• network activation (target - identify 3+ prospects and make 1+ direct ask)
• storytelling and advocacy
• event participation (target - 50%+ board attendance at launch event)
• strategic guidance

WLPCS is looking for at least one more board member to serve as (co) board champion with Margie Yeager.

In appreciation of a generous donation from a former board member, one of the science laboratories at AJC will be named in their honor.

WLPCS would be open to offering naming opportunities to past major contributors.

There was a suggestion to involve/engage the Parent Faculty Association (PFA) to help reach the Capital Campaign target.

Peter Anderson discussed a few advocacy challenges.

ASPIRE is the DCPCSB academic accountability system. According to the ASPIRE framework, all 3 schools show growth.

The COGNIA REPORT for WLPCS highlighted some successes. The next Accreditation Engagement Review is 2028-2029.

Peter Anderson spoke briefly about the status of athletics at WLPCS. Two proposals were received in response to the athletics masterplan Request For Information (RFI).

There was a comment about the demograhic shift at WLPCS. Enrollment is down for students identifying as African American. Enrollment is up for students identifying as 2 or more races. WLPCS is intentionally diverse by design.

TO DO :

Who will volunteer to be (co) board champion with Margie Yeager?

Board members are encouraged to attend any of the various upcoming WLPCS events. There will be a play THE LARAMIE PROJECT next week at 2nd St on Jan 22/23/24.

The board would like to invite Bob Eleby-El (Director of Athletics) to talk about athletics at a future board meeting.

WLPCS has new swag that is available for purchase on the website.

https://latinpcs.org/2026/01/get-your-latin-gear/