Washington Latin
Minutes
Washington Latin board fall retreat - Oct 2026
Date and Time
Tuesday October 6, 2026 at 12:30 PM
Location
in person @ 2nd St
Directors Present
A. Huston, A. Zachariah, E. Paisner, F. Perera (remote), J. Porter, K. Merritt, L. Rucker, M. Yeager, Z. Berte (remote)
Directors Absent
B. Williams-Kief, R. Brooks, S. Angus
Guests Present
2nd St SST - Belen Espinoza, 2nd St SST - Brendan Johnson, 2nd St SST - Camille Locke, 2nd St SST - Carmelle Philippe, 2nd St SST - Chrystal Seawood, 2nd St SST - Fatima Sadiq, 2nd St SST - Hi Uan Kang, 2nd St SST - Liz Bailey, 2nd St SST - Niya Senn, 2nd St SST - Rachel Breitman, 2nd St SST - Rachel Moussa - LEA Director Of Student Support Compliance, 2nd St SST - Remi Masarik, C. Gifford, Colleen Niese, D. Smith, E. Moussa, G. Izurieta (remote), J. Kelly, K. Roberts, L. Chia (remote), P. Anderson
I. Lunch at 2nd Street
A.
Lunch
II. Soaking in The Latin Way
A.
Q&A with Tiffany Austin, Director of the Upper School
There was a Q&A session with Tiffany Austin, Director of the Upper School.
B.
ETA / G Period (Observe Classes)
Board members observed various classes.
ETA / G period :
US room 211 - Honors US History - Bhuva and Warga
US room 213 - Honors Humanities - Abraham-Macht and Smith
US room 217 - Calculus - Raskin
MS room 138 - Science 5 - Bane
C.
ZETA / F period (Observe Classes)
Board members observed various classes.
ZETA / F period :
US room 205 - Advanced Arabic Studies - Porcelli
US room 212 - AP calculus AB - Love
US room 215 - Precalculus - Wai and Sadiq
MS room 031a - English 8 - Shek
MS room 132 - 6th grade YES - Spiegel
MS room 237 - Life Science 7th - Jones, Niles
D.
Choral Performance/Transition Time
The 2nd St Women's Choir performed for the board.
III. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
C.
Approve Minutes
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| Z. Berte |
Aye
|
| A. Huston |
Aye
|
| K. Merritt |
Aye
|
| R. Brooks |
Absent
|
| S. Angus |
Absent
|
| B. Williams-Kief |
Absent
|
| F. Perera |
Aye
|
| L. Rucker |
Aye
|
| M. Yeager |
Aye
|
| J. Porter |
Aye
|
| A. Zachariah |
Aye
|
| E. Paisner |
Aye
|
D.
Approve Consent Agenda
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| K. Merritt |
Aye
|
| B. Williams-Kief |
Absent
|
| A. Zachariah |
Aye
|
| Z. Berte |
Aye
|
| F. Perera |
Aye
|
| M. Yeager |
Aye
|
| S. Angus |
Absent
|
| A. Huston |
Aye
|
| L. Rucker |
Aye
|
| R. Brooks |
Absent
|
| J. Porter |
Aye
|
| E. Paisner |
Aye
|
E.
Welcome And Framing
Board members visited several classes earlier today. They were impressed by the trust and respect between students and adults that they observed in the classrooms.
F.
Q&A with the Principals
Khashiffa Roberts (principal of the Anna Julia Cooper Campus) and James Kelly (principal of the 2nd St Campus) gave updates about the respective campuses.
There are 2 upper school grades at AJC for SY26/27 - 9th grade and 10th grade. Khashiffa Roberts mentioned success in Math. One focus this year is to continue bridging the gap in Math. Another focus is on building program.
James Kelly highlighted that there have been more classroom observations this year compared to the same time last year at 2nd St. A challenge is the increased administrative responsibilities due to more student support needs.
G.
Academic Updates
SY26/27 is the first year SBAC is being implemented instead of DC CAPE. Caroline Gifford spoke in detail about SBAC and its impact on academics at WLPCS.
DC CAPE scores for WLPCS have been generally consistent. Caroline attributed the improvement in math at AJC to the campus’s intervention work. The "growth to proficiency" metric also increased.
IV. Board Business
A.
Finance Update
Elizabeth Paisner reported on the financials for SY25/26. Jun 30 is the end of the financial year for WLPCS. At the end of SY25/26, the revenue exceeded the budget due to higher enrollment than anticipated for general and for SPED. Another reason is conservative budgeting estimates due to DC and federal budget uncertainties.
The audit process timeline was shared.
11/25/2026 deadline - final audit
01/31/2027 deadline - 990 form
Elizabeth Paisner (board treasurer) made a motion to increase the check signing threshold. Currently, 2 authorized signatures are needed for all checks $10,000 or more. The Finance Committee recommends increasing the threshold to $25,000 or more.
The Finance Committee recommends revising the board-designated cash reserve amounts. With the opening of our second campus, the school has nearly doubled in size, and our operating expenses and debt commitments have increased significantly. We also face greater potential facility maintenance costs with three buildings to maintain. The committee therefore recommends increasing our reserve thresholds in line with our board-approved reserve policy.
For transparency, the board received a list of contracts ($25,000 or more) report. No conflict of interest was reported.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| L. Rucker |
Aye
|
| E. Paisner |
Aye
|
| M. Yeager |
Aye
|
| R. Brooks |
Absent
|
| A. Huston |
Aye
|
| A. Zachariah |
Aye
|
| Z. Berte |
Aye
|
| K. Merritt |
Aye
|
| F. Perera |
Aye
|
| J. Porter |
Aye
|
| S. Angus |
Absent
|
| B. Williams-Kief |
Absent
|
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| M. Yeager |
Aye
|
| J. Porter |
Aye
|
| A. Huston |
Aye
|
| Z. Berte |
Aye
|
| L. Rucker |
Aye
|
| F. Perera |
Aye
|
| R. Brooks |
Absent
|
| K. Merritt |
Aye
|
| B. Williams-Kief |
Absent
|
| E. Paisner |
Aye
|
| A. Zachariah |
Aye
|
| S. Angus |
Absent
|
B.
Governance Update
Colleen Niese (potential board member) addressed the board briefly after a welcome introduction by Aswathi Zachariah.
All board members need to sign and submit their BOY paperwork ASAP.
To help with appropriate recruiting, board members are asked to indicate their skill set and expertise in a board competency matrix that will be shared soon.
Mandatory LEA trustee training is due in Apr 2027. There are 3 options.
1. online - free
2. day of training provided by DCPCSB - free
3. day of training provided by WLPCS - cost TBD
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| R. Brooks |
Absent
|
| M. Yeager |
Aye
|
| B. Williams-Kief |
Absent
|
| F. Perera |
Aye
|
| A. Zachariah |
Aye
|
| K. Merritt |
Aye
|
| E. Paisner |
Aye
|
| A. Huston |
Aye
|
| L. Rucker |
Aye
|
| J. Porter |
Aye
|
| S. Angus |
Absent
|
| Z. Berte |
Aye
|
C.
LEA Report
A copy of the (Oct) LEA report was shared with the board prior to the meeting.
D.
Fundraising
The Development Committee compiled a document with the following information.
- SY25/26 Retrospective
- SY26/27 Priorities And Goals
- Donor Prospect Strategy
- Signature Events And Key Initiatives
- Annual Calendar
- Board Training And Engagement
- Board Member Engagement Menu
Greater board engagement is encouraged.
V. Meeting with student support department
A.
Meeting with the team
The 2nd St student support team (SST) spoke about their work. Co-teaching has been helpful for the students and the adults in the classrooms. Challenges facing the student support team were raised. One of the main challenges mentioned was physical space.
VI. Closing Items
A.
Wrap-Up/Takeaways
A board member emphasized that the constraint of physical space at 2nd St needs to be addressed.
Peter Anderson mentioned briefly recent conversations about our accrediting process now that we have the Anna Julia Cooper Campus.
B.
Adjourn Meeting
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| A. Zachariah |
Aye
|
| L. Rucker |
Aye
|
| B. Williams-Kief |
Absent
|
| F. Perera |
Aye
|
| A. Huston |
Aye
|
| E. Paisner |
Aye
|
| R. Brooks |
Absent
|
| J. Porter |
Aye
|
| Z. Berte |
Aye
|
| K. Merritt |
Aye
|
| S. Angus |
Absent
|
| M. Yeager |
Aye
|
Board members lunched with new faculty/staff.