Washington Latin
Minutes
Monthly Board of Governors Meeting
Directors Present
A. Graham (remote), B. Caldwell (remote), C. McFadgion (remote), C. McGurn (remote), C. Wilkinson (remote), H. Rawlings (remote), K. Merritt (remote), K. Osagie (remote), L. Ballenger (remote), L. Rucker (remote), P. Mara (remote), R. Dalal (remote), T. Morgan (remote)
Directors Absent
A. Dean-Lovett
Guests Present
C. Gifford (remote), D. Smith (remote), Gudrun Hofmeister (remote), J. Kelly (remote), K. Cromwell (remote), P. Anderson (remote), T. Porter (remote), Y. Tse (remote)
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance
As of 6:06 p.m., there were 11 voting members present. Two members joined later. One member (A.E. Lovett) is a board member emeritus and is no longer a voting member. There were five regularly scheduled guests (staff members and consultants) who were present at 6:06 p.m. Three additional guests joined at some point during the meeting.
B.
Welcome Members of Public
The board chair led the attendees in an ovation in recognition of Diana Smith. He then welcomed members of the public. There were only two guests and they are both board candidates.
C.
Call the Meeting to Order
C. Wilkinson called a meeting of the board of directors of Washington Latin to order on Thursday Dec 3, 2020 at 6:06 PM.
D.
Approve Minutes
H. Rawlings made a motion to approve the minutes from Special Board Meeting on 11-24-20.
C. McGurn seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
II. Stages of Team Development
A.
Reviewing work from the retreat/Practicing storming
Ken Merritt quickly reviewed the work that took place with Matt Taylor at the retreat. He discussed the importance of addressing subtext in our meetings. He challenged the board members to use the ON IT! framework to engage in productive "storming." A brief discussion ensued.
III. Updates
A.
Latest update on what is happening at the school
Principal, Diana Smith, talked about a recent positive COVID-19 case on campus and how there was no spread (indicating that our protocols worked). She talked about plans to offer hybrid instruction at some point in the near future. She also read an email from one of our alumni, attesting to the ways in which the school changed his life. "Relentless caring and love is what kids need" (regardless of background). Peter Anderson, Diana Smith, and Jimmy Kelly talked about reactions to a leadership transition announcement.
B.
Latest update on what is happening in the city
Peter Anderson talked about the status of COVID-19 spread in the city. He also announced that DCPS will begin a small pilot testing program at district public schools beginning next week.
IV. Finance
A.
First quarter financials
Tim Morgan provided a quick framing about the financials YTD through September and the modeling the committee has done related to growth. Yinnie Tse reviewed slides relevant to the financials.
B.
Other work of Finance Committee so far this year
Yinnie Tse briefly mentioned the negotiations for Latin B that the Committee has been supporting.
V. Academic Excellence
A.
Update on work done so far
Alyse Graham discussed the desire of the academic committee to track some key metrics multiple times per year. She talked about different indicators during remote instruction. She mentioned the most recent department spotlight which featured Classics Department Chair, Bill Clausen. The board expressed an interest in having Mr. Clausen speak to the full board at a future meeting.
Ms. Graham also listed documents, policies, and data reviewed by the committee. This included Honors and AP data and updates to the codified curriculum and instructional support elements of the recovery plan.
Ms. Graham also listed documents, policies, and data reviewed by the committee. This included Honors and AP data and updates to the codified curriculum and instructional support elements of the recovery plan.
A. Graham made a motion to Accept the academic committee report.
H. Rawlings seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
VI. Development/Communications
A.
Update on Latin Pride
Barry Caldwell congratulated the Development team for surpassing our Latin Pride goal for the year. We had 100% board participation.
B.
Status of one-on-one meetings
Barry Caldwell talked about the work of Gudrun Hofmeister, hired last month as our capital campaign manager. She has met with (or scheduled meetings with) all board members, but two. So far, there is enthusiastic support for our campaign.
C.
Advocacy Next Steps
Peter Anderson talked about priorities for board member advocacy: supporting our charter renewal, addressing the needs of the charter sector as a whole, and helping us to meet our goals related to growth.
VII. Governance
A.
New board caandidates
Ken Merritt introduced the board to two new candidates: Brendan Williams-Kief and Nicholas McCoy. Both spoke about their backgrounds and answered questions.
K. Merritt made a motion to Add both candidates to the Board of Governors.
R. Dalal seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
VIII. Compensation
A.
Compensation study goals
Tim Morgan mentioned that it is best practice to review salaries and do compensation benchmarking every three or four years, The last time we did this was during the 2017-2018 school year.
B.
Forming a committee
B. Caldwell made a motion to Form an ad-hoc committee consisting of Tim Morgan, Chris Wilkinson, and Ken Merritt that would work through the summer of 2021.
L. Ballenger seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
IX. Closed Session
A.
Update on facilities negotiations
At 7:43 p.m., Chris Wilkinson closed the public portion of the meeting. The board moved into closed session to discuss facilities negotiations.
X. Closing Items
A.
Review of how the board fared during the meeting
No formal review was conducted. Board members were asked to reflect on how subtext was addressed in the meeting and to bring this up in the January meeting.
B.
Adjourn Meeting
There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 8:20 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
C. Wilkinson
Documents used during the meeting
- 20-1203-Board Document - Team Formation Practice.pdf
- Attachment B - Quarterly Actuals to September (1).pdf
- 20-1130-Academic Committee Update YTD.pdf
- BWilliamsKiefCVAug2020 FINAL.pdf
- Nicholas McCoy Resume (30 NOV 2020).pdf