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Washington Latin

Minutes

Monthly Board of Governors Meeting

January Board Meeting

Date and Time

Thursday January 7, 2021 at 5:50 PM

Location

Directors Present

A. Graham (remote), B. Caldwell (remote), B. Williams-Kief (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), N. McCoy (remote), P. Mara (remote), R. Dalal (remote), T. Morgan (remote)

Directors Absent

A. Dean-Lovett

Directors who arrived after the meeting opened

A. Graham, C. McFadgion, K. Osagie, T. Morgan

Guests Present

C. Gifford (remote), D. Smith (remote), Gudrun Hofmeister (remote), J. Kelly (remote), K. Cromwell (remote), Kearney Shanahan (remote), P. Anderson (remote), T. Porter (remote), Y. Tse (remote)

I. Opening Items

A.

Record Attendance

B.

Call the Meeting to Order

C. Wilkinson called a meeting of the board of directors of Washington Latin to order on Thursday Jan 7, 2021 at 5:53 PM.

C.

Approve Minutes

B. Caldwell made a motion to approve the minutes from Monthly Board of Governors Meeting on 12-03-20.
K. Merritt seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
Roll Call
R. Dalal
Aye
B. Williams-Kief
Aye
H. Rawlings
Aye
L. Ballenger
Absent
B. Caldwell
Absent
T. Morgan
Absent
N. McCoy
Aye
A. Dean-Lovett
Absent
K. Osagie
Absent
A. Graham
Absent
C. Wilkinson
Aye
C. McGurn
Aye
K. Merritt
Aye
P. Mara
Aye
L. Rucker
Aye
C. McFadgion
Absent
A. Graham arrived.
K. Osagie arrived.

D.

HOS Report

  • Peter Anderson shared a written report highlighting personnel updates, middle and upper school updates, college admissions updates, and professional development.
  • Diana Smith and Jimmy Kelly shared what the school did today to process the chaotic political events of yesterday. Extended advisory period for all students to discuss and then voluntary lunch groups for both middle and high school students. Dialogues went well and students engaged in thoughtful discussion. 
  • Thanks to Kimberly Osagie and Barry Caldwell for participating in the school play's panel and the parent book club respectively. 
C. McFadgion arrived.

II. Charter Renewal

A.

Update on PCSB Conditions

  • Reviewed the conditions imposed on Latin by PCSB and what Latin has done to address these conditions. 
    • Admitting students after Grade 9 - Latin will begin to enroll students in Grade 10 if/when there are open spots available. 
    • Not permitting cross campus sibling preference - Latin will not permit cross campus sibling preference. 
    • Update the student discipline policy - the Board voted to approve the updated policy in August 2019. 
    • Provide comprehensive training in trauma-informed practices - this was completed. 
    • Add stops or provide separate buses/vans for students living in Wards 5 and 7 - We surveyed targeted families in Wards 5, 7, and 8 and did separate outreach to FARMS eligible families but based on outreach efforts, no additional route or stop needs were identified. 
    • Implement plans outlined in our letter to DC PCSB from June 7, 2019 
      • We have supported an at-risk preference as our primary strategy for increasing the number of lower-income students
      • Hired a new At-Promise Program Manager and developed a support team
      • Strengthened our RTI model
      • Partnership with Lavinia Group
      • Increased Restorative Justice practices 
  • If we did not make specific progress with regard to exclusionary discipline and the academic performance of subgroups, then PCSB would require greater accountability in a formal charter agreement.

B.

Areas for Concern/Areas for Advocacy

  • Chris Wilkinson had a conversation with Rick Cruz, Peter Anderson spoke with Rashida Young
  • Based on PCSB concern regarding student exclusionary discipline policies, they may require a mission specific goal in this area. 
  • Would like to continue conversations with PCSB staff between now and January 25th to discuss this issue. 
    • Arguments are that it's a very small number of students that we are talking about (n size should matter) and that we have made progress based on 2019-2020 data 
    • We have had a creative and effective approach to serving at-risk and special education during the pandemic 
    • Would propose that if they want to gauge satisfactory progress, at least use a time that we are in the building for a full year to have accurate data on this issue 
      • B. Caldwell raised the point that even when a student is suspended the school provides 1:1 academic tutoring that has been very effective. 
      • D. Smith clarified only 2 students were suspended for more than 5 days last year. 
    • January 25th is when PCSB will decide if we get renewed and then after that, there is a negotiation period, during which we would negotiate the goals that they may require us to include. 
    • The renewal agreement would be voted on between April and June 
  • General consensus that we want to make sure that through written reports and through shared testimony, we make the whole picture clear of seriously Latin treats exclusionary discipline and how we put students' academic and emotional well-being first 

C.

Draft PCSB Report

  • PCSB has asked Latin to continue to refine its practices to ensure compliance with special education laws and policies

D.

Preparing for January 25th and Beyond

  • Hearing is on January 25th. 
  • The school will have 5 minutes to present. 
  • Peter will engage Board members to see if there is individual outreach to PCSB before January 25th. 

III. Growth

A.

Capital Campaign

  • Gudrun Hofmeister shared the capital campaign plan
  • Asking the Board to create a Capital Campaign Task Force to spearhead these efforts
  • A. Graham asked about the messaging on the case for support 
  • H. Rawlings advocated that Board should spend more time fundraising and giving then talking about the issue. 
  • A. Graham asked about the importance of $12MM to opening a new school. 
    • This is an ambitious goal but gives us a lot of flexibility with facilities options. 
L. Ballenger made a motion to approve the Capital Campaign Task Force.
B. Caldwell seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
Roll Call
A. Dean-Lovett
Absent
B. Caldwell
Aye
C. McGurn
Aye
K. Merritt
Aye
L. Ballenger
Aye
C. McFadgion
Aye
R. Dalal
Aye
H. Rawlings
Aye
T. Morgan
Aye
C. Wilkinson
Aye
A. Graham
Aye
N. McCoy
Aye
L. Rucker
Aye
K. Osagie
Aye
B. Williams-Kief
Aye
P. Mara
Aye
T. Morgan arrived.

B.

Status of LOI for Facility

  • Tom Porter updated the Board on continuing negotiations for a potential facility.

C.

Timing of Growth/Deciding on Lottery

  • Initial plan was to secure the facility in October 
  • We had hoped to have all of these steps including the lease completed by January at the latest, but that has not happened 
  • We listed a second campus with MySchoolDC in August for the lottery, but we can take it off now. 
  • Question is can we open in some form in 2021. 
    • Number of extenuating circumstances - we would still need to secure site approval, we would need to negotiate with our neighbors about increasing traffic when they have already not been happy with us regarding the traffic 
    • Earliest we could possibly get an approval for a new site would be April which would be after the lottery - thus, we would have to open the lottery and not guarantee seats which would be unfair to families 
    • We would also not have the benefit of the at-risk preference in the first year 
  • As long as we open in the summer of 2022, we would not need to go back to PCSB for additional approval. 
  • Question about Plan B for a facility if our current negotiations fall through:
  • We will also have more time to recruit and train new leaders opening in 2022 as opposed to 2021 
  • Request for a written bulletin after the facilities committee meets
L. Ballenger made a motion to delay opening of a second campus to the summer of 2022.
T. Morgan seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
Roll Call
K. Osagie
Aye
C. Wilkinson
Aye
H. Rawlings
Aye
L. Ballenger
Aye
A. Graham
Aye
B. Caldwell
Aye
R. Dalal
Aye
T. Morgan
Aye
K. Merritt
Aye
A. Dean-Lovett
Absent
B. Williams-Kief
Aye
C. McGurn
Aye
C. McFadgion
Aye
N. McCoy
Aye
P. Mara
Aye
L. Rucker
Aye

IV. Closing Items

A.

Adjourn Meeting

There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 8:12 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
C. Wilkinson