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Washington Latin

Minutes

February Board of Governors Meeting

Date and Time

Thursday February 4, 2021 at 6:00 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), L. Ballenger (remote), L. Rucker (remote), N. McCoy (remote), P. Mara (remote), T. Morgan (remote)

Directors Absent

K. Osagie, R. Dalal

Directors who arrived after the meeting opened

K. Merritt, N. McCoy

Directors who left before the meeting adjourned

C. McFadgion

Guests Present

C. Gifford (remote), D. Smith (remote), J. Kelly (remote), K. Cromwell (remote), Matthew Taylor (remote), P. Anderson (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 Feb 4, 2021 at 6:02 PM.

C.

Approve Minutes

B. Caldwell made a motion to approve the minutes from January Board meeting Monthly Board of Governors Meeting on 01-07-21.
T. Morgan seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
Roll Call
K. Osagie
Absent
B. Caldwell
Aye
H. Rawlings
Aye
B. Williams-Kief
Aye
P. Mara
Aye
T. Morgan
Aye
L. Ballenger
Aye
R. Dalal
Absent
K. Merritt
Absent
L. Rucker
Aye
C. McFadgion
Aye
C. McGurn
Aye
N. McCoy
Absent
A. Graham
Aye
C. Wilkinson
Aye

II. HOS Report and School Update

A.

Update on what is happening at the school right now

  • P. Anderson shared his Head of School Report
  • D. Smith commented on Latin's plans to reopen in person for students in April, staff and faculty are in the process of getting vaccinated

B.

Q&A on written HOS report

P. Anderson noted that although our applications are down, they have not decreased as much as the city as a whole 
  • Pandemic is certainly affecting applications across the city
  • Attendance at EdFest was down significantly
K. Merritt arrived.
N. McCoy arrived.

III. Charter Renewal

A.

Update on charter renewal vote and next steps on agreement

  • Our charter was approved for the next 15 years. 
  • Next steps is to begin working on "mission-specific" goal related to exclusionary discipline
  • Comment on template for charter renewal agreement
  • Review: governance structure, articles of incorporation, bylaws, graduation requirements, and various assurances

B.

Follow-up advocacy/communications/engagement

  • The challenge we face is that during the hearing critics challenged our model (not the academic outcomes, but whom we serve and how), citing incomplete and misleading data 
  • We also have an opportunity to engage with staff and PCSB Board to fully explain who we are, what we hope to do in the future, and why Latin is a valuable model in the DC charter landscape 
  • Will invite PCSB members to "visit" virtual classes and in-person visits if they are willing 
  • Invite them to join valediction and graduation ceremonies virtually
  • Include focus groups with alumni and current parents, student, faculty and hear what they say 
  • Key groups to include are students with disabilities, at-risk students, and a range of not at-risk families (i.e., middle class/working class families that make up a substantial portion of Latin's current population)

IV. Finance

A.

December financials

  • The net income will not be as high as it is reflected now due to upcoming costs and possibly due to student testing once we bring students back
  • We believe deeply in the importance of doing surveillance testing for COVID and the cost of it remains an unknown
  • Financial situation is good; liquidity and DSCR are high, and we are getting as high a FAR score as we can get from PCSB
  • We have more students enrolled than we initially budgeted for 
  • We have also fixed our Special Education numbers to ensure that OSSE has correct numbers and so that we are getting the correct funding for those students
  • Y. Tse reviewed the remaining financials - overall, we are in a strong position financially 
C. McFadgion left at 6:50 PM.

V. Development

A.

Update on capital campaign

  • We have a $12M goal overall for Capital Campaign
  • Making progress towards that goal
  • Cultivating additional candidates
  • Phases for campaign - three phases broken up my amount of the gift 
  • Campaign leadership - B. Caldwell will be chairing the campaign
K. Merritt made a motion to Approve "Campaign for Washington Latin: Classical for All” as the name for the Campaign for Washington Latin.
T. Morgan seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
Roll Call
N. McCoy
Aye
H. Rawlings
Aye
K. Osagie
Absent
C. McFadgion
Absent
C. McGurn
Aye
L. Rucker
Aye
T. Morgan
Aye
B. Williams-Kief
Aye
R. Dalal
Absent
L. Ballenger
Aye
K. Merritt
Aye
P. Mara
Aye
A. Graham
Aye
C. Wilkinson
Aye
B. Caldwell
Aye

VI. Status Update on Growth

A.

Leadership

  • Hoping to hire an Asst. Principal in Residence to work at Latin A next year 
  • Developing leaders is a key priority to prepare for Latin B.

B.

Admissions/Recruiting

Will implement at-risk preference for the lottery in Fall 2022
Work on recruiting in target neighborhoods, specifically in Wards 7 and 8.

C.

Student Support/Academic Program

  • Multi-pronged approach to support greater number of at-risk students including mandatory summer school, comprehensive academic plans, and hiring multiple mental health counselors and support staff in year one

D.

Talent Pipeline

  • Working with Latin A leadership team to develop a talent pipeline so that leadership teams at both schools can have robust leadership teams. 

E.

Second vote to approve January minutes

A. Graham made a motion to Approve adjusted January minutes.
T. Morgan seconded the motion.
  • There was a vote to re-approve the minutes from the January meeting once they had been adjusted to reflect executive session minutes. 
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
Roll Call
C. McFadgion
Absent
C. Wilkinson
Aye
K. Merritt
Aye
L. Rucker
Aye
H. Rawlings
Aye
P. Mara
Aye
B. Caldwell
Aye
R. Dalal
Absent
K. Osagie
Absent
A. Graham
Aye
C. McGurn
Aye
L. Ballenger
Aye
T. Morgan
Aye
B. Williams-Kief
Aye
N. McCoy
Aye

VII. Executive Session

A.

Discussion of negotiations and current facilities options

  • Discussion of current negotiations regarding potential facilities.

B.

Board PD/Review of Process

VIII. 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 8:00 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
C. Wilkinson
This meeting is governed by the Open Meetings Act. Please address any questions or complaints arising under this meeting to the Office of Open Government at opengovoffice@dc.gov