Washington Latin
Minutes
Monthly Board of Governors Meeting
Beginning of the Year Board Meeting (September 2021)
Date and Time
Thursday September 2, 2021 at 6:00 PM
Directors Present
A. Graham (remote), B. Caldwell (remote), B. Williams-Kief (remote), C. McFadgion (remote), C. McGurn, C. Wilkinson (remote), H. Rawlings, K. Merritt (remote), L. Ballenger (remote), L. Rucker (remote), N. McCoy (remote), P. Mara (remote), T. Morgan (remote)
Directors Absent
K. Osagie
Guests Present
C. Davis (remote), C. Gifford (remote), G. Billings (remote), J. Kelly (remote), Jelena Tasic (remote), K. Cromwell (remote), P. Anderson (remote), T. Porter (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 Sep 2, 2021 at 6:05 PM.
C. McGurn made a motion to approve the minutes from Special Board of Governors Meeting on 07-15-21.
C. Wilkinson seconded the motion.
Minutes approved via email
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| B. Williams-Kief |
Aye
|
| C. McFadgion |
Aye
|
| T. Morgan |
Aye
|
| C. McGurn |
Aye
|
| L. Ballenger |
Absent
|
| B. Caldwell |
Aye
|
| C. Wilkinson |
Aye
|
| L. Rucker |
Aye
|
| K. Merritt |
Absent
|
| N. McCoy |
Aye
|
| P. Mara |
Aye
|
| H. Rawlings |
Aye
|
| K. Osagie |
Absent
|
| A. Graham |
Absent
|
C.
Review Minute Approval Process
Reminder to Board members to respond to Caitlin's emails to approve minutes via email when there is not a Board meeting within 30 days of the previous Board meeting.
II. Updates
A.
Beginning of the school year
Peter Anderson and Jimmy Kelly presented update on the beginning of the school year.
- Mr. Anderson shared demographic information for the school this year, as well as current high attendance numbers (97% in middle school, 96% in upper school, 99% for faculty) despite the pandemic
- Mr. Kelly shared the leadership teams of the middle school, upper school, department chairs, and senior leadership teams.
- Mr. Kelly shared COVID updates
- School has mask requirement, social distancing
- Two positive cases so far - only one came on campus
- Contact tracing protocols in place and were effective in this case
- High vaccination rates among faculty and eligible students
- Mr. Anderson shared faculty attrition data and reasons for staff leaving at the end of this past school year
- Attrition remains low, despite the pandemic
- Brief discussion of compensation study as two teachers left for higher salaries
B.
Schoolwide Priorities
The board reviewed and accepted the elements of the updated academic plan that included schoolwide priorities. Schoolwide Priorities will be discussed in depth further at a future meeting.
III. Board Business
A.
Board Committees
- Board Committee chairs will remain the same from last year.
B.
Work for the Board to Address This Year
1. Supporting growth to serve more students
2. More opportunities and more expectations around development
3. Board members can resume visits to the school!
4. Understanding the larger context of how we operate as a school
2. More opportunities and more expectations around development
3. Board members can resume visits to the school!
4. Understanding the larger context of how we operate as a school
C.
Board Calendar
- Board calendar has been shared, please hold the dates
- Date for Sweet Sixteen Gala will be shared soon
D.
Beginning of the Year Board Paperwork
- Beginning of the year board paperwork
- Board members must fill out three forms each year and should be sent back to Caitlin before the next Board meeting
IV. Finance Matters
A.
2020 FAR
Fiscal Year 2020 Financial Analysis Report
- Rated as Tier 1 in our financials for FY 2020
B.
FY22 Finance Committee Goals
- Finance Committee Goals have been shared in the Board packet, can be a template for other committee goals as well
- Audit is due December 1st and Yinnie Tse worked hard to get it done before going out on leave
C.
FY22 Budget
- Budget has been approved and is the current operating budget
- Major undertakings for the Board this year include internal controls work and the compensation study
V. Growth
A.
Academic Committee Update
- Our application to create an at-risk preference was accepted by the PCSB
- There are a variety of different ways we can structure our at-risk preference
- We have not yet decided what number of seats at designated grade levels that will be reserved for at-risk students
- We are crafting our at-risk preference with MySchoolDC
- School leadership team is seeking input from a variety of stakeholders on how to structure the preference
- At the next Board meeting the school leadership team will share how we will implement the preference
- Interest was expressed in potentially holding a special session to discuss
- Besides a presentation on the equitable access preference, the committee shared an updated academic plan that includes how to better serve higher numbers of students designated as at-risk
B.
Campaign Update
- May need to move to two phases of a capital campaign if we use temprorary space first before we have a permanent site
- Gauging donor interest as part of the campaign
- Still looking at a capital campaign goal of $12M
- Still remain confident that once we have a permanent site identified and secured we will be able to have a greater push
C.
Latin B Team
- A few members of the Latin B team have been hired including an Assistant Principal in Residence, a Director of Academics, and a Director of School Culture
- A couple of teachers also hired under Latin B budget and will move to Latin B next year
VI. Executive Session
A.
Discussion of real estate negotiations
- Board discussed ongoing real estate negotiations for a site for our second campus.and a personnel matter
VII. 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 8:10 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
C. Wilkinson