Washington Latin
Minutes
November Board of Governors Retreat
Date and Time
Saturday November 13, 2021 at 8:50 AM
Directors Present
A. Graham (remote), B. Caldwell (remote), B. Williams-Kief (remote), C. McFadgion (remote), C. McGurn (remote), C. Wilkinson (remote), K. Merritt (remote), L. Ballenger (remote), L. Rucker (remote), N. McCoy (remote), P. Mara (remote), T. Morgan (remote)
Directors Absent
H. Rawlings, K. Osagie
Guests Present
Bill Clausen (remote), C. Davis (remote), C. Gifford (remote), Christina Grant (remote), G. Billings (remote), J. Kearney Shanahan (remote), J. Kelly (remote), K. Cromwell (remote), Michelle Walker (remote), P. Anderson (remote)
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
C. Wilkinson called a meeting to order on Saturday Nov 13, 2021 at 7:58 AM.
C.
Welcome
D.
Agenda Review/Goals for the Day
II. Guest Presentations
A.
Dr. Christina Grant, Acting Superintendent of OSSE
- Dr. Grant thanked the Board, excited to begin her work in Washington DC
- Mental health of young people must be prioritized
- We must talk about what we have been through as a collective due to the global pandemic
- We will need to rethink what high schools look like (internships, robust range of experiences that prepare students for college and career)
- Teacher retention and what we can do to ensure that teachers, who are tired, feel supported
Questions:
- Question on teacher retention: how do we make it affordable to teach and lead in DC? (housing options, loan repayment options, teacher sabbaticals, acceptance and understanding that most teachers are not going to teach for 25 years anymore, etc.)
- Question around the work OSSE is doing or needs to do to reimagine high school and close achievement gaps
- Question about the role of social workers and counselors: we need a more robust pipeline, and to ensure that teaching and education is an attractive proposition for students
B.
Dr. Michelle Walker-Davis, ED of the DC PCSB
Future of PCSB
- systems wide problem around student outcomes and equity gaps among groups of students - not a charter school problem or a DCPS problem - a problem for us all to tackle together
- Scott Pearson did excellent work around accountability
- PCSB used to be the alternative and there was great urgency around opening many charters to serve students who had been failed by traditional systems
- Now the role has shifted - ensuring quality for student outcomes particularly historically marginalized groups
- Keeping our eye on accountability and the day to day environment in schools that create excellent outcomes for students
- This accountability is measured through the Performance Management Framework (PMF) which is in the process of being revised
- How do we measure the success of all groups of students? Disaggregated data will be key in new framework
- Old framework did not adequately account for growth that schools make with certain groups - how do we reward schools for this growth?
- How are schools are serving students with disabilities and what that range of complexity looks like at individual schools (at-risk, students with special needs, etc.)
- New framework will be piloted next year
- Schools will not be tiered until 2023-2024
- Also need to re-evaluate our approach to growth: now need to think about the impact on existing schools when we open a new school. Is that school's ability to be successful impacted by how many schools we already have?
- Acknowledgement that parents are more nuanced on what they are looking for in schools
- Not just about what schools get to open but who gets to grow. How do we ensure successful schools with long waiting lists are able to serve more students
- Partnerships - one of the areas that has been challenging
- Role clarity for PCSB
- State department of education is very different than any other state and the way we work together
- Education adjacent work - social and emotional work that goes on in schools to support students
- Effective organization - improving transparency and communication with LEA leaders
III. Small Group Analysis Activities
A.
Orientation to Small Group Activities
- Four small groups completed SWOT analyses and New Possibilities
B.
SWOT Analysis
C.
New Possibilities
D.
Debrief as full group about ideas generated during small groups
E.
Break
F.
Strategic priority review
Small groups evaluated the strategic priorities, whether or not they are a still a priority, how we can leverage our strengths to address them, and how we can measure our progress.
Strategic priorities discussed:
- Leverage the diversity of our community and strengthen our commitment to equity and inclusion among both students and staff
- Continue to improve the responsiveness of our academic program to better support the needs of all learners, particularly English language learners and our most struggling students
- Increase long-term financial and operational sustainability
- Ensure the classical mission and instructional approach endures and is supported/enabled across both campuses
- Further develop our faculty pipeline and career pathways
G.
Debrief as full group on ideas generated during small groups
IV. Board Business
A.
Approve Minutes
T. Morgan made a motion to approve the minutes from Monthly Board of Governors Meeting on 10-07-21.
C. McGurn seconded the motion.
The team VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| K. Merritt |
Aye
|
| L. Rucker |
Aye
|
| T. Morgan |
Aye
|
| C. McFadgion |
Aye
|
| N. McCoy |
Aye
|
| K. Osagie |
Absent
|
| L. Ballenger |
Aye
|
| C. McGurn |
Aye
|
| C. Wilkinson |
Aye
|
| H. Rawlings |
Absent
|
| A. Graham |
Aye
|
| P. Mara |
Aye
|
| B. Caldwell |
Aye
|
| B. Williams-Kief |
Aye
|
B.
Approve Minutes
T. Morgan made a motion to approve the minutes from Special Board of Governors Meeting on 10-20-21.
C. McGurn seconded the motion.
The team VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| K. Merritt |
Aye
|
| T. Morgan |
Aye
|
| C. Wilkinson |
Aye
|
| L. Ballenger |
Aye
|
| H. Rawlings |
Absent
|
| K. Osagie |
Absent
|
| B. Caldwell |
Aye
|
| C. McGurn |
Aye
|
| B. Williams-Kief |
Aye
|
| L. Rucker |
Aye
|
| P. Mara |
Aye
|
| N. McCoy |
Aye
|
| A. Graham |
Aye
|
| C. McFadgion |
Aye
|
C.
Outstanding paperwork
D.
Board committees and board assignments
Ken Merritt spoke about committee assignments
- Focus in on using Board on Track as our record tracking system
- Ask of Board members to fill in their skills on Board on Track and for committee chairs to use diligently
- Review of who is on which committee
- Need for Board on Track to be updated to reflect up to date and accurate information
- Clarification of Executive Committee vs. Committee Chair roles
- Welcoming Lisa Rucker as new Chair of the Governance Committee
E.
Audit report
- Received stellar report from this year's audit
- It was a clean audit - no notices of financial risks
- Thanks to the finance team for running a tight and well-structured ship as it relates to financial statements and our financial situation
- Financial statement audit different from internal controls
- Still a greater need for potentially greater internal controls to protect from cybersecurity threats, etc.
- Question of having the Board vote on the report - no vote is technically needed
- Report given to the Board
- Questions or concerns welcome until it is due at the end of the month
T. Morgan made a motion to Accept the audit report.
C. Wilkinson seconded the motion.
The team VOTED to approve the motion.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| N. McCoy |
Aye
|
| C. Wilkinson |
Aye
|
| C. McGurn |
Aye
|
| L. Rucker |
Aye
|
| L. Ballenger |
Aye
|
| A. Graham |
Aye
|
| C. McFadgion |
Aye
|
| P. Mara |
Aye
|
| K. Osagie |
Absent
|
| T. Morgan |
Aye
|
| K. Merritt |
Aye
|
| B. Williams-Kief |
Aye
|
| B. Caldwell |
Abstain
|
| H. Rawlings |
Absent
|
F.
Update on Latin Pride
- Really successful parent fundraising campaign led by Kate Cromwell
- Exceeded goal of $250,000 raised
- $294,000 raised, 87% participation rate
- Every family contacted at least one time
- Question around ease in donating for Latin Pride should translate to the Capital Campaign as well
G.
Update on Capital Campaign
- 26% raised, about $3MM of $12MM raised
- another $400,000 on the way
- Two visits scheduled with important anchor donors next week
- Charter School Growth Fund has expressed interest in funding initiatives to help with Latin's growth and have special interest in Latin - agreed to invest in Washington Latin and our work on school culture and how we teach character
H.
Quick update on what's happening at the school
- Mandates for faculty vaccination for November 1st - we had one faculty member who did not receive a waiver who then had to take a leave of absence
- Small handful of faculty who got vaccination waivers
- Vaccination requirement for student athletes - small handful of students received waivers
I.
Quick update on facilities
- last facilities meeting focused on 2nd Street Campus instead of new campus
- Any updates needed, including potential updates to the soccer field
- Also discussed Edgewood Street needs and our ongoing efforts to develop a traffic and parking plan that makes sense
- Back on the permanent facility hunt in the next facilities committee meeting
J.
General Q&A
V. 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 2:11 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
C. Wilkinson