Environmental Charter Schools

Minutes

Board of Directors' Meeting

By Teleconference/Zoom

Date and Time

Tuesday January 26, 2021 at 5:00 PM

Location

Zoom:       https://us02web.zoom.us/j/147466498?pwd=MnB5Vkc4aG41OEZ1dDdtcWoxQjV0dz09
 
OR 
 
Dial-In: (669) 900-6833, Meeting ID: 147 466 498, Passcode: 133043
 
Two-way Teleconference Location: 2625 Manhattan Beach Blvd, Suite 100, Redondo Beach, CA 90278.
ECS Board Members                                                           Term   and    End Date    
Mr. Anthony Jowid, President.................................................3 years June 30, 2022
Mr. Ken Deemer, Vice President.............................................3 years June 30, 2022
Dr. Denise Berger, Secretary.................................................3 years  June 30, 2023
Ms. Zena Fong........................................................................2 year June 30, 2023
Ms. Jenina Ramirez................................................................3 years June 30, 2021
Dr. Hughie Barnes..................................................................3 years June 30, 2023
Dr. Madhu Chatwani...............................................................3 years June 30, 2023
Mr. Kennedy Hilario......................................................................3 years June 30, 2023
Lawndale Elementary School District Representative............Rotating Position      

ECS Staff   
Ms. Farnaz Golshani-Flechner, Chief Executive Officer/Executive Director
Ms. Danielle Kelsick, Chief Academic Officer/Director of Curriculum and Instruction
Ms. Alison Diaz, Director of Growth and Sustainability (Facilities)
Ms. Kami Cotler, Director of Strategic Initiatives
Dr. Beth Bernstein-Yamashiro, Director of Principal Development/Principal Coach
Ms. KC Fabiero, Principal at ECHS-Lawndale
Dr. Geneva Matthews, Principal at ECMS-Inglewood
Mr. Dave Trejo, Principal at ECMS-Gardena  

Mission:

Reimagine public education in low-income communities of color to prepare conscious, critical thinkers who are equipped to graduate from college and create a more equitable and sustainable world.

Values:

JUSTICE - We examine bias, racism, and prejudice. We deliver culturally-responsive curricula. We succeed when students’ race and class cease to predict their level of achievement.

COMMUNITY - We care. We collaborate. We respect the rights and voices of our stakeholders.

CURIOSITY - We question. We explore. We innovate.

SUSTAINABILITY - We think globally and act locally. We adapt. We encourage systems thinking to create a sustainable future.

LEADERSHIP - We listen. We think critically. We advocate. We shift public discourse. We are our own superheroes.

THE ORDER OF BUSINESS MAY BE CHANGED WITHOUT NOTICE
Notice is hereby given that the order of consideration of matters on this agenda may be changed without prior notice.

PUBLIC SPEAKERS AT BOARD MEETINGS
Notice is hereby given that consistent with the requirements of the Ralph M. Brown Act, special presentations not mentioned in the agenda may be made at this meeting.  However, any such presentation will be for information only. The public should be aware that the Board is unable by law to deliberate or take action on items raised during the Presentations from the Floor section.

Environmental Charter Schools recognizes that it benefits greatly from public input and perspective. Individuals are invited to address the Board on any topic or subject matter that falls within the Environmental Charter School's purview. Speakers may sign up in person immediately prior to the beginning of the Board meeting by turning in a Speaker Form (available at the check-in table in English and Spanish).

Should a member of the public wish to speak on matters not listed on the agenda, they may speak during the Presentations from the Floor section of the agenda. Speakers will be given a maximum of three (3) minutes each to address the Board (non-English speakers utilizing translators will be given a maximum of six (6) minutes each). Please note that the Board allows a maximum of 10 minutes to each subject as determined by the Board's presiding officer.

Should a member of the public wish to speak on matters listed on the agenda, they may speak during the Presentations from the Floor section of the agenda. Speakers will be given a maximum of five (5) minutes each to address the Board (non-English speakers utilizing translators will be given a maximum of ten (10) minutes each).

The public should be aware that the Board is unable by law to deliberate or take action on items raised during the Presentations from the Floor section.

REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION WILL BE PROVIDED FOR ANY INDIVIDUAL WITH A DISABILITY
Pursuant to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, any individual with a disability who requires reasonable accommodation to attend or participate in this meeting of the Governing Board may request assistance by contacting ECS at (310) 214-3408, option 5.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
For more information concerning this agenda or for materials relating to this meeting, please contact ECS at (310) 214-3408, option 5.

Directors Present

Anthony Jowid (remote), Dr. Denise Berger (remote), Dr. Hughie Barnes (remote), Jenina Ramirez (remote), Ken Deemer (remote), Kennedy Hilario (remote), LESD Representative (remote), Zena Fong (remote)

Directors Absent

Dr. Madhu Chatwani

Guests Present

Danielle Kelsick (remote), Dave Trejo (remote), Dorothy Lee (remote), Dr. Beth Bernstein-Yamashiro (remote), Dr. Geneva Matthews (remote), Dr. Jessyka Ramirez-Holden (remote), Farnaz Golshani-Flechner (remote), Jeremiah David (remote), Julie Vo (remote), KC Fabiero (remote), Kami Cotler (remote), Lauren Medlin (remote), Michael Martucci (remote), Tracy Bondi (remote)

I. Opening Items

A.

Record Attendance and Guests

B.

Call the Meeting to Order

Anthony Jowid called a meeting of the board of directors of Environmental Charter Schools to order on Tuesday Jan 26, 2021 at 5:22 PM.

C.

Approve the agenda

Ken Deemer made a motion to approve the agenda.
Dr. Hughie Barnes seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
Roll Call
Dr. Madhu Chatwani
Absent
LESD Representative
Aye
Dr. Denise Berger
Aye
Ken Deemer
Aye
Anthony Jowid
Aye
Kennedy Hilario
Aye
Jenina Ramirez
Aye
Dr. Hughie Barnes
Aye
Zena Fong
Aye

D.

Opener

The meeting participants engaged in an opener activity.

II. Presentations from the Floor

A.

Presentations from the floor on non-agenda Items

None.

B.

Presentations from the floor on agenda items

None.

III. Reports/Presentations

A.

CEO/CAO update

CEO Farnaz Golshani-Flechner presented the CEO/CAO update:
  • Confronting anti-blackness and racism initiative is fully underway. 25% of all Cabinet and PDs have focused on this initiative.
  • Aligning systems for equitable and effective distance learning. More than 30% of the community has received emergency funding. Hybrid school planning is underway with leadership poised to bring it to the school staff for feedback.
  • Vaccinations will be available soon, as soon as February 1 for K-12 employees. All ECS employees are eligible.
  • March 23rd board meeting will include an update on Reading Apprenticeship program and study sessions on LCAP and budgeting.
  • Made 100k ask with funder this week, meeting with another funder next week.
  • Recruiting leader for ECHS-Gardena.

Director of Strategic Initiatives Kami Cotler presented on hybrid planning:
ECS is planning for a pathway to return to normal school operations. LA County positive COVID-19 case rates still high (Purple tier) but starting to trend downward. Vaccines will only be given out after healthcare workers' vaccinations are complete.

Director of Principal Development Dr. Beth Bernstein-Yamashiro presented leadership updates: 
CAO Danielle Kelsick is a finalist for 2020 Leaders to Learn From program from EdWeek Magazine.

ECS Leadership Development Series 2021 program is launching this Thursday, it is a monthly seminar to develop leaders within ECS. Beth and Emily Atmore, HR Generalist, will facilitate these seminars. 22 emerging leaders across ECS have already signed up for this program.

Board feedback:
Board member Zena Fong asked if fewer families than hoped for are picking up meals because the meals are not in good condition by the time that they get home. Also, perhaps fresh groceries would be a good additional way to help families. Director of Compliance & Operations Jeremiah David responded that the meals are cold sealed meals in the style of a TV dinner, so the freshness of the meals probably isn't a major issue. One potential reason is a reluctance of families to pick up complementary food when they may not be used to this practice. Jeremiah resolved to speak to the school office teams to find out more potential reasons toward realizing ways to increase food distribution.

B.

Principals updates

ECHS Principal KC Fabiero presented the ECHS update:
School climate data was reviewed. Highlights were: students know expectations of them in distance learning, there are effective strategies for checking in and wellness supports, and an appreciation of the flexibility provided by the schools. Areas for growth were: more time to socialize, 9th graders report lowest level of having caring adult, and seniors report overwhelming workload. Areas urgently needing more time and attention were: 74% teachers reported they don’t feel safe coming back to campus, 22 juniors agreed with “I do not like myself”, and 30 seniors could not name a class that motivated them.
 
ECHS implemented "Bridge Weeks" -- 2 weeks at the start of the semester in January to check in with students and staff and respond to their needs. ECHS participated in the CARPE principal cohort challenge, spending a day shadowing one ECHS student.

 

For an update on interventions, the year-to-date attendance rate at ECHS has been very high at 96%. ECHS has formed a partnership with the Pepperdine University Graduate School of Education to create a system to track and analyze the self-reported answers that students provide in frequent surveys.

 

With standards implementation, teaching the content is taking significantly longer in remote learning than it did in in-person learning before. Also, students' needs and circumstances vary greatly. A gradebook distribution analysis followed to close the update.

 

ECMS-I Principal Dr. Geneva Matthews presented the ECMS-I update:
For an update on interventions, in the fall semester, ECMS-I started a school-wide small group intervention program with the support of Mira Costa Math support volunteers. Teachers & students appreciated working in a smaller setting and are actively working on attendance. For the spring semester, ECMS-I is starting Tier 3 support with the involvement of the Math coach and a new intervention specialist (including NWEA data). ECMS-I will use pre and post-assessments to determine growth instead of grades.

 

For instructional support and collaboration, in the fall semester, ECMS-I held professional development sessions focused on/or including RA strategies. ECMS-I provided full & focused coaching cycles, including over 30 informal classroom visits w/ direct feedback. For the spring semester, ECMS-I will conduct formal observation in Q3, increase coaching support utilizing the data from the fall semester, and increase teacher-led PDs.

 

In student engagement, in the fall semester, ECMS-I students achieved attendance rates ranging between 99%-98% with chronic absenteeism ranging between 2.8%-4.2%. These promising indicators were due to weekly student services meetings, attendance meetings, teachers sharing best practices, assemblies and regular survey data. For the spring semester, ECMS-I will increase student attendance in every class, increase the sense of student community, and continue to promote our afterschool program.

 

For Priority 1: Confronting anti-blackness and racism, ECMS-I provided every teacher and staff member the book Ghost Boys, and was able to reach out to the author Dr. Rhodes and have her speak in a virtual session to the staff members about the book. Dr. Rhodes plans to return to speak to all ECMS-I students.

 

ECMS-G Principal Dave Trejo presented the ECMS-G update:
In Priority 2: Distance learning, distance learning in March 2020 had no precedents that ECS could draw from. As such, ECMS-G had to experiment with many approaches. With achievement in Q1, there were a lot of grade distributions below norm. Over time, after making improvements in distance learning program, the grade distributions below norm decreased across nearly every grade level. In the fall semester, ECMS-G focused on providing its teachers the time, space, and coaching needed to have a successful remote learning program. In the spring semester, ECMS-G will implement the following to keep improving on Priority 2: gradebook analysis mid quarter, weekly leadership data meetings, more robust attendance data analysis, priority conferences, Student Centered Coaching, a modified Master Schedule, and collaborative data analysis (on post unit/mid-unit exams).

ECMS-G assistant principal Dr. Ramirez-Holden spearheaded the Leaders Like Me monthly speaker series, which invites local leaders of color making an impact in their communities and industries to share their stories with our middle school students and community. The purpose of the series is to give students direct exposure to inspiring professionals and leaders, create a platform for speakers to share about their path to success, and allow students to ask questions and connect to potential mentors and resources. 

Finally, on the school climate local indicator, ECMS-G has historically struggled with school connectedness. However, in recent student survey, overall connectedness grew 20% to 50%, which is the highest rate in over 5 years.

C.

ECHS-Gardena update

Tabled.

D.

EdTec financial update

EdTec consultant Dorothy Lee presented the financial update:
  • Federal government recently passed stimulus package which includes funds dedicated to helping schools deal with COVID-19 related expenses. Estimated funding that ECS schools will receive are the following: ECHS-L 600k, ECMS-G 440k, ECMS-I 400K. $50 internet access credit will become available to eligible families who have home internet.
  • CA Governor's proposal is a 3.84% COLA increase in LCFF funds. ADA reporting will go back to pre-pandemic mode. New one-time funds will be available for teacher training and other uses.
  • Biden stimulus proposal is $130 billion for K-12 schools. Allowable expenses include testing, additional staff, PPE, technology, and summer school.
  • New grant proposal being considered by CA legislature: $4.6 billion in expanded learning and interventions. If passed as proposed, estimated funding that ECS schools will receive are the following: ECHS-L 400k, ECMS-G 240k, ECMS-I 250k.

E.

Development update

Director of Development Julie Vo presented the Development update:

For overall fundraising goals, raised 1.2M year to date, with $1.8M left to raise.

Mutual aid for ECS families initiative has been a productive and important endeavor by ECS staff to help families of ECS students in need. ECHS teachers spearheaded a GoFundMe page with $18k to 124 ECHS families and $8k to 53 ECHS families. Kinecta mini-grants received have provided 10.5k to 140 ECS families. The Change Reaction Aid + Angel Fund: $12k to 14 ECS families. In all, $49,784 has been distributed to ECS families.

IV. Approve Consent Items A-F

A.

Approve previous meeting minutes for November 19, 2020 board meeting

Ken Deemer made a motion to approve the minutes from Board of Directors' Meeting on 11-19-20.
Zena Fong seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
Roll Call
Dr. Denise Berger
Aye
Kennedy Hilario
Aye
Dr. Hughie Barnes
Aye
Ken Deemer
Aye
Anthony Jowid
Aye
Jenina Ramirez
Aye
Zena Fong
Aye
LESD Representative
Aye
Dr. Madhu Chatwani
Absent

B.

Approve previous committee meeting minutes

Ken Deemer made a motion to approve the previous committee meeting minutes listed on the agenda.
Zena Fong seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
Roll Call
Dr. Denise Berger
Aye
LESD Representative
Aye
Kennedy Hilario
Aye
Anthony Jowid
Aye
Jenina Ramirez
Aye
Dr. Madhu Chatwani
Absent
Ken Deemer
Aye
Dr. Hughie Barnes
Aye
Zena Fong
Aye

C.

Approve revised ECHS-L Distance Learning Policies

Ken Deemer made a motion to approve revised ECHS-L Distance Learning Policies.
Zena Fong seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
Roll Call
Dr. Denise Berger
Aye
Dr. Madhu Chatwani
Absent
LESD Representative
Aye
Jenina Ramirez
Aye
Kennedy Hilario
Aye
Zena Fong
Aye
Ken Deemer
Aye
Dr. Hughie Barnes
Aye
Anthony Jowid
Aye

D.

Approve Caliber Signs & Imaging building signs contract for ECMS-I in arrears

Ken Deemer made a motion to approve Caliber Signs & Imaging building signs contract for ECMS-I in arrears.
Zena Fong seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
Roll Call
Zena Fong
Aye
Ken Deemer
Aye
Dr. Hughie Barnes
Aye
Dr. Madhu Chatwani
Absent
LESD Representative
Aye
Kennedy Hilario
Aye
Anthony Jowid
Aye
Jenina Ramirez
Aye
Dr. Denise Berger
Aye

E.

Approve School Accountability Report Cards for ECHS-L, ECMS-G, ECMS-I

Ken Deemer made a motion to approve School Accountability Report Cards for ECHS-L, ECMS-G, ECMS-I.
Zena Fong seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
Roll Call
Dr. Denise Berger
Aye
Zena Fong
Aye
Kennedy Hilario
Aye
Jenina Ramirez
Aye
Dr. Hughie Barnes
Aye
LESD Representative
Aye
Anthony Jowid
Aye
Dr. Madhu Chatwani
Absent
Ken Deemer
Aye

F.

Approve 20/21 ECS Governance Committee Goals as recommended by the Governance Committee

Ken Deemer made a motion to approve 20/21 ECS Governance Committee Goals as recommended by the Governance Committee.
Zena Fong seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
Roll Call
Kennedy Hilario
Aye
Jenina Ramirez
Aye
Dr. Madhu Chatwani
Absent
Zena Fong
Aye
Dr. Hughie Barnes
Aye
Dr. Denise Berger
Aye
Ken Deemer
Aye
LESD Representative
Aye
Anthony Jowid
Aye

V. Action Items

A.

Approve FY19/20 Audit Report as Recommended by Audit Committee

Kennedy Hilario made a motion to approve FY19/20 Audit Report as Recommended by Audit Committee.
Zena Fong seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
Roll Call
Dr. Denise Berger
Aye
Dr. Madhu Chatwani
Absent
Jenina Ramirez
Aye
Dr. Hughie Barnes
Aye
Kennedy Hilario
Aye
LESD Representative
Aye
Anthony Jowid
Aye
Zena Fong
Aye
Ken Deemer
Aye

B.

Approve School Plans for Student Achievement (SPSA) for ECHS-L, ECMS-G, ECMS-I

Dr. Hughie Barnes made a motion to approve School Plans for Student Achievement (SPSA) for ECHS-L, ECMS-G, ECMS-I.
Ken Deemer seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
Roll Call
Anthony Jowid
Aye
Dr. Hughie Barnes
Aye
Dr. Denise Berger
Aye
LESD Representative
Aye
Dr. Madhu Chatwani
Absent
Ken Deemer
Aye
Zena Fong
Aye
Kennedy Hilario
Aye
Jenina Ramirez
Aye

VI. Closing Items

A.

Appreciations

B.

Adjourn Meeting

Zena Fong made a motion to adjourn meeting.
Jenina Ramirez seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
Roll Call
Dr. Madhu Chatwani
Absent
Dr. Denise Berger
Aye
Dr. Hughie Barnes
Aye
Kennedy Hilario
Aye
LESD Representative
Aye
Anthony Jowid
Aye
Ken Deemer
Aye
Jenina Ramirez
Aye
Zena Fong
Aye
There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 7:09 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
Anthony Jowid