Principal Llesenia Villalobos shared a student-led video for her campus update. The students gave a tour of the campus throughout the video while highlighting facilities and programs, including spaces used for school-wide events (fall festivals, winter showcases, back-to-school night), an Olympics-style enrichment program offering athletics, free play, and art, and a newly added playground designed for younger students.

Students also described the Wooden Awards, which recognizes students through nominations for traits such as friendship, initiative, and self-regulation. The presentation emphasized school growth during its first year and showcased improvements made to campus facilities.

Multiple students shared personal reflections, expressing appreciation for the school’s positive culture, kindness among students, supportive teachers, friendships, and overall enjoyment of learning at Scholarship Prep Riverside.

David Olson from Charter Impact provided the presentation covering the monthly financial update for November. David states the December close was not completed due to holiday timing; the next board meeting will include both December and January financials.

Board Chair, Charles Friedrichs, asked how far we can push grants down the road. David answered that grant funds are subject to expenditure deadlines. The LREGB funds must be fully used by the end of 2028, which represents the maximum allowable deferral period for those funds. While future grants may provide longer timelines, the currently awarded funds must be expended by that date.

Board Treasurer, John Ing, asked about salary and benefit savings across multiple sites. David clarified that the savings were primarily due to delayed hiring and longer-than-anticipated timelines to fill vacant positions, rather than permanent staffing reductions or programmatic changes. These savings were timing-related and not expected to continue at the same level in future budgets. It was also confirmed that hiring delays were not directly related to enrollment declines.

John also asked about increased costs (repairs, food service, after-school contracts), specifically if they are one-time or ongoing, and how they should be considered for future budgets. David explained that many of these expenses were one-time in nature, largely related to preparing new facilities for operation, and therefore could not be capitalized and were required to be expensed in the current year. While ongoing maintenance will continue, similar cost increases are not anticipated annually. 

Executive Director Jason Watts provided the organization update. 

He started with an update on enrollment and ADA, noting a modest and typical decline over time across all sites since the last update in November. Variances between current enrollment and June budget projections were discussed.

Jason also shared highlights from a recent presentation to the San Bernardino County Board of Education. The Upland Campus enrollment includes 189 students representing ten different districts within San Bernardino County. An additional 11 districts across Southern California are represented, reflecting strong regional recruitment efforts. Student demographic data was also presented, showing a highly diverse population. Approximately 18% of students receive special education services, which exceeds the neighboring district by about 2%. Homeless and foster youth represent approximately 8.5% of the student population.

Key components of the Governor’s proposed budget and Overall tightening of audit standards were also shared and discussed. 

Increased state oversight related to charter school accountability and fraud prevention

Extended use of verified data through June 2028

Charles asked what Tier 2 is, and Chief Operating Officer Sarah Schoenfeld-Nakamoto, explained that Tier 2 applies to schools with fewer than 55% unduplicated students, qualifying them for Tier 2 ELOP funding. All three existing schools currently receiving ELOP funding are Tier 1 and receive slightly higher funding than Tier 2.

Chief Community Officer, Kristen Crowe, presented the 6th Annual Winter Wellness event overview. The event originally began to support students experiencing homelessness and those in foster care by providing backpacks, school supplies, and dress-code items to prepare for the spring semester. Over time, it has expanded into a full winter wellness event.

The event now serves McKinney-Vento families, students in foster care, and the broader school community, while intentionally connecting families with community organizations. Participating organizations included social services, mental health providers, and the City of Santa Ana, which shared information on rent stabilization and other supports. The goal was to allow families to connect directly with resources previously shared via flyers and communications.

While parents and guardians met with community partners, students participated in recreational activities such as jumpers, nail painting, and Kona Ice. Food was provided for all families. A new partner organization from Los Angeles donated over 100 pairs of brand-new Vans shoes to families. Kristen also shared about Scholarship Prep's partnership with Feed the Children, for which the school serves as the Orange County hub. 

Additionally, Sparks of Love donated hundreds of toys. Each student or family selected a toy, which staff and volunteers wrapped on site. Attendance exceeded 700 people, and staff emphasized that the event is a labor of love strongly supported by staff and volunteers. A video recap of the event was shown. 

Chief Academic Officer, Taylor Ellis, provided a brief data update highlighting student growth using the newly released CAASPP growth metric and mid-year i-Ready assessment data.

A new CAASPP metric measures the percentage of students who improved scores year over year, in addition to distance from standard.

• Our Orange County site showed over 75% of students having improved ELA scores and 66% of students having more than one year of growth in math.
• A large percentage of students demonstrated more than one year of growth in both ELA and math at the Oceanside site. 
• At South Bay, over 80% of students showed improved ELA scores year over year. Math growth continues to improve, with significant gains and an average 18-point improvement in distance from standard.

iReady is used as an internal growth metric to track progress for all students. The goal is for students to exceed 100% of typical annual growth.

• ELA: Students are on track to significantly exceed typical annual growth. By December, students had already reached approximately 70% of projected end-of-year growth. Over 40% of students at each site had already moved up at least one instructional level.
• Math: Students are also on track to exceed 100% of typical annual growth. Additional instructional focus will be applied in the second semester to accelerate math growth further. 
• Founding-year schools (Riverside and Upland) do not yet have CAASPP data but are showing strong early i-Ready growth.

Charter Renewal Tracks:

The state released renewal tracks: Low, Middle, and High. Middle and High tracks allow for standard 5-year or longer renewals.

• Oceanside: Currently mid-way through a 7-year renewal.
• Orange County: Several years away from renewal.
• South Bay: Entering a renewal year and has successfully moved from the low track to the middle track due to strong academic growth in ELA and math over the past three years.
• All established schools (Orange County, Oceanside, and South Bay) are currently in the Middle Track. 

Charles asked Taylor which assessment is weighted more heavily—CAASPP or i-Ready? Taylor explained that the CAASPP carries more weight because it appears on the California Dashboard and is used for charter renewal decisions. However, i-Ready is also critical because it includes all students (including K–2) and ensures students are developing the foundational skills needed to succeed on CAASPP in later grades.

The Board entered the closed session at 2:56 pm.

Board President, Charles Friedrichs, reported out of close session at 3:37 pm. 

The Board discussed the proposed timeline for the Executive Director’s performance evaluation. The timeline includes:

• February: Development of the evaluation survey tool
• March: Distribution of the survey
• April: Collection and sharing of survey data
• May: Board discussion of the evaluation data and its impact on the Executive Director
• June: Preparation and execution of a contract for the Executive Director

Property Negotiations

The Board approved the sale of 1821 (N.) Grand Avenue, Santa Ana approving the resolution for the purchase and sale agreement.