Martin Luther King Jr. Charter School of Excellence

Minutes

Board of Trustees' Meeting

Date and Time

Tuesday September 16, 2025 at 5:30 PM

Location

Join Zoom Meeting
https://mlkcs-org.zoom.us/j/85636751868?pwd=tYUxNzw2JH8xhlGcemlOY3dVVfq3ST.1

 

 

 

Meeting ID: 856 3675 1868
Passcode: 228565

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Meeting ID: 856 3675 1868
Passcode: 228565

Find your local number: https://mlkcs-org.zoom.us/u/knJMzVXHY

 

Trustees Present

Alton Jones (remote), Bertha Wecher (remote), Denise Pagan-Vega (remote), Diana Foskett (remote), Donna Carroll (remote), Kiyota Garcia (remote), Nealon Jayne-Lewis (remote), Sherard Johnson (remote), Teremar Rodriguez-Vazquez (remote)

Trustees Absent

Darren James

Trustees who left before the meeting adjourned

Sherard Johnson

Guests Present

Kendra Salvador (remote)

I. Opening Items

A.

Record Attendance

B.

Call the Meeting to Order

Teremar Rodriguez-Vazquez called a meeting of the board of trustees of Martin Luther King Jr. Charter School of Excellence to order on Tuesday Sep 16, 2025 at 5:33 PM.

C.

Board on Track Presentaiton

Brianna Stuczynski from BoardOnTrack Presented:

  • Dashboard Review and Profile Access
  • Committees, Meetings, Documents for Board and all committees
  • Goals - very helpful especially for committees
  • Assessments - meant for Board self-assessment based on best practices
  • Reports - Skills & demographics survey to ensure no skill gaps - helps with strategic recruitment for board members
  • Resources - Big resource library full of trainings, sample goals, job descriptions, governance, etc.
  • Chat - to reach out to BOT
  • Directory - Contact info of board members

 

D.

Approve Minutes from July 26, 2025

Donna Carroll made a motion to approve the minutes from Summer Board Meeting on 07-26-25.
Sherard Johnson seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.

E.

Public Comment

F.

Approve Minutes from January 17, 2023

Denise Pagan-Vega made a motion to approve the minutes from January 17, 2022 BOT Meeting on 01-17-23.
Kiyota Garcia seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.

G.

Approve Minutes from February 21, 2023

Denise Pagan-Vega made a motion to approve the minutes from February 21, 2023 BOT Meeting on 02-21-23.
Donna Carroll seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.

H.

Approve Minutes from February 4, 2025 Special Board Meeting

Denise Pagan-Vega made a motion to approve the minutes from Special Board Meeting on 02-04-25.
Diana Foskett seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.

II. Executive Director's Report to the Board

A.

Executive Director's Report to the Board

Kendra Salvador Presents Executive Director's Report:

  • Diana - Reviewed it, looks good.  Alton concurred.
  • No suspensions - Goal is to not have any this year.
  • Start to the school year feels really strong
  • Prelim data for accountability metrics - substantially better than last year!
  • Kendra working on charter renewal with assistance from Teremar and Diana
  • Translated materials in 7 languages - kudos!

 

B.

Engagement Letter for Auditors

  • Diana included this agenda item to check if anything further is needed.
  • We approved the engagement letter at last meeting.
  • Next meeting should include agenda item to vote on audit report - may not be until following month.

C.

Charter Renewal Discussion

  • Very tedious, hard work with a lot of requests for documentation.
  • This helps remind the Board about key items to keep in mind for meetings, compliance, etc.
  • Diana - One issue that has revealed itself is to make sure that the Board work is really coming through to the DESE auditors.  Make sure you attend your committee meetings and who will take the notes for the meeting.  Ask questions, do not just rubber-stamp things.  Talk at least twice during board and committee meetings to contribute to the conversations.  Recruit more people.  Make sure a quorum is made, and minutes are taken.
Sherard Johnson left at 5:59 PM.

III. Committee Updates

A.

Academic Excellence

Diana Presented:

  • One of the issues Kendra identified was that the school has really been doing well academically
  • All trends are going up.

B.

Finance Committee

Teremar Presented:

  • Met last week and looked through all documentation
  • Everything continues to look very good
  • Budget - no big update regarding investments with different banks, but still working on it
  • Strong financially and want to invest the money we have

C.

HR Committee

No update since it meets quarterly.

Next meeting scheduled for 9/26.

D.

Governance Committee

  • No update since it meets quarterly.
  • Next meeting scheduled for 9/26.

E.

ED Evaluation Committee Report

  • No update since it meets quarterly.

F.

Strategic Planning Committee Report

  • No update since it meets quarterly.

IV. Board Chair Updates

A.

Teremar Presented: - Wants additional Finance Committe members. Charter renewal process is ongoing. Board engagement is really key and welcomes everyone to engage. Some restructuring of how committee meetings will be notated.

Teremar Presented:

Wants additional Finance Committe members

  • Charter renewal process is ongoing
  • Board engagement is really key and welcomes everyone to engage
  • Some restructuring of how committee meetings will be notated.

 


 

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 6:07 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
Donna Carroll