Living School
Minutes
Living School Board Meeting
Date and Time
Tuesday September 27, 2022 at 7:00 PM
Location
Living School, 6003 Bullard Ave, Suite 16, New Orleans, LA 70128
Public comment is welcome on any item on the agenda. At the end of each agenda item, there will be a time for public comment. Members of the public wishing to comment on any agenda item, may raise their hand at this designated time and be recognized by the Chair to speak for up to 2 minutes per person, per agenda item. On any matter up for a vote, public comment must be heard prior to taking the Board's vote.
For members of the public wishing to address the Board for longer than 2 minutes on any given agenda item, please give the Chair at least 24 hours notice to be added to the agenda. We will strive to accommodate longer items but cannot guarantee room on a given meeting's agenda.
Directors Present
A. Odiduro (remote), B. Holmes-Nick, D. Cager, D. Mitchell, M. Davis, M. Lehnherr, N. Kyle, P. Roussel, R. Ashmore, T. Simon
Directors Absent
A. Medley, D. Lister, K. Mutepfa
Guests Present
A. Winzy, Alaina Comeaux (remote), B. Hasan, Delise Hampton (remote), Katie Wills Evans (remote), Rubi Brown, S. Pasternak, Whitney Dickerson
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance and Guests
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
II. Voting Items
A.
Approve Board Meeting Agenda
B.
Approve Board Meeting Minutes
C.
Elect Leslie Haas to the Board of Directors
D.
Hire Luther Speight & Co. as FY23 Auditors
The committee recommends continued use of Speight & Co as our auditors.
E.
Proposal to use Signal App for Board text communications
Rubi from the Transcendent Legal Group says this is appropriate as long as we continue to abide by open-meetings law and Board communications.
F.
Approve Mutual Aid Resolution
MD: Have we received Stefin's letter of assurance.
SP: Yes, it was attached to May's Board Meeting Agenda.
DM: Have we established the new policies for distributing Mutual Aid Moving Forward.
SP: We have not yet had a chance to develop these policies given the focus on navigating staffing transitions.
III. Executive Session
A.
Discussion about CEO Performance Concerns
IV. CEO Board Report
A.
CEO Report
Stefin Pasternak presented the CEO Board Report, answering questions from the Board and public in attendance.
V. Board Committee Reports
A.
Governance & Evaluation Committee
Danneka Mitchell noted that the updates from the Governance & Evaluation Committee were discussed in Executive Session.
B.
Finance & Development Committee Report
Traci Simon noted that budget to actuals are on-track and we remain in a solid budget situation.
C.
Academic & Culture Committee Report
Dr. Cager had already left and the committee noted that most of their discussion was covered in the CEO Board Report.
VI. Closing Items
A.
Adjourn Meeting
KWE: As a member of the school's instructional staff, she recognizes that she is not a voting member of the Board. The Executive Session was indicative of the lack of transparency toward the most impacted community members at this supposedly Democratic School.
AB: How & when should the staff expect to hear updates from the Executive Session?
DM: Updates will be posted to the Board's next agenda ahead of next month's meeting.
MJ: Can the Board summarize what was discussed in the Executive Session?
DM: We will not discuss it at this time but communications about it can be directed to Michelle Craig & Rubi Brown of the Transcendent Legal Group.
DH: Where can the updates be found?
DM: On our public Board Portal linked on our website.
Dr. Haas declined the nomination today.