Whatcom Intergenerational High School

Minutes

Board Meeting

Date and Time

Wednesday September 28, 2022 at 6:00 PM

Location

Hybrid meeting

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Topic: WIHS Board Meeting
Time: Jul 27, 2022 06:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
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Directors Present

C. Espina (remote), J. McGill, K. Lieberman (remote), N. Mughal-Barrows

Directors Absent

None

Directors who arrived after the meeting opened

N. Mughal-Barrows

Ex Officio Members Present

D. Walker (remote)

Non Voting Members Present

D. Walker (remote)

Guests Present

B. Luu (remote), C. Baron (remote), R. Rodriguez

I. Opening Items

A.

Call the Meeting to Order

C. Espina called a meeting of the board of directors of Whatcom Intergenerational High School to order on Wednesday Sep 28, 2022 at 6:07 PM.

B.

Land Acknowledgement

K. Lieberman read the WIHS Land Acknowledgement.

C.

WIHS Mission & Vision

J. McGill read the WIHS Mission and Vision.

D.

Record Attendance

Additional attendees

  • Jessica De Barros, Commission
  • Mitch Price, WA Charters Association
  • Gail Goulet, guest and observer
N. Mughal-Barrows arrived.

E.

Approve Minutes

J. McGill made a motion to approve the minutes from Board Meeting on 08-24-22.
K. Lieberman seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
Roll Call
K. Lieberman
Aye
N. Mughal-Barrows
Absent
C. Espina
Aye
J. McGill
Aye

F.

Public Comment

No public comment.

II. Governance

A.

Board Composition

K. Lieberman made a motion to approve Bely Luu and Mitch Price to serve as WIHS Board technical advisors.
J. McGill seconded the motion.
  • Bely and Mitch will advise on matters of governance and OPMA and provide support as needed
  • Clarification from agenda: Bely and Mitch will NOT serve "non-voting board members" so that their roles remain clearly delineated, and to avoid any conflicts of interest.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
Roll Call
N. Mughal-Barrows
Absent
J. McGill
Aye
C. Espina
Aye
K. Lieberman
Aye

B.

Board Recruitment

Gail Goulet, a guest, introduced herself. She may be interested in serving as a Board Member or volunteering to support the Board.

 

The Board is still actively recruiting potential board members.

C.

Board Meeting Calendar through 2022

We will cancel the regularly scheduled November and December board meetings as they coincide with holiday and winter breaks. 

We decided to call a special meeting on Wednesday, November 30th. We may decide to share a meal together before winter break.

 

Action item: C. Espina, Board Secretary, will cancel the regularly scheduled Nov 23rd and Dec 28th Board meetings and schedule the Special Meeting for November 30th on Board on Track.

D.

Update on Hiring Process & Timeline

  • The interim SPED director was hired
  • The Coordinator position was filled and started 2 weeks ago.
  • The Office Manager (in an interim role) started this past week.

 

  • J. McGill, as WIHS Board Member and NWYS Executive Director, requested that he be informed first of any communication from WIHS staff to NWYS staff.

E.

Follow-up on grievance policy and handbook updates

Required documents for this school year were submitted to EpiCenter. We are in compliance with Commission requirements.

 

Clarification on agenda item: WA Charters Association had granted WIHS an extension for required documents in their database, Base Camp. The agenda listed it as a Commission extension, which was incorrect.

 

 

III. Academic Excellence

A.

Recruitment & Academic Report

Attendance

  • WIHS is averaging 70 students enrolled. 
  • 6-8 students are enrolled in Running Start.

Recruitment

  • R. Rodriguez holds an Open House monthly. On average, 1-2 families a week inquire about the school.

Phenomenon-Based Learning Field Trips

  • There have been successful Ph-BL field trips this school year.

Wednesday Wellness

  • Led by R. Rodriguez
  • Students focus on physical and mental health

 

IV. Anti-Racism and Transformative Justice Work

A.

Anti-racism and Transformative Justice Work

Healing Pages Book Club: The Four Pivots by Dr. Shawn Ginwright

  • NWYS Healing Pages Book Club meets the third Thursday of every month from 6:00-7:30pm either in-person or on Zoom
  • All are invited to join
  • Action item: One suggestion was to include the announcement on WIHS Newsletter to extend invitation to WIHS community

Survey board members

  • R. Rodriguez and C. Espina are willing to support N. Mughal-Barrows as needed to develop a survey
  • Action item: B. Luu volunteered to investigate possible survey questions on belonging
     

NWYS Teen Court

  • J. McGill introduced NWYS' Teen Court, which works with the school systems in Whatcom Co. and is just starting in Skagit Co. 
  • Teen Court is a restorative justice model that is student-centered and student-led. Students learn about the court system, and they practice restorative justice and accountability with fellow peers their age.
  • There may be ways for WIHS students to participate in Teen Court
  • Action item: J. McGill, D. Walker, and R. Rodriguez will explore possibilities for partnership between WIHS and Teen Court.

ASB Club

  • Half-day Wednesday: The half-day session topic was focused on leadership and the activity was completely student-led. Students broke into small groups where they developed topics and three questions, and they brought ideas to the ASB Club.
  • Kristina Michele Martens will facilitate the next half-day Wednesday session.

V. Finance/Fundraising

A.

August 2022 Financials

C. Baron presented August 2022 financial reports.

 

K. Lieberman made a motion to approve the payroll check summary for August 2022 totaling $40,655.04 as of September 28th, 2022. C. Espina seconded the motion. The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion. 

K. Lieberman made a motion to approve the payroll check summary for August 2022 totaling $40,655.04 as of September 28th, 2022.
C. Espina seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
Roll Call
K. Lieberman
Aye
J. McGill
Absent
N. Mughal-Barrows
Aye
C. Espina
Aye
K. Lieberman made a motion to approve the accounts payable for August 2022 in the amount of $112,379.47 as of September 28th, 2022.
J. McGill seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
K. Lieberman made a motion to approve the non-accounts payable case disbursement in the amount of $129,555.70 (public account) and $0.51 (private account) spent between September 1, 2021-August 31, 2022.
C. Espina seconded the motion.

The following payments were paid during fiscal year 2021-2022, but not captured in the monthly AP Registers (but were reflected in the monthly financial statements). The payments are primarily debit card payments, certain EFT payments, manual checks, and private wires. Retirement contribution (WA Dept of Retirement Services) EFT payments were captured in the AP Registers starting in January 2022. 

 

Moving forward, this additional register will be provided monthly for certification. Payments have been audited and certified by the Auditing Officer as required by RCW 42.24.080, and those expense reimbursement claims certified as required by RCW 42.24.090. Those payments have been recorded on a listing which has been made available to the board.

The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

Finance dashboard was reviewed.

 

C. Baron requested the Board's preference on the reports they'd like to see at each monthly meeting. For example, at present, the Grant Tracker, a detailed listing of all grants, has been presented and reviewed by the Board monthly.

 

  • The Board requested to review the financial summary at each monthly Board meeting.
  • The Board requested to review detailed finance reports quarterly.
  • The Board discussed that the detailed reports can be reviewed by the Finance and Fundraising Committee, once we will resume that committee when we have more Board capacity.

VI. Other Business

A.

Health & Safety Policy Updates

  • A survey to students and parents about mandatory masking vs. recommended masking sent out this week.
  • M. Mendenhall, RN led staff training on the topics of diabetes, asthma, seizures, and allergies.
  • Staff will complete the online, self-paced, required child abuse and neglect training.
  • All staff were fingerprinted last week so everyone is on the same renewal cycle.
  • D. Walker is exploring bringing a 5-video documentary series on health. Topics in the series include mental health, social emotional, and cyberbullying.
  • A staff Weekly Wellness Leadership Committee started last week. They are focusing on many wellness topics including mental health. We discussed the need for official protocol for suicide assessment and prevention. Action item: The Weekly Wellness Leadership Committee will add this action item to their meeting agenda.

B.

Upcoming events

  • R. Rodriguez led Ally Training #1 on September 22nd.
  • Ally Training #2 is scheduled for October 5th. 

VII. Board Goals

A.

Board Debrief and Evaluation

At the conclusion of each meeting, the board will evaluate its success against its norms.

Norms

(Y) or (N) Board members should understand the Mission and Vision of the school

(Y) or (N) Board Agenda should be sent out 24hours to the board.

(Y) or (N) Responding to emails in a 24hr time span

(Y) or (N) All board members should RSVP to meetings through Board on Track

VIII. 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 7:49 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
C. Espina