Stated verbally that the Finance Committee Meeting originally scheduled at 7:20PM was cancelled.

Board, staff and guests conducted the pledge of allegiance.

M. De La Rosa, Student Board Member, was marked present for this meeting, joining remote.

L. Schlottman, Principal at Magnolia Science Academy (MSA)-8, introduced a 8th grade student Issac A. who is a student ambassador and nominee for the Ben Carson Scholarship. Issac A. introduced himself and thanked everyone for a space to participate in the meeting. B. Olandes, Director of Advancement, announced that MPS will be submitting for the Charter Schools Program CMO Competition Grant, a multi million dollar grant, by the end of the month. Staff will be holding a public hearing Friday at 4pm for which parents were informed via ParentSquare to join and participate. 

A. Rubalcava, CEO & Superintendent, wished everyone a early Happy Holidays as schools approach their start to the winter break. Board Members expressed the same sentiment.

D. Yilmaz, Chief Accountability Officer, opened up the oversight visit reports from the Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE). Leadership went over the sections of Governance and Instructional Program Review. Staff reported out of areas reported to be doing well and recommendations that the authorizer provided to MPS. Board Members questions were addressed by staff.

B. Olivares, Chief External Officer, presented the projected enrollment numbers to the Board. Numbers of the enrollment numbers are shared with the principals to get feedback. She added that the benefit for all schools is to identify targeted enrollment projections and plan retention, recruitment, and engagement strategies accordingly to reach targets for enrollment. She went through the projected numbers for each school site. Board Members questions were addressed by staff. 

Stated at the beginning of the meeting, the Finance Committee was cancelled and thus there was no recommended approval from the Committee. S. Budhraja, Chief Financial Officer, went over funding such as the state revenues (Prop 28 Arts and Music Education grant) and one-time state grants. Revenues and expenditures were discussed and he reported the projected cash balance as of June 30, 2024. He went over each school sites expenses, revenue, funding balances, enrollment, and attendance as well as the Home Office (MERF). Board Members questions were addressed by staff including budgets being affected because of low enrollment in certain schools. 

F. Del Carpio, Chief People Officer, presented the resolution to suspend performance pay for 2023-24. She stated that by reviewing the information presented by S. Budhraja, Chief Financial Officer, during the First Interim report, MPS is no in a financial state to support performance pay for this year. Performance pay was also frozen back in 2019-2020 & 2021. F. Del Carpio, added that through the creation of a Excellence Committee, that would be used to collaborate with staff across the schools to support staff in other ways. Board Members questions were addressed by staff.

S. Budhraja, Chief Financial Officer, presented recommendations on how MPS can improve fiscal processes and systems and what the Finance Department is implementing to meet those recommendations for fiscal organizational improvement. 

Item was discussed during the Audit & Facilities Committee Meeting, and no action for their recommended approval was taken. The Committee voted to continue the conversation at todays Board Meeting. M. Muhammedov, Board Chair and Chair of the Audit & Facilities Committee Meeting opened up the discussion for the selection of a new Construction Manager for the MSA-5 project at 7111 Winnetka Ave. location. Questions brought up related to particular details in the timeline, costs and next steps. A meeting with DSA will be set up and in attendance would be staff, Architect of Record (DLR Group) and the new Construction Manager. Representatives of staffs recommended Construction Manager of choice, Gateway Science and Engineering Inc. was present to provide responses to questions. Scenarios of the construction was reviewed. 

E. Acar, Chief Academic Officer & Deputy Superintendent, presented that MPS will be receiving additional funding for arts education through Proposition 28. Funding requires creating expenditure plans and posted publicly on the website. Funding allocations are set to be made available in February 2024. He went over the allocation breakdown for each school sites Prop 28 funds. Schools will receive funding in monthly incremental amounts. The funding will ensure that MPS works towards ensuring that all students have equitable access to high-quality instruction in the Visual and Performing Arts. Board Members questions were addressed by staff. 

R. Monoshev, Director of IT, presented the RFP process for acquiring a solution to provide options to school sites, depending on budgets, for new or like new copier lease needs. Staff members supported in evaluating the quotes and questions that was raised to ensure that prices were affordable to give the schools the best technology available. Board Members questions were addressed by staff. 

F. Del Carpio, Chief People Officer, presented the changes made in the employee handbook which includes: payroll withholdings and reproductive loss leave. 

S. Acar, Chief Operations Officer, presented that MPS is trying to increase the number of substitute teacher companies to be ready for flu season or any possible future pandemic when an increase number of teachers use their sick days. Staff is aiming to increase the number of substitute companies to provide more options for the school sites to utilize if needed. Board Members questions were addressed by staff.