Board, staff and guests conducted the pledge of allegiance lead by M. De La Rosa, Student Board Member. 

M. De La Rosa, Student Board Member, was present. It was verbally stated that Mrs. Diane Gonzalez was joining from the location at 5113 Babette Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90066. Refer to attendance information recorded above. 

No public comments were made at this time.

A. Rubalcava, CEO & Superintendent and B. Olivares, Chief External Officer, announced hat MPS was a recipient of the Federal CMO Expansion Grant. Congratulated the various staff members across the schools and Home Office who lead the effort. 

M. De La Rosa, Student Board Member, reported on the successful Student Forum that occurred on February 22nd. She reported that various students across Magnolia joined to address school challenges and exchange ideas. She reported on valuable feedback received including listening to what students enjoy from their school that contribute to a good student environment. Part of feedback received was the need of additional space for students at Magnolia Science Academy-5. She reported that an additional student forum is in the works. J. Hernandez, Director of Student Services, thanked the participants on the forum for the insightful conversation and feedback.

B. Olivares, Chief External Officer, updated the Board on the enrollment trends and applications. She reported that compared to last year, there has been an increase of applications in the pipeline. Staff has been in continuous conversations with school sites to learn of effective strategies being used. For schools that are not seeing that increase of applications, she reported that they are not far behind and staff is working with them to address this. Board Members raised questions. Staff addressed those questions and B. Olivares added that every school is trending to meet or on their way to meet their projection goal. She noted that certain schools such as MSA-5 and MSA-7 require more strategic planning. A. Rubalcava, CEO & Superintendent, reported that these systems are much stronger now and MPS is working on meeting the projections for next school year organization wide.

Previously presented at the Educational Partners & Development Committee Meeting in which the Committee approved the item to give their recommendation to the full Board. F. Del Carpio, Chief People Officer, reported that the Human Resources Department have had conversations with leadership team, principals and different departments for the data presented. The proposed changes includes an increase of the base pay for MSA-3, 4, 6, 7, San Diego and Santa Ana to ensure that all ten (10) schools are in equity; coefficient for employee qualifications will remain the same; and, the performance pay will continue to be suspended for 2024-25. S. Budhraja, Chief Financial Officer, provided an update on the economic trends and budget planning assumptions for 2024-25. He also provided a financial overview for all school sites. Principals spoke upon the appreciation of equity across Magnolia from their staff. Board Members questions were addressed. They reported on the continued vigilance on MSA-4 and the ramifications of the reduction of the CMO fee. 

Previously discussed at the Educational Partners & Committee Meeting in which the Committee approved the item to give their recommendation to the full Board. F. Del Carpio, Chief People Officer, proposed the increases to the MPS classified employees. MSA-1, 2, 5 and 8 proposed increase is 2% and MSA-3, 4, 6, 7, Santa Ana, and San Diego proposed increased is 4%. Additionally, classified employees will be eligible for one-time annual assignment duties. 

M. Sahin, Facilities Project Manager, updated the Board on the change order received for MSA-1 JAM Building at 18242 Sherman Way. The change orders came from the MSA-1 school leadership team for the purpose of having a better functioning gym. It was reported that the change orders do not impact the completion date of the project which is June 17, 2024. Colin Beal from API Construction reported on the structural changes on the change order. Board Members questions were addressed.  

A. Rubalcava, CEO & Superintendent, reported on the addition of a Volunteer Enrichment Programs Policy. This is to mitigate 3rd party companies that come to Magnolia wanting to offer program services to Magnolia on a volunteer, non-paid/free basis. Operators of programs will be subject to background check, TB tests, nature of the program, conflict of interests and additional due diligence to asses if such program fits the need of MPS and its students and teachers. This is a volunteer policy to be an operator of a program in MPS. Board Members questions were addressed by staff. 

Glows, Grows, and Priorities presentations were presented by MSA-6, MSA-7 and MSA-8. School principals presented for their school site to the Board and responded to questions.

Facilities Department updated the Board of various facilities projects across the schools. Those updates include projects from MSA-1, 2, 5, 7 and Santa Ana. Board Members questions were addressed by staff. 

M. Muhammedov announced that the Board will be going into closed session to discuss public employee performance evaluation for title: CEO & Superintendent and would report out any actions that may be taken.

This item was discussed in Closed Session.

M. Muhammedov announced in Open Session at 10:07pm that the Board discussed the item and would continue discussions at the next Board Meeting.