Board, staff and guests conducted the pledge of allegiance lead by MPS Student Board Member, N. Bayraktar.

Refer to attendance information recorded above. Naim Bayraktar, Student Board Member, was present.

A. Rubalcava, CEO & Superintendent, announced of the closure of Magnolia Science Academy (MSA)-2 that occurred on Friday, September 6th due to an HVAC system outage that impacted six (6) of the schools units during the intense heat wave. He added that MSA-2 administration team and the Home Office responded quickly to formulate a plan and remedy the situation which resulted in the school being able to open back up on Monday, September 9th. He reported that staff worked closely with the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). D. Garner, Principal of MSA-2, added that interior temperatures reached up to 105 degrees for one of the rooms and acted to ensure the safety of those at the school. Other schools were also impacted by the outage.

M. Muhammedov, Board Chair, announced that the Board will be going into closed session to discuss conference with legal counsel-anticipated litigation for one (1) case and would report out any actions that may be taken.

This item was discussed in Closed Session.

M. Muhammedov announced in Open Session at 8:09pm that the Board discussed and no actions were taken.

M. Montalvo, Director of Community Schools, introduced the Community Schools work across Magnolia. She stated that their team was able to accomplish a two (2) year planning grant in 2022 in one (1) year. Because of this, they were able to accomplish a planning of Implementation Grant for Spring 2023. She reported that they were awarded the Implementation Grant of five (5) years of that Spring 2023 which brought over $10 million for Magnolia communities. Magnolia Science Academy (MSA)-San Diego this year did not receive the Implementation Grant, but received the Community Engagement Initiative (CI) Grant which is a two (2) year grant that still supports and sustains the community work. MSA-4 was awarded the Implementation Grant of five (5) years so now nine (9) Magnolia schools are implementation sites. Community School leaders comprised of Community Schools Coordinators, liaisons, Principals and the Assistant Director of Community Schools presented how implementation looks like being applied at the school sites. Board Members thanked the team for the continued passion and for the work being done to support the Magnolia community. Questions were addressed by staff.

A photo was taken with the Community School leaders and the Board which resulted in a short break.

C. Adame, Senior Director of Growth & Expansion, reported that extensive support for every school site resulted in an increase of enrollment for several school sites. She stated that with the support of the Charter School Growth Fund, which Magnolia was awarded, this would help replicate Magnolia programs that would benefit parents and students. As well as address areas of growth. She reported that as of September 5th, total enrollment has increased to 3,788. She also presented the budget implications for each school site from those enrollment numbers. She stated that they will continue to strive to hit the target enrollment. Board Members questions were addressed by staff.

D. Yilmaz, Chief Accountability Officer, presented the oversight reports received from the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) for MSA-4, 6, 7 and 8 (Bell) and added that there was some changes with this years oversight procedure and scoring. He presented the scores received from LAUSD and compared previous scores. A. Rubalcava, CEO & Superintendent, detailed the Governance section. G. Serce, Chief Academic Officer detailed the Student Achievement and Educational Performance section. S. Budhraja, Chief Financial Officer, detailed the Fiscal Operations section. Board Members questions were addressed by staff and stated that with changes to the oversight procedures just means that Magnolia must adjust to meet those changes. Board Members requested to include latest MAP testing data at the Academic Committee Meeting scheduled for October. 

D. Yilmaz, Chief Accountability Officer, presented the data presentation about teacher credentials and the subjects they teach whether their credentials are appropriate for the subjects they teach. He stated that normally this data would be in the LCAP, but stated that the state was late in publishing the data. The data presented is from 2022-23. He defined each Teaching Assignment Monitoring Outcomes (TAMO) definitions which dives deeper on how appropriate a credential is which included a breakdown of clear, out-of-field, intern, ineffective, etc. credentials. He presented MPS TAMO for each school site and subjects. He compared MPS targets to authorizers. M. Akbas, Director of People Analytics & Compliance, shared further information of efforts being done to equip Principals with knowledge of credentials.  

P. Ontiveros, General Counsel & Director of Facilities, stated that for the Magnolia Science Academy (MSA)-5 project, the team will be submitting the increment plans by October 11th. He stated that they have been meeting with DSA and other collaborators and are confident that they will meet that date.  The Facilities Department comprising of M. Sahin, Facilities Project Manager, and K. Jimenez, Assistant Facilities Project Manager, proved updates to the facilities projects for MSA-1, 2 and Santa Ana. Board Members questions were addressed by staff. 

S. Budhraja, Chief Financial Officer, stated that back in August 2023, staff presented to the Board on the item. Since that meeting with the Board's feedback, staff did additional research and consulted with attorney, Ken Ruthenberg, who specializes in retirement planning and provided a Memorandum which stated that it was determined that MPS can qualify as a "governmental entity" meaning that it would allow MPS greater flexibility and would allow MPS to offer a governmental 403b plan that would allow for employer matching contributions that vary depending on the employee or the year. He added that this opportunity would be open to Home Office and school sites to participate. Allied Wealth Advisors, Joseph Faye Sr. and Joseph Faye Jr., were present to provide additional details. They would be assisting in administering the plan in collaboration with Nationwide. Board Members questions were addressed by staff. 

This item was previously presented at the MPS Audit/Facilities Committee Meeting on September 12th, with the Committee recommending their approval. S. Budhraja, Chief Financial Officer, presented the 2023-24 unaudited actuals report which captures data from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024 from previous fiscal year. He summarized the financial results for fiscal year 2023-24 and changes to revenue and expenditures from the previous reporting. He detailed the actuals by school sites and the Home Office (MERF). Board Members questions were addressed by staff. 

This item was previously presented at the MPS Audit/Facilities Committee Meeting on September 12th, with the Committee recommending their approval. M. Sahin, Facilities Project Manager, reported on the change orders for Magnolia Science Academy (MSA)-1 project: (1) $7,697.00 for Additional architectural coordination during the Construction Administration Phase (July – September 2024), and (2) $5,000 to prepare an application to obtain a fire sprinkler water meter for the Project at 18242 Sherman Way. He reported on the reasons for the change order and that the expenditures will be paid for using MSA-1’s operating budget and the fiscal impact will be incorporated into the 2024-25 First Interim Report. Board Members questions were addressed and M. Muhammedov, Board Chair & Chair of the Audit/Facilities Committee reported on the Committee's discussion.

This item was previously presented at the MPS Audit/Facilities Committee Meeting on September 12th, with the Committee recommending their approval. M. Sahin, Facilities Project Manager, reported on the change order for the Magnolia Science Academy (MSA)-2 CUP project which would allow Berliner Architects to complete the architectural services for the CUP application for MSA-2’s new site. The cost of the expenditures of the change order will be paid using MSA-2's operating budget with that those costs being reflected into the 2024-25 First Interim Report. Board Members questions were addressed by staff and M. Muhammedov, reported on the Committee's discussion and feedback to staff. 

This item was removed during the approval of agenda.

P. Ontiveros, General Counsel & Director of Facilities, reported that the resolution is needed to comply with Public Contract Code Section 20111.6 for purposes of awarding construction contracts and would require MPS to vet possible contractors for the Magnolia Science Academy (MSA)-5 project. California law requires that certain processes and procedures be adopted prior to the awarding of construction contracts for State funded projects. The adoption of the proposed resolution will allow staff to move forward with the project and ensure these vendors are financially viable for staff to work alongside with. He stated this would be a positive step to ensure a great campus for MSA-5. 

F. Del Carpio, Chief People Officer, stated that the resolution for creation of positions is for Magnolia Science Academy (MSA)-San Diego with a full-time education specialist and MSA-4 with a part-time education specialist for the improvement of educational programs. She stated that this is in light of better supporting the growing needs of students with disabilities. She reported that MSA-San Diego has had an increase in enrollment with an increase of students with disabilities. MSA-4 though the number of students with disabilities increased, the school's population has not equated to the amount of students in the overall enrollment. She added that MPS duty is to provide service for all students. Additionally, MSA-4 would be using their reserves to cover the expense. Board Members questions were addressed by staff. 

F. Del Carpio, Chief People Officer, stated that the resolution for creation and elimination of positions is for the improvement of educational programs for students at Magnolia Science Academy (MSA)-Santa Ana. She stated that after consideration and consultation with Home Office and school site leadership, they identified staffing adjustments for implementation to better align with the academic and additional needs for students. She stated that the proposal is to eliminate one (1) of the Athletic Director positions and repurpose the funds to hire a full-time individual to provide instruction around physics and mathematics. This would address the demands for these subjects. In addition, the school currently has one other Athletic Director. Additionally, to hire a full-time Special Education Teacher Aid supporting 1st grade class. Lastly, to introduce a part-time Music Teacher. Board Members questions were addressed by staff.

G. Serce, Chief Academic Officer, reported on the action plan for success created by Magnolia Science Academy (MSA)-3 leadership team in collaboration with the Academic Department and Home Office. Z. Ocel, Principal at MSA-3, provided clarity that the plan was created for this year and beyond to help in the categories identified on the CA Dashboard with the aim to improve student outcomes particularly in math, student attendance/chronic absenteeism, and behavioral support/suspension rate. He provided a detailed report of the action plan to address those areas and memorialize actions and strategies used for those improvements. Board Members thanked the team for the detailed plan. 

G. Serce, Chief Academic Officer, provided context regarding Proposition 28 and informed that the Board last adopted the school site Proposition 28 Arts and Music in Schools (AMS) Plans for all of the ten (10) schools last year. He reported that most of the schools utilized the funds and clarified that the grant can roll over to the next school year so funds can still be utilized for this purpose. He added that each school site provided a report with information such as how many students received services from these funds. Once approved, it will be added to the MPS website. Board Members questions were addressed by staff.

J. Lara, Board Secretary, informed the Board that review and approval of the MPS Conflict of Interest Code and Conflict of Interest Policy is a standard procedure of proactive governance and to be able to move forward with submitting a multi-county agency biennial notice to the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) which this year is due by October 1st. She stated that the FPPC had approved the Conflict of Interest Code back in 2017 and after review from legal and staff no modifications were identified and thus the same code will stand.