Board, staff and guests conducted the pledge of allegiance.

Refer to attendance information recorded above.

No public comments were made at this time.

A. Rubalcava, CEO & Superintendent, announced that there would be a Spring Symposium in which all staff inclusive of school leaders and administrators, teachers and Home Office staff. G. Serce, Chief Academic Officer, added that it would take place at the campus of Magnolia Science Academy (MSA)- Santa Ana. He added that the Symposium would allow all of Magnolia to learn and develop strategic planning initiatives. It would also entail professional development opportunities and team building activities. He also added that alumni were invited to speak and connect with staff.

M. Wittek, Director of Student Services, announced that all Magnolia school sites participated in a Mental Health Week initiative brought by N. Bayraktar, Student Board Member. She added that he constructed a template and timeline which in collaboration was presented to the Principals and the Deans of Students for them to execute in combination with the Great Kindness Challenge Week. N. Bayraktar spoke upon how the initiative was at MSA-Santa Ana in which students engaged in various activities focusing on mental health and well being.

S. Covarrubias, Vice-Chair, announced that the Board will be going into closed session to discuss conference with real property negotiations.

Item was discussed in Closed Session.

S. Covarrubias announced in Open Session at 7:34pm that the Board discussed with staff regarding real property negotiations the Board gave staff direction and no action was taken.

A. Rubalcava, CEO & Superintendent, & Jennifer Lara, Board Secretary, reported on the official policy for public comments for Board Meetings. It was reported that the policy memorializes what was previously established such as the timing for each person wishing to make a public comment, submissions, and total time for public comments in these meetings. This was in collaboration with legal counsel. The policy and the request form would be updated and posted on the MPS and all school sites websites.

P. Ontiveros, General Counsel & Director of Facilities, reported on the requested action for staff to negotiate and sign the purchase and sale agreement for the Anaheim property. Inclusive of making a good faith deposit to open escrow. He provided background that the Orange County Department of Education (OCDE) approved MPS to open four (4) schools in Orange County. He added there is a material revision in front of OCDE to revise the petition to allow for a school to be open and operated in the city of Anaheim. He added that staff will go through a due diligence inclusive of evaluations, studies and all other matters of operation. A. Rubalcava, CEO & Superintendent, expressed excitement in exploring the possibility of opening the site. He added that M. Rowell, Founding Principal of Magnolia Science Academy (MSA)- Orange County has been working on outreach to families who have expressed interest in the academic model and services that would be provided. Board Members questions were addressed by staff. S. Budhraja, Chief Financial Officer, provided information on the financing of the project. M. Rowell, thanked everyone to move forward with the location.

It was reported that due to unforeseen circumstances the Educational Partners & Development Committee Meeting that was scheduled before the Regular Board Meeting was cancelled, so the item would not have a recommendation for approval from the committee, it will go to the full Board for discussion and approval.

B. Olivares, Chief Impact Officer, announced that the resolution was updated from the 2017 resolution that was brought to the Board. She reported the updated resolution are from changes made by the new administration's executive order. As such she stated this resolution would continue to support and affirm that MPS is committed to a safe, educational environment for all students and families. She added that MPS has protocols and procedures in place that protect student privacy and information as outlined in the resolution under the existing California Education Code. Board Members expressed gratitude for this work. M. Wittek, Director of Student Services, added that they are ensuring that staff are trained to ensure safety protocols at the school sites and additionally are making sure to encourage students to practice using their voice in a safe matter and having a safe space. She added that Home Office met with school site leaders to develop communication and a plan of safe activities schools can participate in. B. Olivares, added that as Community Schools, the Community Schools Coordinators have been engaging with community partners to sponsor/co-sponsor workshops to "knowing your rights" for educational partners to engage in.

M. Wittek, Director of Student Services, reported that the School Safety Plans (SSP) are worked on a year in advance with school site leaders for the upcoming school year. She reported in addition to the approval of the SSP, she would also be asking the Board to allow her to update the SSP once the new Title IX policy is adopted by the Board in March without bringing the item once again. She added to the importance of these plans which are in line with the Education Code for all public schools to establish and maintain a SSP and for all LAUSD co-located schools to have an Integrated Safe School Plan (ISSP) that they work on with school site leadership and co-located leadership tams to develop and function and one unit in case there was an emergency. She went over the major updates which included removing the word "comprehensive" and just stating "School Safety Plans"; separation of the Title IX policy and the Harassment, Discrimination, Intimidation, Bullying policy in the plan as two separate entities; a new section called "Lock Down Drill Guidelines" in line with AB 1858; a new section called "Opioid Overdose Response Protocol"; and a new section called "Procedures for Assessing and Responding to Reports of Dangerous, Violent or Unlawful Activity". She added that these were developed with the advisement of legal counsel and feedback from the Parent Advisory Councils. J. Theis, Assistant Principal at Magnolia Science Academy (MSA)-6 reported on his school's development process of the SSP and provided a high level summary. Board Members questions were addressed by staff.

S. Budhraja, Chief Financial Officer, clarified that the title does not necessarily mean that MPS would be withdrawing from CharterSafe. He reported that the Finance Department is evaluating all costs for next year and would be looking at all costs in an effort to maximize dollars to the classrooms to support students. The resolution would allow MPS to look at other options for insurance and evaluate costs and potential savings. Before moving forward if there would be a new provider they will evaluate the services and engage staff. Board Members questions were addressed by staff.

P. Ontiveros, General Counsel & Director of Facilities, reported that Pacific Charter School Development (PCSD) is a non-profit entity founded to develop facilities for charter schools. He added that with Board approval they would be project manager for the entire duration of the project at 18120 Sherman Way, which their fee would stay the same. He reported on some of the tasks PCSD will have such as developing the budget, developing the schedule, help select a design team for the property in which they assisted in creating the request for proposal (RFP), and evaluating investment in the project for the project's financing. PCSD representatives introduced themselves. Board Members questions were addressed by staff and PCSD.

K. Jimenez, Assistant Project Manager, reported that staff have been going through the CUP process and selected architect, Berliner, in which they recently finished the schematic design phase and are going onto the design development phase for the 16600 Vanowen project.  P. Ontiveros, General Counsel & Director of Facilities, reported that the RFP was issued and from that received four (4) responses and interviewed them all. He added that Del Amo Construction was the best fit for the project and they have worked with charter school facilities. A representative from Del Amo Construction introduced themselves. Board Members questions were addressed by staff.

P. Ontiveros, General Counsel & Director of Facilities, reported that staff is requesting authorization to look at a design build delivery and contracting method for the Magnolia Science Academy (MSA)-5 project. He added if the method is appropriate they would issue an RFP/RFQ and meet the requirements of the Education Code section that dictates how a design build project is supposed to go forward. He added that there are no commitments at this stage, just an authorization to look at this delivery method and issue an RFP/RFQ, and after evaluation bring it back to the Board to ensure the best interests for this project. Board Members questions were addressed by staff. 

O. Polat, Director of State & Federal Programs, provided an overview of the Local Control and Accountability Plans (LCAP) process and the mid-year report to show status on where the schools are in achieving the goals set forth when the LCAP's were approved. He added that the statutory deadline is February 28th. In addition, he reported that the reports have six (6) components with four (4) goals and each goal have five (5) actions. In addition the report has budget overview information for parents. M. Avsar, Principal at Magnolia Science Academy (MSA)-7 reported on his school site's LCAP mid-year update. D. Yilmaz, Chief Accountability Officer, added that they provide LCAP progress reports to the schools four times a year. Board Members questions were addressed by staff.

K. Jimenez, Assistant Project Manager, provided updates for the various ongoing facilities projects for Magnolia Science Academy (MSA)-1, 2, 7, Santa Ana and San Diego. She verbally corrected the typo on the report on the Bank of America Building at 18120 Sherman Way is for MSA-7. P. Ontiveros, General Counsel & Director of Facilities, reported on the 7111 Winnetka Ave project for MSA-5. Board Members questions were addressed by staff.

P. Ontiveros, General Counsel & Director of Facilities, provided an update that the Magnolia Properties Management (MPM) Board held a meeting and approved the cross collateralization related to the Magnolia Science Academy (MSA)-7 project at 18120 Sherman Way. He added that MPM is the parent entity of the LLC that owns the property and Magnolia Educational & Research Foundation (MERF) owns 18120 Sherman Way. He added that since it is two different entities it was why both entities had to approve it. A. Rubalcava, CEO & Superintendent, thanked M. Muhammedov and S. Covarrubias who also sit on the MPM Board.