Equitas Academy Charter School

Minutes

Board Meeting

Date and Time

Thursday March 28, 2019 at 6:00 PM

Location

2723 W. 8th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90005
PUBLIC COMMENT AT EQUITAS ACADEMY BOARD MEETINGS – An opportunity for the public to address the Board will be provided at the conclusion of the agenda. Members of the public who wish to speak on any item are requested to identify themselves and indicate on which agenda item they wish to speak. The Board will provide an opportunity for the public to speak for a maximum of three (3) minutes, unless granted additional time at the discretion of the Board. Testimony shall be limited in content to matters pertaining to Equitas Academy. The Board may not take any action on matters discussed during the public testimony period that are not listed on the agenda. Brown Act Compliance: Agenda posted at School

Directors Present

A. Sowrirajan, A. Valentine, C. Sanii, D. Krishna, J. Cruz, O. Bajracharya, T. Bell

Directors Absent

A. Perez, J. Troletti

Guests Present

L. Chang, M. Borrego, M. Ford, N. Orlando, S. Estilai

I. Opening Items

A.

Record Attendance and Guests

Alyssa arrived at 6:05 pm.
Tyler arrived at 6:15 pm.

B.

Call the Meeting to Order

C. Sanii called a meeting of the board of directors of Equitas Academy Charter School to order on Thursday Mar 28, 2019 at 6:03 PM.

C.

Approve Minutes

O. Bajracharya made a motion to approve minutes from the Board Meeting on 02-28-19 Board Meeting on 02-28-19.
A. Sowrirajan seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.

II. Public Comment

A.

Public Comment

No public comments.

III. Consent Agenda

A.

Approval of RFP for Nutrition Services

O. Bajracharya made a motion to Approve consent agenda.
A. Sowrirajan seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.

B.

Fiscal Update

O. Bajracharya made a motion to Approve consent.
A. Sowrirajan seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.

IV. Organizational Updates

A.

CEO Update

CEO presented updates for the organization.

Comments:
  • Alyssa said the presentation was powerful
  • Oliver said the data is going up in 2018
  • Josephti said she liked the presentation
  • Aarthi asked how can we anticipate and prevent future dips shown in the data, especially on the school level?
  • Claudia wants to continue to see how we are transforming the community and how we are impacting the future with the work we are doing now?
Follow Up:
  • What is the % of staff that are from the Pico Union community? If we want to increase the % of this, how are we doing this and preparing for the future?
  • Data to show how the facilities we build bring back to the community?

V. Academic Accountability

A.

Presentation: Bringing Academics to Life

Leslie presented on academic excellence.

Teachers presented:
  • Darby Sims - 2nd grade teacher at EQ3
  • Allison Johnson - 8th grade math teacher at EQ2
Questions:
  • Oliver -
    • What is different from Equitas and other schools? Allison - there is follow through
    • What is the difference between last year and this year? Allison - summer PD and weekly data meetings

VI. Audit Committee

A.

Approve Audit Contract

Oliver: The audit committee decided to maintain the same audit firm for the next 3 years.
  • 4 bids were solicited during this process.
A. Valentine made a motion to Approve audit firm.
J. Cruz seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.

VII. Finance

A.

Board Review of February 2019 Financials

Samira presented financial updates.
O. Bajracharya made a motion to Approve financials.
A. Valentine seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.

VIII. Resource Development

A.

Dev Com Dashboard and Event Update

Claudia presented on development updates.
  • June 6th fundraising event
  • Please fill out the google sheet to invite guests
  • Dinner will be provided
  • There will be a presentation
  • Band by scholars
  • Fundraising money goes into to the general funds
Name: Elevating Equitas
Time: 5:30 to 9:00 pm
Donation: Should we charge for entrance tickets or just ask for a donation? We can ask a consultant for
Goal: Fundraising and advocacy, $30,000 and expecting 100 people

 

IX. Governance

A.

CEO Succession Planning and Sabbatical

Create CEO Succession Plan - the purpose is to prepare a plan of who would run the organization:
  • Timeline -
    • Next month there will be a proposal to review in May

B.

Governance Dashboard

Oliver presented Governance Dashboard
  • Tracks attendance and fundraising goals
  • Goal: 80% attendance
Board Recruitment - welcome Deepa

C.

Ad Hoc Advocacy Committee

Tyler presented updates:
  • There is a dinner this Monday
  • Tyler is interested in looking for 1 or 2 board members to join the advocacy committee

X. Leader Support And Eval

A.

CEO Eval and Support Update

Claudia presented updates:
  • Survey for feedback for Malka should be completed by next week
  • Next month they will present a summary and a plan
  • In May they will approve Malka's compensation

XI. 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 7:44 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
C. Sanii