No public comment

Board members went into closed session

• No action in the closed session

John Lemmo presented on the Brown Act Training, an annual LAUSD requirement.

Cecilia presented 21-22 LAUSD oversight reports. 

Slav presented FY22 unaudited financial statements. 

• Hold harmless passed, but will be for FY23

Jessica Edelman presented on credential options that allows more flexibility

Add new CEO, Sofia Roditti, to bank accounts and remove Malka Borrego

Current account under Malka and we will create a new business account

Catie presented on committee goals:

• Intention is: 
  • To have a written commitment for how board members will be supporting at Equitas by October board meeting 
    • Wanda will reach out to board members individually 
  • To have 50% of that commitment given by December
• Wanda will give a presentation in October that will help board members to have a deep understanding and a plan
• This will be supportive to Sofia as new CEO
• Goal for the board to fundraise is $26,000

Alyssa presented on committee goals:

• Overall goals will stay the same from last year to this school year, but got more specific on ways to improve. Added the following enhancements: 
  • Added interim data they can review 
  • Added ways to connect with Robert and Sofia
  • Diving deep with Jessica on teacher/staff retention 
• Action item: For next board meeting, we should include the cheat sheet in the board package 

Prahbu presented on committee goals. A lot of goals have stayed the same and they enhanced the following:

• Increasing proficiency for financial strategy 
• Codifying the role of finance committee
• Engage in professional learning 

Lindsey presented on committee goals. Good governance is everyone's responsibility 

• Goal is to have 2 new board members and 2 new board committee members by Dec 2022
  • Will reach out to board members to see if they have any recommendation and working with consultant
• Succession plan for board chair  
• Decentralize information for board onboarding process to share that information out to the larger group
• Learning plan for current board members 
• Advocacy around community, alumni, and parent engagement
• Action item for the board members - reach out to networks and be welcoming to the new board members

Sofia thanked the team for her onboarding and all work during the summer and board members for being on time, reading the materials, and asking thoughtful questions

Sofia presented the draft initiatives on the organizational dashboard:

• These are draft intentionally and will be finalized in the October board meeting to be able to get feedback from the board

Questions:

• MAP - Robert and Sofia will look into proficiency levels and growth and then will bring that to the October dashboard
• Manage budgeted net income and cash (instead of what is currently listed) - Prabhu will take to the finance committee 
• Targets for EQ7 and EQ8 - Sofia and Maggie will review and prepare for the October meeting 

Robert presented on student environment for strong start 

• This summer there was multiple PDs for leaders week, new educators
• For leaders week the goal was to increase alignment between network and school leaders

Questions:

• What was feedback on areas of growth?
  • Curriculum implementation delivery - The SDs and Robert are working on addressing the facilitation of curriculum PD 
• Is the buy in still there for curriculum?
  • Yes, staff are still bought in. They are excited about content, but the training was tough to stay engaged
• Is there a plan for in person PD training for curriculum?
  • Robert is working on this

Seidy presented on enrollment updates

• Factor for EQ5/EQ6 enrollment trends:
  • Seidy pulled additional data 
    • Received over 1200 unique applications, 81% were brought by staff
  • Growth opportunities - 
    • External factors - demographics are shifting, economic factors, public school enrollment 
    • Internal factors - 
      • Staff Capacity - with COVID there were constraints 
      • Outreach Coordinator - currently hiring to continue building our team
      • EQ5/EQ6 - facilities constraints over the years that impacted 
• Budget Impact for EQ5/EQ6 - we will continue to meet our net income target 
  • Conservative budgeting 
  • Costs containment 

Ask the board to think about possible solutions to respond to the enrollment trends:

• How do we support the efforts from a strategic level for enrollment? 
• How do we think about EQ7 and EQ8 when EQ5 and EQ6 is under enrolled?
  • EQ7 is a different model and the intention is to use EQ5/EQ6 until they have their permanent home 
• Do we have a sense for what impact will have on schools EQ5 and EQ6?
  • If you look at enrollment trajectory once we have a permanent home has a direct positive impact on enrollment
• What is the timeline in the past for schools to be converted to permanent home?
  • 3-4 years to have enough capital and equity 

Cecilia presented on facilities 

• Board members would like to schedule a school tour to visit all schools
• The new facility will have a space for the board meetings
• Robert and Cecilia will coordinate a school tour for the board members

Jessica presented talent:

• How are we addressing teacher vacancies?
  • 7 vacancies currently 
    • Subs
    • Continuing to interview - 18 people in the teacher pipeline 
• Specific factor that are impacting staff at EQ2?
  • Leadership changes in the past - current principal is committed to EQ2

Questions

• Share postings, so board members can post open positions

There was dedicated time at the beginning of the school year to strengthen the partnership between schools and network 

Ways to upgrade practices:

• Materials ahead of time are helpful 
• Committee goals and plans were strong were really strong 
• Strategizing on things instead of reacting to things
• Discussions have been helpful
• Kate has helped with effective communication
• Having staff is helpful 

Questions:

• Are we doing enough as a board? 
  • It is a balance, finding on ways to support without managing 
  • It would be helpful for the staff to have questions for the board 
    • This could help drive the conversation when the board is all together
  • Ask staff to push board on ways they can support to address issues? While maintaining governance vs management. 
    • CEO would be responsible for bringing challenges to the committees and board meetings 
• Do we know how much time that is prepared is part of the staff's day to day vs preparing just for the board?
  • We have to track talent, enrollment, and academic data 
  • The information that is presented is part of the regular business of ensuring we are providing quality program for our scholars 

Additional Comments:

• Scope and Sequence is strong and comprehensive - want to be proactive
  • Suggest that scope and sequence and cheat sheet is part of every agenda
  • This has learning opportunities 
  • Add action item when forms need to be signed