Pullman Community Montessori
Minutes
PCM Board Meeting
Date and Time
Tuesday January 24, 2023 at 5:15 PM
Location
PCM Board of Trustees meetings are held in the Gladish Community and Cultural Center room 102. To increase accessibility we offer a virtual option for attendance. The Zoom link can be found below.
All board meetings are open to the public. Meetings begin at 5:15 PM PST the fourth (4th) Tuesday of each month. Public comment is a standing agenda item at each monthly meeting. Items will be addressed by the board according to the Meeting Agenda posted 48 hours prior to each meeting.
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If you would like to make public comment you will be called on in the order you arrived. We generally allow 5 minutes for presentation of personal comments/questions/concerns/grievances. You may view our PCM Grievance and Conflict Resolution Policy and Procedures here. Public comment should be shared with the board in writing in advance of the board meeting for us to better address you consideration. Please email to board@mypcm.org or submit in paper form to the PCM office in Gladish Community and Cultural Center STE 212. You should receive confirmation of receipt of your written statement within 48 hours of submission. If you do not receive confirmation, please email DesireeP@myPCM.org
PCM's Vision: to serve as an instrument of change, helping to progress our education system to better meet the needs of students, families, and educators. We nurture students to be self-empowered lifelong learners, global citizens, environmental stewards, and compassionate and collaborative leaders, bringing positive changes to their communities and the world!
Trustees Present
A. Guyton (remote), A. Rahmani, B. Wolff, J. Cassleman, K. Torres (remote)
Trustees Absent
K. Torres
Ex Officio Members Present
L. Sullivan
Non Voting Members Present
L. Sullivan
Guests Present
Brit S, D. Porter, DJ White (remote), Nathaniel Porter (remote), elise Albano (remote)
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
C.
Approve Meeting Minutes from 12-27-22 Board Meeting
D.
Approve Meeting Minutes from 1-10-23 Working Meeting
E.
Community Building
Community Building discussion will be pushed off until next meeting - as we are already behind due to tech difficulties.
F.
DEI and Anti-racism Commitment
II. Public Comment
A.
Making Public Comments
There was no public comment.
III. Board Goals, Committee & Council Updates
A.
SCC (Support and Coordination Council) - Intro & Report
Elise Albano - Co-Chair of the SCC - Introduction
Dorrie Main - Co-Chair of SCC - Not present
SCC meeting notes are a standing link in the meeting invites. Elise provided a brief update of what SCC has discussed so far.
B.
Individual Board Member Report
John C - Feb 9th he will speak with a leadership group about PCM to get them more out in the community
Bev W. - LSEC meeting was successful and her goals are to focus on keeping it successful
Ayad - Reached out and has two board member prospects and has been researching grant opportunities
** The Zoom crashed and ended the board meeting at random @ 18:10 **
Nathan was able to rejoin / Elise & Brit had difficulties with the link.
Kim T - Is working on 3 grant opportunities and they are ending in Feb. WA Charters has a $5000 DEI grant still available (PCM has applied).
C.
LSEC (Leadership Evaluation & Support Committee)
Bev W - LSEC
Focused on three areas
- School leadership to focus on
- Enrollment & Backup plan
- Academic Excellence & How we can better communicate student growth and successes
- Staff Retention - How we can keep staff
D.
DC (Development Committee)
E.
GC (Governance Committee)
F.
FC (Finance Committee)
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| K. Torres |
Absent
|
| K. Torres |
Aye
|
| B. Wolff |
Abstain
|
| J. Cassleman |
Aye
|
| A. Guyton |
Aye
|
| A. Rahmani |
Aye
|
IV. LEADER Team Update & Compliance Check-in
A.
November & December Update
John C. - Question about the budgeted student number (100 or 115) in reference to the Board Dashboard Spreadsheet
- Laylah will check with Matt. Pretty sure it was budgeted for 100 students.
John C. - Question - When does the true-up happen?
- Laylah - in January (can confirm with Matt)
Laylah S - We do have a higher SPED population and currently the financing cap 13.5% - we will overspend in this category as we did last year. There are efforts legislatively to increase or remove this cap.
Aubree G - Question - Asked for clarification on the Application Data Tracker
Bev W. - Question - What do the charter schools (Palouse Prairie & Moscow Charter) look like in their infancy?
- Laylah - We were not able to get that information - What we have is their enrollment from COVID year last year (2021-22).
Kim T - Question - What happens if we don't meet our goals in Feb & March with applications?
- Laylah S. - We are on track for Feb. If tracking somewhat in March, start worrying in April (usually a number of applications come in then). Look at marketing/enrollment plan revise, increased fundraising (grant writing, not just grass roots). Would also want to talk with WA Charters - it depends on the shortfall with enrollment.
Bev W. Do we have enough current students to fill the Two older elementary classrooms?
- Laylah S. - Yes - referred to PCM Board Dashboard enrollment numbers
Ayad R - Do we have any data on schools like us that show that it is possible to acquire that many applications?
- Laylah S. - Yes, in a way. There are other schools our size (or that started our size). We can make inferences from last 2 years enrollment and look at the enrollment of Moscow charter schools.
B.
Academic Performance Update
V. Action Items
A.
Equity Plan
John C. - What feedback have we received from families and staff on this plan?
- Laylah - We haven't received any feedback yet
Aubree G - There are spelling errors in the document - can this be fixed?
- Laylah S. - yes. thank you.
B.
Conditional Certification - UD
C.
Updates to Adopted Policies & Adoption of New Policy
VI. New Business
A.
PCM's Enrollment and its Impact on Long Term Financial Sustainability
B.
Executive Session Item
Moved to break out Session for Executive Session - @ 07:40 PM
The board moved into executive session to discuss a specific staff member which is one of the approved reasons for using executive session.
No action was taken.
Desiree & Laylah left the meeting.
Question posed:
Who holds power at PCM and how does that relate to our personal perception of race?
Thoughts:
John C - power held with the board & HOS primarily as the folks with the most decision making power - our teachers hold a lot of power as well and are the closest to the students. The student population is predominately % white, be aware of ensuring all voices are heard (not just majority).
Kim T - We need to ensure that all voices are heard, not just base it off the student race majority.
Bev W - Most of the power held with the board and the school. We need to be aware of not leaving out our other cultures. We should have other avenues to hear other peoples' voices besides board meetings
Aubree G - It is our duty as board members who hold that power to ensure all have a voice.