S. Feleke filled out a public comment card to speak on an unagendized item.

S. Feleke spoke to the board about the partnership that he seeks to start with his country of Ethiopia, his organization (Andinet Yichalal Organization), and Oakland Military Institute. He would like OMI to sponsor and collaborate with his organization to make a school similar to OMI in the country of Ethiopia.

Cadet Commander C/LTC Vicki Cao addressed the Board on a variety of topics but started with an introduction of who she is. She has attended OMI since she started in 6th grade and rose through the ranks to be the highest in command. She also mentioned that she wanted to work in the medical field when she graduates from college.
 

One of the highlights of the school year is that four of OMI’s cadets were chosen to go to New Delhi, India by the California Cadet Corps with all expenses paid. These cadets were able to experience different cultures as well as making friendships with other cadets abroad. She recognized many fellow cadets for their academic achievements and has given out Academic Tags. These tags are given out after every semester/grading period and helps cadets find the motivation to keep getting good grades.  Middle formation has been separated from the high school formation so that each school can create its own identity. Over 300 cadet rank promotions have happened based on cadets completing their prerequisites.

V. Cao mentioned that the morale of the cadets has gotten better because of the increased staff and parent involvement at games and other events that cadets compete or participate in. 

V. Cao explained that she was going to give an achievement and improvement discourse. She mentioned that the cadets thought it was great that they are able to have Dual Enrollment classes but would like OMI to offer Advanced Placement classes. She also stated that cadets would like to have more electives. She noticed that there was a lot of staff/leadership turnover and cadets have to learn to trust the new staff that they see, but it gets difficult to grow a relationship when the staff leaves and cadets have to start over again.

For college and career, V. Cao mentioned that college trips and helping with college applications have helped her in choosing the school she wants to attend and get an understanding of what colleges want and offer.

Dr. Streshly started by introducing some of the newest members of the OMI team. The former tech manager for OMI, Mark Basnage, rejoined the school to help with the end of the year push. The end of the school year is a very important time for technology to work properly because of the CAASPP and other state/country wide tests. She also introduced Carmen Choi, the person who will be replacing V. Salazar (retiring) as the Chief Financial Officer at Oakland Military Institute. C. Choi will be shadowing V. Salazar in order to have a seamless transition in the CFO position. One of the consultants that OMI used from schoolAbility is leaving her position at the company so OMI will be using two consultants from K12 Accounting to aid C.Choi. April 3rd will be the start date for R. Runyan, B. Runyan, and C. Choi.

Dr. Streshly mentioned that there are big goals that the school needs to achieve to move in the right direction and remain a premiere educational choice in Oakland.

The first major goal was to pass the WASC accreditation. This accreditation is important to achieve because colleges and universities will count the grades in the cadets’ transcripts as valid and acceptable. OMI achieved a full 6-year accreditation.

The second goal that was needed to be accomplished was passing the Williams Act Audit. Dr. Streshly mentioned that the Williams Act is an equity check and representatives come to inspect facilities and curriculum to see that all students have access, and teacher credentialing. OMI passed the Williams Act audit.

The next goal was the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence (CCEE) progress review. Dr. Streshly sent two progress reports so far to CCEE and has to continue sending reports for CCEE to monitor progression. The CCEE was pleased about the last two reports given to them from Dr. Streshly.

Dr. Streshly said that the biggest goal that OMI must achieve is the OUSD 5 year charter renewal. She gave the board a series of statistics of where the school is currently at in renewal criteria 2022, and where it needs to be in 2023, 2024, and 2025.

The Math and ELA CAASPP meet or exceed rates will need to have a higher percent of change because the scores are below standard. Dr. Streshly mentioned that she was and will be working with S. Lipsey to figure out incentives to entice the cadets to want to do their absolute best on the tests.

Dr. Streshly explained that she and Chief James have a cadet leadership luncheon where the cadets give their opinions and express concerns directly to the senior administration that leads to incremental change.

In a graphic that displayed a head to head between OMI and OUSD, OMI is already exceeding the rate requirements for graduation, A-G, and chronic absenteeism.

The fully credentialed staff statistic was low due to the shortage of teachers and not being able to find fully credentialed teachers during the pandemic and some have not finished their credentialing program, but current staff qualifications exceed 90% fully credentialed.

For the month of March, additional funding came in so there was an increase from February to March. 

Based on the budgetary projections done, there would be an increase in May and June, then dipping in August because OMI would need to spend for the upcoming school year.

In the actual disbursements, the disbursements increase in June to prepare for the upcoming year and in July, disbursements drop because there are not many salaries to pay.

T. James gave the Board a rundown of the important dates for the lottery. March 9 was when the lottery started and March 23rd, the lottery ended. That meant that the prospective families would need to accept or decline the lottery offers given to them by OMI. 

T. James mentioned that there has been plenty of communication to the prospective families but he would like to communicate more with more sections of the Asian, Latino, and Habesha communities.

The big forthcoming event that is critical to the integration of the newest cadets and their families is the Introduction day of April 15, 2023. This day will allow for OMI to introduce the new cadets/families to RenStar testing, summer camp, and access to staff.

There were a total of 274 total applicants as of the March 16th board meeting.

OMI had two recruiting competitions for the cadets. The cadets are a great help in the recruiting process so the competitions had good prizes to incentivize participation. 

J. Breckenridge gave kudos to the staff for the cadets feeling like someone at OMI cared about them.

J. Breckenridge also mentioned that 90% of the staff showed that they collaborate and that is very important for growth.

The middle school cadets, based on the survey results, did not feel as much a part of the school as the high schoolers did so OMI started to implement more activities and tried to focus more on the middle school.

T. James explained that the results would be more comprehensive when he rolls the survey out during an October time frame.

J. Breckenridge explained that there are benefits for teachers and military spouses from compacts. Any one who has a credential and meets the agreed upon requirements in the compact, they must accept that. This allows for fingerprints and to be put in the national database, not just in California. This would potentially help with employment once it passes. 

M. Mares mentioned that the response rate to the suicide portion of the Healthy Kids Survey was a cause of concern. This could be correlated to the social media influenced activity.

J. Breckenridge mentioned that she and M. Mares have volunteered to help OMI Administration with altering the climate of the school to gear towards a more positive direction.