My child is in Dr Ngo’s second period HS Calculus class which I understand is being canceled in favor of an Algebra support class, for which there are already existing support and tutoring options at Pali for those students. The students in Dr Ngo’s class face potential disruption in their schedule, including the potential for new teachers that are not familiar with their work and work habits. As a result, their grades and potential for college recommendation letters are diminished by this cancellation, as are the friendships they have developed within their classes this year - friendships that have been difficult to secure given many friend groups were dismantled after students left Pali following the fires. The students in Dr Ngo’s class and their families have been loyal to to Pali, and are being unfairly penalized by this cancellation. I urge you to reconsider and rescind the cancellation. Thank you. 

Alessandra Santini 

Tentative date January 31 for Homecoming Dance. The theme is a surprise, Grease! It will be a welcome back dance.

4 new freshmen on the ASB.

Excited about return to campus and ASB is here to help with the transition in any way they can. 

Negeen - High levels of frustration with the lack of transparency and communication from LAUSD about testing, remediation, planning. They want to know what protocols were followed, what the results were.

Also want information about transportation and parking for when we go back to Palisades.

People want this info sooner rather than later so they can plan and prepare. 

Fati - people want information about transportation when we go back to campus. People don't want to wait until January to get information about bus lines and options. 

Amir- tree planting and landscaping event coming up on campus. December 14. It's a community-wide day of action. We will get details about the exact times and volunteer opportunities. 

Nothing to report 

Nothing to report 

Minh Ha Ngo - faculty received information this morning about the move. They need some time to process. Also still have some negotiations about scheduling of access. 

Maggie Nance - faculty are voicing same concerns as parents about environmental test results and lack of information and transparency. 

Martha - end of year breakfast will be truncated to give faculty and staff time to pack and organize.  Two Pali Positives to recognize this month - Michael Friedman and the Maintenance Team that is working so hard both at Sears and to prepare Pali. 

Mr. Negroe - 

• We had a board visit last Saturday and the team appreciates the board coming out to tour the campus. 
• Campus transition progress since the visit - There was a meeting today with LAUSD where they added Building F to the release list granting access to our team. The complete list is in the report submitted this morning. 
• Building E, M, pool area and gym are the only areas that have not been released yet. These areas have already been sanitized, cleaned and tested. The test of building E did not initially come back favorably so it was decontaminated and tested again. Our janitorial team is conducting regular cleaning now in all the released buildings so that everything is maintained in a clean condition. 
• The temporary village has been turned over.
• Classroom organization has begun. Mr. Negroe has instructed the team to organize the furniture the same as it was before the evacuation. They have a list of the items that had to be disposed such as fabric chairs. His goal is for classrooms to be ready for the teachers and students to hit the ground running. They will start with Building F tomorrow. 
• Landscaping cleanup started this past weekend. 
• Painting crews are working in Building A, then touchups in kitchen, library and some classrooms.
• All the crews are working on campus 6 days a week. 
• Pool project scheduled to be completed by mid-January. Ms. King is overseeing it daily.
• Stadium renovations are proceeding as planned. The material for the turf and track is on campus. They started demolition yesterday. Awaiting testing of the materials being removed so we can determine appropriate disposal. The plans were submitted to DSA and we expect a response in the next 48 hours so we can do full demo. 
• The stadium bathrooms, ticket booth and broadcast booth will not be available when we get back. Focus is on the field and track.
• We will not hold up reopening for the 3 buildings.
• Kitchen and Mercer area - Mercer building is being cleaned with industrial purifiers. We are also working on replacing equipment including curtain, backdrop and chairs that were all fabric that had to be disposed of. We don't anticipate any issue with insurance approving these.
• Kitchen- ongoing water testing so we can't go in to do the minor renovations the county health dept wants including signs, paint, etc. There is also no natural gas in the building yet because awaiting gas company to come clear the new manifolds that were installed. They are expected in the next few days to inspect and approve. 
• Library - Shelving reconstruction has begun. Taking the opportunity to make the north wall look nicer than what we had before the fires. Working with Ms. King on organization and arrangement and moving items from Sears.
• Janitorial company - will be providing uniform dispensers so we can reduce cost and improve consistency and supply.
• Will be cleaning and preparing lockers again. All have been decontaminated and sanitized already. Then will be reassigning them to students. 
• Lots of moving parts for the move back including security. Trying to make it as smooth as possible. 
• Maggie Nance - What is expected for the E building? Once we get results from testing back to OESH then we will know. Tests were sent out today. Usually takes 1-2 weeks.
• Maggie - What is your understanding why only 4 sets of test results have been released since the fire? Last set was from October. We have no evidence that test results are good. Mr. Negroe says Ms. Jennifer Flores of OEHS today said that she wants to release full reports, not partial reports, and this is why she hasn't released them. Each report is 700-900 pages and her team generates summaries. Will we have access to these reports before we go back? Dr. Magee says they are planning on a community meeting December 19 and will share information there. They likely will not share the full reports at that meeting but will have the results.
• Alessandra - How will they provide food to students? Mr. Negroe says the kitchen will be usable by the time we go back. What about PE students? Will they be able to use the field and track? He says yes. Will there be temporary bathrooms in that area? Mr. Negroe says they will likely have temporary bathrooms but have not decided yet. 
• Fati -we are all getting a lot of pressure for more transparency and information. Mr. Negroe says he understands this and has been pushing LAUSD and is frustrated as well. He says we will not return if there is any kind of safety situation. He has shared all the information he has received. 
• Maggie - What about the library books? Mr. Negroe they are in storage pending a decision about disposal or replacement. Books that were in classrooms were disposed of.
• Maggie - When you replace dispensers it would be good to touch up the paint so it doesn't look bad. Mr. Negroe says if we replace something with a new smaller footprint they will paint or put a plate behind it. 
• Maggie - Lockers- better to ask kids if they want lockers instead of just assigning them. He agrees that they saw not every locker was being used. Could use a survey or sign up to opt into a locker. 
• Amir - it was really nice to be able to walk through campus and we appreciate Mr. Negroe and his team.
• Minh Ha - can we get the drawer and cabinet locks fixed that were broken by the decontamination teams? Mr. Negroe has engaged the insurance adjuster to address this. Minh Ha says it should all be standardized, not based on what each teacher wants since classroom assignments may change over time.
• Lisa - what's the best way for our community to support - it's great if groups of volunteers can come to do the setups and provide refreshments but his team will be spread too thin to manage it. 

Report stands as submitted. 

Maggie - status of wifi? Jeff says we are at full level of service that we had pre-fire at Pali. 

The items the board approved are on order. We don't have a delivery date yet but we are optimistic and we have a backup plan. 

Minh Ha asks about the tech that was left behind. Jeff says items are still in their original rooms. We have enough Samsung and Prometheus boards to supply every one. Teachers can swap if they want one or the other brand. 

Maggie - asked about Go-Guardian student device monitoring. Jeff says it's active only when the student is present on campus during school hours. 

Rene Rodman - Providing a high level report on fundraising this year. 

• $400k PCHS Fund goal
• Covers Math Support (45%), Academic Counselor (31%), College Center (2%), Competition Buses (16%), Online Educational Subscriptions (3%). 
• prior years goal was $500k
• This is separate from booster club fundraising. 
• 24-25 total was $353,099 with no family solicitations in the spring after the fire.
• YTD is $173,760
• Reduced enrollment and drop in banner donors ($3k and up) have had the biggest impact. We had 71 at this time last year but only 30 now. Many of our prior year banner families left the school went we went online last spring. 
• We saw a nice boost in participation on Giving Tuesday with families giving smaller donations.
• Will plan on some campaigns this winter for smaller donations as well as driveway days. 
• Will try more alumni outreach. Reunions are a good opportunity.
•  
• Fire Relief Fundraising - 
  • Raise Pali Online Campaign around $188,000 from 1191 donors.
  • Unrestricted Grants - $480,000. Events - $83,000. Some alumni fundraising around $7k
  • Total of $758,000 + Restricted Grants/Donations + In-Kind
  • This money has not been allocated yet. We are still applying for grants and have a FEMA application pending. Don't want asks going to multiple entities for the same thing so want to wait and see where the true need is. We need to develop a process for allocations and budgeting of unrestricted funds to cover things we don't think will be covered otherwise. 
  • Restricted grants have been coming through as well that are more targeted. We have a few hundred thousand, she's not sure the exact amount. 
  • Need to have an organized spreadsheet detailing all the funds, restrictions, reporting requirements, allocations. Need to determine the process for budgeting and allocation of funds.
  • Would like to have another parent sponsored fundraising golf tournament 
  • The money from the FireAid concert is still in our account. $250,000
• Minh Ha - how much have we received from Donorschoose for the teachers? Rene does not know. Mrs. King may know. Minh Ha notes the deadline to use the funds was extended to when we go back to campus. Greater LA Education Foundation is also giving $1500 grants to teachers.   Rene says funds that are not used by the deadline will go to Mrs. King to redistribute where needed. 
• Minh Ha - question about the breakdown of the fund goal. Rene says the 45% for Math Support is the goal, not the actual. Used to be for the paraprofessionals who we no longer have. Min Ha doesn't want us to misrepresent what we are actually offering in terms of math support right now. Maggie says the same about the counselors. Martha says based on enrollment drops we could have gone down 2 counselors but we only went down by 1. 
• Discussion about reduction of support services this year. Dr. Magee says we don't have capacity in this space for all the services we would like to provide. Minh Ha says it's more than a space issue, we also cut the personnel. 
• Jessica asked if some funds can provide transportation from the train to Pali campus. There is an arrangement with the Blue Bus for that. 

This will be John's last meeting with Pali. See Finance report below. 

• Dr. Magee - report stands as submitted. 
• Tyler Farrell - J-13A waiver - REQUEST FOR ALLOWANCE OF ATTENDANCE DUE TO EMERGENCY CONDITIONS Material decrease in attendance -Submitted to the California Department of Education. we filed in May for the closure days related to the fire. We also filed for decrease in attendance in October and November. This allows us to recoup some money for Average Daily Attendance (ADA). There's 3 reporting periods for attendance. This will change the P Annual, which drives lottery funding. This will generate around $40k lottery funding for the school for 24-25 lottery funding. 
• Dr. Magee - shared the list of locations we were able to secure for our athletic teams for this year while we continue to work on our campus. Noted student concerts and performances.
• Marketing and Communications - Scott Davis is a parent working with us in a PR capacity. He's working to keep Pali's profile high and positive. 
• Minh Ha - question about financial literacy course. Will we be cutting economics? No, but financial literacy will fulfill the econ requirement. She has to confirm if the reverse is true as well. This course will be a graduation requirement in state of CA so we want to start offering it sooner. Dr. Magee says this is what came out of the department conversations but will have to go through the Academic Accountability Committee. This will impact staffing. This new course is going to be in the Social Sciences Department. 

Nothing to report

Sara Margiotta - report stands as submitted.

They reviewed the financial information that will be presented tonight. One omission from their minutes was that they ask for admin to find out if we actually need to demo the improvements as Sears. It would save significant amount of money if we can avoid it. 

They met yesterday and approved one Professional Activity Day between January 6-9 for teachers and staff to come set up their rooms. They want the admin to come back to them at their regular meeting in January to advise where the funds will come from for that. 

Jane Davis - isn't the demo provided in the lease? Yes it is but it's worth asking the landlord again to see if anything has changed. 

Dr. Magee - they spoke today with a landlord rep and the attorney who negotiated the lease. They said they are open to discussing a short term extension if we need it. We also added HVAC, lighting and other amenities that were previously lacking here so they are planning a walk through for them to assess the improvements and get a better idea of what the landlord will require.

Minh Ha - question about December 1 committee minutes- item 4 Employee Retention Credit - $1.7mm per employee? No, we filed for 3 quarters, it's not for 3 employees. Sara will clarify it. It was a federal credit for businesses that retained employees during covid. 1 quarter was approved. The other is under review. 

nothing to report

nothing to report

no updates

See discussion of operations report above.

Will need to take a vote. Requires 45 day notice to landlord. December 17 deadline. 

We will know more in the next few days about demo and timing and flexibility.

John Azzizzi

This is our 2nd full set of financials since they took over our finances. Still a work in progress, things that need to be adjusted including Employee Retention Credit.

They are trying to compare current financials to what they reviewed in prior month so that they are referring to interim and tracking month to month instead of just referring back to budget.

Report stands as submitted. John walked through reporting of revenues, expenses, fund balances, enrollment and attendance. Budget and Finance Committee has already reviewed and approved. 

Marie is taking over John's role with us. She is a senior director and they are working on the transition but she has a lot of expertise and John doesn't anticipate an issue to get her up to speed. John is leaving to take a controller position at a private university. 

Dr. Magee - This is part of our annual compliance audit. The checklist has to be reviewed by the executive and the board.

February 26 compliance visit. We may ask them to extend that. All materials due about a month prior. We are in good shape based on the checklist and categories. 

They are looking at school structure, governance, compliance with Brown Act, board diligence, data tracking, compliance with applicable laws. 

Completed checklist is submitted into the record. 

Maggie has prepared binders for board members including our board governance documents so we have easy access to these materials. We each bring the perspectives of our shareholder groups but board members are here to serve the school's best interests. 

Overview of school management, board roles and responsibilities. Consideration of changes we should make in committees, roles, etc. 

Some of our governing documents are based on old charter requirements some of which have changed, so we can look into changing the documents now. 

Our next charter review is 2028.

Our position is tricky because we are an independent charter and our feeders are district schools with very limited freedom even as affiliated charters. Many of our families don't understand our independence and it gets confusing because LAUSD Is our landlord and our charter authorizer. 

Regular board committees are subject to Brown Act. So Risk Management and Grade Appeal committees would have to be open to public and then go into closed session. These committees don't function like regular committees with regular meetings so they should be ad hoc instead. 

Minh Ha - Question re DECA conference funding. No cost to the school. 

Next regular meeting scheduled for Tuesday January 13. 

We need to schedule a special meeting before December 17. Potentially Tuesday December 16.

California Charter School conference is in Long Beach February 23-26. Dr. Magee encourages board members to attend. We have PD funds that include conferences this year.