Public Comments will be held until 5:38 (20 minute public comment period)
Mary Cappelli expressed concern about the dismissal of the black and brown employees and would like an explanation as to why this is.
Crystal Adams asked about the number of responses and the demographics of the students who responded (demographics were not collected)
Brenda Clarke asked about revisions to the budget as the budget decisions come down.
Jewlz Fahn heard that the school would be getting rid of the athletic away busses; he is against getting rid of the busses
Shirin Ramzi would like for funds to be set aside for eLearning professional development
Nancy Fracchiolla asked why the arts were not represented in the survey; a place for comments was  included in the survey; there is a place where arts questions can be added
Marcella Babala - brought up athletic busses for away games being cut
Kevin Olson - concerned about the budget cuts, especially cuts to staff, who are at the lower end of the pay scale; in previous administrations, cuts were made across the board to faculty and staff; black and brown employees matter.

 

One ASB update:
Recognizing there is a possibility that school will be online, they would like a student activity period so that clubs can meet or other activities can take place.
A student survey was conducted; The survey was shared via screen share.
Two different surveys: one for 9th graders, which has questions about pods, and the other for 10th through 12th, which does not have those questions.
Students from all grades in eLearning felt supported by an adult in the transition to eLearning.
Surveys indicated some loss of focus during eLearning.
Overall there were inconsistencies between departments as well as within departments; differing workloads seemed to be an issue
Lack of consistency with regard to World Languages; not the same about of eLearning dedicated by the teachers
Big Blue Button has had some technical difficulties; with Zoom take steps to minimize hacking
Spreading rumors/lies aka cyberbullying seems to have gone down with eLearning.
9th graders 149 responses
471 responses for 10th through 12th graders
About 20% response level
9th-grade responses for pre-eLearning; the majority of students have a positive experience; there are concerns about the value of pods
Pali experience was positive:  smooth transition and feel welcome
Many students are not aware of how to file a teacher complaint
Majority of 9th graders did not feel that kids at the school were kind to each other
Andrew Paris joined the meeting at 5:22
Almost 30% of students are not taking math or taking it online
Majority of 10th to 12th graders do feel that students are kind to each other
10th to 12th graders also do not know how to file a teacher complaint
Pam Magee commented that ASB did an awesome Zoom presentation for the administrators and they will work with the students next year to implement some suggested changes.
The Board received the highlights of the survey but the entire survey can be shared with the board.

The report stands as submitted.
Charter School Division financial administrator interviewed Greg. Anticipating a more formalized report with the LAUSD scores.

Can cover the updates with the budget discussion.

Greg Wood commented that this is a placeholder if the budget is approved as is then this would be adopted. If the Board doesn't approve the budget in its entirety then this would have to be approved separately due to time deadlines. Same staffing as currently in place. 
Mary Bush pointed out that this is a much needed service given the emotional-social issues that have to be dealt with including COVID.

Need the EDP to have the authority to sign off on this proposal.

Sara Margiotta presented (screen share)
Thanks to all who assisted with budget meetings; many hours spent on Zoom calls
Financially more expensive to operate the school with students on campus (as opposed to eLearning). The more financially responsible approach is to plan for students on campus.
A hybrid model would likely be financially more expensive than full-time students on campus or eLearning.
Aware that there will have to be budget revisions after receiving the budget revisions in July.
The committee is fully aware that there will have to be revisions based upon the budget and the learning environment (on-campus, eLearning, or hybrid)
The committee is also operating under the assumption that the PPP loan is not forgivable; most conservative approach; the main reason we sought the loan is to cover the deferral of payments from the state so that the school can cover payroll
Deferring funding in June until July
Deferral April, May, and June in 2021 as well
This is a way for the state to balance its budget.
The committee is acting under the assumption that the loan is not forgivable because this money would be allocated as a receiveable; the most fiscally responsible way to plan the budget.
The budget documents are with the materials and shared via screen share during the meeting.
Some changes made to Special Education funding
Most of the 2019/2020 budget is consistent with what has been presented before
There are still two payroll periods but the salary numbers consider this.
The salary and benefit numbers remain the same as in the previous discussions, approximately $27 million
Books and supplies there are no significant changes/updates
Other budgetary numbers are also consistent with past discussions
The reserve of cash funds is important due to the deferrals of state funding.
We are not fully funding the life-time health benefits fund this year. Paula Anderson had a question about the Special Education funding; Greg replied that this is relevant to the 2020/2021 budget

2020/2021 Budget
Documents are in the materials
Reeve Chudd: Everyone making demands on the budget should realize that it is subject to change based upon funding levels
The Majority of funding is through LCAP
Funding overall will go down about 8.17%
$2,413,000 reduction in ADA
Unsure what federal funding will look like; proposing similar amounts at the federal level
Have not received the Federal CARES act funding but requested funding of $264,000 will be allocated in 2020/2021 school year
AB 602 money: assumed the same decrease in state funding for Special Education; in fact, the anticipated decrease in funding is 10%
Civic Center permit has been heavily impacted by COVID; revenue will depend on re-opening
Cafeteria revenue will depend on what the learning environment looks like in the fall.
$33.3 million budget estimated
A number of teachers are not returning; that has been factored into the savings
Classified staff: looked at-will positions to determine if savings can be found there; the Board did take preliminary action in the event the school year starts as eLearning with regard to classified employees who are not at-will
The state reacted somewhat favorably to pension contributions; savings in contribution requirements by school districts; in future years there could be an increase but that is unknown
Healthcare premiums are increasing 2%, but in this market that is good; some other schools are seeing a 7% or 8% increase
Workers comp insurance could increase significantly in 2021/2022 budget cycle but for now that budgetary item is essentially flat
LIfetime health benefits have not been funded except for the interest earned
Textbooks and instructional materials: the assumptions for this budget item were based on last year's numbers
Other supplies increase is because of supplies for eLearning and departmental tech items
Services: travel and conferences budget item; this is not money that can be used someplace else; possible to use for a virtual eLearning conference; can look for ways to use this but it is restricted federal funding; lowering this amount would simply mean we would have to return unused monies to the federal government
Subscriptions: Ed Puzzle added $2500; the list of subscriptions was vetted with faculty to ensure that everything needed was covered and if there was anything that needed to be eliminated it would be
General liability property insurance (also a separate item on agenda): Chartersafe is our carrier; other possible carriers were looked at
Technology Department made a number of asks based upon being underfunded in the past; asked for $1.16 million; technology will be funded from the general fund, PCHS fund, and Booster Club may fund some of this along with federal COVID funds; leasing costs of adding this technology (lease to loan) spreads the cost over time so it's a lower annual commitment
Dave Suarez asked about the insurance brokers
Movement of some of the Special Education services from consulting to in-house has led to some savings
Transportation:  continued commitment to the approved scholarship amounts; continuing to fund the athletic busses; of course this assumes that the bussing program looks the way it has in the past without taking into account social distancing or hybrid models; potential for increased costs depending on what school looks like in the fall; other schools do not always pay for athletic busses (covered by fundraising)
Capital needs are identified
Interest expense increased in part due to PPP loan (1%), but there may be an increase in the interest Pali earns on its account balances
LAUSD Oversight Fee
Budget & Finance committee approved with a $225,503 deficit
Athletic/competition busses cost approximately $100,000
Costs for security and athletic/competition judges
Want to look at other schools models to see if there are alternative funding models; brought up that any model should be vetted through legal
The committee wanted to have a zero balanced budget but this was the best they could do given all of the factors at play.
The budget we are voting on is because the Board has to approve a budget in June, but there are very likely to be revisions once we have updated budget numbers.
 

Budget was approved. No discussion necessary.

No new announcements

There are items for closed session.

Nothing to report out.