Board Chair Rodolfo gave a quick shoutout to the staff, thanking them for kicking off another school year. He recognized it’s been busy and probably not easy, and showed appreciation for everyone’s hard work.

No public comments.

Board Chair Rodolfo presented a resolution regarding board member Peter’s continued service. Due to strict attendance requirements outlined in the bylaws and Peter’s recent personal challenges, the board is proposing this resolution to allow for his retention and continued participation on the board.

The board returned from closed session at 7:09pm and there were no reportable actions.

Adrienne, CEO presents the at-will agreement for the Director of Curriculum and Instruction, noting that it is consistent with agreements provided to all directors. She clarifies that it includes the 2% COLA previously approved by the Board.

Vice Chair Margie asks who the Director of Curriculum and Instruction reports to.

Adrienne says the Director of Curriculum and Instruction reports indirectly to Elise Darwish, the consultant that is filling for the CAO role.

Kimberly, Senior Director of Finance and Administration introduced the unaudited actuals report, which reviews revenue and expenditures since the second interim budget, along with any changes that have occurred. She then turned the presentation over to Jason and noted that individual votes for each school site will follow, along with time for board questions.

Jason Sitomer from Charter Impact reported on the unaudited actuals, emphasizing that significant financial cleanup took place over the past year to address long standing issues like revenue recognition errors, outdated accounts receivable, and depreciation that had not been recorded in prior years. For Benito Juarez Elementary, this cleanup resulted in a reported $2.4 million deficit/loss in 2025-26, primarily driven by $1.2 million in prior year revenue corrections, $106,000 in late invoices from past fiscal years, and $1.35 million in accumulated depreciation. He noted that without these one-time adjustments, the school would have had an operational surplus of about $250,000. Despite the deficit/single year loss, BJE maintains a strong financial position, ending the year with a 30% fund balance, well above the state's 5% minimum. Jason added that similar issues will appear across all school sites and clarified that depreciation is a non-cash, non-operational expense, which contributes to the reported deficit but not to actual spending.

Downtown Charter Academy ended the year with a modest $10,000 surplus, with less extensive financial cleanup compared to other sites. The cleanup included $240,000 in prior year revenue adjustments and $23,000 in accounts payable from previous years. Since DCA has minimal capital assets, depreciation was only $2,000. Altogether, these one time, non-operational adjustments totaled $265,000, meaning that without them, the school would have shown a $275,000 surplus. Despite the adjustments, DCA remains in a strong financial position, closing the year with an 82% fund balance.

John Henry High School experienced a reported $600,000 deficit in 2025-26, largely due to one time financial cleanup items. These included $850,000 in prior year revenue corrections, $19,000 in accounts payable from previous years, and $267,000 in depreciation from capital assets, totaling over $1.1 million in non-operational adjustments. Without these cleanup items, the school would have ended the year with a surplus of over $500,000. Despite the reported deficit, John Henry maintained a strong financial position with a 28% reserve balance, well above the state’s 5% minimum requirement.

Oakland Charter Academy is projecting a $242,000 deficit in 2025-26 due to $290,000 in prior year revenue cleanup, $19,000 in prior year accounts payable, and $22,000 in depreciation expenses, totaling $330,000 in non-operational adjustments. When these one time expenses are added back, the school would have actually had a surplus of nearly $90,000.

Oakland Charter High School reported a $1 million deficit in its 2025-26 unaudited actuals, mainly due to $1.1 million in prior-year revenue cleanup and $23,000 in prior year accounts payable. There was a significant adjustment between the second interim and the unaudited report, as nearly $1.1 million in California Community Schools Partnership Program (CCSPP) revenue was removed as unspent, due to the grant money from all six schools being funneled through OCHS as the recipient. However, this revenue removal was offset by a placeholder for corresponding expenses that were never incurred, making the net effect neutral, hence the equal decrease in both revenue and expenses. The school also recorded over $100,000 in depreciation. The total of all these non-operational cleanup expenses was $2.37 million, but ignoring the CCSPP adjustments and focusing on $1.24 million of cleanup and non-operational expenses, the school would have ended the year with a $240,000 surplus.

For Richmond Charter Academy, the fund balance will end the year above the state’s 5% minimum, improving from a negative balance of nearly $70,000 at the start of the year. This improvement is largely due to a one time $1.1 million intercompany payable cleanup. Other negative factors included $270,000 in revenue cleanup, $23,000 in prior year accounts payable, and $480,000 in depreciation. Despite these, the one time cleanup resulted in a net positive impact. Without this adjustment, the school would still have ended the year with a healthy $156,000 surplus.

Board Chair Davis asked for updates on the financial cleanup and if most material items are cleaned up. He asked if the sum of all of the outstanding items will not amount to something that's material going forward. 

Jason said they are working with Joyce Montgomery to finalize a few remaining balance sheet items that they didn’t have time to complete during the last audit. However, the key material items are already accounted for, and they're confident that the unaudited interim report numbers will closely align with the final audit results.
 

Board Chair Davis inquires why these issues were not identified in past audits and if there are safeguards in place to ensure that future audits are clean.

Jason suggested that past financial errors likely stemmed from staff who lacked the necessary understanding of the complexities involved in charter finance.

Board member Peter expressed concern about the significant financial corrections since the second interim and asked for an explanation of the changes, structures, and safeguards that have been implemented to prevent similar issues from happening again in the future.

Jason explained that the large financial shifts previously seen were due to one-time funds like ESSER and learning recovery money, which have now been fully spent, so such swings won’t happen again. He emphasized that the best safeguard is having knowledgeable financial staff and a competent team managing the finances to prevent future issues.

Adrienne added that a major improvement has been hiring staff trained in charter finance and partnering with a back-office provider, replacing the previous in-house team that lacked this expertise. She emphasized that these changes should prevent future issues and reassured that the large past errors are being addressed as one-time corrections. 

Board member Peter asked if there will be an audit on December 15th. 

Jason noted that the audit is scheduled to start in early October, which is normal and still allows for a timely completion. He emphasized their focus on finishing cleanup work to ensure everything is in order. He highlighted that the six schools ended fiscal year 2024 with a combined fund balance of nearly $30 million, and the $4 million write off represented only about 15% of those reserves. Despite the setback, he views the cleanup as a necessary, one time step that will put the schools on a stronger financial footing and maintain healthy reserves above minimum requirements.

Board member Davis noted that the unaudited actual report (UAR) shows the fund balance above the 5% threshold and asked if any adjustments are expected that might impact that balance.

Jason confirmed that no adjustments are expected and highlighted a 3.5% cushion in the fund balance, meaning it would take a significant $200,000 change to risk dropping below the 5% threshold.

Adrienne, CEO explained that the unaudited actuals are presented in the detailed form before the board, which provides more information than the earlier finance presentation. Although submissions are now done online, this form is still used to clearly present the data.

Board member Davis asked if the individual submissions were consolidated into the main finance presentation shared earlier. 

Jason responded that the data corresponds to the SACS coding line items, the state's standard chart of accounts, and all the numbers align with the previously presented figures. It’s simply the format required for submission to the state.

Adrienne, CEO presents the electronic long version of the Unaudited Actuals for John Henry High School to the board. 

Adrienne, CEO presents the electronic long version of the Unaudited Actuals for Oakland Charter Academy to the board. 

Adrienne, CEO presents the electronic long version of the Unaudited Actuals for Oakland Charter High School to the board. 

Adrienne, CEO presents the electronic long version of the Unaudited Actuals for Benito Juarez Elementary to the board. 

Adrienne, CEO presents the electronic long version of the Unaudited Actuals for Richmond Charter Academy to the board. 

Kimberly, Senior Director of Finance and Administration presents two MOUs from the vendor, Get Empowered, which provides After School Education and Safety (ASES) programming at DCA and OCA. Since their contracts exceed $50,000, board approval is required. The ASES program offers expanded learning opportunities through after-school clubs like circus arts, yoga, and dance. Get Empowered is a familiar vendor with a history of supporting the schools, and the board is being asked to approve their contract for services in the 2025-26 school year.

Adrienne, CEO added that she signed an agreement worth about $17,000, and combined with the current $98,700 agreement, these services are also funded using Measure G1 funds.

Board member Liz asks will the program be 100% grant funded.

Kimberly says the program is 100% grant funded.

Board member Peter noted that while the vendor was used last year, this year’s program offerings seem to have expanded significantly. He expressed concern about the cost, pointing out that with a limited number of students at DCA, he wondered how the programs are selected, how many kids actually participate, and how many truly benefit. He questioned whether spending this amount on after school programming is justified, noting that this level of programming exceeds what he’s seen at other schools. He also asked if any evaluations had been conducted regarding student participation or feedback on the programs.

Mary, Senior Director of Student Services says Get Empowered conducts a survey at the end of the school year.

Adrienne acknowledged that while the list of programs is extensive, many are offered only on specific days. She noted that DCA has a high percentage of students participating in after school programs and prefers outsourcing extracurricular activities to vendors like Get Empowered. This model, funded by ASES grants, differs from other sites that handle more programming in-house and aims to benefit all students involved.

Board Chair Rodolfo points out one class offering on Monday, two on Tuesday, two on Wednesday, three on Thursday, four on Friday, which seems in line with usually when kids go after school.

Kimberly, Senior Director of Finance and Administration presents that Get Empowered is also the vendor for programming at OCA. While OCA’s individual contract doesn’t exceed $50,000, combined with other contracts it does, so the MOU is brought before the board for approval. At OCA, Get Empowered will offer two programs, Cooking Nutrition and Basketball offered Monday through Thursday. The total agreement for the 2025-26 school year is about $28,900, fully funded by ASES.

Maria, Chief of Staff recommended that the board approve the Dyslexia and Reading Difficulty Screener to comply with Education Code Section 53008, which mandates that starting in the 2025-26 school year, the board must approve a literacy screening tool for students in kindergarten through second grade.

Michelle, Director of Curriculum and Instruction explained that the California Department of Education provided four approved literacy screeners. After review, they recommend the board approve the MCLAP with DIBELS screener from Amplify. They chose Amplify because it aligns well with the six curricula currently in use, creating a smooth connection between the screener and existing instructional materials.

Board member Liz asks if there is already a plan implemented to access the students for the current school year. 

Michelle stated that all schools must assess students in kindergarten through second grade starting in the 2025-26 school year, with specific timelines for notifying parents and offering an opt-out option. The academic team will develop a detailed rollout timeline for BJE. The supports are going to be tailored to the students' needs, and include evidence-based instruction and progress monitoring and further diagnosis.

Mary, Senior Director of Student Services explained that once the screening rollout begins, the next step is to integrate it into the MTSS process. The team will help identify Tier 2 interventions and small group instruction needs, with further steps planned after that initial phase.

Kimberly, Senior Director of Finance and Administration presents Oakland Charter High School’s Prop 28 annual report for approval. This report details spending on arts and music programming funded by Proposition 28. Although no funds were spent last year, the report is required to show this. Schools still have time to use the funding, and future reports will outline how the money is spent. The board’s approval is needed for this current report.

Adrienne, CEO provided an update on recent changes to the salary bands. For the home office, a new facilities position focused on maintenance was added, offering a higher rate of pay to reflect the nature of the work. Additionally, the CEO salary band was updated to reflect compensation comparability study. At the school sites, salary bands were adjusted to align with the higher of the two minimum wages in the cities where the organization operates, resulting in an increase to the lunch assistant and manager role starting pay. An administrative credential stipend was also added to encourage school site administrators to pursue their credentials. Lastly, the sports programs for high school and middle school were separated, recognizing that middle school sports require less time due to shorter seasons.

Mary, Senior Director of Student Services Mary presented the Celebration Speech Contract, which outlines services provided to IEP students by their contracted speech team. She emphasized how fortunate they’ve been to work with this provider, given the difficulty in finding qualified speech professionals. Currently, they have two SLPAs (Speech-Language Pathology Assistants) delivering services and one licensed Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) who oversees the program and completes all evaluations. Mary clarified that in California, SLPAs are permitted to provide speech services as long as they are supervised by a licensed SLP.

Kimberly, Senior Director of Finance and Administration presented the renewal figures for staff benefits, noting that the organization currently spends about $1.3 million on benefits. Working with their broker, Newfront, they initially received a renewal proposal that maintained existing vendors, including Sutter Health, Kaiser, and MetLife, which also covers vision and basic life plans. However, Newfront was able to negotiate a better offer by recommending a switch from MetLife to Guardian, resulting in a savings of $126,000. The change is expected to have minimal impact on staff.

Patricia Moran from Newfront explained the renewal and negotiation process for employee benefits. Her team reached out to carriers, conducted a market check, and received quotes, though many were non-competitive. They successfully negotiated with Sutter and Kaiser and explored downgrade options to help reduce costs. As a result, they were able to lower the renewal increase from double digits to a single-digit percentage. Additionally, by switching from MetLife to Guardian, they secured cost savings, with Guardian offering comparable plans to the current ones.

Board member Peter expressed confusion about a slide showing benefit renewal figures. He pointed out a significant discrepancy: Sutter’s rate appeared as 6.67% on one part of the slide and 31.72% on another, which he found unclear and inconsistent. He acknowledged there were savings involved but didn’t understand how these percentages related to the overall numbers, calling the slide dramatically confusing.

Adrienne, CEO clarified that the slide presents three different scenarios for benefit costs. The black box shows the current cost for 2024-25, assuming no changes in employee demographics or numbers. The top scenario reflects what costs would look like if they renewed existing plans with no changes resulting in steep rate increases: 32% for Sutter and 11% for Kaiser, raising total costs from $1.3 million to $1.5 million. To avoid that jump, the team recommends the bottom scenario, which includes plan adjustments, reducing the increases to 6.7% for Sutter and 7.6% for Kaiser, keeping total costs to a more manageable $1.38 million. AMPS will be absorbing the cost of the percentage change and the benefits are similar in comparison and there will be minimal impact on the employee.

Michelle, Director of Curriculum and Instruction requested approval for an Amplify quote for BJE, as it exceeds the CEO’s approval threshold. The quote, totaling $116,353.79, covers science curriculum for TK through 5th grade, including science kits as well as teacher and student materials.

Board member Davis asked if there were other curriculums considered.

Michelle and Mary said the purchase is aligned with what other middle and elementary schools are using, maintaining consistency with Amplify. It’s not a new curriculum adoption, but rather a reorder of materials from the curriculum adopted last year, essentially a restock of needed supplies, not a new program.

Sally, HR Coordinator is seeking board approval for a declaration of need for fully qualified teachers at Richmond Charter Academy, similar to past requests. Currently, one teacher has a clear credential but is finishing their CTEL program. In the meantime, the board is asked to approve the CLAD certification (Cross-Cultural, Language, and Academic Development), which is required for teachers working with English language learners in California. Two new hires currently in the hiring process will also need this certification.

Board Chair Rodolfo asked for clarification, noting that the document mentions expecting 5 interns but questions why 3 CLAD certifications are being added.

Sally explained that the CLAD certifications are only for teachers who already hold a credential. Currently, there are 5 teachers on short-term staff permits who have either enrolled or are about to enroll in a teacher preparation internship program.

Board member Peter asks what efforts the HR department is doing to hire qualified teachers. Since they are requesting for an exemption.

Sally clarified that they’re not requesting an exemption but rather an addition to teachers’ current credentials. Some teachers were hired without the CLAD certification because it wasn’t previously required. Now, these teachers must complete a 3-6 month program and pass the CTEL exam to receive an EL authorization for teaching English language learners. She’s asking the board to allow these teachers to have a temporary CLAD authorization while they complete the program and testing to obtain the proper certification.

Board Chair Rodolfo explained that it’s common for out-of-state teachers not to have the CLAD or EL endorsement initially and to work under temporary authorization while completing the CTEL requirement. He acknowledged understanding the situation but emphasized that the declaration confirms a diligent search was made to find a fully qualified teacher for the position.

Mary, Senior Director of Student Services described the organizations efforts to recruit teachers, including participating in job fairs and posting openings on platforms like LinkedIn and EdJoin. Many administrators also use their personal LinkedIn accounts to spread the word. They’ve relied on word of mouth and connections with community schools and teaching network partners to build pipelines. For example, they have an intern coming in for counseling to help develop these pathways. Mary emphasized the challenge of the teacher shortage in California, due in part to a difficult and costly credentialing process, and highlighted their goal of creating internal pathways to grow their own teachers from within.

Sally, HR Coordinator is seeking board approval for a declaration of need for fully qualified teachers at Oakland Charter Academy. The DON outlines adding the CLAD authorization for a credentialed teacher that will start next week and two other teachers that are in the hiring pipeline. 

Item was voted by the board to be removed from the agenda.

Kimberly, Senior Director of Finance and Administration shared that board approval is required in order to submit SB740 funding applications for all school sites. Each application packet includes a legal status questionnaire that must be signed by Ms. Barnes and the board chair. Each site has already budgeted for this funding, as has been done in previous years. SB740 provides up to 75% reimbursement of lease costs, with the actual award based on the lesser of two amounts: 75% of the lease or the prior year’s ADA (Average Daily Attendance) multiplied by a state-set rate. Once P2 attendance data is certified, a true-up occurs, and adjustments may be made especially if the program is overextended, which can result in funding reductions. Kimberly emphasized that while the funding is already factored into site budgets, applications must be submitted annually, and the board will be updated throughout the fiscal year if any changes to award amounts occur.

Kimberly, Senior Director of Finance and Administration presents SB740 Application for John Henry High School for board approval.

Kimberly, Senior Director of Finance and Administration presents SB740 Application for Oakland Charter Academy for board approval.

Kimberly, Senior Director of Finance and Administration presents SB740 Application for Oakland Charter High School for board approval.

Kimberly, Senior Director of Finance and Administration presents SB740 Application for Richmond Charter Elementary- Benito Juarez for board approval.

Kimberly, Senior Director of Finance and Administration presents SB740 Application for Richmond Charter Academy for board approval.

Adrienne, CEO gave an update on recent key events and initiatives since the last board meeting, highlighting a busy and productive start to the school year. The organization held a leadership retreat in partnership with Lead Liberated, focusing on anti-racist leadership and team building. They also hosted the AMPS Summit, an all staff professional development event, which was fully organized and led in house. The school year officially started on August 12th, and OCHS received a recommendation for the state to hear its appeal. This year’s theme centers on honoring past strengths while refreshing purpose and remaining relentless for students. Adrienne shared her personal Lead Liberated goal: to reduce urgency in decision making and ensure choices are made in the best interest of students. She acknowledged the home office and site teams for their efforts in making both the retreat and summit successful.

Adrienne noted that the start of the school year felt calmer compared to last year, marking the beginning of a positive new chapter. The main ongoing issue has been traffic in Richmond, which the team is actively addressing in collaboration with local schools and the city. Looking ahead, the final SBE hearing is expected on September 10th or 11th, and the next board meeting is scheduled for September 18th, the same day as FIA’s Raise the Bar Awards, where DCA will be honored with a surprise award.

Kaela Haydu from YM&C introduced the session by explaining that the board would be completing a full ethics training, covering the Brown Act, conflict of interest, and public records. She noted that conflict of interest laws include several components and that this training is now required for charter school boards under AB 2158, which took effect in 2022. Previously, only city councils and traditional school districts were required to complete ethics training under AB 1234. The training must be completed every two years. She emphasizes most boards are doing these annually, because it does include things that you want annually, such as the Brown Act and conflict of interest. Kaela continued the ethics training in detail.

Adrienne, CEO proposed a pause at 10:00pm given the time and many staff members staying at the school sites for the board meeting have work early in the morning the following day. 

Kaela pauses her presentation and will resume Code 700 slides at the next board meeting.