No announcements.

No public comments.

The board reconvened from closed session at 6:28pm and there were no reportable actions.

Elise Darwish, who has a background with Aspire Public Schools, presented a proposal for a Teacher Residency Program at AMPS to address California's teacher shortage in critical areas like special education, math, science, and bilingual education. This program pairs residents with experienced AMPS mentors to earn both a teaching credential and a Master’s in Education while receiving a stipend. In exchange, participants commit to teaching at an AMPS school for four years. The program, which aims to diversify the teacher pipeline by recruiting from within the community, would partner with Alder Graduate School of Education and be funded through a five-year state grant.

Board member Liz expressed concerns regarding the sustainability of the teacher residency program based on her previous experiences. She highlighted two significant challenges: the general difficulty of finding enough qualified mentors and a high correlation between ideal mentor candidates and those who are already overextended as teacher leaders or club advisors. This overlap created a capacity issue that ultimately made it difficult to provide a high-quality experience for the residents. Liz asked how they plan to address these potential capacity challenges to ensure the program remains sustainable and effective at AMPS.

Elise explained that the program is initially requesting funding for only six residents, primarily because the availability of qualified mentors is the limiting factor. Currently, there are 14 teachers within AMPS who meet the necessary criteria of having a clear credential and at least three years of teaching experience. The plan is to recruit mentors from this existing pool while utilizing the upcoming planning year to hire additional qualified staff. Furthermore, the grant provides flexibility by allowing funds to be rolled over for up to four years, effectively extending the program to a fifth year if the school is unable to secure enough mentors or residents in a given period.

Vice Chair Margie asked about the recruitment efforts for teacher candidates.

Elise outlined a tiered recruitment strategy for the teacher residency program based on Alder's successful model. The primary focus is on internal and local recruitment, starting with current paraprofessionals and instructional aides before reaching out to the broader community. The strategy also involves partnering with local nonprofit organizations, followed by traditional outreach through job boards, career fairs, and college recruitment.

Elise Darwish introduces a board resolution aimed at increasing the diversity of the teacher workforce. The resolution serves as a formal statement of the board's support for cultivating a more diverse group of educators.

Adrienne, CEO addressed the closure of Oakland Charter High School due to its non-renewal. She explained that there is a significant amount of inventory and assets remaining on the campus that the administration wishes to redistribute among the other AMPS schools. Adrienne noted that Ms. Magana has coordinated with teams across the organization to develop a comprehensive inventory list and a distribution plan. She requested board approval to officially move these assets to the other campuses.

Adrienne, CEO recommended Kelly Le to be the school closure appointee.

Mary, Senior Director of Student Services and Special Education presented the John Henry High School Grad Night Proposal, to celebrate the seniors' achievement and strengthen the school community. Because it is an overnight trip to Disneyland it required formal board approval. She noted that the trip would be supervised by chaperones and at least one school administrator.

Board member Liz asked for the fundraising plans for the Grad Night trip. She observed that while the proposal mentioned several events, it only listed two, both of which involved selling World's Finest Chocolate. Liz asked for clarification on whether additional fundraising activities were planned and how the school had traditionally handled these costs in the past.

Mary explains that the student government is actively involved in fundraising, having previously organized activities such as selling hot chocolate. She notes that 90% of the students who wish to attend Grad Night have already paid. Because of this high level of upfront payment and consistent student-led fundraising efforts, she anticipates that the school will have very little overhead cost for the trip this year.

Board member Liz asked about the process for identifying students classified as foster youth or homeless. Her primary concern was to ensure that these students are not required to pay for the Grad Night trip. She asked if the designated appointee for foster youth had performed a check to confirm no eligible students would be charged. Mary said there are no identified seniors.

Adrienne, CEO recommends revising the January and May 2026 board meeting dates and asked the board to check if they'll be available. She suggested changing the January 15th regular board meeting to January 28th for the Audit Report and May 21st regular meeting to May 14th to approve COLA and at-will agreements for the 26-27 school year.