No announcements.

No public comments.

Cory Fulton from NAVA Benefits provided an update on the benefit plan renewals for Amethod Public Schools for the upcoming plan year beginning September 1st. All plans were renewed with the existing carriers, but to mitigate substantial price hikes, including an initial 6.8% increase  by Kaiser and 29.8% by Sutter, Amethod decided to balance the rate hike by reducing its HRA deductible funding in half starting January 1st. By reducing this HRA funding, NAVA negotiated the overall cumulative renewal increase to +5.3%, which is well below the typical 8%-12% industry trend. Despite these changes, the contribution strategy remains steady, with Amethod continuing to cover 100% of employee-only premiums while splitting the remaining increase proportionally across dependent tiers.

The board resumed from closed session at 7:27pm and there were no reportable actions.

Sally, HR Coordinator presented a document to the Board seeking approval for Provisional Internship Permits for certificated personnel. She explained that these permits signify that the organization thoroughly searched for fully credentialed or intern teachers before hiring. The document lists the specific employees and subject areas slated to be signed for RCA, DCA, and John Henry High School.

Sally presented a small revision to the Declaration of Need for Downtown Charter Academy. She requested board approval for a GELAP in math for a newly hired STEM teacher. Although the teacher is already fully credentialed in science, the permit is needed to ensure compliance while she works on completing her math CSET exams to obtain full math authorization.

Board Chair Rodolfo requested for progress updates.

Adrienne, CEO presented updates to the fiscal policies and procedures, highlighting a provision regarding school-level cash management. Specifically, on page 19, she requested a change to the employment agreement approval level for the board, shifting the threshold requirement from a specific dollar amount to C-level employment agreements.

Adrienne suggested amending the agenda item in light of the board's prior approval of item C. She requested the board's review and consideration of approval for employment agreements for Ms. Arechiga (Chief Operating Officer) and Ms. Busby (Chief Academic Officer).

Marisol, Senior Director of Operations presented a change order for the MS Custom Painting contract covering Downtown Charter Academy, John Henry High School, and Richmond Charter Academy. While the initial contract approved in June focused primarily on classrooms, additional needs have come up as school prepares to start, including the need for paint in other educational spaces and touch-ups. She requested approval for this expanded scope, along with an additional $10,000 contingency for potential future scope changes, bringing the additional requested spend to $47,000 (raising the total contract do-not-exceed limit to $168,750).

Board member Liz asked for a timeline of when the work will be completed. 

Marisol stated the remaining work will be completed over the weekend and anticipates completion in the coming weeks.

Marisol presented a request regarding the Garfias Flooring change order for Downtown Charter Academy. While previous flooring work focused primarily on common spaces and the former preschool area, summer deep cleaning and an inspection revealed that several classroom carpets could not be adequately restored and need to be replaced. She requested board approval to upgrade the flooring in these classrooms, noting that the installation would take place over weekends or school breaks so as not to disrupt school starting.

Mary, CAO presented the contract for Celebration Speech Group, explaining that they are the contracted vendor providing Speech and Language Pathologists and speech-language pathology assistants across all four Amethod Public School sites to deliver direct speech services to students.

Adrienne presented a proposal to streamline contracting with Get Empowered, an organization that provides after-school, Expanded Learning Opportunities Program, and summer programming. Rather than bringing multiple individual MOUs as was done in previous years, she requested board approval for a master purchase order with a not-to-exceed limit of $250,000.

Adrienne presented an update on staff recognition, sharing that employee service awards were handed out for 1 year, 3 year, 5 year, and 10 year milestones, and presented the board members with 1 year service pins to thank them for their dedication.

Marisol presented the current enrollment numbers, noting that most schools are very close to meeting their budgeted targets, with high school showing a slight increase. The high school team is actively monitoring incoming students to ensure projected figures translate to actual attendance by tracking orientation attendance and uniform pick-ups. Additionally, Amethod is running targeted Facebook and Google ads focused on local zip codes to communicate that applications are still open for the 2026-2027 school year.

Mary shared a comprehensive series of professional development initiatives to prepare leadership and staff for the upcoming school year. Principals and Deans participated in three Monday PD sessions focused on aligning assessment calendars, conducting data dives to build school level data stories, setting goals, establishing consistent coaching expectations across sites, and updating the ELD program playbook and reclassification process. They also completed a 3-day leadership retreat with partners from Lead Liberated to finalize and calibrate their instructional walkthrough rubric using video evaluations, alongside team-bonding activities. Finally, the entire network staff gathered for a two day summit featuring 3.5 hours of curriculum instruction from vendors, HR system updates, alignment on AMPS’s core pillars, employee service pin recognition, and team building games.

Adrienne announced two upcoming events scheduled for August 27th: an appreciation brunch at Caliber for local partners and the Contra Costa County Authorizer, followed by a board meeting on August 27 where the board will vote to approve the unaudited actuals.