Amethod Public Schools
Minutes
Regular Meeting of the AMPS Board of Directors
Date and Time
Wednesday September 20, 2023 at 6:00 PM
Location
1450 Marina Way South, Richmond, CA 94804
The Board of Directors (Board) and employees of Amethod Public Schools will be holding this meeting in person at 1450 Marina Way South, Richmond, CA 94804.
Members of the public who wish to attend in person can join us at Richmond Charter Academy (RCA) at 1450 Marina Way South, Richmond, CA 94804. Or members of the public may meet via the Zoom meeting platform at:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83187954557
We also offer two-way teleconference locations for the public to attend in our Oakland school sites:
Oakland Charter High School- 2433 Coolidge Ave, Oakland, CA 94601
Downtown Charter Academy- 2000 Dennison St, Oakland, CA 94606
Oakland Charter Academy- 4215 Foothill Blvd, Oakland, CA 94601
Participating by Telephone: 669-900-9128 Meeting ID: 831 8795 4557
Public Comment: Members of the public attending in person who wish to comment on an agenda item please fill out a speaker card and submit it to a staff member. The Board Chair will call on you to enter the Boardroom. Members of the public who are join in via teleconference, please use raise hand tool in the reactions tab located at the bottom of the zoom screen or press star (*) nine if joining by telephone. The Board Chair will call on you. Please note that comments are limited to two minutes. The Board Chair may increase or decrease the time allowed for public comment, depending upon the topic and number of persons wishing to be heard.
Access to Board Materials: A copy of the written materials which have been submitted to the School Board with the agenda relating to open session items may be reviewed by any interested persons on the Amethod Public School’s website at www.amethodschools.org following the posting of the agenda. Amethod reserves the right to show or distribute additional information and/or documents to the School Board at the meeting, and will make copies of such documents relating to open session items available to the public upon request.
Disability Access: Requests for disability-related modifications or accommodations to participate in this public meeting should be made 72 hours prior to the meeting by calling (510) 965-4562. All efforts will be made for reasonable accommodations. The agenda and public documents can be modified upon request as required by Section 202 of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
ORDER OF BUSINESS MAY BE CHANGED WITHOUT NOTICE
Directors Present
A. Emmanuelli, E. Gallegos, E. Quiroz, G. Lopez Jr., N. Driver
Directors Absent
None
Directors who arrived after the meeting opened
N. Driver
Directors who left before the meeting adjourned
E. Quiroz
Guests Present
S. Li
I. Opening Items
A.
Call the Meeting to Order
B.
Record Attendance
C.
Announcements
D.
Public Comments on Non-Agenda Items
Ms. Mojica, grandparent of student is concerned that the school will be closing. She is afraid of the grades and the F's in her grand daughter's PowerSchool account. She did not know the previous principal is no longer at the school and she does not like the new principal. She is also concerned about the sports, the lack of communication, lack of professional teachers, and lack of staff.
II. Closed Session
A.
Chief Executive Officer Evaluation
Board Chair Gilbert Lopez Jr. amends the agenda and moves Closed Session items to before the Consent items.
Board Vice Chair Nick Driver arrives.
Board reconvenes from closed session at 7:59pm and have no reportable actions.
B.
ANTICIPATED LITIGATION Significant exposure to litigation pursuant to Paragraph (2) or (3) of subdivision (d) of Section 54956.9: (1 Case)
No reportable actions.
III. Consent
A.
Approval of 08/16/2023 Regular Board Meeting Minutes
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| G. Lopez Jr. |
Aye
|
| E. Quiroz |
Aye
|
| A. Emmanuelli |
Aye
|
| N. Driver |
Aye
|
| E. Gallegos |
Aye
|
B.
Approval of Professional Boundaries Policy
Board member Andres Emmanuelli asks if AMPS is tracking the social media section or if it is an honor system from staff.
Evelia Villa, CEO says it is an honor system.
Board member Elisa Gallegos asks if there are additional training for staff.
Evelia Villa, CEO says yes there is additional training on Vector Solutions.
Board member Edgar Quiroz leaves the meeting at 8:05pm.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| E. Quiroz |
Absent
|
| E. Gallegos |
Aye
|
| G. Lopez Jr. |
Aye
|
| A. Emmanuelli |
Aye
|
| N. Driver |
Aye
|
C.
Approval of Records Retention Policy
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| E. Gallegos |
Aye
|
| N. Driver |
Aye
|
| E. Quiroz |
Absent
|
| G. Lopez Jr. |
Aye
|
| A. Emmanuelli |
Aye
|
D.
Approval of Telework Policy
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| E. Quiroz |
Absent
|
| G. Lopez Jr. |
Aye
|
| E. Gallegos |
Aye
|
| N. Driver |
Aye
|
| A. Emmanuelli |
Aye
|
E.
Approval of the Board Designee to Accept Donations
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| N. Driver |
Aye
|
| G. Lopez Jr. |
Aye
|
| A. Emmanuelli |
Aye
|
| E. Quiroz |
Absent
|
| E. Gallegos |
Aye
|
F.
Approval of Consolidated Application and Reporting System (CARS) 2023-2024
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| E. Quiroz |
Absent
|
| E. Gallegos |
Aye
|
| A. Emmanuelli |
Aye
|
| G. Lopez Jr. |
Aye
|
| N. Driver |
Aye
|
G.
Approval of Adoption of the Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team California Charter School Accounting and Best Practices Manual
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| G. Lopez Jr. |
Aye
|
| N. Driver |
Aye
|
| E. Gallegos |
Aye
|
| E. Quiroz |
Absent
|
| A. Emmanuelli |
Aye
|
IV. Business
A.
Approval of Financial Audit Report FY 21-22
Vice Chair Nick Driver asks if this is a retroactive approval for something that was completed in June.
Marie Arce, Senior Director of Finance says yes, this is the Final Audit Report that was completed in June. She also shares a slide showing the comparison of 2020/2021 - 2021/2022 audits and the reports of internal controls.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| E. Quiroz |
Absent
|
| N. Driver |
Aye
|
| A. Emmanuelli |
Aye
|
| E. Gallegos |
Aye
|
| G. Lopez Jr. |
Aye
|
B.
Approval of Unaudited Actuals 2022-2023
Marie Arce, Senior Director of Finance shares her presentation on Unaudited Actuals. She goes over a new reporting called SACS, update on 2022/2023 audit that will be submitted to the states, and fund balance.
Vice Chair Nick Driver asks what is the total fund balance percentage.
Marie Arce, Senior Director of Finance says she cannot give an estimate of the fund balance from 2021/2022 due to the constant changes. Her team will calculate for an estimate and will provide a number by next month's meeting.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| G. Lopez Jr. |
Aye
|
| E. Gallegos |
Aye
|
| A. Emmanuelli |
Aye
|
| N. Driver |
Aye
|
| E. Quiroz |
Absent
|
C.
Education Growth Group Charter Renewal Presentation- Richmond Charter Academy and Oakland Charter High School
Ismael Soto, VP of Program and Strategic Initiatives from Education Growth Group introduces himself and he has been in K12 charter schools for 26 years. He has decades of experience in charter renewals. He says Education Growth Group is a group of experienced leaders who know education, including equity, business, compliance, technology, instruction, data analytics, finance, facilities, operations, talent development, community engagement, communications, policy, and governance. Education Growth Group will provide charter petition drafting and community preparation services to AMPS Charter Schools throughout the renewal process on an as-needed basis with the initial scope of services.
Board member Elisa Gallegos asks how do we get accepted in the first round of renewals.
Ismael Soto, VP of Program and Strategic Initiatives says it just so happens that the schools are going through another round of renewals after AB51.
Evelia Villa, CEO says these school's charters were set to renew before covid.
Vice Chair Nick Driver asks when should we start targeting submissions.
Ismael Soto, VP of Program and Strategic Initiatives says the target timeline is August 2024.
V. Discussion
A.
Chief Executive Officer Report and Instructional Update
Evelia Villa, CEO shares her presentation covering topics on current enrollment, vacancy update, Williams visit, AMPS school board visit, college visits to high schools, 9/15 professional development, spirit week, curriculum Pilot-IReady, NWEA Testing, ELPAC Testing, Community Schools Grant, US New and Review- Best High Schools, executive assistant, and Hispanic Heritage Month.
School site leaders, Dr. Walker, Ms. Nash, Ms. Cardenas, Dr. Ellingberg, Dean Galindo, and Mrs. Prokopienko introduce themselves to the board.
No announcements were made.