Pinnacles Prep Charter School
Minutes
Monthly Board Meeting
Date and Time
Wednesday January 18, 2023 at 6:00 PM
In Person: Pinnacles Prep Campus (Admin Office Conference Room) - 504 S. Chelan Ave
Via Zoom:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88428303638
Meeting ID: 884 2830 3638
Dial In: 1-719-359-4580
Board Members: Rick Wray, Oscar Licon Eusebio, Karen Rutherford, Flora Fernandez, Tyler McGee, Xaxira Velasco Ponce De Leon, Mario Reyes, Tod Treat.
Contact: Oscar Licon Eusebio, Board Secretary
Email: oscar@pinnaclesprep.org
Accessibility: This meeting is accessible to persons with disabilities. Special aids and services can be made available upon advance request. Advance requests for special aids and services must be made at least 48 hours in advance of the meeting's start time.
Public Comment (In-Person): Members of the public wishing to comment in person should sign up using the provided sign-in sheet 10 minutes prior to the start of the meeting. You will be called on at the meeting. The Board may respond to public comment during the meeting. Members of the public wishing to provide hard copy written comments at the meeting must bring 8 copies. Ten minutes will be allocated for public comment, with the option of the Chair to allow more.
Public Comment (Virtual): Advance requests for virtual public comment or to provide written public comment electronically must be made no later than 48 hours in advance of the meeting's start time. To make this request or provide a written public comment, please email Oscar Licon at oscar@pinnaclesprep.org. If you would prefer to provide oral public comment, you will be called on at the meeting. The Board may respond to public comment during the meeting. Ten minutes will be allocated for public comment, with the option of the Chair to allow more.
Small School. Big Ideas.
Pinnacles Prep Mission: We exist to cultivate curious, confident, and self-directed
students who lead and succeed in college, their careers, and their communities.
BOARD MEETING NORMS
Procedural: Follow Through on all Agreements | Be Fully Present Physically and Mentally | Start and End on Time
Behavioral: Keep Students at the Center of Our Work | Be Bold and Optimistic | Advance Justice | Put Relationships First | Assume Positive Intent
Trustees Present
F. Fernandez (remote), K. Rutherford, O. Licon Eusebio (remote), R. Wray, T. McGee, T. Treat, T. Treat, X. Velasco Ponce de Leon (remote)
Trustees Absent
M. Reyes
Guests Present
J. Fineis, S. Koester
I. Opening Items
A.
Welcome and Record Attendance
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
C.
Consent Agenda Approval
In addition to approving the prior month's Minutes, the motion also included approving all documents contained within the Consent Agenda.
II. Public Comment Period
A.
Open Floor for Public Comments
III. Advisory Body Special Guests
A.
Parent Advisory Council (PAC) Guest Aaron Klein
A. Klein shared updates about the Parent Advisory Council.
There are currently five members and they just conducted their first meeting of the school year. No committee goals have been set yet but they plan to start meeting monthly. Their first meeting was primarily spent getting to know the other parent members and discussing meeting norms.
Board shared its gratitude for the PAC
IV. Know Our People, Know Our Programs
A.
Samm Rowland
Same began by sharing a little bit about her personal and professional education background. She is currently a math teacher at the school and helps lead multiple other initiatives. She then spent time sharing what the goals and typical activities are of Basecamp each day. She also discussed what it mean's to be a mentor at Pinnacles.
V. Critical Issue Discussion
A.
Critical Issues Discussion
J. Fineis shares the various testing assessments at Pinnacles prep, when they are administered, and what they measure.
Smarter Balance Assessments (SBAC), MAP assessment, and daily "Do Nows"
Smarter Balance; None of the tests are timed. They get harder the more questions a student answers correctly. The school is still trying to get approximately 20 students to complete their mid year MAPS test so a comprehensive mid year data report sharing results will not be available until next board meeting in February.
"Do nows" are daily class assessments
Preliminary MAPS results show some students have shown massive growth since the pandemic.
Outreach and recruitment are ongoing, with deadlines approaching at the end of Feb. A lottery will be required for 6th grade.
A high school outreach plan is in progress and it is expected that there will be approximately 15 spots to fill in next year's 9th grade class.
VI. Board Committee Updates
A.
Monthly Finance Dashboard
T. McGee shares monthly finance reports.
There are 168 FTE students, only 93% of what was budgeted. The school is tapping its contingency funds to help cover this shortfall.
The Public Revenue goal is to be at 31%, currently at 28% due to delayed deliverables.
The goal is to have 30 days of cash on hand at the end of the year. We are slightly behind that figure now, but there are no concerns that Pinnacles Prep will fall under the threshold at year end.
S. Koester shared the Finance Committee has discussed and would like to approve opening up some short 90 day cash flow by delaying three Cashmere Valley Bank loan payments in February, March and April of this year. This option has been discussed with the bank and preliminarily approved pending a board resolution. This move would extend the loan term from 36 months to 39 months. The additional cash flow would help extend the staff's ability to focus on getting the high school off the ground this fall.
B.
Select Committee and Task Force Updates (Governance and Facility)
R. Wray shares updates from the training he attended and shared some national charter school statistics.
Rick and the Governance committee continue to focus on educating the board on the terms and conditions of the school's Charter contract. He recommended as a future activity that each board member gets assigned a portion of the contract to report out on. The full board agreed to pursue this.
Rick Wray mentioned that the Charter Commission board will be voting on whether to approve Pinnacles high school venue change during their board meeting tomorrow. Pinnacles board and staff will be in attendance. meeting to amend the contract regarding the high school location.
Lease and classroom conversations with Wenatchee Valley College continue regarding Pinnacle's hosting their high school on the WVC campus. Tod Treat shared that a new president has taken over at WVC and wants to meet Pinnacles leadership and learn more about vision.
Per school surveys and family outreach meetings, approximately 90% of the families have shown support of the Pinnacles high school at Wenatchee Valley College.
VII. Additional Business
A.
Other Business
X. Velasco Ponce De Leon provides updates about the annual campaign so far there has been $22k raised and the annual fundraising goal for the year is $40k of unrestricted funds,
Last year at this time, we were at $24k
There was $22k donated for a new reading program that will launch at the Pinnacles in the 2nd semester.
J Fines shares Loteria Night Friday 1/20/23 and Exhibition night January 26th
No Public Comment