J. Whatley welcomed R. Brown back to the board and A. Cooley.  She also wanted to welcome parent perspective as to how it is going on here.

N. Stewart provided an update on how our budget is looking now that school has started.  She mentioned we have already dug into our LAIF budget.

J. Laird asked if N. Stewart could clarify on the health benefit budget and if it went up a lot since it seems it increased quite a bit.  N. Stewart and C. Chilcott advised yes, it did go up a bit.  

C. Chilcott provided an update on the enrollment.  

J. Whatley advised that she is not agreeing with the way Larson communication is showing our marketing.  She advised the school has so much to offer that is not being highlighted, such as our band going to Disney or our sports programs.  She said this may be due to the fact that they do not know what we offer.  She said they should be advising us what to do and how to proceed with promoting our school.  She advised that some students that are now in algebra were below percentile when they started and she advised that no other school in AUSD can do that.

C. Chilcott advised that there is always room for improvement but it cannot all be blamed on marketing.  She commented that we are competing with a district that has been growing. We cannot compete with the buildings getting upgrade and the strong leadership that has been there for years and has had the time to strengthened their bonds and have built a strong structure in that field.  She also wanted to point out that we have surged so much with special ed and we cannot absorb all of it so there is more at play than just marketing.

C. Robie advised that while we started out many things that AUSD adopted but we have not continued to show how we stand out as much.  She mentioned that the problem is multi-pronged and at the retreats look for ways to make the school look more attractive.  

R. Brown commented that although the movie theater promotion is great it can be improved.  She resonated and said that the world known Disney band and the sports programs should really be highlighted more.

A. Cooley echoed the sentiments that the way the school is promoted should be highlighted more.  She also asked about how many out of district families are in AUSD and how we want to show that AOA is not as far as many think.   C. Chilcott advised last year only 7 families out of Alameda were accepted and this year they were doing home visits to confirm.  

R. Brown, A. Price and C. Chilcott agreed that it needs to be something to catch parents and students' attention so that they can decide to come to AOA.  They spoke about how most kids decide where they want to go since their friends go there and parents pick convenience unless something really convinces them that it is worth coming to AOA.   A. Price also mentioned that the times have changed, when AOA was created the other surrounding middle schools were not as desirable as they are now. 

No action taken in closed session. 

Finance Committee- met prior to special meeting but will be meeting soon.

Governance Committee-  have not met yet. 

K. McCoy spoke to the only Alameda newspaper and gave director Chilcott's name so as to try to get some marketing campaign on the newspaper.

C. Chilcott advised tomorrow is Dolly Parton day and invited the board to come and participate in the activities.