R. D. Forbes read the mission statement and the envisioned future.

R. Whittaker suggested the following amendment to the prior Board meeting minutes after the Board returned to Open Session:

V. Closing Items
B. Board returned to Open Session: No action was taken.

C. Robie suggested an amendment to the prior board meeting minutes, to include R. Whittaker as one of the event's key speakers. The minutes should read as follows:

III. Board Communications | A. Board Member Reports
C. Robie referred to a past event in the Main Alameda Library. The Friends of the Library organized the 2nd annual Black History Speakers Panel, and AoA Board member, Ron Whittaker was one of the key speakers. 

R. Wittaker asked for a clarification on a double listing 2x$300 for April 14.  S. Ivery will look into the case and find out the answer by the April meeting.

M. Huxley introduced the new Elementary School Principal Leah DeArmey who will start off by attending the Leadership Conference on June 27, 2020. The experience in teaching various grade levels, connecting well with the staff, and her values and AoA values being aligned, were among the elements that made her an excellent fit for the position.

Leah DeArmey introduced herself, and said she is excited to join the AoA family. On the school tour she was impressed by how engaged the students were, and the warm atmosphere. This is Leah's 13th year in education. She started as an Elementary School Teacher, and recently graduated from UC Berkeley’s Principal Leadership Institute, which is her second degree.

Everyone welcomed Leah to the team. Leah then left the meeting at 6:50pm.

C. Robie, K. Zimmerman, W. Schaff, A. Price and D. Forbes had nothing special to report.
     
R. Brown, as a parent of a middle-schooler, expressed how much she appreciates how well the home-schooling works.         

Q. Chu, as a parent of two elementary-schoolers, echoed R. Brown. Communication works great, teachers are helpful and add personal touch with extra material. However, while "Phase 1" has been somewhat static learning, creating opportunities to discover and learn new things would be welcomed in "Phase 2".

R. Whittaker shared the following: Alameda Arts is an afterschool program at 3 Alameda elementary schools. They have paired nearly 100 kids as pen pals, across 7 states & 2 foreign countries. They are posting do-at-home projects on their website and exploring the use of Zoom as a platform for virtual Show & Tell.

M. Huxley: Meeting on April 14, 2020.

M. Huxley:

• Upcoming Organizational Leadership Meetings on April 2 and 16.
• Employees want to thank board members for taking care of the staff and students in difficult times.
• Approximately 230 laptops were loaned out to students.
• Online learning program Phase 1 – using Google Classroom and IXL (issues detected).
• Online learning program Phase 2 – focus on technical improvements and students' time balance.
• Tracking students who have not logged into Google Classroom. Reaching out families by phone.
• A survey will be sent, to get feedback on families' experiences from online learning.
• Special Education Meeting scheduled for Friday March 27, 2020.
• April 6–7, 2020 (right after Spring Break) there will be two days of PT for teachers, and no school for students.
• The Summer School Program at both schools are in jeopardy due to COVID-19. There is desire to run them depending on information from state and county officials.

Q. Chu brought up the possible need of translation services and volunteered to help families in Chinese if needed. M. Huxley added that in the past, some parents and staff members have helped with translations. The same practice will be considered in the COVID-19 communication.

D. Forbes thanked Matt and the team for creating the online learning plan so well and so quickly. He also encouraged the staff to just ask, if any help with interpretation, resources, etc. is needed.

Q. Chu asked about the enrollment process status. M. Huxley told that due to COVID-19 situation, the schedule was extended by one week. The school will start calling families on April 3. This item will be added to the April agenda.

C. Robie proposed an organizational chart to get a clear understanding about roles and responsibilities of the school staff. M. Huxley will add the item to the April agenda.

Executive Director, Matt Huxley, reviewed the short-term Executive Director Succession plan. Board members said that it would be helpful if it included a clear process of distributing key roles to other school/organizational leaders on a temporary basis. They also discussed the need for developing a structured long-term plant make sure that is a smooth transition when the Executive Director leaves that position and another one is hired.

D. Forbes brought up for discussion a scenario "what if a board member got sick with COVID-19"? AoA's legal council had suggested that in such case the board member could resign and rejoin afterwards. Taking that action would make it easier to meet the quorum.

R. Whittaker pointed out that the minimum number of board members for a given meeting is five if they had to vote on a topic.

Board members unanimously reached the conclusion that in such cases, resigning would not  be necessary, as everyone can attend meetings online if needed.

 S. Ivery presented Second Interim Report, which covered the following:

• Actual Expenses 7/1/19 - 1/31/20
• Updated 19/20 budget assumptions
• 20/21 & 21/22 multi-year budget projections

In addition to ES & MS Highlights, the report included a COVID-19 update. 

R. Wittaker asked for a clarification: will the Disney trip be refunded.  S. Ivery will look into the case and find out the answer by the April meeting.

M. Huxley reviewed key topics for the April 30 meeting. 
Topics include:

1. COVID-19 Update – distance learning plan, relevant information
2. 1st Draft of 202/21 Budget
3. Financial update 2019/20
4. Enrollment update
5. Parent and student survey on distance learning plan
6. Staffing update
7. ED goals update
8. ED salary
9. LCAP 
10. Form 700