Jesus expressed the importance of respecting employee privacy. 

Public comment: 

* raymond mercado (via Zoom) made a comment about not understanding the resolution, and difficulties of the Zoom connection

* Cynthia shared that board meeting agendas and materials are shared on BoardOnTrack

* Jesus shared more details about the resolution. It reaffirms that all employment related information about employees is strictly confidential, and that this is tied to federal, local, and state rules and guidelines

Miles Dennison from CSMC introduced himself.

Miles shared that the transition to CSMC is underway, but is still working to obtain all data from transactions during the changeover. He shared that some future financial reports are at risk due to the missing data. David Monte asked clarifying questions about the data gap; Cynthia shared that it is being handled by legal. 

Nick shared that there may be limited ability to file audits due to the government shutdown, and suggested reaching out to SFUSD to discuss an extension. Cynthia shared that MPS is on track with the current auditors. 

Yanelli Cevallos and team shared academic committee update.

• The ILT's focus is on (1) improving teacher practices and (2) by strengthening instructional practices, improving student outcomes
• Shared schoolwide initiatives for the current school year
• This is year 3 of working with TNTP
• The ILT has launched a dashboard to track instructional practices (e.g., tracking observations that show a culture of learning, student ownership, etc.) 
• SBAC (summative), NWEA (summative), and i-Ready (formative) data are available today
  • SBAC (administered last year spring): 
    • 10% improvement in ELA (45% ->55% meeting or exceeding standards)
    • 9% growth in math (30% -> 39%)
    • 3% growth in science
  • NWEA (administered this fall):
    • 10% increase in students above the 40th percentile in math (60% to 70%), 6% growth in reading (58% to 64%)
    • The team shared subgroup data 
• The team shared updates on PLCs, including progress building structures and schoolwide alignment. The special education team has also begun developing their own PLC process. 

Daniel asked about how current performance compares to the goals set in advance. 

• The team shared that they were advised to set ~5 percentage point YoY growth goals by TNTP. 
• The goal is 60% in ELA (vs. 55% last year), 45% in math (vs. 39% last year)

Daniel asked how the team is tracking student growth, to understand whether changes in schoolwide performance are caused by learning gains vs. cohort changes

• The team shared that they have begun looking into same-student growth internally (e.g., how last year's 2nd graders are now showing as 3rd graders)
• Jesus reinforced how important student growth is as a metric (how students are comparing with themselves in prior years)
• Cynthia shared that we have some data about comparative schools showing that MPS is outpacing growth of nearby schools, and that more data will be shared in future meetings when data is no longer embargoed 
• Monte shared that it's been a long time and a lot of accumulated work to see results this positive, and it's wonderful to begin to be able to compare Mission Prep to Mission Prep in previous (pre-COVID) years 
• Jesus and the board thanked the team for all the hard work. 
• Jesus reiterated the importance of understanding students as individuals in addition to statistics. 

Cynthia shared various updates, including: 

• We shared a video of a student engagement initiative, showcasing student voice 
• We have transitioned to a new back office, which allows teachers access to more of their own employment information (e.g., W2s)
• We have a new insurance provider 
• Open enrollment for next year: 59 spots anticipated, 71 active applications
• Meeting with SFUSD to review process for charter renewal
• Working through new lease with SFUSD
• Pending SY24-25 audit (will require board approval in Dec) 

Jesus asked about other charter schools that are going through renewals now, and what we're learning by observing those processes

Share shared HR and credentialing updates 

• We are using new recruiting tools
• We are analyzing data with TNTP and Educators Thriving
• We're building standard processes in recruiting and hiring
• Salaries are comparable with Bay Area charter and SFUSD averages (~$75k). They are based on education level, milestone bonuses, and recurring stipends (e.g., master's degree, Spanish proficiency, retention or hard-to-fill roles)
• Retention conversations are beginning now; hiring will begin last week of Jan 2026

Cynthia shared that a big focus is how to stay competitive