Ventura Charter School of Arts and Global Education
Minutes
Regular Board Meeting - April
Date and Time
Thursday April 20, 2023 at 6:30 PM
Location
Ventura Charter School of Arts and Global Education
2060 Cameron Street
Ventura, CA 93001
Room 20
The Ventura Charter School of Arts and Global Education (“School”) welcomes your participation at the School’s Board meetings. The purpose of the public meeting of the Board of Directors (“Board”) is to conduct the affairs of the School in public. We are pleased that you are in attendance and hope that you will visit these meetings often. We honor our partners in education. We recognize that we are a collective group of teachers, parents, students, and community. We encourage written and verbal communication. Your participation is vital to the healthy operation of our school. Our guidelines:
- Agendas are available to all audience members at the door to the meeting and online at venturacharterschool.org
- “Request to Speak” forms are available to all audience members who wish to speak on any agenda item(s) or under the general category of “Oral Communications”.
- “Public Comments" is set aside for members of the audience to address the Board. However, due to public meeting laws, the Board can only listen to your issue, not respond or take action. These presentations are limited to five (5) minutes each and total time allotted to non-agenda items that will not exceed thirty (30) minutes. The Board may give direction to staff to respond to your concern or you may be offered the opinion of returning with a community-requested item.
- With regard to items that are on the agenda, you may specify that agenda item on your request form and you will be given an opportunity to speak for up to five (5) minutes when the Board discusses that item.
- When addressing the Board, speakers are requested to state their name and affiliation with the School.
- Community members may request that a topic related to School business be placed on future agenda in accordance with the guidelines in Board Governance Policy. Once such an item is properly agendized and publicly noticed, the Board can discuss, respond, and possibly act upon such an item.
- In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and upon request, the School may furnish reasonable auxiliary aids and services to qualified individuals with disabilities. Individuals who require appropriate alternative modification of the agenda in order to participate in Board meetings are invited to contact the Director’s office. To request assistance contact (805) 648-5503.
- Public requests for agenda and materials should be directed in writing to the Executive Director at lisa.h@venturacharterschool.us
- Board agendas for regular meetings are posted 72 hours in advance at www.venturacharterschool.org and at 2060 Cameron Street, Ventura, CA 93001.
Directors Present
Cecilia Johnston, Dominic Aguirre, Liz Smiley, Tom Mc Nerney, Tricia McClain
Directors Absent
None
Ex Officio Members Present
Christi Sandbach, Lisa Hildebrand
Non Voting Members Present
Christi Sandbach, Lisa Hildebrand
Guests Present
IRhode@vcoe.org, Liza Scheer, Rudy Calasin, Tony Biasotti
I. Opening Items
A.
Call the Meeting to Order
B.
Record Attendance and Guests
C.
Mission Statement
D.
Approval of Minutes for the Regular Board Meeting for March 23, 2023
E.
Approval of the Agenda
F.
Consent Agenda
Approval of the following Consent Agenda items was requested:
All items listed under consent are considered to be routine and may be enacted by approval of a single motion. There will be no separate discussion of these items; however, any item may be removed from the consent agenda upon request of any member of the Board and acted upon separately.
--Ratification of attached check register, purchase orders, summary of revenue and expenditures for the month of March 2023
--Gifts to School: $1,000 from Smart and Final
--Credit Cards: March:
LHildebrand: $4,490.32
CSandbach: $1,853.32
-Personnel:
--Hiring of Sarah Melbardis - SLP; .50 FTE
--Resignation of Ernie Villacana, Kassandra Arreola, Grayson Brill, Katherine Curtin, Devon Delaney, Alexander Eastman, Eugenia Eichstetter, Josiah Fernandez, Justin Hansch, Annette Leifson, Shannon Lobreau, Savanna Mejia, Kelli Mora, Theressa Moraitis, Adrienne Murillo, Donna Nystrom, Steve Plotkin, Erica Rose Rauso, Cyndi Rowton, Eileen Ruiz, Jennifer Savage, Francine Taran Freund, Olivia Urban, Laurin Boland, Bailey Donahue, Jessica Emanuele, Yolanda Mejia, Virgilio Rosas, Heather Thomson
G.
Upcoming Events
--April 21 - 7/8 Dance!
--May 12 - Parent Appreciation Day
--May 17 - Kindergarten Orientation
--MAP Testing
--CAASPP Testing Begins
--ELPAC Testing
--GATE Testing
--700 Forms due!
II. Communications
A.
Public Comments
There were no public comments.
B.
President and Board Report
There was no President or Board Report.
C.
Board Committee Reports
The Governance Committee met to update items in the Board onboarding packet and to work on the evaluation tool for the Executive Director. The Board is currently working to add more members.
D.
Parent Liaison Report
E.
Teacher Report
Liza Scheer reported on:
* 1st Graders are excited about their module on Birds for ELA.
* 2nd Graders took the train to the MOXI in Santa Barbara.
* Liza's class walked to the Avenue library.
* Liza had a $600 Donor's Choose project funded to purchase decodable books.
* 3rd grade culminated their Peter Pan module with a living museum.
* 5th grade is studying the local watershed and taking bike riding classes so they can ride bikes to the watershed.
* 6th grade is rehearsing for their Spring musical, Oliver.
* 7/8 is finishing up their realistic fiction book clubs.
F.
Directors' Report
Christi Sandbach, Assistant Director, reported on the following:
* Spring MAP benchmark testing administration is underway.
* Teachers completed a 3rd walkthrough/learning walk to look for instructional practices that support all readers.
* Professional development for teachers on Skills Block, classroom management, and discourse in the classroom was held in March.
* The first round of teacher observations has been completed.
Lisa Hildebrand, Executive Director, reported on the following:
* EarthDay was a big success raising over $24,000.
* VCS will have a TOSA position to support early literacy for the 23/24 and 24/25 school year.
* The LCAP is being written and will be reviewed by the staff, PAC, and Board in May and voted on in June.
G.
VCOE Director of Charter School Support and Oversight Report
No report was given.
III. Items Scheduled for Information, Discussion, and/or Action
A.
CliftonLarsonAllen LLP Statement of Work - Audit Services
B.
CliftonLarsonAllen LLP Master Services Agreement
C.
VCS Form 990 Income Tax Return for year ended June 30, 2022
D.
COVID-19 Prevention Program
The COVID-19 Prevention Program policy was amended to reflect changes since moving out of pandemic status.
IV. Closed Session
A.
Conference with Legal Counsel - Anticipated Litigation
The Board entered Closed Session at 7:10 PM to discuss significant exposure/Initiation of litigation pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 54956.9: one case.
V. Other Business
A.
Future Topics
B.
Board Meeting Check In
The Board discussed their Board Goals:
VCS Board Goals for the 2022/2023 School Year
Goal 1: Develop a well-governed organization- Governance Committee (Recruit diverse board members from the community, review/revise annual board survey, research a replacement for Board on Track.)
Goal 2: Students progressing towards the highest level of achievement.
Goal 3: Build community presence/outreach for a sustainable organization (Marketing plan, increase enrollment and a waiting list, create an online presence, promote VCS as a leader in education in Ventura County)
Tom McNerney read the VCS Mission Statement.
VCS engages every student in meaningful and supportive learning experiences to grow resilient, educated, and socially intelligent human beings.