Board Chair Smith congratulated CEO Darilek on her second anniversary as CEO of E.L. Haynes.  CEO Darilek thanked the Board for recognizing her anniversary.

CEO Darilek started her update by discussing the recent all-staff session and thanked Board members who attended.  She noted a sense of community and substantive discussion during the session. CEO Darilek invited Board members to attend the next session, which would held in January.   

She then previewed the School Performance Committee discussion on the results of the recently released School Quality Reports. The Elementary School continues to be in Tier 1. High School results improved from the bottom of Tier 2 to the top of that Tier.  Middle School results declined and this will be a big focus during the year.

CEO Darilek next provided highlights from each school:

• Home visits continue to be a big focus for the Elementary School.  These visits allow staff to build meaningful connections with families. The Elementary School is also are preparing winter concerts.
• The Middle School has added debate as an extracurricular activity for the first time. Four debate teams from the school recently competed in a competition and the results were solid.
• The Environmental Club at the High School recently planted trees around the school property with the Sherman Neighborhood Association.  Additionally, a family college night was recently held for the 9th grade.

CEO Darilek then discussed the results of recent audits, an upcoming school review, and improvements in the school's adjusted cohort graduation rate. 

Audit, Finance, and Facilities Committee Chair Kershow noted another clean and on-time audit with no major findings. He thanked COO Carlo-Mirando and her team, and noted compliments received from the external auditing firm.

CEO Darilek informed the Board that the DC Council approved the Washington Teachers Union contract that will provide DCPS teachers with a retroactive raise and increases in future years.  She noted that charter LEAs will receive commensurate amounts in unrestricted amounts.  

In light of this development, CEO Darilek discussed efforts by the management team to develop a purposeful and sustainable compensation structure for employees, and explained that these efforts could take substantial time as they will include research, best practice benchmarking, and employee focus groups.  In the meantime, CEO Darilek recommended providing each of the salaried staff members a one-time expression of appreciation. 

Board members discussed messaging of the proposed expression of appreciation, the likely amounts involved and related budget implications, the potential reaction of staff, and retention risks. Board members also commented on the need for the full Board to be involved in decisions related to the compensation philosophy.  Overall, the Board did not object to the proposed approach of a one-time, expression of appreciation.

COO Carlo-Miranda informed the Board that the Office of the Deputy Mayor of Education recently announced a revised timeline for implementing the LEA Payment Initiative, which will adjust public charter school LEA quarterly payments if enrollment later in the school year is more or less than enrollment on the count date.  Full implementation of the LEA Payment Initiative will not occur until the 2019-2020 school year.  The 2018-2019 school year will be a "hold harmless" budget year. 

Development Committee Chair McDonough provided an update on the annual fund.  She reported an "on-track" status, and noted the potential impact of pledges made at the end of the year and the Toast for Transformation.

Committee Chair McDonough next discussed a recently held donor event.  She explained that the event was consistent with a change in strategy to focus on opportunities for donors and others to engage with the E. L. Haynes community throughout the year as opposed to solely during the Toast for Transformation. 

Committee Chair McDonough then reviewed plans for the 2018 Toast for Transformation, and noted the potential for a new approach for the event to be held in 2019.

Governance Committee Chair Rawson provided an update on trustee recruitment.  He described efforts to develop a list of potential candidates, including potential parent trustees.  Committee Chair Rawson then discussed the needs and desired characteristics for Board candidates, including someone with strong connections to the broader DC community.   He noted an aggressive recruitment schedule and a desire to recommend Board candidates in the first half of  2018.

School Performance Committee Chair Marino referred to School Quality Reports provided in advance of the meeting.  She reminded Board members that the reports are based on the DC Public Charter School Board's Performance Management Framework ("PMF"), and noted key trends in the reports for each school. 

At Committee Chair Marino's request, Board members had small group discussions of the School Quality Reports and first quarter results for the School Year 2017-2018 Commitment Dashboard. Board members then shared topics discussed in their small groups with the larger Board.  These topics included college readiness, school culture, suspension criteria and targets, meaningful opportunities for community service hours, and parent participation, among other topics.

Committee Chair Marino informed the Board of meetings with the DC Public Charter School Board  (the "PCSB") in early October, during which the PCSB laid out two options for charter goals in anticipation of the 15-year renewal process.  The two options include: 1) keeping the current charter goals and establishing targets and business rules with the PCSB for the 15-year review and renewal or 2) adopting the PMF as charter goals for the 15-year renewal.   

Committee Chair Marino indicated that some of the current goals lack objective, measurable targets.  The Board then discussed the advantages and disadvantages of each approach, and reviewed materials provided in advance of the meeting that detailed minimum requirements to obtain renewal under the PMF.  Some Board members commented on the importance of maintaining aspects of the original vision of E.L. Haynes, but noted that the mission and vision of the school serve as key vehicles to reflect these aspirations.

Committee Chair Marino presented the School Performance Committee's recommendation to adopt PMF as the goals, with the potential to work with the PCSB after renewal to create new goals.  Board members noted agreement with this approach, and requested that a discussion of charter goals be included in the 2018 Strategic Retreat.

Abigail Smith made a motion to adopt the PMF as charter goals.
Shivam Shah seconded the motion.
The Board unanimously VOTED to approve the motion.

Board Chair Smith provided an update on activities of the Race and Equity Steering Committee.  She noted committee membership changes, including that Tai Dixon will now lead the Committee and the addition of two new staff members.  Board Chair Smith indicated that the Committee will focus on action-oriented efforts this year, which will be further discussed in future meetings.

CEO Darilek mentioned potential changes to the 2018 Board schedule, including the addition of an April meeting.  Board members provided availability for the April meeting.   CEO Darilek then reminded the Board of an all-staff session to be held on January 12.

The Board met in Executive Session with CEO Darilek and received updates on matters of mutual interest, including personnel matters.