E.L. Haynes Public Charter School

Minutes

October 2022 Board of Trustees Meeting

Date and Time

Tuesday October 4, 2022 at 6:15 PM

Location

E.L. Haynes Public Charter School

4501 Kansas Avenue, NW 

Washington, DC 20011

High School Think Tank

Trustees Present

F. Sutton, G. Navidi-Kasmai (remote), J. Edelman, J. Hanna, L. Carlton Waller, M. Hall (remote), N. Greene, R. Laine, R. Payes, T. Gibian (remote)

Trustees Absent

E. Westendorf, M. Kovner

Guests Present

Alvin Greene, B. Wagner-Friel (remote), Basil Chawkat, DiAnte McGriff, Electra Bolotas (remote), Emily Hueber-Stoetzer (remote), Gwyn Prater, H. Darilek, J. Callahan, J. Rydstrom, K. Wynne, K. Yochum, Kailah Covington, Matan Karasov, Myles Bradshaw, R. Hunt Taylor, Tashiyra Freeman

I. Opening Items

A.

Record Attendance

B.

Call the Meeting to Order

J. Edelman called a meeting of the board of trustees of E.L. Haynes Public Charter School to order on Tuesday Oct 4, 2022 at 6:17 PM.

C.

Approve Minutes

J. Edelman made a motion to approve the minutes from 08-25-2022 August 2022 Board Meeting on 08-25-22.
R. Laine seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

D.

Public Comment

M. Bradshaw

  • Brought concerns directly to management and leadership, the reason we felt it necessary to be at the board meeting is because the last time we were in presence with leaders, Hilary's email responded: "In order to receive multiple voices we will not go back and forth over email." 
  • In response to a question from M. Hall about whether H. Darilek's email offered other means of communications, M. Bradshaw said that after that they have not tried to resume other types of communications with H. Darilek. 
  • In response to a question from F. Sutton about what the issues are, M. Bradshaw said that one issue is that top leaders did not attend trainings about restorative practices. The response that they received from H. Darilek was in response to an email with a list of questions from various staff members. 
  • In response to a question from J. Edelman about whether H. Darilek's message was about not communicating with them any further at all, or over via email, M. Bradshaw clarified that H. Darilek's response was that they were not going to communicate via email, specifically. M. Bradshaw clarified that staff members felt that it meant leaders were not willing to engage directly in a channel (email) that worked for them.

G. Prater

  • Wanted to follow up regarding the last discussion. That email had a lot of time and effort put into it; a lot of us work 8 - 4 with children, so I'm not sure if we're supposed to take time for these communications out of our time with children during the day. 
  • Asked a question about community surveys - do you plan to share raw data with staff? Expressed interest in seeing the raw data. G. Prater acknowledged that there are efforts to share more information about decision-making.

K. Covington

  • Ask a question about the 2022-2023 School Year Calendar: Could there be any changes to this year's calendar based on the survey results that were collected? In response, H. Darilek confirmed that the survey was designed to plan for next year, and that changes will not be made to this year's calendar. 

M. Karasov

  • M. Karasov asked questions and provided thoughts on the Community Surveys (and surveys more generally): Staff participation in surveys is very important. Sometimes staff are reluctant to fill it out because they are unsure what will happen with their input. When important data is gathered and collected, how is the interpretation of the data synthesized? How does that ultimate decision-making process happen? Can that be shared with staff members?

E. Bolotas

  • E. Bolotas asked questions regarding the Community Survey: Who will make the final decisions, including regarding masks and other questions informed by the survey?

A. Greene

  • A. Greene provided thoughts and concerns around the calendar and future decisions regarding intersession. 
  • He says he is one of the few people who wants to continue to push for intersession. He's been involved in intersession since he started at Haynes 15 years ago. Intersession gives staff the power to deal with students' interests. Intersession offers so much diversity in learning. He thinks it would be a setback if E.L. Haynes doesn't make the budget and calendar considerations for the intersession program.
  • In response to his statement, R. Payes asked if A. Greene thinks that PK families who have never experienced intersession understand what intersession is. A. Greene responded that we need to promote intersession more aggressively with newer families, or maybe a two-way conversation on ParentSquare. He said we need to make sure that families, students, and staff understand how important it is. It's also a chance for staff to earn a little extra income.
  • In response to his statement, L. Carlton asked if, over time, there is an age at which intersession becomes less interesting for the student. A. Greene responded that it all depends on what is being proposed. In L. Carlton's experience, her students were "over it" by the time they reached 6th grade, when they were younger they were enthusiastic about it. A. Greene believes that STEM would be possible, he recommends we list those topics so that staff know there is a specific need.

II. CEO Update

A.

CEO Update

  • Reflecting on public comment: every voice is valuable at this time; in no way did I intend to signal that the conversation needed to stop and I will reflect on that; I want to find ways for us to have more conversations about these topics this year; regarding the survey, we had more staff respond than before; regarding masks, input from the survey is only one factor that will affect masking - we're looking at how other schools are responded, city and E.L. Haynes case rate data, community vaccination rates - and I will be the final decision-maker; regarding intersession - we're going to launch family and staff engagement focus groups beginning next year; we have an all-staff meeting on October 21 (board members are invited to join) - we will share back the data and engage all staff members in a conversation around calendars; we will then hold more focus groups; I am committed to engaging you in ways that are most convenient for you, so if it's email, then it's email.
  • Now we're in week #7, learning is happening, sports art happening, we are preparing for Hispanic Heritage Month. There is lots of learning and joy. 
  • Next school year we will complete our five-year with the DC Public Charter School Board. Part of their analysis is a qualitative site review, we are preparing for that now and are working to prepare our community. That will take place in January. 
  • Tomorrow is Enrollment Count Day. It's the day we lock in the number we report to the city for budgeting. In May you approved 1,160; today we counted 1,166. This was slightly under our expectation at ES, same as MS, and higher at the HS (especially at 9th grade). We saw a slight increase in our ELL (especially secondary) students, and an increase in at-risk students. We did see an increase in students with a level 4 IEP. 
  • There is a big "no immunizations, no school" campaign from the city. As of today we have 27 non-compliant PK - 5th graders who are on an exclusionary list starting next year. When we include students who have an appointment scheduled, there are only 4 who could be excluded. The deadline for 6th - 12th graders, we currently have 68 students who are on the exclusion list. 

III. Governance

A.

Recruitment Update and Next Steps

  • M. Hall recapped that there are some strong candidates for Board membership. 
  • J. Callahan provided an overview of current opening, upcoming openings including potential vacancies. There are two candidates being considered, we hope to bring one to the November meeting for a full vote. There is a second candidate that we voted to elect someone in May, they deferred, and they may be able to now join. 
  • J. Callahan closed with an invitation for members to refer any potential leads.

IV. School Performance

A.

SY 2022-2023 Organizational Dashboard

  • R. Hunt-Taylor, we've been discussing PARCC scores and holding Parent Teacher Conferences, and our dashboard. 
  • R. Hunt-Taylor provided a high-level overview of new metrics, like family and staff engagement, HR and professional development, and other student wellness information.
  • R. Hunt-Taylor talked about how the survey question about intersession wasn't necessarily "do we continue intersession," it's about how we can use time to most effectively drive student learning. Intersession is a strategy that we could continue to use. The Core Leadership team will also have input in the decision, and I am doing best practice research from around the country. I will make a recommendation to the Chiefs that will then be provided to the board for a final decision. 
  • R. Laine applauded the School Performance Committee for not shying away from data and engaging in hard conversations about how we serve students better.
  • G. Navidi-Kasmai asked about how the efforts last year to explore teacher and schedule flexibility have moved forward. R. Hunt-Taylor said that each campus has its own pilot programs that will launch. R. Hunt-Taylor also emphasized that part of the conversation is also about how we craft the work day so teachers have planning time. 

V. Audit, Finance, and Facilities

A.

FY22 Budget Update

  • N. Greene provided an overview of the most recent Audit, Finance, and Facilities Committee Meeting. This year we have new members and we are excited to wrestle with questions of fiscal sustainability. 
  • J. Rydstrom provided an overview of the committee's goals for SY22-23, a quick fiscal overview of SY21-22: generally, we spent within our means and managed money smartly; we ended the school year with a greater fiscal cushion that most schools have.

B.

FY23 Early Budget Updates

  • J. Rydstrom noted that our budget is currently on track, with higher than expected enrollment and increased staffing costs due to implementation of the new teacher salary scale - mostly for new teachers coming in higher on the salary scale.

C.

FY22 Audit Update

  • J. Rydstrom noted that they are on-track to provide the SY21-22 fiscal audit. 
  • N. Greene reflected on the quality of our fiscal management.
  • R. Laine talked about the necessity to ease the drop in funding to make sure we don't cut funding for academic supports.

VI. Community Relations Committee

A.

Annual Fund Update

  • We are on-track for our individual giving line, the primary drive of individual giving is our EOY campaign.
  • We are waiting to hear from OSSE about Government funding opportunities.

B.

FY23 EOY Giving Plan and FY23 Development Plan

  • Our FY23 goal is to become less reliant on government grant - build up foundation, corporate, and individual (EOY and events); we will also focus on activating lapsed donors.
  • J. Callahan provided an overview of our FY23 development goals and anticipated revenue by funding source (individual, government, foundation, corporate).

C.

Three-Year Event Strategy

  • J. Callahan will share more about the three-year event strategy with board members via email.
  • F. Sutton added that we are looking to increase our city-wide advocacy and community relations, especially how to include non-Board members, staff members, and neighbors in that work.
  • J. Callahan invited members to all the all-staff meeting and Hispanic Heritage Night celebration.

D.

Motion to Move Into Closed Session

R. Laine made a motion to Move into closed session.
F. Sutton seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.

VII. Closing Items

A.

Adjourn Meeting

There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 8:00 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
J. Edelman