Public Comment by Gwyn Prater

• How is the need for LEA positions is determined, and who makes these decisions? Who evaluates these positions and determines if they are effective?

Public Comment by Myles Bradshaw

• With the changes to the calendar, will there be additional opportunities for staff to earn extra income during non-school days (i.e. during intersession)?

Public Comment by Alvin Greene

• How can we efficiently and effectively talk about sustainability for summer intersession? After this upcoming intersession, what opportunity will there be to reflect on it and revise for moving forward?

Additional Comments by Alvin Greene (later in the meeting)

• Based on economic conditions and cost of living, aides feel there is still a pay gap. Am I hearing it correctly that aides will be able to make more money, but that it will be opportunity-based (i.e., making more income during intersession vs. higher pay)?
• When it comes to reviewing the state of our playground, our PK playgrounds also need renovation, not just the one for older students.

• We invite all to attend the upcoming cross-campus Black History Month Celebration.
• We are working across all grades to promote students agency.
• Our College Office is launching a new Sophomore Career Shadow Day.
  • College Office team members C. Crawford and R. Polanco: this off-site experience will give 10th graders an opportunity to further explore a desired career field. We need support from the Board to serve as host sites and / or recruit additional host sites.
• We just completed our DC PCSB-required qualitative site reviews.
• In our committee updates, we look forward to sharing more information about how we will bring the 5th grade to the elementary school and other long-term facilities updates.
• We recognize that students and staff do not feel safe in DC right now. We are partnering with the city via the Safe Passage workers, and we are working to find additional ways to make our spaces feel safer for our community.

• J. Callahan: We currently have two vacancies on the board. Per term limits, we will have more openings soon (4 - 7 next year). Governance Committee members will send more information soon about how other board members can support recruitment. 

• Updates provided by Rikki Hunt Taylor.
• We engaged with instructional staff, LEA staff, senior leadership, students, and families to design our new calendar. We heard three main themes:
  • The need for more teacher planning time;
  • The need for teachers and staff to have sustainable breaks for reflection and rejuvenation; 
  • The need for students to have an opportunity for quality and sustained academic enrichment. 
• Updates
  • We are piloting new Summer programming and will host a small program for our youngest learners.
  • We are shortening all-staff institute to provide a longer summer break for 10-month staff. 
• Next Steps
  • Finalize summer offerings
  • Think through how we most effectively use time with students 
  • Design signature learning experiences 

• Updated provided by Rikki Hunt Taylor.
• Beginning in SY23-24, our fifth grade will remain at the Kansas Avenue Campus. This is the first step in bringing all of our students over to one campus, which we outlined as a major goal in our strategic plan. 
• This is an important academic shift for our students -- fifth grade is a pivotal year to continue important phonics work. This will also give our middle school more space to create an even more rigorous program for their students. 
• Beginning next week, we will host a family meeting about what this means for fourth-grade families. 
• 310 Students will remain at the Georgia Avenue Campus (grades 6 - 8).
• Figuring out logistics is the most critical next step right now. 

• Updates provided by Justin Rydstrom.
• Our gross margin has seen the most movement of any of our key performance indicators -- we saw a 2% decrease over Q1, due mostly to staffing expenses.

• Compensation updates provided by A. Brooks
• Roughly 85 staff members will impacted by changes in compensation this year.
• We will finalize this new compensation model this month for sharing out in March. 
• Next year we will review benefits and perks, and launch updated retention and recognition initiatives.
   
• FY24 Budgeting updated provided by J. Rydstrom
• We will engage staff and families on budgeting needs throughout the next two months and will present a proposed budget for approval in May. 
• Teacher offer letters will still go out in March. 
• We are budgeting around the fact that $2.2 million in Federal ESSER funds will sunset in 2025.
• Given the budget situation, will we need to plan engagement with the full Board, as well as with staff and families.

• Updates provided by Joe Callahan.
• There have been some variances in what we expected and what we received, especially regarding individual giving during our end-of-year campaign. This may include families whose students graduated, or families who have just reduced their giving levels. 
• We raised more from foundations than we expected; we are doing well re: public grants; corporate giving is on track with where we need to be; individual giving is where we saw a dip.

• Updates provided by J. Callahan.
• While we saw similar numbers of giving, the amount per gift was lower than in years past. 
• There were two FY22 EOY gifts we did not get, which accounted for $30k. 
• We saw some donors reduce the level of their giving, we think inflation may be a factor.

• Updates provided by J. Callahan.
• We believe that bringing back events will help boost individual giving. We will host a smaller event in March, and a larger event in the October. Our large events typically net $150-250k.
• We will share more details about these two events, with specific information about how board members can support these efforts.
• We shared a list of campus events board members can attend.
• Moving forward, the CRC will focus more on community engagement and advocacy as it pertains to long-term planning.