E.L. Haynes Public Charter School
Minutes
April 2023 Board of Trustees Meeting
Date and Time
Tuesday April 11, 2023 at 6:00 PM
Location
E.L. Haynes Public Charter School
4501 Kansas Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20011
High School 1st Floor PD Room
Trustees Present
E. Westendorf, G. Navidi-Kasmai, J. Edelman, J. Hanna, K. Simpkins, L. Carlton Waller (remote), L. Robinson Mills (remote), M. Hall, M. Kovner, R. Laine, R. Payes (remote), T. Gibian
Trustees Absent
F. Sutton, N. Greene
Guests Present
A. Brooks, Alan Newman, Alvin Greene, B. Wagner-Friel, Darsy Smith, Davia Coke-McKay (remote), Electra Bolotas (remote), Elizabeth Hennings, Emily Hueber Stoetzer, Gwyn Prater, H. Darilek, J. Brown (remote), J. Callahan, J. Rydstrom, Jose Morales, K. Wynne, K. Yochum, Kathy Greene, Kendra Wilson, Kristen Simmons, LaToya Hutchins (remote), Megan Boemio, Myles Bradshaw, Nicole Addison (remote), Olivia Ball (remote), R. Hunt Taylor, R. Murphy, Tashiyra Freeman (remote), Traci Higgins, Unidentified staff (sitting by Kristen and Darsy), Z. Mahon-Belton (remote), Zoe Wheeler Hester (remote)
I. Opening Items
A.
Opening Discussion
B.
Record Attendance
C.
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 Apr 11, 2023 at 6:15 PM.
D.
Approve Minutes
J. Edelman made a motion to approve the minutes from February 2023 Board of Trustees Meeting on 02-07-23.
R. Laine seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
E.
Public Comment
- L. Hutchins (via J. Callahan): How will we enhance PD for staff around restorative justice, even during a period of budget cuts? -- R. Hunt Taylor: We don't anticipate negative budget impacts around supporting students and their SEL needs.
- M. Bradshaw: Followed up about budget information regarding what we pay our top staff members vs. instructional staff. We'd like to see real transparency and power-sharing in deep decision-making. -- L. Carlton: What is the best way for every voice to be heard but where decisions can be made in a timely way, and knowing that not every voice will be happy with the decision?
- E. Bolotas: What is the plan to support students who qualify for 1:1 support as part of their IEP when contracts with paraprofessional staff are not being renewed, especially when many of these staff are Black? -- J. Edelman: I want to clarify that the changes to our SpEd staffing plan is aligned with our Strategic Plan, not due to budget cuts. -- M. Hall: I want to recognize that these cuts were made with lots of planning and thought; we will continue to invest in the thoughtfulness of these decisions. -- K. Simpkins: How we can talk about the numbers of students with IEPs, students will be impacted, specifically % of students who are SpEd-identified, how many had a dedicated aide. -- RHT -- 21% of our students have IEPs, we have allocated our budget to include more SpEd teachers at ES and HS, and have allocated dedicated aides to those who have them in their IEPs.
- A. Greene: Thank you for all of the compensation work. I helped set up a 10th Grade Shadow Day with WUSA9. We need to partner with Pre-K families around bathroom training.
- J. Hanna, G. Navidi-Kasmai arrived during public comment.
II. CEO Update
A.
CEO Update
- H. Darilek provided an update about when we found what initially appeared to be a message of hate at the ES, and our leadership team's response. We have reviewed our safety practices, and what it means to renew our commitment to racial equity, and to heal.
- H. Darilek thanked the Board for engaging so deeply with the staff and family community.
- H. Darilek thanked staff for attending the board meetings and all of the question and pushes, and the the External Relations Team for organizing the first in-person event for our partners and funders.
- H. Darilek provided campus-based spotlights.
- At the MS, a student set up the lesson for the day, and the team who supported him. This student now wants to be a teacher.
- We heard an alumnus' reflections who worked at the HS. Great to hear about the alumnus' experience and desire to return.
- At the ES, our students just began putting on the Spring musical.
- H. Darilek provided an enrollment update. We are once again participating in the Equitable Access preference for Pre-K3, 6th grade, and 9th grade. We have 29 students enrolled so far.
III. School Performance
A.
Review Academic Data: Q3 Dashboard Trends, Patterns, and Insights
- Updates provided by E. Westendorf.
- SPC talked about impacts of staff reductions and the Special Education model.
- After reviewing data, students with the biggest needs are showing stagnant growth; it's clear that our current model isn't working. It has necessitated a shift from educational aides to full-time SpEd teachers.
- Updated provided by R. Hunt Taylor.
- ANet data is our interim assessment we're we try to determine how our students performed over a year.
- Gave an overview of our ANet assessment and recent performance. General growth among Math; ELA has some mixed results, but there are spots of growth.
- Instructional Coaching Data (Updates provided by R. Murphy):
- ELH coaches teaching teams, not individual teachers
- All campuses have seen an improvement in teacher efficacy and possible retention; there have been major gains in teachers feeling confident about the impact of the coaching program; there have been major gains in student outcomes goals
- R. Laine: Commended the success of the coaching program!
- RHT: These successes are creating real mind shifts among staff
- R. Laine: How will this be measured from a student's perspective? We asked about mindset in our last student survey and can provide that, but it was our first time asking about it so there is no growth data.
- GNK: Are we seeing these gains in instructional coaching aligned with the supervisor efficacy rubric? -- RHT: There is variation. We see that students are doing better. We haven't looked at this data to see if teachers are performing better.
B.
Review Instructional Coaching Data
IV. Audit, Finance, and Facilities
A.
Review and Discuss Updates to FY23 Financials
- Updates provided by J. Rydstrom.
- Provided an overview of our current financial situation.
- Though there has been a delay in the disbursements of OSSE grant funds, we are not worried about this.
B.
Discuss Compensation Model Updates
- Updates provided by A. Brooks.
- Provided an overview our updates to our compensation structure for 12-month staff and staff not impact by the compensation shifts in SY21-22.
- The cost of new SY23-24 salaries is $259,507.
- We conducted an equity audit to examine compensation.
- H. Darilek - this year, the number of staff who were impacted were similar to the # teachers last year, but this year's price tag is a quarter. Underscores the importance of the increases we made for teachers last years.
- A. Brooks - We're hearing gratitude for transparency; we continue to hear questions about what it means to be "competitive."
C.
Review and Discuss Updates to FY24 Budget
- Updates provided by J. Rydstrom.
- Provided an overview of staffing costs by campus / LEA; key drivers of the budget; adjustments and cash balances; a comparison of our budget compared the DC Charter Sector; a review of how our Strategic Plan, Academic impact, and Sustainability impacted budget decisions.
- We will vote on the budget at the May 16 meeting.
- Updates provided by N. Greene.
- Commend leadership team, especially J. Rydstrom, for all of their work on designing the budget, including making space for staff engagement.
- The AFF committee doesn't see any major red flags based on the budgeting process so far.
- J. Edelman -- There will be more opportunities for the board to dig into the budget more.
V. Governance
A.
Update on Board Recruitment - SY22-23 and SY23-24
- Updates provided by M. Hall.
- We are seeking family involvement from the MS. Board members should continue to think about people they know who may be interested. We will share an updated set of bylaws soon.
VI. Community Relations Committee
A.
Annual Fund Update
- Updates provided by J. Callahan.
- We are $11,000 from our annual goal. No major concerns or issues with meeting the goal by the end of FY.
- We are planning for the event this fall and our long-term facilities planning. This would be a great time for the Board to think of people who'd like to support us.
- Provided an update of ways for board members to get involved.
R. Laine made a motion to close open session.
J. Edelman seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously 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,
T. Gibian