There was no public comment during this portion of the meeting.

• A discussion ensued regarding the purchase of the School Mint platform.
• School Mint is a school marketing and enrollment tool that supports messaging and formatting both on-line and in-person.
• Toby Martin got the company to reduce the price of the modules to make the platform more affordable for RSV.

There was a brief board chair report during this meeting regarding facilities and long-term finance for facilities.

CEO & Rooted School Foundation Report

Below is Rooted School Foundation’s report for the Rooted School Vancouver Board of

Directors’ September Meeting. Monthly, the Foundation will report its progress towards the

objectives outlined in Exhibit A of the Services Agreement.

The September 2022 report will focus on progress toward two categorical areas:

• Rooted Vancouver Executive Director and Board Chair Support
• Fundraising

1. Rooted Vancouver Executive Director and Board Chair Support:
   1. RSF is supporting Steven Carney in developing the “Comprehensive Operational & Instructional Pilot Plan” to submit to WA Charters.
   2. Jonathan Johnson supported Steven/RSV Board in serving on the Family and Community Engagement and Student Recruitment Committee.
   3. Jonathan attended the WA Membership Council on behalf of Rooted School Vancouver.
   4. Jonathan joined Toby at the low voltage meeting with WCSD.
2. Fundraising:
   1. RSF has submitted approximately $191,000 in the grant pipeline for Rooted School Vancouver at present. This amount is subject to change.
   2. In September, RSF submitted a request for $50,000 to The Firstenburg Foundation.
   3. In September, RSF submitted a Case for Support to the Biller Family Foundation outlining the projected 5-year need ($145,000 over 5 years or $30K annually).
   4. RSF continued timely submission of underwriting documents to Raza Development Fund and Washington Charter School Development (WCSD) and is serving as the guarantor for Rooted School Vancouver’s facility.

Executive Report

It’s been a productive month of planning, development, and establishing community connections.  This month has been all about preparing for staff and student recruitment.  Thanks to input provided by the Community and Family Engagement and Recruitment board subcommittee, a comprehensive Family and Student Recruitment and Enrollment Plan was developed and submitted to RAZA and WA Charters.  

The feedback received after submission was positive and required very little editing or clarification.  The plan is attached for reference.  We began implementing the student recruitment plan on October 1 with a launch of an updated website and online registration/interest.  Here we go!

In addition to the student recruitment plan, we began the process of drafting a comprehensive staff recruitment plan that includes a goal of more than 50% of applicants being BIPOC.  The following assumptions and outcomes were identified as a foundation for developing recruitment activities, candidate tracking and plan timelines. 

Thanks to the help of RSF, the plan will be completed by Oct. 1 and staff recruitment will begin.

School Building: 

The Rooted School Vancouver construction is still on track to begin October 15, unless further delays arise in permitting or funding with Raza and WCSD.    Toby will provide a verbal update.

WA Charters Planning Year 2 Grant:  

The month of August has been a busy month associated with required deliverables.  These include:

• Build and submit comprehensive, operational and instructional school pilot plan to WA Charters 
• Build and submit Comprehensive Recruitment and Enrollment Plan to WA Charters and RAZA 

Community Connections:

• Mr. Carney attended the Leadership Clark County Welcome Reception with Adrienne Mason.  The event was well attended and an excellent opportunity to connect with local leaders.  
• Mr. Carney also met with Ms. Adrienne Mason and both connected with several potential future partners. They submitted a proposal to Leadership Clark County for their support in developing recruitment social media marketing material.
• Mr. Carney also met with Diana Avalos-Leos. Diana, the Executive Director of Latino Leadership Northwest, a local organization with a mission to create opportunities for Latino youth to build healthy relationships, advocate for their education and become proud of the work they do.  The organization works with Latino youth to build leadership skills, generate deep connections with the community, and foster collaborative opportunities.   
• Mr. Carney will be presenting at the Latino Youth Leadership Conference in early October.

Policies for Review

Discussion Topic: The following policies have been drafted for board review. Each of these policies are critical to the staff and student recruitment process.  This is a first read and an opportunity for discussion. 

No action will be taken at this time.   After your review, many of the policies will be vetted through legal and brought back for final discussion and approval at the October board meeting(s).

1000 – Board of Directors

• 1310 Policy Review, Adoption, Manuals, and Administrative Procedures
• 1400 Policy/Procedure Board Meeting Conduct
• 1801 Policy Race and Equity

3000 – Students

• 3110 Policy Enrollment
• 3210 Procedure - Nondiscrimination
• 3211 Policy - Gender Inclusive School
• 3211 Procedure - Gender Inclusive School

5000 – Personnel

• 5005 Policy - Employment and Volunteers: Disclosures, Certification Requirements, Assurances and Approval
• 5010 Policy - Nondiscrimination and Affirmative Action
• 5010 Procedure - Nondiscrimination and Affirmative Action

Director of Operations Report

1. Urgent Priorities - Launch staff and student applications by October 1
   1. Hiring
      1. Worked with Steven on hiring strategy to determine next steps for filling critical roles.
      2. Drafted and workshopped 3 JDs for open positions (ultimately, per budget, we’ll make only 2 FTE hires here, but want to get a sense of all talent out there to determine best 2 of 3 hires)
         1. Director of Operations JD
         2. Office and Operations Manager JD
         3. Assistant Principal JD
      3. Created a draft of a custom Applicant Tracking System to quickly process applications and ensure organized hiring process
      4. In process of creating selection process for each role
   2. Student Enrollment
      1. In the process of creating form-based student application system, similar to Applicant Tracking System
      2. Owning communications with SchoolMint and PowerSchool to assess the possibility of purchasing an application system in the long term.
2. Non-Urgent Upcoming Items
   1. Nutrition
      1. Coordinate with nutrition vendor to negotiate a contract
      2. Manage intersection of nutrition with procurement and facilities work
      3. Research additional federal, state, local, and nonprofit programs that can help offset the cost of our nutrition contract
   2. Procurement
      1. Create timeline of all school procurement needs
      2. Begin researching and negotiating contracts for any items that may have supply chain constraints
   3. Facilities
      1. In approximately 6 weeks, once current set of loan and compliance activities are completed, begin lifting facilities items off of Toby’s plate.
3. Contract Monitoring
   1. Hours Tracker

The committee met on September 7th for a productive ½ day of planning.  This resulted in the development of a comprehensive recruitment plan with implementation beginning October 1 2022.  The committee will continue to meet monthly to support and monitor the implementation and adjust accordingly.

RSV Recruitment Plan.pdf