Mathew Simone and Barbara Johnson will be sworn in as members of the Literacy First Charter Schools' Board of Trustees.

 “I, ___________, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which I am about to enter."

“I,_____________________, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of member of the Board of Trustees for Literacy First Charter Schools  and accept all duties and responsibilities thereof including maintaining the mission, vision and values of this institution and the charter upon which it is founded.” 

The California Nonprofit Integrity Act of 2004 mandates that the Board of Directors (“Board”) review comparable executive compensation packages for educational executives upon any of the following events: (1) initially upon hiring the educational executive; or (2) whenever the executive’s term of employment is renewed or extended; or (3) whenever the executive’s compensation is modified, unless the modification extends to substantially all employees in the organization (see Government Code §12586(g)).

In connection with the Board’s review of the Literacy First Charter Schools (“LFCS”) Executive Director and Chief Business Officer employment agreements, the Board must meet this due diligence requirement by reviewing and adopting a comparability study.

This review is essential in order to protect LFCS (as a corporation) and the Board from IRS sanctions for “excess benefit transactions” and to establish a rebuttable presumption that the educational executive’s compensation is reasonable. Thus, the Board must meet the criteria set out by the IRS for conducting this review prior to any of the above changes in employment occurring. This review must occur without the participation of any individuals who possesses a conflict of interest. Under the IRS regulations, any employees under the supervision of the Chief Executive Officer are automatically conflicted and must recuse themselves from any participation whatsoever in any aspect of this process.

Accordingly, staff has produced compensation comparability studies for the Board’s review.

The CBO will provide the board with the school's financial status as of September 30, 2022.

Escrow on the ground lease for 698 W Main Street closed on September 20, 2022. The family trust has refunded the school $5,569.40 in pre-paid rent as the rent was pro-rated as of September 20, 2022 and for mischarged rent to the school in the escrow account. The final purchase price was $4,595.00. 698 West Main Street LLC holds title to the land and now has its own bank account at Mission Federal Credit Union. $18,728.71 in remaining escrow funds has been deposited into this account from which monthly loan payments to East County Schools Federal Credit Union in the amount of $20,936,67 and property tax payments will be made.

The CBO would like to inform the board of the following large purchases and executed contracts in the last 30 days:

Charter Tech: 40 staff laptop computers: $41,061.90.

Charter Tech: 15 new voice amplification systems for classrooms: $26,800.73.

Eco Mechanical: $10,382 for two A/C units in the Freedom House at the JA plus additional duct work to spread A/C throughout the house.

Ensley Electric: $5,300 for the installation of electricity to the container at LCHS Alpine that houses power tools for Robotics and Industrial Arts plus the kiln for Ceramics.

The CBO will present revised language for the school's special compensations for board approval. The revisions stem from the recent CalSTRS and CalPERS audits.

LCHS Alpine: Running electrical to the container; waiting on volleyball poles for their installation; asphalt contractor providing a bid for the remaining cracks in the back area blacktop.

Junior Academy: Screens are scheduled to be hung in the auditorium on Oct 12; getting bids to fix and expand the field; looking at how to develop the lot where the Red House stood into PE, recreation, and/or outdoor learning spaces; A/C and heat being established in the Freedom House.

Primary Academy: Installing a camera security system after the theft of screens on the Washington Ave fence; wifi network scheduled to be upgraded using the equipment from LCHS Lemon Grove in the next month.

Liberty Academy: Resurfacing of the playground completed; north property line established; getting bids for construction of a wall on that side of the property.

SOS v SD County Office of Education: Status conference held on September 30 with SOS counsel indicating a desire to pursue mediation to resolve this case. SDCOE and LFCS attorneys are drafting a settlement offer. We can avoid mediation if we can resolve this ourselves. Another status conference is scheduled for January 20. 

SOS v SD County Board of Supervisors: No court date yet. SOS attorney drafting a term sheet for settlement that may also include terms to settle the SOS v SDCOE case.

The CBO recommends the board approve the updated LFCS Homeless and Foster Youth Policies as they pertain to Title I Part A compliance.

The CBO recommends the board approve revised language to the LFCS Educator Effectiveness Grant Policies which offers more specifics regarding the role of CATS Coaches, Team Leads, and Department Heads which will allow the pay for these roles to be credible for CalSTRS and CalPERS.

The CBO attended Brown Act training on September 15, 2022 and will share key points with the board as well as the slide deck from the presentation for the board's review.

The board appoint a Governance Committee and nominate its CEO/chair.