Literacy First Charter Schools

Minutes

Literacy First Charter School Board of Trustees

Regular Board Meeting

Date and Time

Wednesday May 11, 2022 at 5:00 PM

Location

698 West Main Street
El Cajon, CA 92021

Please contact Steve Robinson by phone 619.442.5197 or by email steve.robinson@lfcsinc.org to request any disability related access to this board meeting.

Documents related to this meeting are available on line at https://www.lfcsinc.org/ by following the "LFCS Board of Trustees Meeting Agendas" link, in hard copy form at the on site meeting location of 698 W. Main Street El Cajon, CA 92020, or by emailing Steve Robinson at steve.robinson@lfcsinc.org.

 

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Trustees Present

J. Lewis, K. Evans, L. Razooky, P. Schreiber (remote)

Trustees Absent

None

Guests Present

D. Beyer, L. Amorteguy, S. Robinson

I. Opening Items

A.

Record Attendance

B.

Call the Meeting to Order

K. Evans called a meeting of the board of trustees of Literacy First Charter Schools to order on Wednesday May 11, 2022 at 5:19 PM.

C.

Flag Salute

D.

Approve Minutes From April 20, 2022

J. Lewis made a motion to approve the minutes from April 20th 2022 Literacy First Charter School Board of Trustees on 04-20-22.
L. Razooky seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

E.

Approve Current Agenda

L. Razooky made a motion to Approve current agenda.
J. Lewis seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

F.

Public Comment on Agenda Items

None

G.

Public Comment on Non-Agenda Items

None

II. Executive Director's Report

A.

School events, program, and staffing update

Debbie Beyer discussed attendance rate held at 95% last month.  

AP Testing has begun. Schoolwide testing 3rd - 12th grade begins this week and will continue this month.  

This week is School Choice Week.  Activities are being conducted on each campus this week. Next week is Teacher Appreciation Week next week for our teachers.  Events everyday planned for the teachers.  

We are in the process of interviewing new teachers for the 2022-2023 school year.  8th graders are at camp in Pine Valley at camp.  6th grade camp in June,  3rd grade Lions, Tigers, and Bears happening in June, 4th grade is going to Sacramento.

Lottery is Tuesday May 17th.   

 

B.

Presentation of teachers who completed the Induction Program

11 teachers and their mentors presented their individual induction program from the past two year and were recognized for completing the Induction Program.

C.

2022-23 Declaration of Need

School leadership recommended that the board approve the 2022-2023 school year Declaration of Need (DON) for fully qualified educators at Literacy First Charter Schools. 

L. Razooky made a motion to Approve the 2022-2023 Declaration of Need.
J. Lewis seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

D.

Committee on Assignment

School leadership recommended that the board approve the Committee on Assignment (COA) for Mr. Chris Castberg's assignment to teach high school ceramics in the 2022-2023 school year. 

J. Lewis made a motion to Approve the Committee of Assignment for Chris Castberg for 2022-2023 school year.
L. Razooky seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

E.

Charter law regarding board approval of contracts

Tabled until June meeting next month. 

F.

Approval of 6th grade camp contract

Executive director, Debbie Beyer, recommended the board approve and amend the contract for the next two years for 6th grade camp through SDCOE.  This is an amendment from three years to two years.  

J. Lewis made a motion to Approve two year contract for 6th grade camp with SDCOE.
L. Razooky seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

G.

2022-23 LFCS Calendars

Executive director, Debbie Beyer, recommended the board approve the calendars for LFCS and LCHS for the 2022-23 school year.

L. Razooky made a motion to Approve 2022-2023 school year calendars for LFCS and LCHS.
J. Lewis seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

III. Chief Business Officer's Report

A.

2021-22 Financial Report as of April 30, 2022

CBO, Steve Robinson, presented current school financials as of April 30, 2022 including the 2021-22 P-2 report.

B.

Facilities Update

Steve Robinson presented updates on all 4 campus'.  Projects planned are on track for completion for each campus.  

C.

Update on SOS lawsuits

Steve Robinson updated the board on the two lawsuits filed by SOS in opposition to the construction of our new school site on Chase Ave.  

There was a May 6 hearing in the case v. SDCOE.  We have not heard results of that hearing. 

Regarding the case v. San Diego County Board of Supervisors, the court calendar has been published through June 2022 and this case has not been scheduled.

D.

Contracts / Large Purchases Notifications

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

Perlmutter: 27 white boards for LCHS Alpine; $8582 

Teldata: Installation of the phone system for LCHS Alpine; $4,428.35 

American Made Logistics: JA small projects - Legacy Bricks installation, second story landing repair, dutch door construction on shed; $6,835 total 

American Made Logistics: JA Cross Removal; $6,470

E.

Unused Sick Days for Service Credit Calculation Policy

The CBO, Steve Robinson, recommended the Board approve the LFCS policy to allow employees to include unused sick days in their service credit calculations upon retirement within either CalSTRS or CalPERS.

J. Lewis made a motion to Approved LFCS policy to include unused sick days in service credits upon retirement.
L. Razooky seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

F.

Resolution 2022-11

The CBO, Steve Robinson, recommended the board approve Resolution 2022-11 to give all LFCS employees a $3000 retention bonus in fiscal year 2022-23 in response to the pandemic induced staff shortages. ESSER II and ESSER III funds will be used to pay for this bonus as it is a response to the pandemic. The retention bonus will be paid out in equal installments of $1000 during October 2022, March 2023, and June 2023 payroll cycles on the condition that the employee remains employed at Literacy First Charter Schools during each of these payroll cycles. If an employee leaves Literacy First before the end of the 2022-23 school year and has received one or more of these installments, Literacy First Charter Schools reserves the right to recoup the bonus payments from the employee.

L. Razooky made a motion to Approve Resolution 2022-11 retention bonus for 2022-2023 school year.
J. Lewis seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

G.

2022-23 LFCS Salary Schedules

The CBO, Steve Robinson, recommended the board approve the salary schedules for 2022-23. 

L. Razooky made a motion to Approve LFCS 2022-2023 Salary Schedules.
J. Lewis seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

H.

Updated 2021-26 MOU with SDCOE

The CBO, Steve Robinson, recommended the board approve the updated 2021-26 MOU with SDCOE. The only change is the following additional language from a previous MOU that was omitted from the 2021-26 MOU. 

8.a.i. The Charter School shall maintain its high school location within the boundaries of the Grossmont Union High School District, and maintain its primary locations (grades kindergarten through eighth) within the Cajon Valley Union School District

J. Lewis made a motion to Approve updated 2021-26 MOU with SDCOE.
L. Razooky seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

I.

Resolution 2022-12

The CBO, Steve Robison, recommended the board approve Resolution 2022-12, an official notification of the board's support for the school's application to the California Office of Public School Construction's Charter School Facilities Program to help cover the expenses incurred to rehabilitate the new LCHS site at 1850 Alpine Blvd Alpine, CA 91901. This resolution is a requirement to complete the application

L. Razooky made a motion to Approve Resolution 2022-21.
J. Lewis seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

J.

Junior Academy Wifi network upgrade bid approval

Table until next month.

K.

LFCS UPK TK Plan

The CBO, Steve Robinson, presented the school plan for Universal Prekindergarten / Transition Kindergarten as required by recent Ed Code. Schools are required to present their plans to their governing boards no later than June 30, 2022 but not for a vote. LFCS plans to implement the UPK / TK requirements through Freedom Academy. The plan provides responses to the required prompts in the template. 

IV. Governance

A.

Board Protocols

Tabled until LFCS Board Retreat

B.

Committee Assignments

Tabled until LFCS Board Retreat

C.

Executive Director, CBO, Board Evaluations

Tabled until LFCS Board Retreat

V. Closed Session

A.

Enter Closed Session

L. Razooky made a motion to Enter into Closed Session at 7:45pm.
J. Lewis seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

B.

Real Estate Matters

C.

Adjourn Closed Session

P. Schreiber made a motion to End closed session at 8:45pm.
K. Evans seconded the motion.

No action was taken.

The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

VI. Closing Items

A.

Adjourn Meeting

P. Schreiber made a motion to Adjourn the board meeting at 8:46pm.
K. Evans seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 8:46 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
S. Robinson