Ms. Ibach informed the board prior to the meeting that she would arrive approximately 30 minutes late.  

It is noted elsewhere in the Minutes when Ms. Ibach arrived and when she cast votes.

Ms. Lopez-Vargas led the Pledge of Allegiance. 

Dr. Lowry reported that he received no requests for Public Comments and no meeting attendee requested to make a verbal comment.

Mr. Monroy, UTLA Chapter Co-Chair, provided the UTLA update.  He shared that UTLA stands in solidarity with its AFSCME colleagues who will soon enter contract negotiations with ECRA.   Mr. Monroy expressed hope that negotiations would not be dragged out by ECRA out of respect for AFSCME members.  Mr. Monroy concluded by asking rhetorically why, if students and teachers are back in classrooms, the ECRA Board continues to conduct meetings in a virtual format.   

Mr. Hussey, Executive Director, provided his Executive Director Update.  He wished all stakeholders a Happy New Year and acknowledged the prevalence of the COVID-19 Omicron variant.  He noted that last week, ECR's positivity rate was 1.8% and this week the rate was .8%.  He thanked his team and stakeholders for their efforts with testing, contract tracing, etc.

Mr. Hussey then discussed noted that ECR is in process of preparing for its accreditation audit through the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), which will occur in February of 2023 (next academic year).  Mr. Hussey noted that five focus groups have been established to begin their work and that the school will provide ongoing updates to the ECRA Board and/or others as the school moves forward with WASC preparations. Mr. Hussey concluded by wishing that all remain healthy. 

Mr. Wood, CBO, provided the CBO report:

First, he provided an update on ECR's Investments portfolio, with highlights as follow:

* Portfolio is comprised of OPEB and General Fund investment.

Re: OPEB:

* OPEB account YTD valued at $23,414,747.

* OPEB began the year at $21.250,357 

* OPEB YTD Contributions = $1,320,000 

* OPEB Gains of $844,390 

* OPEB Investment Change = 4% 

* OPEB Total Change = 10.2% (includes ECR monthly contributions) 

Mr. Wood noted that Mr. Breller, Beacon Pointe Fund Manager, will make a more comprehensive presentation at the FEB. Finance and Investment Committee Meeting and at the Regular FEB. Board Meeting for a full perspective our investments account(s).

Next, Mr. Wood provided the Enrollment and ADA Update:

He noted that we've finished 89 instructional days through month five.  Some highlights include lack of attendance, YTD = 93.2%, below regular attendance levels.  124.89 ADA Below normal and projected $1.3M in lost ADA funds to the school.  These monthly updates, he noted, will continue to reflect any increase or decrease in attendance and that attendance funding will be locked in at month 8.  Mr. Wood noted that the State of CA is looking at possible alternative attendance funding models to use in the next year and that this possibility might result in a more favorable ADA funding revenue stream for ECR. 

Mr. Wood then discussed and reviewed a proposed budget calendar for 2022-2023, including timelines and topics included that comprise the budget planning purposes.  He noted that this proposed Calendar had been presented to the Finance and Investment Committee Meeting a week ago and that the Committee had recommended that the proposed draft be presented at today's board meeting for comment prior to then being taken back to the Finance and Investment Committee on or about Feb. 17th, before a vote on a Final Version of the calendar by the full ECRA Board at the next Regular Board Meeting on February 24th.  The purpose of the calendar is to support doing things a little different and to improve our budgeting process as we prepare for next year.

Mr. Wood then reviewed the Cafeteria update during which he noted that the cafeteria is being run in a positive manner with all meals served, regardless as to whether or not a student's identified status reduced, free, or paid.  Cafeteria is currently operating with a surplus of $64K.  The use of those funds must remain within Cafeteria usage, so we are considering the purchase of cafeteria equipment.  Mr. Wood noted that as of December 2021, there are 1,225 students approved for Free and Reduced Price Meals which comprises 34.7% of the ECR student body population.  This percentage of identified students also informs additional funding for the school.  Lastly, Mr. Wood noted that ECR will be submitting an RFP for Food Service Management Contract proposals as must be done every five years.  

Updates were provided for the following Committees:

Board Capitalization Projects AD HOC Committee: 

Ms. Malconian noted that the committee had met and reviewed a presentation that included projects planned and those that are currently underway.

Finance and Investment STANDING Committee:

Ms. Malconian noted that the Committee would like to recommend a vote by the full ECRA Board Meeting on February 24th to consider setting aside $5M of unrestricted monies for capital projects and to open up an investment account in which to deposit those funds and from which the Board would set aside any investment gains for capital projects funding. 

Mr. Wood noted that this topic has been discussed previously and because of limits to general funds possibly by the State and out of consideration of the School's multitude of capital projects needs, the idea is a good one and the idea would be to set aside unrestricted funds into a deferred maintenance or capital projects funding account/line.  Ms. Malconian added the additional idea is to grow the fund in order to continue to support the school for the long term. 

Board Chair Wright invited fellow Board Members to share any items or feelings they might have.

Board Members present passed.  Mr. Wright noted that the ECRA Board is a volunteer board that supports all ECR Stakeholders, that it does not take sides and that is a team that works together to make things better for our students.  

Mr. Wood presented the Financial Update.  He noted that this information had been presented at the Finance and Investment Committee Meeting last week by John Arndt of ICON School Management, so he would provide a few highlights here, which included the following highlights for each slide:

Balance Sheet: 

Mr. Wood highlighted Unrestricted Net Assets in the amount of $19,112,921 some of which might be looked at for other uses.

Cash Analysis: 

Mr. Wood noted that this slide shows where cash resides and in which account. Mr. Wood noted that two lines are listed as OPEB, which are technically not considered unrestricted cash, but is restricted cash in the OPEB account.

Profit and Loss (Summary):

Mr. Wood noted that the first column is the June 2021 adopted budget, the next item is the adjusted 1st interim budget, the third column is the YTD through December 2021, and the fourth column is the PYTD, which affords a comparison between this year's and last year's YTD at the same time (December 2020 vs. December 2021).  Mr. Wood noted that we continue to be in line with our 1st interim budget and we are ahead of where we were last year at this time. 

Profit and Loss (YTD): 

Mr. Wood reviewed revenues, expenditures, net income and net income before fair market value adjustment. Slide HIghlights also include: In-person instruction and sports activities will incur additional expenses with the re-opening of school. Additional CARES Related expenses for 21-22 will also increase expenses.  PPP Loan Forgiveness accounts for the substantial increase in Actual YTD Dec. 2021 Federal Revenue increase.  Employee Benefits decrease due to STRS Refund.  Books and Supplies account for higher than normal increase in expenditures this year.

Budget Comparison (YTD):

Mr. Wood reviewed both Revenues and Expenditures.  Highlighted slide notes include: 

Lottery Amounts increased.  SEF Tax Rate went down from 1.23% to .50% which constitutes a savings.  SPED Rates are projected to increase from $689 State and $267 Federal.  Salary Adjustments will occur ahead of the 2nd Interim Budget.   Lower enrollment/ADA from 21-22 Adopted Budget is approximately $1M.  Mr. Wood noted that Books and Supplies budgets will not reflect nearly as much spending at the end of the year as they did at the beginning of this year.

Department Budgets (4000s):

Mr. Wood reviewed the budget expenditures for Approved Textbooks & Core Curricula Materials, of which 99.60% of funds have been spent by Departments.  Mr. Wood then reviewed expenditures for the Instructional Materials & Supplies Accounts for various departments, noting that an approximate 76% of Adopted Budget for these items had been spent/used.  This is updated monthly. 

Other Matters:  Audited Financials for 2020-2021 are due on Monday, Jan. 31st, 2022, due to Education Code 41020(h) and we will file on time.  At the appropriate time, the auditor will report on findings for the ECRA Board.  Mr. Wood noted that there is some discussion as to the reporting of the PPP loan and timing of the forgiveness of the loan occurring during the current year and how that might be reported.  A second interim report that will be presented in January will be provided. 

Mr. Wood referenced the remaining documents reflect the various accounts and their amounts.

Dr. Lowry provided an overview of the current Wellness policy and components that are aligned with Local and State Mandates and that support students' physical, emotional, and mental health.

Dr. Lowry noted that he will be following up with Admin, including Mr. Hussey and Mr. Bennett and others to establish a committee to review and provide input on the update or possible update for the School's Wellness Policy.

Ms. Lopez-Vargas asked if the Wellness Policy is the same as that required by the NSLP to which Dr. Lowry replied that our Wellness Policy is unique to the ECR Community, but will have within it components that may be required by the NSLP ad SBP (School Breakfast Program).

Mr. Hussey briefly reviewed the AFSCME proposal that had been sent to ECRA on or about January 15th.

Negotiations will be beginning soon.

Mr. Hussey confirmed that this Agenda item is postponed until the February Regular Board Meeting for possible consideration and action. 

Mr. Wright announced that the ECRA Board was going into Closed Session at 5:33 p.m. 

The ECRA Board Reconvened in Open Session at 5:47 p.m. 

Mr. Wright reported that no Board Actions were taken during Closed Session.