Quorum established.

Dr. Lowry led meeting members and guests in the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States of America (USA). 

The following guests requested and made public comments, with key points summarized as follow:

Teacher Gary Asarch: 

* Concerned about retiree health benefits; claims Charter documents and CBAs promise "same" or "equal to" or better than those of LAUSD's benefits for retirees (medical, dental, eye/vision).

* Noted that the fund is 78% funded

* Noted that he's concerned about retirees being informed that they will be billed for low PPO

* Noted that ECRCHS had made a promise to its retirees for equal or better benefits and claims that is not happening.

Field Representative, Jack Trent Dorfman, of Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel's Office:

* Introduced himself and his position

* Is an ECRCHS Alumnus

* Looking for and inviting opportunities to partner with the school and/or availed the Assemblymember's Office if/when support is needed.

Teacher and UTLA Co-Chair, Kyna Collins:

* Noted her displeasure with labor no longer having a designated speaking time allotted during board meetings.

* Noted her happiness with OPEB funding level; noted her displeasure with retiree healthcare benefits

* Noted her pleasure with appointment of Teacher Brian Wilson as OPEB Certificated Trustee and hopes to have a certificated trustee position codified for the position.

* Noted her approval of Boardmember Solkovits' call for collaborative processes being encouraged with regard to the process for revising the Employee Handbook

Anita Gruen, Retired Teacher:

* Noted her displeasure with retiree benefits, having been informed that she was required to pay up to $900 dollars for the dental PPO.

* Noted that ECRCHS benefits are now separating out single, with spouse, and family, with extra costs; noted that had she would not have voted for the charter if benefits were presented as they are currently. 

* Noted she would have gone back to LAUSD

* Noted that the salaries at GHCHS would have allowed her to purchase an insurance policy.  

Mr. Hussey provided his Executive Director Update, with highlights as follow:

* All Certificated, Classified, Admin., Executive Team and others have completed all mandatory Annual Compliance Training Modules assigned; Thanked the HR Team (Dr. Lowry, Ms. Dominguez, and Mrs. Castaneda) for their efforts.

* Yesterday, Alt. Ed. Student Leadership had their welcome back breakfast. 2,500 to support events, fundraiser, charitable events, in support of causes and our alt. ed. program; they also liaison with student council so they are involved in and feel connected to the school.

* PSAT is scheduled for Oct. 15th.  So far, over 400 students have signed up.  Provides juniors and opportunity to qualify for national merit scholarships and freshmen and sophomores an opportunity to become familiar with the test. 

* Next Friday marks the end of the 10-week marking period, with report cards being mailed out the following week to parents/guardians.

* Suicide prevention month; our counselors and school-based therapists are visiting classrooms and providing resources through our wellness center and our counseling department. 

* ECRCHS recognized as a 2022 Pivotal Practice School for its innovative practices during the pandemic.  

* LAUSD has recognized our student engagement, distribution of instructional technology nutrition services, and social-emotional wellbeing services and has awarded us $2500 to promote these accomplishments via purchase of banners/murals, etc. 

* We are working on completing technology/cyber-security upgrade to multi-factor authentication (MFA) to enhance protections; tech. department is working to migrate systems to MicroSoft Suite for added security; noted LAUSD's recent cyber-attack and how it has impacted ECRCHS; access to LAUSD's Welligent System that is used to support students with disabilities (SWDs), including writing IEPs, tracking services, etc., has been shut down for approximately two weeks, forcing staff to work around the shut down to meet needs.  Special Thanks to Mr. Kingery, Mr. Wasser, and Mrs. Larew, and staff for working hard to meeting students' needs during this time. 

*  Last Week HR sponsored a Flu Shot Clinic with SISC; 53 people received their flu shots; 

* Nurse Peggy continues to work with COVID procedures and next Wednesday there will be a COVID vaccine and booster clinic. 

* Staff continues to work on WASC Report with focus groups having met yesterday; our report is due in December and the WASC visit will take place in January. 

Mr. Wood provided his Executive Director Update, with highlights as follow:

Speaking from chart 1:

* We supply LAUSD monthly Attendance and Enrollment numbers that reflect funding

* Student subgroups include special ed., alt. ed., and Independent Study Program (ISP) students

* 3469 now down (freshmen and Seniors similar to last year's enrollment, while sophomores and junior levels are down);

* Our funding is totally dependent on our Average Daily Attendance (ADA);  Mr. Wood noted that he'll continue to use and update this budget chart each month;

* The Board approved the 3% on-schedule increase at the last board meeting; payments had gone out for all employees as of August 31st (for month of August), and September 15th, for all remaining employees).  

* Cafeteria meals participation rates "are going through the roof." Participation from last year to this year is up 100%; averaging approx. 1900 meals per month; August of last year, we were only averaging 900 meals per month; we've added new menu items and increased access to meals with our carts implementation before school and during lunch; August 2022 profit alone was $48K; projected profits will help with Cafeteria equipment/facilities upgrades; projected revenue forecast looks good. 

Mr. Wright provided his Board Chair Update, with highlights as follow:

* Board Chair update is an opportunity for board members to recognize the efforts/achievements of our teachers, staff, anybody;

* Recognized Friends of ECR volunteers for their dedicated service on behalf of ECR, including at the recent hot dog social; thanked FoECR members:

• Veronica Alcaraz – Co-President
• Helen Fouras – Co-President
• Letty Zane – Interim Treasurer
• Christine McGrath – Secretary
• Karla Winters - VP of Fundraising
• Hervey Bernadez – VP of Marketing/Social Media
• Teri Landy - VP of Parent Liaison
• Seliene Hacker - Parliamentarian
• Letty Zane - VP of Relations
• Christine McGrath – Spirit Wear Committee Chair 

and/or Others

Mr. Wright noted that these people are unsung heroes of our school and that he and we are with them and are grateful to them for their support.

Mr. Wood, CBO, provided the August, 2022, Investment Update, with highlights as follow:

OPEB:

* As of end of August 2022, OPEB investment Account is in good shape, with an ending balance of $21.1M.

* Monthly contributions made of $220K

* Recovered some of the losses incurred last year (approx. $246K in gains)

Gen. Investment Account:

*  As of end of August 2022, up a little; ended last year at approximately $5.98M; Now at approximately $6,006,000 at end of August

Mr. Solkovits asked Mr. Wood what is ECRCHS's total operating budget, to which Mr. Wood replied $38M for this 2022-2023 year.

Mr. Solkovits asked if we have $27M in the investment account reserved, to which Mr. Wood replied, "yes," and "those are in a trust and are therefore restricted assets."

Mr. Solkovits asked Mr. Wood if that is typical for the way most charter schools operate, to which Mr. Wood replied "No."  Mr. Wood noted that ECRCHS is about the only charter he is aware of that provides an OPEB trust account.  He noted that Palisades CHS has one, although smaller in scale. 

Mr. Solkovits asked Mr. Wood what is the purpose of the trust, to which Mr. Wood replied, "The OPEB trust was set up for the purpose of setting aside funds to fully fund lifetime health benefits."

Mr. Wood provided the August, 2022, Financial Update, with highlights as follow:

* Estimated Actuals of revenues and expenses

* Unaudited Actuals (sent to State)

* June Adopted Budget

* August Update based on from June to present (as ADA and Enrollment Change)

* Some downward change in ADA and some upward trend in other revenues

* We've incorporated in August the 3% Salary increase (on-schedule)

* At end of August, we'll still have an approximate $277K surplus in our general fund.

Mr. Wood, CBO, and Boardmember Malconian led a preview of the Current Fiscal Policies and Procedures in place at ECRCHS, and invited input, with highlights as follow:

*from F&I, we are asking all stakeholders for input prior to finalizing at the next regular board meeting

* Need to create procedures around field trips and student awards to updated and clarify language and expectations.

* Cash awards and/or cash equivalents need to be addressed.

Ms. Malconian noted that we are not discussing past practice, but looking to invite stakeholder input into making the FPPs better and clearer moving forward.

She invited and welcomed input.

Mr. Kofahl asked about the size/origin of the document.  Mr. Wood noted that this robust document is similar to what is likely in place at all schools and that the document has gray areas that need to be updated and clarified, as well as align with procedures and system now in place.

Ms. Malconian noted that all of the details in the document and need to be accessible and equitable.  

Mr. Hussey noted that our FPPs have expanded over the past six years as we needed more clarity. 

Ms. Clark, Administrative Director, presented an overview of the EEBG, with highlights as follows:

* Grant for teacher, staff, administrator professional growth and development

* Nearly $600K received

* Plan submitted; have until 2025 to spend the funds

* Must update the Board by September 30th each year

* This is not a modification but a board update

Mr. Solkovits asked Ms. Clark if there has been any evaluation on what has already been spent, to which Ms. Clark responded not yet. Ms. Clark noted her plans to send out a survey for the rest of this year and next and that all of the expenditures had been topics provided by teachers/staff/stakeholders.

Mr. Hussey added that this plan had presented/approved in December of 2021.

Mr. Solkovits asked if there is a committee that puts this together, to which Ms. Clark noted that she coordinates the effort by seeking input from stakeholders which she then compiles and documents, and then solicits feedback for further adjustments before presenting to the board.

Ms. Clark presented the plan and that items that we costed out:  What did you do in 2021-2022:

* Paraprofessionals have an opportunity to take classes, take training, such as trauma-informed care which we provided for all staff last Spring (60-70 participants) and after which certificates were provided.

Mr. Solkovits asked why the VCOE and not LACOE is the governing LEA for this EEBG/induction training to which Ms. Clark noted that she had inherited VCOE as the existing entity.  Mr. Hussey added that VCOE was less expensive and closer to many of our participating educators' home than is LACOE.  

Ms. Clark explained the teaching induction mentorship process through VCOE and the cost is $3800 per participating teachers.

Excel Training and PowerPoint for clerical staff to better support our offices with increased skills.

Ms. Malconian asked about the cost of the $3800 induction and Mr. Hussey clarified that ECRCHS pays for any new teacher who has not yet cleared his/her credential, so the number of new teachers hired who haven't yet cleared his/her credential will determine overall costs for induction each year. 

Ms. Clark noted that this grant is also in support of administrators clearing their administrative credential.

Mr. Solkovits asked is a paraprofessional ladder exists to help paraprofessionals transition to become teachers.  Ms. Clark replied that no ladder currently exists, but likes the idea as she had recently engaged in conversations about pathways for paraprofessionals to promote to the role of teachers. 

Ms. Clark notified that we can modify the EEBG each year.

Ms. Clark noted that stipends have also been included for attending in professional development and/or performing additional tasks.

Pos. Behavior Intervention and support (PBIS) is another investment that began last Spring and continues into this year.

Ms. Clark noted, again, that we have five years to spend these funds. 

Ms. Ramirez, Vice Chair, who had taken over meeting facilitation when Mr. Wright needed to step away temporarily, returned Chair meeting facilitation duties back to Mr. Wright.  

Mr. Wright announced that the Board was going into CLOSED SESSION at 7:05 p.m.

Item(s) discussed.

Item(s) discussed. 

Item(s) discussed.

Item(s) discussed. 

The Board reconvened in Open Session at 7:59 p.m.

Mr. Wright reported that no actions were taken.