Mr. Edward Reynolds led the Pledge of Allegiance.

1. Carlos Monroy spoke about concerns regarding ending Board member term limits.
2. Scott Silverstein spoke about concerns regarding the Board Chair and the Board's versus the Administration's role at the school.
3. Letty Zane spoke about concerns regarding the timing of Board elections for seats with terms ending June 30th. 
4. Helen Fouras spoke against changing the policy regarding Board term limits.
5. Montel Hatcher spoke about his belief that the Board is doing a good job.
6. Tony Baraz spoke about his seeing Mr. Wright as the only one outside the school speaking with parents on the day of the lockdown and sees him making sure kids are safe in the mornings with the traffic cones.
7. Edward Reynolds spoke on behalf of Wings Over Wendy's and expressed thanks for the support the organization has received in meeting at the North Campus and their desire to have memmorobilia up on the wall.
8. Charne Tunson spoke about importance of two-way communication and the importance for parents to feel like valued stakeholders.
9. Stephanie Franklin shared that she has been an ECR teacher for 16 years, appreciates all the time and work of the Board members, noted the challenges finding people to fill this volunteer role, and expressed support of removing term limits as long as protections remain in case of bad actors.
10. Dana Hill stated he has nothing but positive things to say about the school and the Board.  He does not believe in term limits as it creates artificial change only for the sake of change.
11. Cheryl Dorries spoke about supporting the Board's governance role and not having term limits, just like the Friends of ECR Board does not have term limits.  She expressed concerns regarding FOECR Board procedures.
12. Ronald Laws shared that his daughter attended ECR as a Freshman last year and he has siblings who attended years ago.  He is very pleased with how things have been handled at the school and stated that the Board has done well.
13. Shaw Fann, retired engineer, commented that he has lived within walking distance of ECR for 40 years.  He appreciates the traffic control recently implemented and elimination of U-turns and efforts to take care of the school.  He also supports the removal of Board term limits. 
14. Duncan McIntosh congratulated the school on winning his wife's school search contest after trying to choose the best school for his child.  Stated that one of biggest challenges he has seen with agencies and boards is turnover and expressed support for removing Board term limits.
15. Karen Evens, ECR teacher, stated that she is a regular Board meeting attendee and that this is a well selected, elected, and efficient Board.  Worked under Mrs. Ibach for 9 years and has utmost respect for her.  She supports the removal of term limits.  
16. Norris Gumby commented that he is new to West Hills and he have a child who will be attending ECR starting next year.  He and his wife both teach at USC.  He believes Board term limits are an anachronism and supports the removal of term limits.  

Expressed thanks to ... for graduation a few weeks ago.

Provided an update on the status of the football field.  If all goes well, should have new field in less than 30 days.

Updates to cafeteria area, main hall, gymnasium.

Continue to work with LAUSD on the camera system for safety purposes and new bleachers in the gym.

Mr. Wood introduced the new cafeteria manager.  

He noted historic occurrence that CSD gave ECR a perfect score of 4 in areas he oversees...

Budget updates will come under the specific agenda items later in the meeting.

Reviewed funding challenges, enrollment declining across the state...

Finance and Investment Committee Update - Chair Ms. Malconian reported they had a robust meeting last week to discuss the financial items on tonight's agenda.  

Capitalization Committee - Chair Ms. Malconian recommends quarterly meetings for the coming year.

School Site Safety Committee - Mr. Wright provided update on safety of the school talking about the security team. 

Athletics - There was nothing to report.

Executive Director Evaluation - Chair Ms. Ibach reported the evaluation has been completed.

Facilities - Mr. Wright - the cleanest campus has ever been

Instruction - There was nothing to report.

Travel - There was nothing to report.

Technology - There was nothing to report.

Mr. Wright invited Board members to share updates.  Mr. Solkovits highlighted that Board Member Schmerelson has been very helpful to ECR this year.  Ms. Ramirez shared that she has noticed that there seems to be some confusion regarding requirements for Board members who have a child attending ECR and noted that the parent representative Board member is the only one who cannot have a child attending the school.  

Mr. Wright reviewed information about the upcoming Board elections.  Elections will take place in August when school resumes to support the involvement of incoming families in the process.  Current Board members will remain in place until new members are seated.

Tabled.

Mr. Wood led the discussion and materials were presented during the finance board committee meeting. ECR investments are up 25% for the year and it has been doing well. the review will happen at the end of the month. The OPEB obligation will be closer to be fully funded. 

Mr. Wood and Ms. Ilyas led the discussion for the CARES Act Update. 

Mr. Wood explained that the money must be spent by the deadlines indicated.  Any unspent funding at that time must be returned.

Mr. Wright asked if the money rolls over if it does not get spent. 

Mr. Wood said that if the money is not spent then it should be given back.

Mr. Solkovits asked as part of the federal debt limit and he read they were going to pull back the unspent money. Is ECR sure about how the money is being spent. 

Mr. Wood reviewed information related to the grants and spending deadlines.

Mr. Wood reviewed the key points of the contract. The details were mainly presented at the finance board committee meeting. 

Mr. Wood reviewed the updates to this year's contract and costs. Most of the information was discussed in the Board Finance Committee meeting. He used a cost breakdown to show why CharterSAFE is the best option for ECR.

Mr. Wood led the discussion as it was presented during the Board finance committee meeting. It is going to the $171k over 6 years as it will be a 6-year contract. 

The proposed change to remove one sentence from Section 5 of the Bylaws to remove Board term limits.  Instead of stating each board can do a term for 3 years, the proposal is for the Bylaws to state as long as the board is qualified.

Ms. Ibach has received many comments from teachers.  She expressed surprise that it came up again so soon after being tabled. She is very concerned about the anonymous letters that have been going around. 

Ms. Malconian sees the pros and cons. However, the concerns that were brought up on the public comments led her to believe that term limits may not be a good idea. Teachers and students have been here for many years and there is a huge learning curve to lead a school as a board member. 

Mr. Solkovits asked if any parent or community surveys were sent for feedback.  Mr. Wright said information was included in the newsletter, but that a survey was not conducted.  He reported that he has received many emails both for and against.  Mr. Hussey noted that the school requested feedback, but did not conduct a formal survey.  Mr. Solkovits does not see a compelling reason to remove term limits, noting how many elected positions in state and federal government have term limits.

Mr. Wright requested that Ms. Larew read the proposed update to the bylaws.  Ms. Larew read Section 5, which currently reads...   Ms. Larew stated the proposal is to...

There was a motion to amend Section 5, Director's Term, of the Bylaws to remove the language regarding term limits.  The motion did not pass.

Mr. Kofahl stated that he wanted to change his vote and made a motion to reconsider.  The motion to reconsider passed.

The motion was again made to amend Section 5 of Bylaws to remove the 2 sentences regarding term limit language.  This time, the motion passed.

Mr. Wright asked Ms. Larew to read the current language and proposed update to Section 3 of the Bylaws regarding Board Member Eligibility.

Ms. Minita Clark presented key points of the LCAP, noting that more detail was shared with the Finance and Investment Committee last week.

Mr. Wood presented information on the LCFF and how the LCAP ties into the school budget planning.

Ms. Clark reviewed the priorities, goals, and areas of focus...

Mr. Hussey noted the alignment with WASC goals related to the addition of the marketing coordinator and the increased focus on two-way communication that is supported through this role...

Ms. Clark and Mr. Hussey reviewed updated plans regarding an attendance dashboard and new methods of follow-up regarding student attendance concerns and trying to reduce chronic absenteeism.  They answered Board member's questions regarding the procedures and excused versus unexcused absences.

Ms. Clark reviewed that 11 classrooms received furniture this year.

Mr. Delgado presented...

Gym and stadium updated

technology updates - CCTV, PA system, Clocks, Network access points

Budget request is for $1,891,964, funding sources included ESSER III, E-rate, LCAP, and general fund.

The Finance and Investment Committee recommends approval.

Mr. Covarrubias reviewed accomplishments since he started, including increased social media reach by platform.  

Mr. Solkovits asked if we have considered migrating off Twitter and is concerned about the negative aspects and hate speech on that platform.  Mr. Covarrubias stated that we have been looking at ways to avoid the negative aspects of the community.  Mr. Delgado shared that we are looking at options on TikTok.  Mr. Solkovits would like ECR to move off of Twitter as soon as reasonably possible.

Mr. C. presented a proposed marketing budget, including costs associated with advertising online and on various social media platforms, bus advertisements, billboards, banners around the school, windscreens, etc.  Mr. Hussey noted that this aligns with our WASC goals.  Mr. Delgado and Mr. Hussey reviewed how success and return on investment could be tracked for each method.  Information about Niche profile was reviewed and Mr. C noted that ECR is not currently a partner.  He showed information about how Granada Hills Charter School uses their Niche profile as an example of possibilities.  He recommended the Pilot Package budget listed in the materials for a total budget of $214,500.

The Finance and Investment Committee has recommended approval of this introductory package.

Mr. Wood reviewed the predicted total revenue and total expenditures.  Currently includes a surplus of $2.1 million to allow for contingencies.

This information was reviewed at the Finance and Investment Committee meeting and the committee recommended approval.

Mr. Wood explained that the state requires that this be approved separately from the overall budget.  He reviewed what is included in the expenditures.

This was not previously presented to the Finance Committee.

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Closed session occurred.

Closed session occurred.

Closed session occurred.

Open session reconvened at 9:52pm.

Ms. Ramirez reported that no actions were taken during closed session.

The Board reviewed compensation comparisons among local large conversion charter schools.

Ms. Malconian read the oral report regarding the Executive Director employment agreement....

The term of the contract will be from July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2026...  Contractual provisions were reviewed, including compensation related to salary and fringe benefits...