Ms. Sarah Nitsos shared that she and other members of the community had heard rumors of the discontinuation of the Da Vinci music program, and hope that the rumors are unfounded.  She also expressed her thoughts that the childcare needs of families with students in both Da Vinci and Wiseburn schools be considered in plans for reopening.

Dr. Brann commented that he believed Dr. Wunder planned to address the issue in his remarks later in the agenda.

6:09 p.m.

Ms. Morgan congratulated all the graduates and teachers, saying that the 8th grade and high school Da Vinci graduates were fortunate to have the faculty and staff behind them.

Mr. Meath echoed Ms. Morgan's comments.
Ms. Latuner concurred.
Mr. Boston also concurred with Ms. Morgan's comments, and expressed his gratitude to the principals at Science and Communications for continuing to hold parent office hours.

Dr. Brann shared that the entire staff of each Da Vinci School has worked incredibly hard in this second semester to deliver remote learning.  He spoke of the survey sent to families where about 90% of the respondents rated Da Vinci Schools' remote learning and socio-emotional support as Good or Excellent  About 10% rated it Average.  

Dr. Brann spoke of the need to revise the Facilities Use Agreement between Da Vinci and Wiseburn by the end of he calendar year.  He would like Mr. Meath and Mr. Boston to assist.

Mr. Meath agreed to join Drs. Wunder and Hawn in revising the Facilities Use Agreement.

Dr. Brann added that Board seats 6 and 7 need to be filled.  Both seats will be filled by residents of the Wiseburn Unified School District.  Dr. Brann has been working with Wiseburn Board member Dr. Neil Goldman on the selection process.  Dr. Goldman suggested that two board members from each of the Da Vinci and Wiseburn boards screen the candidates.  Dr. Brann would like Ms. Morgan, who is a Wiseburn resident, to join him in serving on the panel.  Ms. Morgan agreed.

Finally, Dr. Brann shared information about the tentative agreement between the California Governor and the leaders of the State legislature to cap the ADA funding the state's charter schools receive for additional increases in enrollment above that of the 2019-2020 school year. Charter schools and lobbyists are attempting to negotiate before the budget is signed.

Dr. Wunder shared that one of the primary goals of Da Vinci Schools is to close the opportunity gap for students. He spoke of the work on equity and inclusion that the Da Vinci ally partners and Black Student Union have begun.  He also expressed his gratitude to the Da Vinci Schools Fund and its president, Gary Wayland, for sending $100 to each Da Vinci staff member (other than the CEO and his Cabinet) to purchase professional development materials for diversity, inclusion and equity.

He also spoke of the Assembly Bill 77 that Dr. Brann discussed, saying that it is significant in that Da Vinci Communications expects to grow by half a grade level, and Da Vinci Connect plans to expand its high school, and Da Vinci RISE High is also growing.  He spoke of the staff working hard to adjust and adapt to unprecedented uncertainty.

Dr. Wunder reminded the audience that the Magna Carta dictates that music, athletics, and performing arts be included at Da Vinci.  Dr. Wunder shared that he and Wiseburn Superintendent Dr. Blake Silvers are in discussions to determine shared staffing options for the music program.  

Mr. Scott Warner began the presentation, saying that he would be covering the April 2020 financials.  The goal of the financial team is to close the gap so that the books will close one month behind the meetings rather than two.  The year-end close is more complicated due to accruals; the books for the year-end will probably not close until mid-to-late August.

Mr. Warner spoke of the uncertainty revolving around the state budget, and thus, school revenues and the 2020-21 Da Vinci budget. The COLA will most likely be 0%, and the LCFF will fund at the 2019-20 rates.  LCFF revenues will be deferred up to six months, which will create cash flow issues.  Waivers will be offered, but the schools will need to prove that they are in dire need.  The Hold Harmless status for ADA is uncertain.  Special Education rates are predicted to be about 6.25% per ADA.  The Cal STRS rate is predicted to be the same as that for 2019-20, or 17.1% The team will present another budget probably in September, after gaining information from the revised State budget.

Mr. Michael Amato shared where changes will probably be made in the budget, based on new information that is coming in.  

He commented that the presented budget is conservative, citing the uncertain reductions in LCFF revenue, uncertain CTE funds, and uncertain revenue for enrollment increases.  The estimated $1.7MM CTE revenue was not taken into account, as it had not yet been confirmed. The presented FY 21 budget reflects an approximate revenue reduction of approximately $1.7MM from where the financial team estimates the budget will land compared to FY20.

Mr. Amato continued the update saying that increased expenses in updated insurance of $117K, and  expenses for disinfection and cleaning might be partially offset in savings for transportation, professional development, dues/memberships, etc. created by remote learning over the last few months. Mr. Amato and the principals worked on the budget to trim where possible.

Ms. Morgan asked for clarification on the payroll portion of the insurance, and possible refund after an audit.  Mr. Amato spoke of the payroll budget being based on the 2019-20 figures.  There are no increases in salaries for the 2020-21 year.  Ms. Sabrina Ayala spoke of the insurance figures not having been updated for a couple of years.  She will speak with the insurance company regarding a refund in the event the payroll budget is smaller than anticipated.

Mr. Meath expressed his appreciation for the work.  Ms. Latuner shared that her questions had all been answered.

Ms. Carla Levenson shared enrollment projections for 2020-21 for all the Da Vinci Schools, saying that the high school numbers were conservative. 

She shared that 1,954 individuals (unique applicants) have applied to all schools excluding RISE High.  Total applications were close to 4,000, since each individual could apply to more than one high school.

Close to 1,000 applications have been received per high school thus far, and applications continue to come in.

1,015 people have applied for 543 openings in 9th grade.  About 100 more offers will be made from the wait list, for the new programs DV Remote and Connect High.  Connect High has received 107 applications from 41 zip codes.  DV Remote has received 78 applications from 32 zip codes.  169 people participated in five informational webinars that Ms. Levenson and Ms. Grace Long held.

227 Wiseburn residents have applied for grades TK-12.  86% of Wiseburn's Dana graduates have enrolled at Da Vinci (140 out of 163).  31 residents students are returning to the District in grades 1-12.

47 El Segundo residents representing 36 families applied to Da Vinci.  Only five students have been enrolled, due to their lack of enrollment priority.  Currently, Ms. Levenson believes about 12 El Segundo residents are part of Da Vinci Schools.

Messaging about new programs and current programming during a pandemic is difficult and complex.  The work is being done by the Ms. Levenson, supported by RALLY communications and consultant Richard Greenberg. 

Last, she spoke of changes to the Da Vinci website in support of communicating the latest enrollment and programming information.

Dr. Wunder thanked Ms. Levenson for her work.  Dr. Brann thanked her for her effectiveness.

Dr. Hawn presented some initial thoughts on fall planning.  She works with a consortium of education HR professionals, and informed the board that Da Vinci Schools is at the head of the group in planning.

Dr. Hawn shared In-Person/On-Site, Hybrid, and Remote instructional delivery models.  The design process has been driven by knowledgeable Da Vinci staff, the leadership team, and stakeholder input.  Parent and Staff surveys have revealed that most families and staff want a hybrid model, and the Da Vinci team wants to deliver that, if health and safety guidelines allow it.

The planning is informed by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), L.A. County Office of Education (LACOE) guidance, neighboring school districts, and other organizations.  The CDPH is working on providing specific guidelines around safe on-campus instruction on July 3.  The planning group's work has paused in order to receive those guidelines.  

Key considerations are safety (the CDPH guidelines); facilities, food services, and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE); high quality instructional models including special needs and learning loss/recovery; student, family, and staff training; social-emotional supports for students; and ability to pivot as needed.

Operational Assumptions:  Standard size classrooms are 960 sq. feet.  The 201 campus rooms are smaller, therefore students would have to be divided into 3 cohorts.  Cleaning time and protocols, number of instructional days/minutes; special needs/SEL models; athletics (CIF guidelines), facility space, and staff needs must all be considered.

Planning Goals:
Now:  continue enrolling new families and engage in Parent Input Meetings.
July:  Develop schedule options, engage in stakeholder meetings, communicate with the Board and families; remote summer school is in session.
August:  Finalize program and communicate to families; teacher Professional Development for remote instruction
Fall:  refine all program models; pivot if necessary.

Communication timeline:
Now:  Ongoing enrollment and notifying families of their placement in each program.
July:  Engage in parent stakeholder meetings, update the Board and families on each school's program.
August:  Finalize schedules and program options and communicate to families.

Dr. Hawn honored the work of the administrators and staff.  Planning with the current locus of information is being done with the help of the administration and staff.

Mr. Meath thanked Dr. Hawn, as did Dr. Wunder.  Dr. Wunder also shared that the Da Vinci school nurse, Dr. Emily Green has spoken of the public health guidelines.  He knows that families and staff are anxious to know more, but that the work must be informed by safety and Los Angeles County public health guidelines.

Dr. Hawn explained that the waiver request is for a current Da Vinci teacher who is in the second year of a program to be a speech language pathologist.  The State allows current teachers to get a waiver to work as a speech language pathologist while enrolled in a program, as long as there is a public hearing and board approval.

Mr. Vicente Bravo gave the update on preparations for Plexiglas barriers at the various school sites and rooms.  Portable barriers and table partitions will be used to divide up larger spaces like the gym and MPR for students.

Facilities Director John Fernandez has installed Plexiglas in various spaces at a great cost savings without damaging the building surfaces.

Estimates for canopies, furniture and charging stations for outside areas, technology, PPE, tabletop Plexiglas shields are being gathered.  Mr. Bravo is looking for local vendors who have a track record with known organizations. 

He is also looking at new drop-off and pick-up procedures, and costs and logistics of converting to touchless restrooms.

The Facilities Use Rental Agreement will need to be revised due to the following: 

• Facilitron is an online system for managing facilities rentals. 
• Increased cleaning and disinfection time and costs such as fogging by Micron Disinfection. 
• New language for cancellations, a hold harmless clause and effective date will be added to the agreement. 
• Revised rental costs

The revised agreement will be presented to the Board for approval in July, 2020.

The Office of Emergency Services will provide two months' worth of PPE.  In the meantime, Mr. Bravo's team has been vetting vendors, gathering estimates, and beginning to order equipment.

Mr. Boston commented that he had been working on this issue at his office.  He asked about cleaning the Plexiglas dividers and adding more surfaces that must be cleaned.  Mr. Bravo said that the pros and cons had been considered.  Teachers and staff will be required to remove large items in spaces to reduce the number of items that need to be cleaned.

Mr. Boston also asked about the use of the gym for instruction.  Mr. Bravo responded that social distancing was taken into account, as well as noise and supervision issues.

Ms. Morgan expressed her gratitude for everyone who has been working on the issue of reopening the schools.  She is thankful to be a part of such a hard-working, optimistic team.

Dr. Brann asked about funding for the expenses.  Mr. Scott Warner responded that SB-117 funds, CARES Act and other funding can be earmarked for COVID-related expenses.  Up to $400 or 500K funds could be coming.  Mr. Amato commented that the budget presented in the agenda does not include all the funding due to the uncertainty, although it does include an expense amount for COVID-related costs. 

In response to a question by Dr. Brann, Mr. Bravo verified that the previously-approved expenses for significantly upgrading the Black Box Theater were on hold.  

Technology needs like hot spots, headphones with microphones, etc. were discussed.  Inventory is underway for all equipment from students and staff. All equipment will be inventoried, updated, and serviced.  Mr. Bravo spoke of cost savings of buying equipment that is currently leased.

Regarding athletics, CIF will make an announcement on July 20.  Mr. Bravo is keeping informed, and working with Drs. Hawn and Green in planning for the athletic director and coaching staff.

Item was tabled for later presentation in July due to the supporting document being inadvertently left out of the agenda.

Dr. Brann spoke of the Capitol Advisors Group, a prominent lobbying group in Sacramento with experience in charter school issues.  Dr. Brann feels that the money will be well spent.

Entered at 8:13 p.m.

Public session reconvened at 9:42 p.m.  Dr. Brann reported that no action was taken.