Ms. Kari Croft shared her development updates with the Board and presented the Advisory Committee members. The committee has provided support for the Giving Campaign, reviewing grant applications, sharing emails, etc. 

 

 

Dr. Wunder asked Ms. Croft about the Balmer group and advocacy. Discussion ensued. Dr. Jennings and Ms. Montes-Rodriguez offered support. Mr. Whalen shared that the Boeing group has supported New Earth. 

Dr. McCullough thanked Ms. Croft for her efforts and work. 

None.

RISE 2021-22 Priorities: Data-driven practices, campus culture, college and career.

August Data and Demographics Data update - RISE serves 212 students, 38% of whom are opportunity youth. ADA from 8/9 - 9/3 was 51.02% at Hawthorne, 54.93% at APCH, and 57.17% at New Earth. School-wide ADA is 54.68%. The six MSW interns across all three sites support continued and revamped attendance initiatives, Mr. Whalen shared a breakdown of the number of foster youth, probationary youth, housing unstable (which changes weekly), and parenting youth across the RISE sites. He also highlighted data pertaining to student support services provided during the first quarter from all three school sites.

XQ SEL Student Survey - Starts Monday, September 20th through September 24th. Students will be surveyed on various questions focusing on such topics as: Sense of Belonging, Social Support (Well-being), Post-COVID Learning Experiences, Staff-Student Relationships. Survey Timeline all RISE students will be served three times throughout the 21-22 school year. September 2021, January 2022, March 2022. All data collected will help support with identifying additional ways to help support our students with SEL and Academic gap areas.

Russlynn Ali Visits RISE - Russlynn Ali, CEO of XQ Super Schools, Managing Director of the Education Fund at the Emerson Collective, and previous Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education (During Obama’s Term), is visiting RISE at New Earth. What: Student lunch/roundtable (1-2 students invited from each site), Classroom observations, Admin interview/Presentation, Partnership discussion.

Partnership Updates
New Earth: New Earth has opened up their in-house Career Center to support career expiration, job attainment, and college applications processes. Highlights: Community circles to build center-based norms across school and non-profit. Goals: Continue to develop credit-bearing opportunities within NE programming (Career Center, Programs, etc.). Solidify weekly partnership meetings to continue to strengthen RISE+New Earth operations.

APCH: APCH has provided 47 backpacks (and counting!) with school supplies to all returning students.13 RISE students have attended APCH programming or received services this semester in the following areas: Career Explorations Class, Health and Wellness Workshop, Halloween Horror Makeup Class, Music Production Advisory, Virtual Boxing Class, Case Management. Highlights: All students enrolled in 4 Core classes (Math, ELA, Science, and History) within four cohorts of students to allow for individualized/smaller class sizes. Structures built-in for the 21-22 school year include daily student and/or stakeholder outreach. Students engaged in APCH onsite music production course, and all went home with guitars! Goals: Continue strengthening the partnership as RISE prepares for APCH staff to return to onsite services next month.

Richstone: Veronica Williams, therapist at Richstone, is now serving as the liaison for RISE and will be working to assess student interest and staff needs to begin conceptualizing exciting and relevant programming for our youth. Highlights: Using space creatively with the launch of the interdisciplinary project: Verizon Emoji Design Challenge - STEM and English. Goals: Continue practice of Community Building Circles with each cohort, onboard English teacher candidate in next two weeks, continue developing interdisciplinary credit-bearing opportunities, build partnerships with liaison Veronica Williams, to develop integrated and enrichment programming opportunities.

Mr. Whalen introduced Mrs. Naomi Lara. Mrs. Lara is LA County native with over 13 years of service in hybrid independent study school models. She is a graduate of CSUDH Charter & Autonomous School Leadership Program with three years experience as a school administrator at resource centers in South LA, Inglewood, Gardena and North Long Beach. She is also a fierce student advocate and servant-oriented leader. Mrs. Lara's goals for RISE at Richstone include: Establishing strong foundation for integrated programming and partnership, continuing to support development of rich academic programming and PBL opportunities, ensuring equity of voice for students, staff, stakeholders, and school community. She is passionate about developing, implementing, and refining holistic systems and structures in the new space. Mrs. Lara shared her gratitude for the support from the Board members and thanked everyone for the opportunity serve as Assistant Principal and Richstone. Dr. Jennings thanked Naomi for her work, excited to work with her. 

Current Open Positions: Richstone - Math Teacher, Office Manager. APCH - English and Math Teacher. Filled positions since the last meeting: Assistant Principal at Richstone, English teacher, Academic Counselor, and School Psychologist.

COVID/Vaccination Mandates: DV & WUSD - Requiring staff vaccination or mandatory weekly testing (as of 10/10). LACOE - Requiring staff vaccination (No option to opt for weekly testing). LAUSD - Requiring staff & eligible student vaccination (No option to opt for weekly testing). Partners: APCH - Mandatory vaccination policy of members and staff. New Earth - No vaccination policy. Richstone - Staff still virtual, no vaccination policy. RISE Recommendation: Vaccination for Students- Recommend waiting on any decision to require vaccination for students. We will likely see legal challenges to districts currently implementing a requirement for students, and we will monitor these cases. Vaccination for Staff - recommend continuing to work in lockstep with DV by requiring vaccination or mandatory weekly testing.

Fundraising Efforts: Boeing Visit - Toured RISE at New Earth (New Earth funder) to witness the partnership in action. TGR Foundation, A Tiger Woods Charity: TGR Visit - Visited 201 to meet with Mr. Whalen, Dr. Jo Webber and Dr. Wunder to discuss RISE potential partnerships and services.

Ms. Montes-Rodriguez welcomed Naomi, and inquired the purpose of Mrs. Ali's visit to New Earth. Dr. Wunder shared that her visit is significant. Mr. Whalen she has been invited to visit RISE each year since funding was first provided. This is the first time she will be visiting campus. There is no opportunity for continued funding through XQ, but there are opportunities for networking. Dr. Wunder added that Mrs. Ali will be great for advocacy work. 

Ms. Montes-Rodgriguez also inquired about the next steps regarding the vaccine, especially after campus closures the first week of school. Mr. Whalen shared that the systems are in place are working. 

Dr. Jennings asked how the Board could support regarding staff transitions, and asked if data was being tracked that will be helpful to retain staff. She inquired if staff were comfortable sharing at the next Board meeting what the data and trends are showing. Dr. Hawn surveyed staff with exit interviews, and commented that a unique aspect of RISE is sometimes we are talking a small number of staff. Because the support staff is greater than teaching staff, it's a unique model. She shared that she will dig deeper to support connecting the dots and share her report with the Board.

Mr. Amato reviewed the August financials and Year-End Projection. He presented the August balance sheet. Cash is healthy at $564,064 with $170,000 Federal and State funds waiting to come in. Liabilities to Da Vinci are $290,000, which is standard. Mr. Amato provided a recap of the reserves. Unrestricted net assets are $689,000, and we will be using the $200,000 from Weigngart to support the current year. Profit and Loss look heavy, but that is due to paying bills versus revenue coming in. This is a matter of timing and nothing of concern.

Mr. Amato shared the Profit and Loss detail report. He added a projection line that will support discussions around variances in the budget. The first line of LCFF shows a temporary variance of $105,000, which is a matter of timing. Aggressive budgeting was influenced by how the state pays, which will be modified at the next meeting. We are currently projecting LCFF revenue and budget. ADA is off to a slow start, which is critical for LCFF dollars. Enrollment was targeted at 230 with a 60% ADA. It is slow in the first month but gaining momentum. 

In reviewing the revenue lines, the Federal revenue shows a positive variance due to the COVID testing program. Mr. Amato then reviewed personnel.  Finances in this area are currently more abnormal than usual. When budgeting for personnel for the year, it is usually done for the whole year. The positive dollars reflected are due to the transitions in staffing. This is offset by a few key things that were not budgeted for: a 3.75% COLA increase for staff, and the Boeing grant initially budgeted at $100,000, yet we only received $50,000. 

Dr. Jennings asked about staff vacancies and finances. Mr. Amato shared that the COLA increase, Boeing grant, and staff transitions impact the finances. Dr. Jennings inquired if hiring more staff will continue to lead to overspending on payroll. Mr. Amato shared that the positions were already projected into the budget. Continued discussion ensured. Mr. Amato shared the good news in which staff was able to work with our benefits provider, resulting in no benefit cost increases. 

Mr. Amato reviewed the Books and supplies line, which shows that we are not needing to spend as much as we thought we would. Chromebooks are supported by ECF grant which is about $35,000 in savings. Another area of good news is in the Operating section under workers compensation. An increase was planned in this area in the original budget, but the final proposal was settled on about $14,000. The educational consultants area is over-budgeted due to the counselor currently being paid as a consultant instead of an employee. Communications are a bit over as a result of cable services, hotspots, etc. Total in the operations expense side is $45,000 over budget. Total expenses are about $115,000 over, with a net loss of $229,000 instead of $139,000. We are currently working on the expense side. Assuming we reach LCFF and fundraising number, and with Weingart monies supporting budget this year, we plan to make under $61,000 and are looking at a loss of $29,000 to date. 

Dr. Wunder thanked Dr. Hawn, who worked effectively and extensively with our healthcare providers to keeps rates the same.

Dr. Jennings inquired about RISE staff knowing the budget so that we are aware and careful with expenditures. Mr. Whalen shared that he has had good conversations with staff around saving dollars being a team effort. An update will be provided at the next meeting to share how this information is being shared with staff. 

Ms. Montes-Rodriguez asked for reminders regarding opportune times to have conversations around revenue, expenses, and aggressive fundraising. Mr. Amato shared that he will work with Kari and others on the fundraising side to decide when to start talking about projections. Regarding LCFF/attendance/ADA, we will wait a few months to start making assessments based on trends.
Mr. Amato reviewed the audit and tax timing for the year that ended June 30. The audit is on track and should be finished by the end of November. He hopes to present the results at the December Board meeting. An extension of the tax return filing was requested to complete the audit and then produce the tax return based on the audited results. There are no concerns about the IRS deadline, and another update will be provided later in the year. 

Mr. Bravo shared updates on Richstone. RISE is currently finalizing the certificate of occupancy and navigating the technicalities while receiving significant support from the City of Hawthorne. 
Regarding the certificate of occupancy at New Earth, Culver City has deemed RISE as a private school since we are not part of the Culver City School District. RISE has reached out to legal to discuss options. A letter was sent to the city regarding this matter, and we are currently awaiting a response from Culver City instructing us on how to move forward.

Mr. Bravo provided feedback from his meeting with Dr. Daryl Brown, who has taken over from Dr. Delia Castillo, while she switched over to the COVID team. Dr. Brown was receptive to the information we provided around obtaining the certificate of occupancies for Richstone and New Earth. We are hoping for continued support from LACOE regarding these processes.

Mr. DR Moreland held a sports parent meeting. RISE students are able to play on DV teams; to do so, a parent or guardian needs to reach out to the coach. Currently, there are tryouts for boys and girls basketball, and boys and girls soccer is coming up. In regards to COVID, all processes are going well. Students are doing everything they can to support us in helping them stay in school. The staff is doing great to uphold all COVID recommendations.

Dr. Wunder shared that Mr. Bravo represented RISE at the LACOE community schools meeting. He commented that becoming a community schools might be the most viable, long-term sustainable option to fund RISE for the long haul. It is unsure if RISE is eligible since we are a charter school with a hybrid model. With our relationships and support, there is an opportunity to make RISE eligible since the vision for what a community school is how RISE has been operating for many years. A lot of energy is being put into understanding the policy nuances. Ms. Croft has been researching, and this is where energy is being focused. 

Dr. Jennings asked what the potential upside of becoming a community school is. Dr. Wunder shared that the state is putting 3 billion dollars towards this effort. More research needs to be done. Dr. Wunder shared that this could potentially be the other half of the dollars necessary for the wrap-around services in addition to ADA. 

Dr. Johnstone added that the current criteria do not include charter schools. The following steps are to reach out to contacts, and he is in agreement with Dr. Wunder that this can be a potential long-term fix.