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Mr. Ochoa wished everyone a happy New Year.

Dr. Brann also wished everyone a happy New Year. He spoke about Israel Mora, who has resigned from the Wiseburn Unified School District Board after 20 years of service. Only 81 people have served on that board in its long history, and only six have served 20 years or more, showing Mr. Mora's rare commitment to public service.  Dr. Brann gave some details of the the history of the Wiseburn board, expressed his appreciation for Mr. Mora's dedication, and wished him well in his future endeavors.

Dr. Wunder commented that he had met with Mr. Mora, and that so much of Da Vinci's ability to serve students well is because of Mr. Mora and Wiseburn's support of Da Vinci. Dr. Wunder also commented on the Metrics presentation on the agenda.

Dr. Brann is thankful for the foundation built by Wiseburn Board on which Da Vinci now stands.

Dr. Hawn introduced Leilah Harper, Chiamaka Offokansi, Aaron Diaz, Christian Salinas, Zirak Engineer, and coordinator Carisma De Anda.

Leilah Harper gave the Design update, sharing that MAP testing was held in Advisory classes; seminars were being selected; Seniors were planning the prom for May; Spring sports have begun, and the Girls soccer team has been on a winning streak. Many students are taking advantage of on-campus COVID testing before and after school and at lunch.

Chiamaka Offokansi gave the report for Science, commenting on MAP testing, the FRC Kickoff, and Youth in Government conference scheduled for the weekend. She shared that Zoom office hours, assignment postings, and afterschool tutoring have helped all students keep up with school work. The School Site Council met to review the School Safety Plan and discuss academic performance and parent survey data.

Aaron Diaz gave the Connect High School update, saying that Spirit Week was held at the start of the second semester, and both cohorts of the school community are excited to move to the new campus on February 7 and 8.

Zirak Engineer gave the update for Connect K-8, saying that the new semester has brought a new, more traditional schedule. Students have been following COVID mask guidelines well during the Omicron COVID surge.

Christian Salinas gave the update for Communications, saying that Sexual Education, Bystander, and Harassment lessons have been held, as well as virtual counselor presentations for parents, and ongoing COVID testing. Upcoming events are a blood drive on February 14 and Black history month activities. Students have been following COVID protocols including social distancing, double masking, and for those students who have returned to online learning, teachers have adjusted the flexibility of their lessons.

Mr. Amato introduced Vanessa Pineda, a Director at Christy White Associates, Da Vinci Schools' auditor.  Ms. Pineda gave the report for the 2020-21 Fiscal Year.  The Auditor gives their opinion, a reasonable assurance that Da Vinci's financial statements are materially correct and Da Vinci is in compliance with Federal and State requirements. Christy White Associates gave an unmodified opinion (the best opinion an organization can receive) on the Da Vinci Schools' financial statements, internal control over financial reporting, and compliance. No significant deficiencies or material weaknesses were found.

No new accounting policies were implemented in the 2020-21 fiscal year. No material misstatements were found. Ms. Pineda noted that this was a very clean report; most organizations have an issue here and there.

Ms. Pineda thanked Da Vinci's business office and CSMC for their assistance in this second year of remote auditing.

Mr. Meath asked if the auditor felt the board should discuss any of the findings with her.  Dr. Brann expressed his appreciation for Mr. Amato and Mr. Denniston's work, saying that he has never seen such a clean audit.  He also thanked Ms. Michelle Rainey for her work with the auditors on independent study. Mr. Amato also thanked the staff, noted that approval of the audit report appears on the night's agenda, and that Da Vinci's tax return will be presented to the board in February and will be filed on time.

Mr. Amato gave the financial report, going over the December balance sheet, P&Ls, and July through December 2021 Year to Date Actuals. As of December, everything was on track, with only a few small variances to the budget. 

Mr. Boston inquired about any significant January student absences due to the pandemic. Mr. Amato explained that the last full reporting period ran through December 31, 2021; January ADA reports will be covered in the February board meeting.

Mr. Amato spoke of waiting for the ECF federal grant award (which is not in the First Interim budget projection) which would pay for the cost of new Chromebooks for all sites. Da Vinci is not alone in waiting for the awards to be made. Da Vinci is also awaiting the A-G grant to help students with A-G course success and credit recovery.

The Governor's budget has been released.  One of the key components is a 5.33% COLA. However, the rate for STRS is increasing 2.1%  over the previous year, somewhat offsetting the COLA revenue.

Mr. Denniston reminded everyone that it is a budget proposal; what matters is the budget that is approved in late June. The non-partisan Legislative Analyst's Office is calling for a more measured budget.

Discussion of the retirement systems, STRS and PERS ensued, as well as a discussion of the creation of the Average Daily Attendance measurement rather than simple enrollment. 

Dr. Hawn introduced the Metrics team of Dr. Allegra Johnson, Executive Director of Student Services; Gloria White, Director of Data Analysis; and Chris Miller, Data Coordinator.

Dr. Hawn shared the overview of the presentation: the importance of metrics, the focus on students, where we've been and where we're going, and internal and external data collection.

Dr. Johnson gave the context for the report. Ms. White shared that data is being used in many different ways at Da Vinci to reveal both academic outcomes and SEL/culture. Tools being used include the Da Vinci Data Hub that Mr. Miller has created, California Dashboard, National Clearinghouse, PowerSchool, Naviance, and Achieveworks surveys.

Da Vinci's Net Promoter Score is 71.4, which is very high considering the national decline in net promoter scores across all industries.

Dr. Hawn shared that the team of Dr. Johnson, Ms. White, Mr. Miller, the counselors, administrators, and teachers are integral to collecting and analyzing the data. The team is looking to expand how they gather, use, and prioritize the data in meaningful ways to improve practices and inform instruction.

Dr. Johnson noted that moving forward, the team will focus on having more stakeholder discussions on outcomes and assessment tools, focusing on signature practices, formative assessments, career readiness, and broadening the definition of inclusion. The team also wants to expand their collaboration and articulation with Wiseburn.

Mr. Boston commended the team for their work on making the mountain of data digestible and for the push on the diversity, equity, and belonging front. Dr. Brann also thanked the team for their amazing work and results.

Mr. Bravo spoke of working with Micron and Honeywell on the next phase of the indoor air quality program: monitoring CO2 and VOC levels. The current ionization system will be inspected, and the ionization and MERV filtration units will be installed in the main parts of the gym.

Mr. Bravo thanked school nurses Dr. Emily Green and Titsyana Lucero for their heroic and tireless health and testing work. Testing company IHD has been contracted to administer PCR tests.

The potential for an outdoor car show on campus is being explored.

Mr. Santiago inquired about the practice fields for athletics. Mr. Bravo commented that the fields have been secured for baseball and soccer. In a good neighbor exchange, the track team will be practicing on the El Segundo High School track two days a week.  El Segundo High used the Da Vinci gym last season when theirs was undergoing maintenance.

Mr. Bravo explained that for the El Segundo municipal code, there has to be one single fire system throughout the 550 Continental Blvd. property where Connect High School will be operating.  Dr. Brann commented that Da Vinci relied on the information from an interim Fire Marshall, and the current Fire Chief and Fire Marshall required a single alarm system, creating a budget overage and delay in moving in. Future expansion will be able to be housed in the same building, avoiding future expenses of this type.

Dr. Brann commented that Dr. Hawn suggested paid COVID-19 sick leave to help staff who are sick, caring for an ill family member, or impacted by daycare closures, etc.

The Federal provision for paid COVID sick leave ended in December 2021. Da Vinci staff had not really been impacted until the Omicron surge. There is no significant financial impact to Da Vinci offering 10 additional paid sick days for COVID.

State tax credits are being considered, but have not been approved yet.

Ms. Morgan inquired if the days would be tracked differently than the usual sick days. The HR/payroll team have already begun setting up a system to differentiate these sick days.  The sick leave would be retroactive to January 1 and will end on June 30, 2022.

Before the Board moved to Closed Session, Dr. Brann briefly discussed the potential Joint Board meeting dates proposed by Wiseburn.  The Board members were asked to check their availability for February 15.

Closed Session was entered at 8:12 p.m.

Public session resumed at 9:14 p.m.

Dr. Brann stated that no action was taken in Closed Session.