None

Dr. Brann noted that the board seat is open due to Ms. Jennifer Morgan's resignation from the Board. He also noted that Dr. Jo Webber and Mr. Ray Santiago did virtually all the work in interviewing candidates for Da Vinci. 

Dr. Webber reported that there were five candidates, a low number, and that most of the previous applicants did not reapply. Nevertheless, the quality of the applicants was very high.  The candidates were interviewed in early June by both Dr. Webber, Mr. Santiago of the Da Vinci Schools Board, and Ms. Kaneda and Dr. Goldman of the Wiseburn Unified School District Board. Consensus was reached by those Da Vinci and Wiseburn trustees that Leslie Heimov would be approved by both boards, therefore she is the candidate that is being put forward for the seat that Ms. Jennifer Morgan is vacating. She is the Director of the Children's Law Center of California, the largest law practice in the country dedicated to children, and her youngest child is a graduate of Da Vinci Design. Her experience in fundraising for the Children's Law Center and advocating for youth is exceptional.

Mr. Santiago commented that he is looking forward to working with Ms. Heimov and making the Board even stronger.

Dr. Brann thanked Dr. Webber and Mr. Santiago for their work, and commented that Dr. Goldman expressed his admiration for the caliber of all of the candidates. Dr. Brann noted that the Wiseburn Board will consider approval of the nomination of Ms. Heimov at their next meeting.

Dr. Brann opened the Public Hearing at 6:18 p.m.

The principals presented the LCAP updates.

Da Vinci Connect:

Executive Director Ms. Michelle Rainey commented that Da Vinci Connect has secured "just right" facilities for all programs, 87% of Connect High School students have mastered 1-6 college classes in 2021-22, four Da Vinci Extension students have attained their bachelor's degrees, and one Connect High School student has attained an AA degree. 

Challenges for Connect included Post-COVID academic, logistical, and SEL needs, staff and student absences due to COVID, and substitute teacher shortages.

Ms. Rainey spoke of future plans at Connect, including moving Ms. Tami Christopher to the principalship of Connect High School and Da Vinci Extension. Connect will also hire two new assistant principals and an Independent Study Teacher to focus on attendance, compliance, and sustainability.

Da Vinci Communications:

Assistant Principal Mr. Andrew Daramola commented that Da Vinci Communications' successes included robust college and career academic counseling programs, continued development of DVC Pathways, staff teams, and creation of an intervention period (Flex Block) for student support.

Challenges included additional academic support outside of the school day, continued Math support, and post-COVID needs and challenges to school culture.

Future plans at Communications include optimization of staff teams, testing to identify Math gaps, and reinvestment in teacher support and coaching.

Da Vinci Design:

Principal Mr. Russell Stoll noted that Design has seen a sharp increase in passing rates and credit recovery rates for students. Other successes were strong college and career guidance, relaunching of a third pathway (Entrepreneurship), and providing academic support in Seminars and outside of the school day.

Challenges included post-distance learning academic and SEL needs, post-COVID attendance recovery and identifying chronic absenteeism, and finding Math and Reading Intervention staff due to the teacher shortage. 

Future plans include finding intervention specialists, shifting Special Education to a Collaborative/Co-Teaching model, focusing on positive behavior structures and academic support for students in the MTSS Tier 2. Last, Design has a new Assistant Principal, Kirk Takeyama.

Da Vinci Science:

Incoming Principal Ms. Grace Long shared that Da Vinci Science has seen success in providing a Student Support and Credit Recovery System resulting in a decreased need for credit recovery. Cohesion Teams, MTSS Team and Advisory Team, as well as Math Intervention were also successes. 

Challenges included math support resulting in students feeling they were being "tracked," need for additional SEL post-COVID support, and attendance.

In the future, Science will use a Math co-teaching model rather than a separate support class. The intervention teacher co-teaching with the 9th grade math teacher. Counseling support will be available to students in the summer, and counselors focus on a particular area (academic, SEL, College & Career) to increase efficiency and availability to students. The MTSS Team will have designated roles for advocacy and professional development. And last, Science has a new Assistant Principal, Timothy Ojetunde.

Brief clarifying discussion on the counseling program at Science ensued.

No public comments were made.  Dr. Brann closed the public hearing at 6:42 p.m.

Dr. Jennifer Hawn commented that the Teacher Credentialing Waiver has previously been approved by the Board. Ms. Melissa Martin, who has worked for both Da Vinci Schools and Wiseburn Unified, is working on her Speech Language Pathologist credential. This is a very hard-to-fill position, therefore the State allows waivers for not-yet-credentialed Speech Language Pathologists to work.

This is specifically for Ms. Martin, not a blanket waiver.

Dr. Brann commented that he is excited about the Wiseburn Education Foundation's work in fundraising. He encouraged WEF to focus on raising funds for the Wiseburn K-8 programs, not the high schools, which have their own Development team that has raised over $8MM for Da Vinci Schools.

Mr. Ochoa spoke about meeting with the Arts & Athletics working group, Mr. Santiago, Ms. Hamburg-Cappy, and Mr. Martinez. The group discussed the baseline of current activities, and suggestions for future newsletters to communicate Da Vinci and Wiseburn's athletics and arts programs.

Mr. Santiago added that both organizations are pretty well aligned. Communication on what each organization offers could be improved. He thought it was eye-opening for both sides to see where the organizations currently stand in Arts and Athletics programming. The group will meet again in a month or so.

Dr. Brann commented that a recent "door-drop" distribution of a flyer created and coordinated by Ms. Carla Levenson was an old-school but effective method of communicating with the wider community.

Dr. Wunder shared that he, Dr. Hawn, and Ms. Rainey will be presenting at the Charter Authorizer Conference in Costa Mesa.  They were invited by the L.A. County Office of Education to speak on a panel regarding non-classroom-based charter schools.  

Ms. Rainey shared the plan for Connect to apply for the Universal Pre-Kindergarten Planning and Implementation grant. Research has shown that effective learning before Kindergarten yields lifelong learning advantages for children. The State of California is supporting universal PreK programs for all 4-year-olds. 

Connect is eligible for $56,134.  Connect is not expanding its program considerably, but is expanding the number of TK students based on age eligibility, due to facilities limitations. The maximum capacity for Connect's TK is 24 students.  Connect has a credentialed teacher who has been teaching TK during the 2021-22 school year.

Connect will continue intentional integration of TK learning needs, provide TK/PreK professional development for staff and families, and collaborate with local partners in education.

Brief discussion regarding previous State PreK programs ensued.

Mr. Amato reviewed May financials, saying that Da Vinci has a healthy cash balance. Fixed assets have been growing due to construction, furniture, and other improvements. These assets will depreciate over time. Timing is a factor in Year-to-Date Profit and Loss due to year-end activity.

Mr. Amato then shared the comparison of Year-to-Date Actual financials versus projections. Slightly more has been spent in the second interim than was expected, however unanticipated income of about $250K will help to offset it, resulting in a lower than expected but still healthy surplus.

Regarding the 2022-23 Budget, Mr. Amato has calculated for a $350K surplus, but that is dependent upon attaining a fundraising amount of $750K. Completely removing the fundraising goal would result in a deficit of $394K. Unique 2022-23 capital expenses are gym lights and security camera upgrades; the soccer field and cooling towers are large capital projects but are assets that will be depreciated over a long life. Increased athletics expenses and other staffing expenses also impact the budget.

Connect High School will be paying full rent for the 2022-23 year, but will not yet be fully enrolled in 2022-23. All of these items impact the potential deficit should the fundraising goal not be met.

Regarding 2022-23 revenue, enrollment, which dictates LCFF revenue, is lower at the end of 2021-22 than in the past. Mr. Amato has created a conservative budget based on those figures. 

Mr. Amato also shared reserves and amounts designated for deferred maintenance, economic uncertainty, and the soccer field.

Brief discussion on Communications showing a deficit due to housing the Special Education program for all of the high schools ensued. While Communications does receive funding for the program, the program's expenses are large. The reason Communications houses the program is that in the past, the only physical location available for the program was at Communications.

Mr. Bravo shared the number of projects for the summer, including installation of fans in the gym as part of the indoor air quality program. The cooling and cleaning of air in the gym will hopefully reduce the need for air conditioning. 

The gym lights will cost $64K, as opposed to the $90K the board previously approved. 

The flooring in the gym will be refinished, paid for this year by the First Robotics Competition (FRC) to address issues which occurred after holding the competition in the gym.

The soccer field RFP is being finalized, and the Scope of Work is being reviewed. Soil samples have been taken prior to moving the large amount of dirt.

The Cooling Tower is in the final stages of DSA review.

The Da Vinci Baristas café is under construction.

Mr. Bravo has met with several members of DSA regarding the CTE Studio. The SVA Architects team has gone back to re-work the plans so that the project will meet requirements. Final DSA submission will happen on August 1.

Mr. Bravo and Mr. Moreland will be meeting with Athletics staff.

Final drawings for restrooms at 550 Continental are being reviewed. Mr. Bravo will be meeting with the landlords.

Mr. Bravo and his team are reviewing safety equipment and supplies, including defibrillators and fire extinguishers. All safety officers on campuses will be participating in SB 360-required training. 

El Segundo Police Department will be conducting a critical incident drill in conjunction with Hawthorne, L.A., and Inglewood PDs. These drills will not involve students or staff.

Emily Green and her team are verifying COVID compliance measures are still being met.

Mr. Moreland shared that the Cheer team has been operating as a club, but could be moved into the Athletics program. Cheer is a CIF sport, although this program would be run as pilot for the 2022-23 school year, not as part of Da Vinci's CIF sports.

Mr. Boston commented that he would like to see the staff-outlined process for adding courses followed for this addition to the Athletics program. Dr. Brann suggested that the item could be re-presented to the Board in July.

Mr. Santiago shared that in his experience, the cheer club was beneficial at the volleyball games. Dr. Brann inquired about the competitiveness of gaining a space on the team. Mr. Moreland shared that the cheer team held tryouts and made cuts just as the athletics teams did. He sees this as a future expansion of the Da Vinci Athletics CIF program. 

Discussion of the Pioneer League ensued.

Dr. Brann requested the item be brought back to the Board at the next meeting.

ITEM TABLED.

Closed session entered at 7:56 p.m.

Public session reconvened at 8:22 p.m.

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