Closed session entered at 5:43 p.m.

Public session reconvened at 6:41 p.m.

Dr. Webber stated that no action was taken in Closed session.

Grace Bader, Connect parent, gave a public comment thanking the Board and Dr. Wunder for the performing arts program. She thanked Diane Feldman and Alexi Paraschos for their work,

Kaitlin Toon, Connect TK-8 Principal, introduced  the administrators speaking about the highlights, areas of focus, and changes for the coming years. She and Tami Christopher, Da Vinci Connect High School Principal, gave the Connect update. Connect students scored a CA Dashboard green rating for their ELA CAASPP scores. The K8's goals for the  LCAP coincide with WASC goals, and the team will focus on improving Multi-Tiered Student Supports (MTSS), increasing cohesive math instruction and curriculum, and will bring back a Parent Center on campus, and add a second counselor. The high school will hold Back to School Night earlier in the year, and collect classroom data on student engagement to provide targeted professional development to staff.

Erin D'Souza, Communications Principal, gave the update, sharing that 90% of their students have an unweighted GPA of 2.0 or higher, and 72.4% have completed a college and career pathway upon graduation. The team will focus on increasing student voice in decision-making around the academic program, and parent/guardian connectedness not to the school, which is already strong, but to each other. They will also create a student cohesion team to give feedback, host a family social event, and offer more staff professional development in Literacy and Math instructional coaching.

Michelle Rainey spoke on behalf of Da Vinci Design, sharing excellent graduation, a-g completion, and CTE pathway completion rates, and significant growth in ELA and Math proficiency. The team will focus on further reducing suspensions and increasing attendance. The team will also continue to focus on MTSS supports and participate in a WASC self-study cycle in 2024-25.

Grace Long, Science Principal, shared that the Collegewise Partnership brought college resources to parents and students and 97.8% of graduating students completed a College and Career readiness pathway. The team noticed some socio-economic discrepancies that they are working to close with MTSS and socio-emotional learning (SEL) programs. The team will offer additional targeted support classes and math interventions and courses.

Dr. Wunder thanked the administrators.

Dr. Webber thanked the team.

Ms. Heimov acknowledged the Federal Juneteenth holiday, and quoted Pulitzer prize-winning historian and Harvard law professor Annette Gordon-Reed who said the holiday "commemorates an advancement in human rights, but it also represents the hope that the country can strive to be better and work to perfect the union." Ms. Heimov commented that Da Vinci is a great example of how we all work, and how the school, students, staff, and families work to perfect that union.

Mr. Santiago thanked all of the staff for the graduation ceremonies, acknowledging the work it took. His daughter graduated, and he attended most of the ceremonies. He thanked everyone for the care they took of the students and families on those special days.

Mr. Ochoa, parent of a rising 10th grade student at Science, thanked the staff, acknowledging the demands of high school and his son's successful transition from middle school.

Mr. Meath echoed the comments of Mr. Santiago and Mr. Ochoa.

Dr. Webber shared that she and Mr. Santiago attended each ceremony, and she was gratified to see the connections between the students and Da Vinci staff. She thanked the staff for their care of all the students every day.

Dr. Wunder shared that he feels a large part of Da Vinci's success is the work of the principals. He thanked the Board for their support of the Central Office restructuring to support the site administrators.

He also noted that the State and Federal governments are giving public schools significantly less, and the administration is looking to be more thoughtful about decreasing expenses and increasing revenue.

He thanked the large number of people who have been working on the summer camps and summer programs.

Ms. Rodriguez gave a hiring update, speaking of only four open positions across the school sites, one of which is a new position. She thanked the administrations at each school for building a culture that attracts staff.

Ms. Heimov inquired about the percentage of returning teachers.

Mr. Rodriguez responded that of the nine open positions, two were positions that had been filled by long term substitutes, one person moved out of state, and two moved out of the country. Dr. Wunder pointed out that one of the people leaving the country is Da Vinci's first teacher retiree. Ms. Heimov congratulated the team on the high number of teacher retentions.

Mr. Nick (AD) Davidson, Athletic Director, gave the update on the 2023-24 sports season. 615 student athletes participated in the program this year. There are three seasons in the school year. Fall sports are co-ed Cross Country, Girls' Volleyball, and Boys' Beach Volleyball. Winter sports are Boys' and Girls' Basketball and Boys' and Girls' Soccer. Spring sports are Boys' Baseball, Girls' Softball, co-ed Swimming, Boys' Volleyball and Girls' Beach Volleyball.

Archery, cheer, and eSports are year-round.

The Pioneer League is very competitive. Approximately 19 of our student athletes placed first, second, or MVP in the league, which is very good for a school that is relatively new to sports, and in a very competitive league.

Mr. Davidson gave the factors that are taken under consideration when adding new sports. With the 2024-25 budget decreases, the athletic program will not expand but will maintain its current structure. The school considers the program to be an extension to our academic programming, or educational athletics. 

Staff and community have come together to create an amazing summer program. 

We are adding parent athletic surveys which will help increase communication and collaboration with families and help make informed decisions. The Positive Coaching Alliance will continue to train students and new this year, work with parents/guardians as well. Parent surveys will afford more feedback opportunities.

The organization sees opportunities for growth in continuing to reach out to the professional teams in the area for sports activities and collaboration.

Dr. Wunder commented that Mr. Boston was unable to attend due to a family matter, but that this information will be shared with him. 

Dr. Wunder spoke of a few parents who have expressed unhappiness with the program. He acknowledged watching your child play high school athletics can be an emotional experience and some conflict between a coach's assessment of a player and a parent's perception of his/her child's skill level and subsequent play time is fairly common. He thanked Mr. Davidson and Mr. Vicente Bravo for their leadership. He defined the process of escalating issues up the ladder step by step, beginning with the coaches, moving to the athletic director, then Mr. Bravo, then Dr. Wunder, etc. Families should not go to the Board first.

Dr. Webber commented that in areas that are more subjective than academics, like athletics and performing arts, some conflict is expected. She appreciated the escalation plan, saying that the Board would like to be notified when an issue gets to Mr. Bravo's level. 

Dr. Wunder noted that at Da Vinci, a norm exists to assume positive intentions, so one of the strategies will be to deepen relationships between families and coaches.

Ms. Heimov thanked the team for their transparency, noting that performing arts can also face disappointment, hurt feelings, and competition. However, when it becomes a personnel matter, there are legal considerations and legal counsel that she trusts the leadership will ensure are followed for compliance with employment laws, etc.

Mr. Amato shared the consolidated 2024-25 budget in his financial update, noting the healthy enrollment and ADA in light of the fact that many schools are having trouble maintaining their enrollment. The Governor's May revise numbers are expected to hold, including a 1.07% COLA, so Mr. Amato is budgeting accordingly. 

One-time State funds are still being spent; no further one-time funding programs have been announced. Health insurance costs are rising, so Mr. Amato's budget allows for the expected increased expenses.

Mr. Amato went on to give the figures for cash reserves and budgeted designated funds (deferred maintenance, economic uncertainty, etc.). Unrestricted net cash reserves are a healthy 31.3%.

Mr. Amato commented about the Golden State Pathway award; Da Vinci was awarded $6.255M in June for its 15 CTE pathways, the highest amount of any school in the state. With the funds, Da Vinci will start up four new pathways across four schools. This will also help the current budget by supporting new pathway growth and supporting existing pathways. 

Dr. Webber commented that it is exciting to see the growth of the CTE pathways.

Mr. Amato spoke briefly about some of the items up for approval, the CharterSafe insurance renewal, and the Fiscal Policies and Procedures update (no material changes, just clarifying roles and responsibilities with the addition of new assistant superintendent positions).

Mr. Vicente Bravo shared that the soccer field's completion date of October is still on track. The construction located buried power and communications boxes that will facilitate installation of data and technology equipment.

The Kitchen and Cafe permit is being assessed by the Health Department.

The summer camps and programs are a great opportunity to showcase Da Vinci's programs.

The vans are being fully utilized, transporting students to athletics, field trips, and being pressed into service as shuttles for offsite parking during the graduation ceremonies.

Ms. Rodriguez pulled the item from the agenda.

Ms. Rodriguez pulled the item from the agenda.

Dr. Wunder noted that Closed session was not necessary.