Clarification to August 2024 board agenda.  The election of Nancy Mondragon as President and Tiffany Barillas as Treasurer also should include the renewal of their board membership August 2024-2026.

Evelyn Castillo is the parent who was elected to represent parents on the JJMS Board of Trustees. She still has a child enrolled at JJMS and her term should be renewed for January 2025-2027. 

The board should consider a motion to approve the terms of Nancy Mondragon, Tiffany Barillas and Evelyn Castillo as specified above. 

Our ExEd accountant will present the December financial update. 

The board should consider a motion to approve the financials including the cash flow, balance sheet and check register. 

The key choices for this project are the selection of a modular production company and an architect that is familiar with our selected manufacturer.  A request for proposals was sent to several architectural firms. 

The Executive Director has received only two proposals and other firms declined to bid.   Dr. Marsh and Ms Koplin have reviewed the proposals for these services.  

The Board should consider a motion to approve the selection of Verse Design for the modular project and to authorize the Execuctive Director to engage all vendors needed to complete the installation without individual board approval of each vendor. 

The IRS has offered an opportunity for schools to receive credit for retaining employees during the Covid19 emergency.  After meeting with several vendors, JJMS selected Michael Williams, tax attorney   CFOMW Tax, LLC 38 29th Place Venice, CA 90291  to submit our application for this credit.  Mr Williams was recommended by two other charter schools that completed applications for this program. 

This opportunity was discussed at board meetings in the Spring of 2024.   At this time, the IRS has received our application but is moving slowly and our claim has not been reviewed.   If we qualify, JJMS will recieve close to a million dollars in revenue from the federal government. 

The board should consider a motion to authorize Michael Williams, tax attorney, CFOMW Tax, LLC 38 29th Place Venice, CA 90291  to continue to represent JJMS in the application process for Employee Retention Credits. 

The California Commission on Teacher Credentialing requires that we file a Declaration of Need in order to be able to seek Provisional Intern Permits and other teacher shortage related credentials. This document states the exact nature of the teacher shortage experienced by JJMS in particular and the steps that were taken to attempt to find a fully credentialed teacher for each opening. 

The Board should consider a motion to have JJMS submit a 2024-25 Declaration of Need to the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. 

Our authorizer,  LAUSD,  requires that every charter school board reviews a specific set of topics during each school year. The checklist is documentation that the required topics have been discussed at board meetings. 

The Board should consider a motion to authorize the Board President to sign this form on behalf of the JJMS Board of Trustees for submission to the LAUSD.

California now requires all employers to create a plan to help prevent violence in the workplace.  We began our planning last June with a survey of our staff to find out what experiences they have had on campus.   Here is the plan we have created for JJMS. 

The board should consider a motion to adopt the Workplace Violence Prevention Plan as presented. 

JJMS issues a Parent/Student handbook to all families early in the school year. The JJMS Board of Trustees reviews the full Parent Student Handbook and approves it in a board meeting each school year.     Included in this handbook, is the policy for final exams on minimum days. Each parent signs a receipt saying that they have read and understood the policies in the handbook. The afterschool program is not offered on the three minimum days that we have on our academic calendar.  Students must attend school on the minimum day to take one final exam.  This exam cannot be made up later if the student has an unexcused absence. Students must be picked up from school at noon on the three minimum days. 

This calendar is shared with parents at the beginning of the school year.  On minimum days with final exams, there is a limited set of reasons for excused absence resulting in a missed final exam.   Medical appointments, verified illness, court orders, and bereavement are the acceptable reasons for absence and will allow the student to make up the final exam.   The State of California tracks attendance and rates each school on their ability to limit unexcused absences. 

For the December 13th minimum day, text reminders of this policy were sent to parents on December 9, 10 and 12th.   A general parent meeting was held on December 10th and this policy was reviewed and discussed with the 150 parents who were able to attend the zoom meeting. 

One of our students was absent without a valid excuse on December 13 and did not take the final exam.  At 11am on December 13th, the parent of this student emailed JJMS to say that they did not have the ability to pick up their child from school at noon and therefore the student was absent.  The student was not allowed to make up the exam at a later time.  The parent wrote several strongly worded emails saying that the student should be permitted to make up the exam after this unexcused absence.  The parent changed their argument in additional emails saying that the policy to conduct a final exam on a minimum day was not appropriate. 

The parent made no attempt to contact the school to report their inability to leave work to pick up their child from school prior to the time that the exam took place.    

JJMS campus leaders followed the policy from the Parent Student Handbook and did not allow the student to make up the final exam because their absence was not excused.   The parent appealed the decision to the Executive Director.  The Executive Director upheld the decision and would not allow the student to make up the exam from an unexcused absence. The parent asked to appeal the Executive Director's decision to the Board of Trustees, which has final authority over all school actions and policies. 

The board is asked to consider a motion to uphold the decision by school leaders to apply the policy from the Parent Student handbook and not allow a make-up exam from an unexcused absence. 

The parent asks the board to consider a motion to overturn the decision of the JJMS leadership and require that the school allow the student to make up the exam from the unexcused absence. 

The Board should consider a motion to approve the attached SARC to be published as required by Feb 1 2025.

Tracking progress from August through December in ELA and Math.