Urban Montessori Charter School
Minutes
Regular Board Meeting
Date and Time
Thursday February 25, 2021 at 6:15 PM
Location
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+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
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Meeting ID: 510 290 4005
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kb8IDmVDDD
This meeting will be audio recorded. The public can find documents related to this agenda either linked directly on the agenda or under "Other files" after selecting the meeting in BoardOnTrack prior to viewing the agenda. Downloading the "packet" may not include all of the "Other files" that are still otherwise available to the public.
PER GOVERNOR NEWSOM’S SHELTER IN PLACE EXECUTIVE ORDER DATED MARCH 19, 2020 (HERE) AND BY ORDER OF THE HEALTH OFFICER OF THE COUNTY OF ALAMEDA DATED NOVEMBER 18, 2020 (HERE): THIS WILL BE A VIRTUAL-ONLY MEETING
Important Notice: Due to increased demand, dial-in by phone audio conferencing capabilities may be unavailable. During this time, Zoom strongly recommends using computer audio capabilities (or via phone with the Zoom app) while on wifi.
If you have any trouble getting on the Zoom, please text 510-290-4005 for support.
Members: Loren Bentley Tammero, Olivia Couch, Jan Faraguna, Christina Greenberg, Greg Klein, Davis Leung, Hae-Sin Thomas, Stacey Wang
Urban Montessori Charter School welcomes your participation at Board meetings. The purpose of a public meeting of the Board of Directors (“Board”) is to conduct the affairs of the organization in public. Your participation assures us of continuing community interest in our school and assists the Board in making the best decisions for our school. To assist you in the ease of speaking/participating in our meetings, guidelines are provided at the bottom of this agenda. All materials for all board and committee meetings, including audio recordings of Regular Board Meetings, are available via on our BoardOnTrack public portal and is also accessible via the UMCS School Calendar.
PER GOVERNOR NEWSOM’S SHELTER IN PLACE EXECUTIVE ORDER DATED MARCH 19, 2020 (HERE) AND BY ORDER OF THE HEALTH OFFICER OF THE COUNTY OF ALAMEDA DATED NOVEMBER 18, 2020 (HERE): THIS WILL BE A VIRTUAL-ONLY MEETING
Important Notice: Due to increased demand, dial-in by phone audio conferencing capabilities may be unavailable. During this time, Zoom strongly recommends using computer audio capabilities (or via phone with the Zoom app) while on wifi.
If you have any trouble getting on the Zoom, please text 510-290-4005 for support.
Members: Loren Bentley Tammero, Olivia Couch, Jan Faraguna, Christina Greenberg, Greg Klein, Davis Leung, Hae-Sin Thomas, Stacey Wang
Urban Montessori Charter School welcomes your participation at Board meetings. The purpose of a public meeting of the Board of Directors (“Board”) is to conduct the affairs of the organization in public. Your participation assures us of continuing community interest in our school and assists the Board in making the best decisions for our school. To assist you in the ease of speaking/participating in our meetings, guidelines are provided at the bottom of this agenda. All materials for all board and committee meetings, including audio recordings of Regular Board Meetings, are available via on our BoardOnTrack public portal and is also accessible via the UMCS School Calendar.
Directors Present
C. Greenberg (remote), G. Klein (remote), H. Thomas (remote), J. Faraguna (remote), L. Bentley Tammero (remote), O. Couch (remote), S. Wang (remote)
Directors Absent
D. Leung
Directors who arrived after the meeting opened
C. Greenberg
Guests Present
D. Bissonnette (remote), K. Feeney (remote)
I. Opening Items
A.
Call the Meeting to Order
L. Bentley Tammero called a meeting of the board of directors of Urban Montessori Charter School to order on Thursday Feb 25, 2021 at 6:18 PM.
B.
Record Attendance
C.
Review of Action/Discussion Items
No changes needed.
D.
Board and Community Appreciations
Krishna appreciated Mr. James, Mr. Bradley and Ms. Tobie who were on campus with kids for some in-person instruction today!
Jan added to that appreciating Krishna, Daniel, and other staff who helped make that happen.
Stacey echoed those appreciations.
Greg appreciated the Families and Students participating, and also the Learning Everywhere teachers, echoed by Loren -- our teachers do so much and in such a different way this year.
Hae-Sin echoed appreciations, and also that the Federal Government opened a functional vaccination site at the Coliseum.
E.
Board Member Comment
Jan shared an inspiring quotation from a recent webinar.
F.
Presentations from the Floor
No public comment on non agendized items.
II. Head of School Report
A.
Head of School Report
Ms. Krishna shared her report, which is included in the Documents section of this meeting's Agenda in BoardOnTrack. The agenda links to the Draft 2021-2022 School Calendar with First Day August 16th, 2021.
Conferences, Spring NWEA, and Enrollment lottery coming up next month.
Updates on Phase 2 Reopening:
Just began targeted in-person instruction Feb 24th, with one student, and nine students today.
2 small cohorts, 3 staff members, and a total of 12 students enrolled.
Students working outside, too, following all the new required COVID protocols.
Mr. Daniel shared about at drop off about the happiness from families, and how appreciative they were.
Ms. Krishna shared all the updated handbook addendums for families, Covid Prevention Plan, and other required documents.
Mr. Daniel shared about finishing Winter NWEA and DIBELS testing. Lots of excitement among the staff about in-person learning. Individual coaching conversations are recently focusing on recent NWEA data.
Mr. Daniel shared on the recent work of the School Leadership Team (SLT), and its working groups. Dr. Rachelle Rogers-Ard will be back for two more sessions with staff in March.
Enrollment updates: lower applications than prior year, but much higher than last month. Also shared Intent to Return information. Have more applications than spots available.
Loren asked about numbers of new students that might be admitted for UE and MS. Krishna responded that very few spots are likely to be offered beyond Kindergarten as there isn't much room.
Greg asked about making sure all required documents are up on the website, and Ms. Krishna responded that they are.
Jan asked about Intent to Return survey with staff. Ms. Krishna responded that she's in that work currently to inform hiring for next year.
Jan asked about big spring fundraiser activities, and Ms. Krishna responded that we are well on track related to fundraising for this year and that we'll have an upcoming Walkathon, a few other fundraiser opportunities.
Christina joined at 6:43pm.
Loren asked for comments on how the school will handle enrollment offerings to account for COVID. Ms. Krishna responded that we have better Intent to Return data this year. Planning earlier in the year. Doing more work to get clearer sooner on non responses from remaining families. Operations team has done a lot of reflection on last year to make adjustments for this year.
Hae-Sin commented that predicting this work is more challenging than ever. Need to look at ranking data within the applications to inform number of spots offering.
Greg commented about the need to regularly reconfirm families intent.
No public comment.
C. Greenberg arrived at 6:43 PM.
B.
Vote: UMCS School Plan for Student Achievement
G. Klein made a motion to approve the SPSA.
S. Wang seconded the motion.
Krishna shared the SPSA and the updated Winter to Winter NWEA data. No public comment.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| H. Thomas |
Aye
|
| C. Greenberg |
Aye
|
| G. Klein |
Aye
|
| O. Couch |
Aye
|
| D. Leung |
Absent
|
| L. Bentley Tammero |
Aye
|
| J. Faraguna |
Aye
|
| S. Wang |
Aye
|
III. Finance Committee
A.
Discussion Item - Committee Report, including year to date financial report
Stacey shared the latest year to date financial report through end of January. More recent forecast increased to $95,000 operating income. Driven by multiple minor adjustments in both revenue and expenses. In terms of cash, still projected to remain positive, but gets very tight near the end of the fiscal year because of the state's on-going cash deferrals. Greg clarified that we are not yet at our three-month cash on hand goal, which will be multi-year goal to attain that.
As we start thinking about next year's budget, that we're assuming the State's latest proposals from January. Includes a COLA but lots of uncertainty on potential new Federal support. The current draft multi year budget mainly holds expenses similar year over year -- no major shifts at this point in the planning process, more just a starting point for now.
Krishna shared that it's important to grow the end fund balance to make sure we have the ability to navigate uncertainty.
Jan asked about enrollment each year, and Greg responded that the current draft budget shows an increase of five students, then four students.
Greg shared that some changes to be made include lowering the fundraising goal as we continue to work towards *not* needing to fundraise as much each year.
Greg shared that the committee reviewed the Second Interim and the SELPA agreement and recommended they go on tonight's General Consent Report.
No public comment.
IV. Academic Oversight Committee
A.
Discussion Item - Committee Report
Hae-Sin shared the committee's report, reviewing the incoming NWEA data. Jan talked through the presentation that is in the Documents section of this meeting in BoardOnTrack.
60% of students were at grade-level in reading, and 54% for math. Both results are stronger than prior Winter. National benchmark is that 50% of students meet growth targets Fall to Winter, and 42% met them in math and 39% did so in reading -- improvements since last year. Need to look Winter to Winter.
MATH
49.2% of Black students scored average or above -- up 20 percentage points from last Winter.
37.9% of Latinx students score average or above -- up 7 percentage points from last Winter.
Most student groups showed stronger growth this year over last year, on par or higher growth rates for Black students than other student groups.
Latinx students had the smallest increase in growth from last year.
Still below our goals overall, but much improved.
33% of ELs scoring average or above, and 24% met their growth goal in math.
READING
60% of Black students scored average or above -- up 18 percentage points from last Winter.
49.5 of Latinx students score average or above -- up 7 percentage points from last Winter.
All students had stronger growth rates than last year, Asian students led the way increases and Black students had the second highest growth rates up 8 percentage points
Latinx students had the smallest increase in growth from last year.
Still below our goals overall, but much improved.
39% of ELs scoring average or above, and 24% met their growth goal in math.
Hae-Sin commented that this is year when there's a lot of talk about learning loss and how impressive it is that Black kids are making such dramatic progress -- major kudos to Krishna, Daniel, and staff for leveraging the Montessori model to personalize for students.
Ms. Krishna shared that about supporting faculty to share with peers what's working based on what's in the data.
Greg echoed Hae-Sin's comments, thanking admin and staff for the work. Acknowledging there is still much further to go, but markers of this kind of progress is super important to celebrate.
Stacey shared her appreciations and gratitude.
Mr. Daniel shared more about the need to keep working and helping all students thrive.
Hae-Sin shared about the need to accelerate even more with any potential return to in-person. Mr. Daniel responded that Levels alignment is much tighter because of the requirements of Learning Everywhere -- collaboration is up, adult learning is up. Public Montessori in Action has also been very helpful and relevant during in-person, too.
Hae-Sin shared that this year educators partnered with parents in a whole new way. Another thing to not fully let go of when back in-person down the road. Ms. Krishna shared that many teachers have reported building out new positive relationship building with families that came with Learning Everywhere. Jan shared that a parent at the committee meeting shared that Learning Everywhere helped her have much more insight into what her child is working on and how she can help.
No public comment.
V. Family Advisory Council
A.
Committee Report
Loren shared the FAC's report.
Recent Community Meeting two weeks ago after the Family Education Night. The community meeting focused on improving communications, community building, and charter renewal. Next meeting is March 9th.
FAC has been helping with virtual enrollment tours, video testimonials, improving Intent to Return rates, and fundraising.
Kara shared that there's no big gala fundraising event for this Spring. Plant Sale coming in April, perhaps with another food sale. Walkathon in May. Goal for the remainder of the year is $25,000 from families, and we should be well on track for that through those events.
For walkathon, use a platform for donations, and distribute pedometers to support students for tracking. Still working out what we can do in small, multi-family outdoor groups in different locations -- but everything must be safe and follow guidelines -- that part is not yet figured out.
Hae-Sin shared about tracking lots of movement -- exercising of all kinds, not just walking. Kara agreed that plans are including that, and Christina shared too about kids sharing brief video clips to make a longer video of the community exercising.
Loren shared that the FAC is also now working with Dr. Rachelle Rogers-Ard. Upcoming meeting with Kara and Ms. Krishna.
No public comment.
VI. Executive & Governance Committee
A.
Discussion Item: Committee Updates, including candidates for board service, Form 700, and training
Christina shared the committee's report:
Christina reminded members about Forms 700.
Board members all completed the Assessment, will review at the Committee, and find things to celebrate, for quick changes, and for deeper changes -- and bring it all back to the Board.
Christina shared about Board Members reflecting on the anti-racist board practices using the survey shared from School Board Partners, and then with data, we can seek to see ourselves through that lens, too.
Greg shared about the work to create a first annual Diverse Teacher Report, encouraged by a recent city-wide change.org petition. Needs to come back to the Committee, but a very drafty draft is available here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bSpCBh93V4wsmunBMmb2ObYtvNLtunUFJ-J_idqY1iE/edit
Greg shared about having some new interest from a potential Board member applicant. Christina shared template language to use to reach out to potential applicants.
No public comment.
VII. Other Business
A.
Oakland and California Updates
Hae-Sin shared about OUSD's Black Reparations policy. Long heated school board meeting last night at OUSD. The Board ultimately voted to delay a final vote until March. A future approved policy becomes a model for what we at UMCS might need to take up in terms of potential additional local school policy.
Hae-Sin shared OUSD also looking at a new Enrollment Stabilization policy – listening sessions happening across the city. Please participate as you are able. As drafted, implications for Oakland School Finder. Families in Action had an action on this, so has The Oakland REACH.
Greg shared ERES material revision denied. Aspire has said in the past that would mean the school would need to close.
Hae-Sin shared that OUSD denied Alternatives in Action, who is now seek approval at the County.
Greg shared about the State of Black Education - Oakland Report Card for OUSD, and drafting something similar for UMCS. The UMCS draft can be found here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/19_tHFzcqnxVlRx2Y99VxWh7IrXMQ3e4SvpXKYCCiBIE/edit. Greg will connect with Jan about additions to the Report Card and to see if the Academic Committee can take up the work of helping finalize this first annual Report Card.
Hae-Sin shared that there will be three OUSD board seats up for election next cycle, and always important to find and support capable candidates.
No public comment.
B.
Approve Minutes from January 21, 2021 Regular Meeting
H. Thomas made a motion to approve the minutes from Regular Board Meeting on 01-21-21.
J. Faraguna seconded the motion.
No public comment.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| C. Greenberg |
Aye
|
| D. Leung |
Absent
|
| L. Bentley Tammero |
Aye
|
| G. Klein |
Aye
|
| O. Couch |
Aye
|
| H. Thomas |
Aye
|
| S. Wang |
Aye
|
| J. Faraguna |
Aye
|
C.
Action Item - Vote on General Consent Report
S. Wang made a motion to approve the General Consent Report.
C. Greenberg seconded the motion.
No public comment.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| G. Klein |
Aye
|
| D. Leung |
Absent
|
| H. Thomas |
Aye
|
| O. Couch |
Aye
|
| L. Bentley Tammero |
Aye
|
| C. Greenberg |
Aye
|
| J. Faraguna |
Aye
|
| S. Wang |
Aye
|
D.
Collect New Business items for Future Meetings
No specific topics were requested at this time.
VIII. Return to Open Session
A.
Report out of any closed session action(s)
No action taken.
IX. Closing Items
A.
Adjourn Meeting
There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 9:01 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
G. Klein
Documents used during the meeting
- UMCS-February_Presentation.pdf
- UMCS-January_Financials.pdf
- UMCS-Draft-MYP-V3.pdf
- SELPA - 2021-22 participation_agreement.pdf
- UMCS-_2nd_Interim-_02.2020-21.ALT.Form.pdf