No changes needed.

Kara appreciated our staff, teachers, and everyone who has worked so hard to keep school open this month for in-person instruction. Echoed by Jan.

Jan also appreciated vaccines.

Maru appreciated how smooth it was to pick-up the at-home rapid tests.

Greg appreciated Mr. Bradley for hosting an older student helping a younger student.

Krishna gave a huge appreciation to staff for stretching and covering to help keep school open, and also to Daniel who helped lead in classrooms, too.

Daniel echoed the appreciation for teachers and encouraged us all to reach out and share our appreciation directly with them all.

There were no board comments on items not on the agenda.

Parent Donald wanted to know who he could reach out to about supporting with parking/traffic. Krishna will connect him.

No other public comments on items not on the agenda.

Krishna started the Head of School (on the agenda / in the packet) with upcoming events, including testing and parent workshops.

[pause in the meeting at 6:28pm to fix simultaneous translation, reconvened at 6:42pm with it working correctly. Greg recalled the role, and Maru, Kara, Greg, Davis, Jan, & Sarah were present.]

Daniel shared instructional updates, including all the work to keep the school open in January for in-person. Many staffing challenges, including Daniel working directly in classrooms most days since Winter Break. This has meant less teacher coaching in January.

NWEA and DIBELS assessments are going on. May extend the NWEA assessment window as student absences have increased during the surge. Classroom teachers began using Checklists from National Center for Montessori in the Public Sector aligned to Common Core that are clear on what students need to know at the end of each Level before transitioning at the end of this school year.

The Middle School restructure began in January with an updated schedule, time spent by grade-level, new curricular resources in math, science, and language arts and increased PE.

Daniel shared a classroom picture from each level.

Krishna shared enrollment seasons updates -- applications are due February 4th, 2022. 201 applications so far.

Krishna shared updates about OUSD's student COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The mandate remains in effect and applies to some students at UMCS, and enforcement of the mandate has been extended until August 2022.

Krishna shared staffing updates, including Ms. Sage transitioning out in December and that Ms. Katie is now doing Specialized Academic Instruction for TK-4th grade students with IEPs and working with ELD students who scored 1-2 on ELPAC. Coach Woo also started teaching PE this month.

Hiring for positions for next year, collecting applications already. Scheduling annual midyear 1:1 check-ins with all staff now as well.

Jan asked about the ability to hire additional "buffer" staff for the future to help cover staff absences.

Krishna responded that we do have one substitute and do expect to bring on another sub next month -- but not ready to share more about that at this moment. Krishna shared that this is a very difficult time to be an educator and that's why it's important to check-in with all staff and start early.

Maru asked about the curriculum changes in Middle School. Daniel shared that the Montessori model for Middle School has more traditional aspects than other levels -- you see fewer of those Montessori materials in the middle school program, though some math materials can carry over. The new structure helps the teachers prepare for specific courses they are each teaching.

Kara asked how Amplify supports differentiation within a grade-level. Daniel shared that the lessons are designed with built-in differentiation materials, including for students with different learning needs.

Greg commented that applying for the lottery is free and new this year is that TK students need to turn 5 by February 2nd.

Davis asked about enforcement in August for the vaccine mandate. And Krishna responded that she expects the mandate to be in full effect before the 2022-2023 school year begins, per the State of California.

Maria N. parent asked about vaccination mandates. Krishna responded that the school does not mandate any vaccines, only follows the rules set from the State of California and OUSD.

There were no other questions or public comments on this item.

Greg shared the Finance Committee's report. Latest year to date forecast is as of 12/31/2021. Previous forecast was $91k one-time deficit. Current forecast is a $177k one-time deficit. The forecast change is primarily due to a reduction in expected LCFF revenue, which is in turn caused by a reduction in attendance (primarily due to Covid). As discussed previously, we are investing to maintain our classrooms and class sizes, particularly in Primary. The current forecasted fund balance fell from 29.2% of expenses to 27.2% of expenses, which is still well above the "gold standard" of 20%. Our monthly cash flow projection remains healthy through the rest of the fiscal (school) year. Our "P-1" enrollment was 349, and we are currently a few students higher enrolled than that now.

Jan had a question about the negative adjustment to compensation and benefits.  Krishna responded that it is in hopeful anticipation that we will be able to hire addition support staff.

No other questions or public comments on the year to date financials.

Greg shared an update on the Governor's January budget proposal. The proposal includes building from the current Expanded Learning Opportunity Grant (ELO-G), to the the expanded ELO Program (ELO-P).  9 hours of instruction would be required per day as well as 30 more days of instruction throughout the year. If passed, this will eventually have to be offered to all students contributing to a school's unduplicated count.

The Governor also proposed a ~5% increase in COLA funding for next year, which would amount to an additional $100k and an increase in Special Education funding. TK, meals, early literacy were some other areas that were mentioned as possibilities for additional funding. This budget will be refined over the next couple of months, and the Governor will release a revise in May, and then the state budget is (hopefully) adopted in June.

A question from parent Maria N. was why ELOP funds are being allocated only to Unduplicated Students.

Greg's response was to explain unduplicated and that the state has a long history of allocating funds to schools that need more help or students that are most in need.

Sarah had a question about LCFF. The first was about ADA options. Greg responded that there are different rules for traditional districts and for charter run schools when it comes to calculating funding based on ADA. The budget proposal was also looking at easing the impact on COVID-driven attendance issues.

Maria had a comment about the deficit this year and how that deficit impacts teaching going forward. Greg responded that the deficit is for this year. UMCS decided not to consolidate a primary classroom, because we wanted to keep those teachers for future years, as we believe those classrooms will be full going forward, and it is hard to replace those teachers. Our latest multiyear budget forecasts do not show any on-going deficits.

No other questions or public comments.

Jan shared an oral report of the committee's work. There was a discussion about student attendance, low because of the recent surge, and also staff attendance challenges, too. Looking forward to reviewing assessment data from midyear in February (maybe March), along with Panorama student, family, and staff survey data. Also discussed the middle school structure changes.

Maru asked about the learning impact of low absences, and also asked about excused vs unexcused absences. Greg responded that for finances and for the kid learning in-person that day, the kind of absence doesn't matter. Jan responded that the committee is eager to see the midyear assessment data to see how students have grown, how they compare with where they were in other times. Daniel shared that despite all the challenges, clear evidence of increased lessons, structures, and supports for students to help stay on pace with Montessori curriculum and standards. Definitely a concern when there lots of absences and missing lessons. Montessori model of small group lessons help get students back into their flow when they return from an absence. 

Krishna responded that our student information system sends automatic messages and (eventually) letters when students are absent or tardy. Some of that communication is required by the state and the school is focused on helping and supporting students get to school as much as possible.

No other questions or comments on this item.

Kara shared the FAC report for this month. Met twice since the last board meeting, variety of attendees and new families. Recent events included teacher luncheon and campus beautification. Upcoming events include next week's Great Kindness Challenge and Spirit Week, family meetings with Dr. Rachelle Rogers-Ard, plant sale, and the May Spring Moveathon. Recent online auction raised over $7000.

Greg commented that the FAC feels like it's flowing again. Kara shared a major appreciation for Sita's leadership.

No other questions or public comments.

Greg shared the committee's report. The committee discussed the latest information related to OUSD's COVID vaccine mandate for students. Also discussed the Head of School's evaluation process. We will be opening the self-evaluation portion of the evaluation shortly. Opportunities for input from teachers and staff has occurred and continue.

We will need to schedule annual Brown Act and Conflict of Interest training. Board members are supposed to complete training annually.

Reminder to fill out Form 700. Send it to Ms Rosie.

New Board members need to be fingerprinted if not already completed and can follow up with Ms. Krishna for more information on how to do that.

Greg shared that we are in the midst of preparing a material revision to our charter. The revision is required by the County due to slightly lower than expected enrollment this school year -- a state-wide trend. Multiple Alameda County-authorized charter schools will submit revisions for this same reason. Our legal counsel is helping us prepare the documents and our financial support team is helping us with up-to-date enrollment and budget documentation.

We will need to call a special meeting to approve this revised charter prior to our next regular board meeting.

No questions or public comment on this item.

No action taken.

Parent Donald commented his interested in joining the board.  Greg will reach out to do a one-on-one.

Greg shared a few updates. California budget proposal updates were covered earlier during the Finance Committee report.

In Oakland, there was news and social media posts about school closures, consolidations, and mergers. There is the possibility of OUSD closing multiple district-run schools. No official  set of specific recommendations from OUSD staff has been made public. Meetings are planned for the next two weeks, OUSD may vote before our next regular board meeting.  

OUSD is also continuing to do work around their budget. Last night, they passed a resolution to reduce their budget by ~$40 million for next school year.

No questions or public comment on this item.

Davis asked for any new items for future meetings. Greg mentioned that draft agendas can now be made viewable to the public well ahead of time so they can request items to the Chair if they want to.

Maru reminded us to ensure we enable language translation in Zoom for all board/committee meetings moving forward.

At 8:11pm Davis announced that the board would go into closed session about Public Employee Performance Evaluation - Head of School. There were no public comments on this item.

The board returned to open session at 8:29pm. No actions were taken.