Urban Montessori Charter School
Minutes
Regular Board Meeting
Date and Time
Thursday November 30, 2023 at 5:30 PM
Location
4551 Steele Street, Oakland, CA 94619. Ring the front bell or call/text 510-290-4005 for entry. Signage on campus will direct you to the correct room, generally the Head of School's Office.
The public may comment and participate via Zoom if they prefer. The public may also email comments to board@urbanmontessori.org to be shared by the Board's Secretary during the meeting. Please make that intention clear in your email.
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Meeting ID: 825 9285 5160; Passcode 510 842 1181
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Meeting ID: 825 9285 5160
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This meeting will be audio recorded. The public can find documents related to this agenda either linked directly on the agenda or under "Documents" after selecting the meeting in BoardOnTrack prior to viewing the agenda. Downloading the "packet" may not include all of the "Documents" that are still otherwise available to the public via the Meeting on BoardOnTrack.
Members: Kara Fortuna, Greg Klein, Sarah Morrill (Chair), Amy Ng, Ann Rhodes, Donald Williams
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 on our BoardOnTrack public portal and also through the UMCS School Calendar.
Directors Present
A. Rhodes, G. Klein, K. Fortuna, S. Morrill
Directors Absent
A. Ng, D. Williams
Guests Present
D. Bissonnette, K. Feeney
I. Opening Items
A.
Call the Meeting to Order
B.
Record Attendance
C.
Review of Action/Discussion Items
D.
Board and Community Appreciations
Greg appreciated Ms. Melody and ELOP staff for hosting Friday's Game Night.
Sarah appreciated teachers for all their work conferencing with families.
Krishna and Greg appreciated Trustee Berrick and President Cole for visiting UMCS, and to staff for hosting them.
Sarah appreciated Daniel's rad shoes.
E.
Board Member Comment
None.
F.
Presentations from the Floor
No public comments on items not on the agenda.
G.
Community Agreements Discussion
The board discussed two community agreements and how they might show up in our public work together, "Mistakes are for learning!" and "Be curious, vulnerable and courageous - without judgment"
No public comments on this item.
II. Head of School Report
A.
Head of School Report
Ms. Feeney began the Head of Schools Report.
Successful fall round of family conferences, with 84% of our primary and elementary families
signed up for and attended conferences. Tomorrow is the Expanded Learning Opportunity Program (ELOP) family game night 12/1/23 from 5:00 - 6:00. There will be a Family Night on Wednesday, 12/13/23 - Punishments vs Logical Consequences with Parent Mariana Bissonnette. Winter Break 12/25 - 1/8, students return on Jan 9 as there's a PD day on Jan 8.
President Cole and Trustee Berrick have visited this school year from Alameda County Board of Education. Trustee Cooke-Kallio asked for a re-invite in January and Director Hutchinson from the OUSD Board will also soon visit.
The Oakland Montessori Training Center will be in session the weekend before Winter Break for a full weekend of additional training.
The School Leadership Team has been working on a school wide student outcomes goal, that 60% of K, 3, 6th grade students will be proficient or master 60% of Math transition checklist items.
For teachers, by the end of the year, teachers will articulate and calibrate what student proficiency and mastery looks like for specific lessons that support skills mapped to each level's transition checklist, and how these lessons/skills connect to NWEA results and CA state standards. Also, teachers at each level will be trained or given resources (age-appropriate books, lessons, and discussion topics) to their classrooms connected to and to deliver SEL specific curriculum, the UMCS ABAR commitment, and Land acknowledgement. Sarah asked and Daniel clarified that the topics are school wide, but discussed developmentally appropriately for each Level. Staff connectedness and feeling of inclusiveness will be at 90% or above by May 2024 as measured by staff surveys. Every month staff will have an opportunity to connect at an outside location or on campus event in a way that honors different needs/levels of comfort so we have opportunities to build relationships with each other in new ways throughout the year.
For enrollment updates, we are up to 353 students enrolled and still accepting students in some grades where space is available, with 2 offers out now! Student Attendance has been hovering just over 90%.
For next year's enrollment we are seeing lots of interest in our enrollment tours! The last tour we had about 30 individuals and 48 people registered for our tour next week!
On staffing updates the new OT began a few weeks ago. Currently hiring for: Support Teacher, Student Support Assistant, and Aftercare Program Leaders.
The board discussed scheduling a Special Meeting on December 11th to vote on the audit and the first interim report.
No public comments on this item.
III. Executive & Governance Committee
A.
Discussion Item: Committee Report
Sarah shared the report, including how Daniel and Krishna are working to codify their long term plans. The listening session with staff this week had to be canceled this week due to childcare issues and will be rescheduled in coordination with the staff PD calendar. The committee also discussed recommending a new term of board service for Sarah.
No public comment on this item.
B.
Discussion and votes on Board Members
Krishna and the rest of the Board appreciated Sarah for her continued service.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| S. Morrill |
Abstain
|
| D. Williams |
Absent
|
| A. Ng |
Absent
|
| A. Rhodes |
Aye
|
| G. Klein |
Aye
|
| K. Fortuna |
Aye
|
C.
Board and Committee Officers & Members
No changes needed. No public comments on this item.
IV. Family Advisory Council
A.
Discussion Item - Committee Report
Ann shared the FAC report. The FAC continues to work to build membership and recruit additional leaders. December 13 is the next upcoming FAC Zoom meeting. There's an upcoming Parents Night Out at Left Coast Yoga. Ann shared that Spring Auction is being planned. The Fundraising Committee approved that 10% of last school year's parent fundraising will be donated to the nonprofit organizations named in the school's Land Acknowledgement policy. Next step there is to gather additional staff input and then message school wide.
No public comment on this item.
V. Other Business
A.
Oakland and California Updates
Greg shared that the OUSD Board adjourned a meeting early earlier in November and that the state Dashboard should be published soon. No other discussion or public comments on this item.
B.
Approve Minutes from October 26, 2023 Regular Meeting
No public comments on this item.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| S. Morrill |
Aye
|
| D. Williams |
Absent
|
| K. Fortuna |
Aye
|
| A. Ng |
Absent
|
| G. Klein |
Aye
|
| A. Rhodes |
Aye
|
C.
Action Item - Vote on General Consent Report
Greg commented that the financial documents on this General Consent Report were updated since the Finance Committee last saw them -- the committee discussed the updates to be made and these are the updated documents.
No public comments on this item.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| D. Williams |
Absent
|
| G. Klein |
Aye
|
| K. Fortuna |
Aye
|
| S. Morrill |
Aye
|
| A. Rhodes |
Aye
|
| A. Ng |
Absent
|
D.
Collect New Business items for Future Meetings
None at this time.
VI. Closed Session
A.
Closed Session Items
At 6:17pm, the board announced going into closed session on Public Employee Performance Evaluation - Head of School. There were no public comments on this item.
VII. Return to Open Session
A.
Report out of any closed session action(s)
At 6:56pm, the board returned to open session. No actions were taken.
VIII. Closing Items
A.
Adjourn Meeting
- UMCS Oct FY24 Board Presentation.pdf
- UMCS October 2023 Balance Sheet 11.29.23.pdf
- UMCS FY24 1st Interim Financials.pdf
- UMCS October 2023 Cash Flow 11.29.23.pdf
- UMCS October 2023 Forecast 11.29.23.pdf
No changes needed.