Urban Montessori Charter School
Minutes
Executive & Governance Committee Meeting
Date and Time
Monday April 15, 2024 at 1:15 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 christinag@urbanmontessori.org to be shared during the meeting. Please make that intention clear in your email. 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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Additional teleconference locations: 3808 Bayo Street Oakland CA 94619
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.
Members: Sarah Morrill (Chair), Greg Klein, Evan Sequoia; Committee Alternate: Kara Fortuna
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.
Committee Members Present
E. Sequoia, G. Klein
Committee Members Absent
S. Morrill
Guests Present
K. Feeney
I. Opening Items
A.
Call the Meeting to Order
B.
Record Attendance
C.
Approve Minutes from prior Executive & Governance Committee Meeting
No questions or public comments on this item.
D.
Review of Action/Discussion Items
E.
Presentations from the Floor
No public comments on items not on the agenda.
II. Executive and Governance
A.
Discuss Organizational Structure options related to the multiyear Proposal for new Investment in Growth and Development Capacity
Greg framed the discussion. Daniel shared that a Teacher Trainer position was recently posted and that there has been lots of internal discussions on organizational structure between he and Krishna, and with the Admin team. The Executive Director of Training Program and Fund Development would lead the Public Montessori Institute of Oakland, including our own training center. The role would also focus a lot on fundraising for the school and the Institute.
Greg asked who was included in the discussions to date. Most recently, Daniel shared that it was him, Krishna, and Josh from Edtec on some of the details. Daniel shared how other public Montessori schools do not have this kind of role and how much they would want one to build out that specific training capacity. Next, the Admin team has engaged in more of the details of the proposed role. Daniel shared that it has been brought up to staff in whole-staff conversations, but that needs those engagements need to increase starting with the School Leadership Team. Greg asked, and Daniel shared that the Admin Team has consensus in moving in this direction. Krishna shared that it's time to provide more opportunity to staff again for feedback and to ask questions. Daniel shared that this bigger picture work supports the retention of leadership across the Admin team.
Greg asked, and Krishna shared that there's no formal job description yet. When it's ready, Daniel shared that the plan would be to post that job description first internally.
Greg asked about listening for larger investments from other people beyond the Admin team. Daniel shared about LCAP engagements and the SLT team to listen for needs and workshop proposed investments.
There were no public comments on this item.
B.
Board Membership, Recruitment, and Training
Greg shared that he shared with the Board upcoming webinar training opportunities with the Board regarding Brown Act and Conflict of Interest laws. Evan shared that he recently completed the Brown Act training and that it was very good and helpful.
There were no public comments on this item.
C.
Head of School Evaluation Process
Greg shared that Krishna recently completed her self evaluation. The next step is for board members and direct reports to receive invitations to complete their evaluation surveys about Krishna.
There were no public comments on this item.
D.
2023-2024 Board Assessment
Greg reminded the committee to complete the annual board self-assessment. Greg shared that he sent out reminder emails earlier in the day through BoardOnTrack.
There were no public comments on this item.
III. Updates on School Policies and Required Documents
A.
Review of Board Policies
Krishna and Daniel shared that LCAP staff engagements starting in earnest more this week. The Admin team is currently considering a single goal aligned to the multiple outcomes of the CA School Dashboard, including subgroup performance. Greg offered to draft the English Learner metric to be included with the others. Upcoming LCAP engagements include all board and committee meetings through June, as well as staff meetings, and FAC meetings.
Greg reviewed the UMCS Board of Directors Statement of Agreement and the UMCS Conflict of Interest Code. The committee discussed and there were no substantive updates offered. The committee recommended placing these items on the upcoming General Consent Report for reapproval.
Greg shared the recent newsletter from YM&C regarding updates to laws related to public education. Krishna reviewed and will manage and delegate any updates as needed.
No public comments on this item.
IV. Closed Session
A.
Closed Session Items
At 2pm, Greg shared that the committee would go into closed session on Public Employee Performance Evaluation - Head of School and Anticipated Litigation - One Case.
There were no public comments on this item.
B.
Report out of Closed Session
The committee returned to Open Session at 2:18p. No actions were taken.
No changes needed.