Urban Montessori Charter School
Minutes
Board Meeting
Date and Time
Thursday September 19, 2024 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 and 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, Evan Sequoia
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. The board uses Robert's Rules of Order.
Each year by April 1, and when first joining or leaving the board, board members complete and file a Form 700. Board members annually train on the CA Brown Act, Conflict of Interest, and the Public Records Act.
Directors Present
A. Ng, A. Rhodes, E. Sequoia, G. Klein, K. Fortuna
Directors Absent
S. Morrill
Guests Present
D. Bissonnette
I. Opening Items
A.
Call the Meeting to Order
B.
Record Attendance
C.
Review of Action/Discussion Items
D.
Board and Community Appreciations
Greg and Kara appreciated Goings Outs happening.
Kara appreciated the FAC.
Daniel appreciated everyone who came for Back to School Night.
Daniel appreciated Amy for dinner.
E.
Board Member Comment
No board member comments on items not on the agenda.
F.
Presentations from the Floor
Emily asked for a future update on the Executive Director's role and duties.
II. Head of School Report
A.
Head of School Report
Daniel shared the Head of School report including a huge turnout of families, and gratitude to all who attended and staff who stayed late. Daniel shared that we're in the middle of the Fall Giving drive. Elizabeth Slade from Public Montessori In Action was here today observing classrooms and coaching sessions, and was happy with what she saw. SWEA fall assessment is underway. Admin is going to the Montessori Public Policy Initiative Conference in Washington, DC at the end of the month. There's a teacher PD day on 9/27, which will include looking at NWEA data, PD on SEL skills, and Levels meetings. There's a Parent Engagement Night on the Four Planes of Development at the end of October. Today there was a soft launch of a new website to discuss all of California's public Montessori schools. Student attendance has dipped to 92.6% do to a stomach bug. Considering how to leverage independent study to support students. On renewal, EdTec is now finalizing the Charter Petition with all of the updates from Admin. The Board will hold a special meeting to vote on the charter, and be submitted 10/1 to ACOE. Ann asked, and Daniel responded that yes, Independent study can support both with attendance for kids and ADA for the school. Greg asked and Daniel responded that he would finalize the agenda for the Special Meeting. Amy asked and Daniel shared that the Board can continue reviewing the publicly-available charter document to review it further. Amy asked and Daniel shared that current enrollment is at 346. There's space in TK, and Daniel shared that Krishna is doing follow up from Facebook ads tomorrow with interested families.
No other questions or public comments on this item.
III. Academic Oversight Committee
A.
Discussion Item - Committee Report
Kara gave the committee report. The committee looked at IXL data in math. 3rd graders were highest performing, then 4th, 5th, and then 6th. Tobie shared how teachers use the data in Levels Meetings and with students to focus on specific skills. Tobie also shared about the Instructional Leadership Team, and Greg shared more information about the Effective School Boards framework.
Lana asked and Greg responded that he takes minutes live, and the draft is published usually later that night or the next day, and the audio recording usually gets posted later that night or the next day.
There were no other public comments or questions.
IV. Family Advisory Council
A.
Discussion Item - Committee Report
Ann shared that the FAC coffee is tomorrow morning. Ann shared that the family fundraising goal this year is $90,000 and Daniel kicked it off with his Fall Giving message last week. Ann shared about how various fundraising events are being calendared. There will be a Fall Festival on 10/19 at the school, with Arts & Crafts, Book Exchange, Bake Sale, and kick off the two-week readathon.
Lana asked and Kara answered no votes are tabulated until the end of the election period.
Emily shared that the elections for the other FAC roles will be held in the Spring.
No other public comments or questions.
V. Executive & Governance Committee
A.
Committee Report
Amy shared the report, and the committee discussed the Effective School Boards framework.
Adopted without objection.
VI. Other Business
A.
Oakland and California Updates
Greg shared that the County approved Lazear's charter renewal and that LWL and an Aspire school have an upcoming vote with OUSD.
There were no public comments on this item
B.
Approve Minutes from August 22, 2024 Regular Meeting
Approved without objection.
C.
Action Item - Vote on General Consent Report
Amy asked decrease in state revenues in the unaudited actuals from the prior forecast and Daniel shared that he will clarify with connect with Edtec and respond.
Approved without objection.
D.
Collect New Business items for Future Meetings
Amy offered that the Executive and Governance committee could bring back a draft of student outcome goals and ESB training options.
VII. Closed Session
A.
Closed Session Items
At 6:20p, Amy shared that the Board would go into closed session on Public Employee Performance Evaluation - Head of School
Lana asked and Greg responded about what typically happens after closed session and at the end of the meeting.
VIII. Return to Open Session
A.
Report out of any closed session action(s)
The board returned to open session at 6:51p. Amy reported that no actions were taken.
IX. Closing Items
A.
Adjourn Meeting
Adjourned with no objections.
- Appendix J-1 - Discipline Plan.docx
No changes needed.