Urban Montessori Charter School
Minutes
Board Meeting
Date and Time
Thursday October 24, 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 (remote)
Directors Absent
S. Morrill
Guests Present
D. Bissonnette, K. Feeney, L. Butler
I. Opening Items
A.
Call the Meeting to Order
B.
Record Attendance
There were no public comments. There were no adults in the room with Kara.
C.
Review of Action/Discussion Items
D.
Board and Community Appreciations
Ann appreciated the Board and Daniel for their support of the school.
Greg appreciated Ann, Kara, Evan, and Lana for their service.
Amy appreciated Daniel for his charter renewal leadership.
Daniel appreciated the FAC and Sarah for the FallFest and Readathon.
Greg appreciated Evan for dinner.
Daniel appreciated Primary Teachers for flexibility.
E.
Board Member Comment
No board member comments on items not on the agenda.
F.
Presentations from the Floor
No public comments on items not on the agenda.
II. Head of School Report
A.
Head of School Report
Daniel shared his Head of School report including raising over $31k in the Fall Donation drive and 49% of families participated! FallFest and Read-a-thon kicked off on Saturday. Parent Engagement Night is on 10/29, with food and childcare. No school on 11/1 for PD day. FAC Coffee for families tomorrow morning. Daniel shared the Charter Renewal timeline between now and December.
Amy asked about the Fall Drive and Daniel shared using some different strategies to reach families, including texts and calls. Greg asked and Amy followed up and Daniel responded that scheduling with ACOE Board members is underway.
No other questions and no public comments on this item.
B.
Bank Account Authorization
Daniel shared about his recommendation to bank with a new bank. There were no questions and no public comments on this item. Adopted without objection.
C.
Adoption of UMCS Corrective Action Plan
Daniel shared this information in this renewal requirement for schools who are technically in the low renewal tier. The plan addresses chronic absence, ELA, and Math, and looks at root causes and the steps the school is taking to address them. For all three indicators, UMCS currently out performs OUSD. Greg asked and Daniel shared that not much is new in this document, but this document expanded some of the language we had already included in the charter renewal submission. Daniel shared that staff worked to make the language more traditional public education-friendly, and less Montessori-specific. Lana asked and Daniel responded that the UMCS and OUSD numbers include all students for each indicator. Greg asked and Daniel shared how Admin has created this document and that it will be socialized further with staff on the upcoming PD day and that there wouldn't be any surprises in this document for staff who are already busy doing the work. Amy asked and Daniel shared he wasn't sure how CDE might continue to monitor the components of the plan, and Greg shared that progress will be tracked through the Dashboard at minimum.
There were no other public comments.
Adopted without objection.
III. Academic Oversight Committee
A.
Discussion Item - Committee Report
Kara shared the committee report, which mainly included reviewing Fall NWEA data, including 70% of 8th graders meeting growth targets and students with special needs leading all other subgroups in the percent meeting growth targets. The full data report is part of the Committee's meeting materials and Daniel will add it to this Regular Meeting's public documents. Amy asked and Daniel shared that the percentage of students with special needs is in the mid teens percentage.
No other questions or public comments on this item.
IV. Family Advisory Council
A.
Discussion Item - Committee Report
Ann shared about the FallFest and Readathon going on now. Oakland Roots tickets are on sale that benefit the school. The monthly zoom call is on 30th, and there's an upcoming Chipotle fundraiser, too. There's been increased engagement and participation with the FAC. Lana shared that she agreed about positive energy of people. Daniel asked and Ann shared new ways the FAC was trying to engage families.
No other questions or public comments on this item.
V. Executive & Governance Committee
A.
Committee Report
No public comments or questions on this item. Adopted without objection.
Amy shared the committee's report including discussing the timeline for the Head of School evaluation. Greg shared updates on the work to align to the Effective School Board Framework, with official training hopefully coming together in March of 2025. The governing team discussed Chapter 1 of Great on Their Behalf.
No other questions or public comments on this item.
VI. Other Business
A.
Approve Minutes from September 19, 2024 Regular Meeting
No public comments or questions on the minutes. Approved without objection.
B.
Approve Minutes from September 30, 2024 Special Meeting
No public comments or questions on the minutes. Approved without objection.
C.
Action Item - Vote on General Consent Report
No public comments or questions on the minutes. Approved without objection.
D.
Collect New Business items for Future Meetings
Review draft interim goals at the December board meeting.
VII. Closed Session
A.
Closed Session Items
At 6:32p, Amy shared that the board would go into closed session on Public Employee Performance Evaluation - Head of School. No public comments on this item.
VIII. Return to Open Session
A.
Report out of any closed session action(s)
At 7:03p, the Board returned to open session. Amy shared that no actions were taken.
IX. Closing Items
A.
Adjourn Meeting
- UMCS_2024-25_September_Balance_Sheet.pdf
- UMCS_2024-25_September_Cash_Flow.pdf
- UMCS_Finance_Committee_10.17.24_Presentation.pdf
- UMCS_2024-25_September_Financials.pdf
No changes needed.