Urban Montessori Charter School
Minutes
Board Meeting
Date and Time
Thursday January 23, 2025 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: Lana Butler, Kara Fortuna, Greg Klein, Sarah Morrill, Amy Ng (Chair), 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, E. Sequoia, K. Fortuna, L. Butler, S. Morrill
Directors Absent
G. Klein
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
L.Butler wants to appreciate Lorri and Desi and everyone working front desk for taking on a lot of extra work.
E.Sequoia wants to appreciate Daniel for handling everything going on.
Daniel would like to appreciate all the families that came out to the Warriors game.
E.
Board Member Comment
No board member comments on non-agenda items.
F.
Presentations from the Floor
No public comments on items not on the agenda.
II. Head of School Report
A.
Head of School Report
NWEA winter testing window just started, going smoothly.
Kindness Week first week of February.
No school on Feb 14, PD Day
Second round of family conferences and observations coming up in February.
UMCS at the Warriors Game - Students got to stand with players during the National Anthem. Great experience for kids.
Planning for UMCS Pathways - Future of UMCS or Public Montessori.
ACOE trustees are not likely bring to revote.
Other option is to become a Montessori school within the district. Lots of conversations are happening, but situation is very delicate and we are working to maintain strong positive relationships with ACOE trustees as they can play a role in that process. Hopefully more concrete information to share in the coming weeks.
IXL December Data
Still working on logistics, including "grey" data
Growth data varies by subgroup. AA students still lag, but overall growth range from 25-52 points (100 points = 1 school year)
Chronic Absenteeism
Decreases (improvements) over last year's data, but still with gaps for AA students. Overall, 23% this year v. 30% last year. Since the nonrenewal decision, some students have left school but are still on rolls, so numbers will change. Improvements partly due to revamped independent study program.
A. Ng asks at what point during the school year chronic absenteeism gets recorded for the state dashboard? Not clear. S. Morrill says she believes end of the school year.
A. Ng asks about path forward: what are the biggest questions/issues? D. Bissonnette says figuring out what the reality of moving to OUSD actually is.
K.Fortuna asks what the hurdles are? Biggest is cost. Two teachers/classroom are expensive.
L.Butler asks if two teachers are negotiable? Daniel responded, that ideally, no.
S.Morrill asks what the logistics are? Public/private partnership that allows UMCS to operate as a 501c that can fundraise for things like two teachers. Conversations happening around that, including options for the teacher training program, such as training OUSD teachers for free.
L.Butler asks if the negotiations are subject to influence from parent activities. Daniel shared absolutely. Parents want to help us, and its important to have them support positively.
S.Morrill asks what is the best venue for those conversations with families and board? Executive committee might work. Daniel has tried to attend as many parent meetings as possible but it is hard to give updates without a lot of information.
A. Ng asks what has been communicated to families about timeline? Parents have been discussed push for ACOE revote needs to addressed this month. Other options are supporting families as they look at applying for other schools etc.
A.Ng asks what is being done to support families. Meeting last week for collecting questions from families about transferring; will share questions with OUSD, will invite schools to visit
A.Ng asks about staff staying for the rest of the year? Staff has been vocal about staying through the end of the school year.
A. Ng asks in YM&C is supporting re timeline and next steps. Yes, YM&C, Charter Safe, EdTech have been supportive
A. Ng says there will be an item for future meetings about what the board responsibilities are.
No public comments on this item.
III. Academic Oversight Committee
A.
Discussion Item - Committee Report
Tabled.
IV. Family Advisory Council
A.
Discussion Item - Committee Report
There's a lot going on. FAC has mostly become #saveUMCS. Families and FAC leaders continue to have may questions, are looking to soon meet with Daniel. Daniel shared about ongoing efforts to build community, including free movie night, spontaneous acts of kindness during kindness week. Fundraising has largely been tabled.
A.Ng asks if the parent community knows best path to ask questions. Daniel says FAC, mostly Marcela, has been meeting consistently with him. Lana shared that she plans to also meet with Marcela to help share out information.
S. Morrill asks if the the FAC is still being updated? Only a few questions were submitted recently. FAC leadership has shrunk and hasn't really restructured since.
No public comments on this item.
V. Executive & Governance Committee
A.
Committee Report
Tabled.
VI. Other Business
A.
Approve Minutes from December 5, 2024 Regular Meeting
No public comments on this item. Approved unanimously without objection.
B.
Action Item - Vote on General Consent Report
No comments on this item. Approved unanimously without objection.
C.
Collect New Business items for Future Meetings
A. Ng asks if the timing still feels right for an update on the paths forward and if winding down, what the board's role is in those.
VII. Closed Session
A.
Closed Session Items
At 6:16p, Amy shared that the Board would go into closed session on Public Employee Performance Evaluation - Head of School. There were no public comments on this item.
VIII. Return to Open Session
A.
Report out of any closed session action(s)
Returned from closed session at 7:03p. No action were taken.
No changes needed.