Mike James from Resource Synergy was a guest speaker to share his proposal regarding the Clean Buildings Act. The State of Washington has enacted the Clean Buildings Act in 2019.

A preliminary assessment of the school building was completed in June 2023. SIA has until June 2027 to comply.  Below is Mike James' letter of introduction and the points and recommendations he addressed at the meeting.

Resource Synergy is pleased to provide this Risk Assessment Report for the Spokane International Academy (SIA). This report was requested by Brook Wilkerson and is provided at no charge. This report contains the results of an energy benchmark, a review of the energy performance standards defined in the Clean Buildings Act (CBA), and a list of potential infrastructure and HVAC improvement concepts.

The CBA was passed into law in 2019 and amended in 2020 to include energy use intensity (EUI) targets for many building types, including school buildings over 50,000 square feet. Per the CBA, the Spokane International Academy has a defined EUI target of 44.6 kbtu/sf/yr in climate zone 5b. As can be seen in the image below, the Spokane International Academy has a weather-normalized EUI of 48.8, which is approximately 9.5% higher than the allowable CBA target.

SIA has until June of 2027 to reduce energy use in the building below the EUIt, or face fines of $1 per square foot per year. Fines would begin in June of 2027 based on the building’s total square footage of 107,000. Resource Synergy can assist with various low-cost services to achieve compliance and avoid fines.

Because SIA is out of compliance by a small percentage, our recommendation is to complete an ASHRAE Level 1 energy audit as the immediate next step. Level 1 audits are in accordance with CBA requirements and are a low-cost effort to identify energy savings opportunities. In some cases, we find enough savings during the Level 1 audit that CBA compliance can be achieved without major investments. Additionally, the findings in the Level 1 audit will directly support grant applications that would cover some of the cost of the improvements identified in this report.

Resource Synergy has offered to give SIA a reduced contract rate of $3000 (from $5000), with scope of work to include help with grant writing. 

Bob asked for the detailed wording of the law; Mary asked if Mike could give us the RCW reference. Mike will send a word document of the law which will include changes effective Jan 1, 2024.

Mary asked Jeff, chair of the facilities committee, to take this matter up in committee and report back  to the full board.

Jeff Hyslop shared a presentation regarding the school facility's short term and long term goals. The facility committee members are: Jeff Hyslop (Chair), Brook Wilkerson, Russ Battiata, Morgen Flowers Washington, Ken Vorhees, Bob Castle. Sam Schweda volunteered to join the committee during the meeting. 

The following are the main goals of the committee:

1. Long range planning
2. Prioritizing capital projects
3. Facilities-related policies and procedures
4. Support OPS and maintenance decisions

Jeff proposes the prioritization of capital projects:

• Site Access
• Elevator replacement
• MEP audit
• Energy updates
• Annual/renewal maintenance
• Functional and aesthetic upgrades

Note that the school building is 35 years old. When the school purchased its location in 2019, there was no construction of housing. As of this date, a large apartment complex is being constructed outside of the school's immediate vicinity (SIA will be in the middle of this complex). The main issue of concern is Ingress/Egress, currently causing traffic congestion on Magnesium/Nevada St. More traffic concerns are anticipated once the construction of the apartment complex is completed.  

Another item discussed was the land survey needed to verify school property lines. Jeff Hyslop has reached out to a local civil engineering company. The estimated cost is $5,600 and civil design costs are very roughly estimated at $21,500. The board was in support of the land survey as the next necessary step in the project evaluation.

Ken Vorhees suggests that the facilities committee submit a preliminary budget proposal to the finance committee as soon as is feasible.
 

Morgen shared some updates on the Head of School Goals:

1. COO and CFO Evaluation

• CFO  - Sam Schweda was hired as of November 1. Sam and Morgen meet once a week, initially to work on CFO goals and onboarding.
• COO - Brook Wilkerson is currently completing her FOX Fellowship. Morgen and Brook also meet regularly and collaborate closely to complete COO goals.
• Morgen anticipates conducting the COO and CFO Performance Evaluation in January 2024.

2. Fundraising and Development

Morgen with the help of various team members has raised $210,713.82 worth of grants, wherever and whenever grants are available. Here are few examples of grants received:

• Outdoor Grant $14,018.20 - will be used to fund the Nature Bridge program
• Organizing That Works $60,000 - will be used to hire and compensate the Parent Advocacy position.
• Funds received will also be utilized towards SchoolMint Grow, a tool used for teachers' performance evaluation.
• SIA was gifted ten (10) rowing machines which will aid in creating new activities and hopefully attract new High School students to attend SIA.

3. Refining and Updating Observation, Feedback, and Evaluation Process

SchoolMint Grow is a web tool used for performance evaluation of teachers and counselors. The admin team rotates to do walkthroughs and classroom observation. Academic coaches are also included in the evaluation team. 

4. Global Competence  - Assessments were given to the students the week after Thanksgiving through this week.

Bob complimented Morgen on her presentation of her goals for the 23/24 school year and asked whether there are any challenges that she is facing that she would like help with from the board. If so, he asked that she please reach out at any time now or in the future.