Oregon Charter Academy (ORCA) Approved - October 30, 2025
MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS’ MEETING
Wednesday, September 24, 2025 at 12:00 p.m. PT
Held at the following location: Via Zoom: https://oregoncharter.zoom.us/j/91035080370
I Call to Order
Ms Vaucher called the meeting to order at 12:03 p m when quorum was reached and all members who were present could hear each other
Roll Call
Board Members present: Jennifer Brady, Laura Vaucher, Mary Ellen Mansfield
Board Members absent: Joseph Brown, Kim Thatcher
Members of the Public present: None
School Staff present: Allison Galvin, Executive Director, and the following school staff; Todd Schweitzer, Todd Shaffer, Steve Nielsen, John Meyer, Molly Fisher, Rachel Reid.
II. Public Comment
None
III. Routine Business
A Approval of the Agenda
Ms Vaucher asked if any changes needed to be made to the agenda
There being no changes to the proposed agenda, a motion was made and seconded as follows
Ms Mansfield moved to approve the agenda
Ms Brady seconded the motion
RESOLVED, that the agenda for the September 24, 2025 meeting of the Board of Directors of Oregon Charter Academy is hereby approved
The motion passed unanimously
IV Consent Agenda
Ms Mansfield asked for details of the following items on the Expenditure Summary: the Key2Business transfer, Naomi Yanike Creative, Oregon Savings Growth Plan, SAIF Corporation, and Boones Landing Dental Center
Mr Nielsen provided the following details regarding these transactions: the Key2Business transfer is the expense for paying off the credit cards, Naomi Yanike Creative was a payment to the school’s photographer who does photos for graduation and All Staff, OSGP is the school’s new retirement plan vendor for 457 accounts, and SAIF is the school’s workers comp insurance provider The transaction with Boone Landing Dental Center was the return of a security deposit to the tenant in Suite 203 who retired. There is now a new tenant who has paid a new security deposit in that space.
There being no further questions, a motion was made and seconded as follows.
Ms. Vaucher moved to approve the consent agenda. Ms. Mansfield seconded the motion.
RESOLVED, to APPROVE the Consent items,
A. Approval of Minutes from the August 27, 2025 Board Meeting
B Approval of September Staffing report
C Second reading and approval of the updates to board policies as presented by the Oregon School Boards Association (OSBA)
1 IGBAB/JO-AR – Education Records/Records of Students with Disabilities, Required
2. IKF - Graduation Requirements**, Conditionally Required
3 JO/IGBAB-AR – Education Records/Records of Students with Disabilities, Required
4. JOA – Directory Information**, Required
D Approval of Expenditure Summary Report - August
E. Approval of Legal Invoice(s) - September
F. Approval of Bank Reconciliation - August
The motion passed unanimously
V. Oral Report
A. Financial Report
1. Financials - Year to date through August 2025
Mr Nielsen shared the financial statements year to date through August 31st Total revenue is at 23% of budget, with the state school fund revenue at 25% of budget The state school fund payments are currently based on the school’s budgeted enrollment of 2650 An adjustment for higher enrollment numbers will take place in February if needed Expenses are on track, with compensation expenses being a little low because the school has only done the first of 24 licensed salary payrolls for this fiscal year Mr Nielsen noted that the capital improvements expenses represent half of Suite 202 remodel costs, with the rest of the expense to be paid in September as the project finishes
B School Leader’s Report
1. Enrollment
Dr. Galvin shared that enrollment is at 2530 students as of today. The school budget is based on an enrollment of 2650, but the school is on track to hit that mark soon.
2. School Events
Dr. Galvin recapped school year kick off events: Grade-level Assemblies and Open House. Both were well attended, but Open House saw its highest ever attendance. She also shared that regional meet and greets will be this Friday.
3. Accreditation
Dr Galvin shared the hard work being done by the academic administrators and other school leaders to prepare for the school’s accreditation The materials will be turned over to Cogia in two weeks for evaluation, and the site visit will be held on Tuesday, October 28th She noted that while preparing for accreditation is a big job, it has provided a good space for reflection and to celebrate the things the school is doing well
One celebration this year is that the school had its lowest-ever number of no-show students: only 7 students had to be withdrawn on the 11th day of the school year for non-attendance In addition, since that 11th day, there have been no other 10-day drops
Ms Vaucher asked how many students are in the enrollment pipeline
Dr Shaffer shared that there are 263 applicants and 91 pre-approved students in the pipeline across all grades Dr Galvin shared that the school has done a better job of archiving inactive enrollees, leading to more accurate pipeline numbers
VI Information Items
A Outreach Update
Ms Fisher shared social media statistics from the previous month: there were 61 posts in August leading to 3 8 million impressions and 1,066 engagements as well as 130 post-link clicks Top posts were the “Best of the MidValley Winners” and the "Welcome Back Teachers” posts In other areas of outreach, All Access with Andy Garcia has started airing, and the school blog featured how ORCA works for every grade level
In person outreach has included the outreach team attending Comic Con and Salem Saturday Market At Comic Con, the team gave out handouts with a QR code linked to the school website, and 25 people have used that QR code since the event. Comic Con also provided the team an opportunity to touch base with several ORCA grads and current students.
Ms. Mansfield asked for more information on how post-link clicks function.
Ms. Fisher shared that most of the links in question lead back to the school’s website either for enrollment or accessing the school blog.
B. Facilities Update
Mr. Meyer shared the facilities update from ORCA’s properties. In Mill City, exterior painting has wrapped up, and lighting upgrades began September 15th. The upgrades replace the 1980s residential lighting with brighter lights, removing the “cave” feeling from that space In Wilsonville, the annual fire systems backflow and inspections are finished, with only one repair to make Summer maintenance on all buildings is now complete
Ms Mansfield asked if there are any vacancies in the Wilsonville facility
Mr Meyer said that there are no vacancies, and none are expected in the next 3 years
C Legislative Update
Dr Schweitzer shared that a cell phone ban has been passed for all schools, but it does not translate well to virtual settings Given that there is no way for virtual schools to control cell phone usage, the law cannot effectively be enforced in virtual schools School lobbyist Kristie Everts will address this with lawmakers in upcoming sessions
Dr Schweitzer reminded the board of the law that allows districts to deny a student's enrollment if 3% or more of their students attend out-of-district virtual schools He went on to share that one district recently gave a denied student the
option to attend Evergreen Virtual School, another competing virtual school outside of their district, as their alternative upon denial Dr Galvin has been communicating with ODE and the superintendent of that district to address ethical and legal concerns She has made public records requests regarding their contract, if any, with Evergreen
D Board Updates
1 October meeting and board training
Dr Galvin shared that the next meeting will include Board Training and will be held on Thursday, October 30th, at the Wilsonville Facility
2 Background checks
Dr. Galvin reminded the board that Executive Assistant Kathie Smee will be reaching out to board members to do their background checks soon.
3. Conflict of interest statements
Dr. Galvin reminded the board that conflict of interest statements need to be completed soon.
VII. Adjournment
Ms. Mansfield moved to adjourn the meeting.
Ms. Brady seconded the motion.
The meeting was adjourned by Ms Vaucher at 12:28 p m
Next regular meeting date: October 30, 2025 at 11:00 p m PST at the Wilsonville Facility