11/15/23 Board Meeting Minutes

Oregon Charter Academy (ORCA) APPROVED - January 24, 2024 MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS’ MEETING Wednesday, November 15, 2023 at 12:00 p.m. PT Held at the following location: Via Zoom due to State Precautions regarding Public Health and Safety During COVID-19 Pandemic Zoom: https://oregoncharter.zoom.us/j/91035080370

I.

Call to Order Mr. Brown called the meeting to order at 12:02 p.m. when quorum was reached and all members who were present could hear each other.

II.

Roll Call Board Members present: Joseph Brown, Kim Thatcher, Jennifer Brady, Misty Galofteanu Board Members absent: Marsha Moyer Members of the Public present: School Staff present: Allison Galvin, Executive Director, and the following school staff; Lori Walter, Mary Ellen Mansfield, John Meyer, Laura Dillon, Rachel Reid, Andrea Kyndhail, Dorie Board

III.

Public Comment None

IV.

Routine Business A. Approval of the Agenda Mr. Brown 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.

The mission of Oregon Charter Academy is to prepare all students for success in a global society through an inclusive, rigorous, academic environment where students have daily live interaction with highly qualified teachers and continuous access to curriculum. Oregon Charter Academy staff partners with families in a transparent, collaborative school environment to support all students in their academic journey.

Ms. Galofteanu moved to approve the agenda as presented.

Ms. Thatcher seconded the motion.

RESOLVED, that the agenda for the November 15, 2023 meeting of the Board of Directors of Oregon Charter Academy is hereby approved.

The motion passed unanimously.

V.

School Spotlight A. Community Resource Team Ms. Kyndhail and Ms. Board shared a spotlight on the school’s Community Resources (CoRe) Team. The team works to meet core needs that students and families face beyond the academic sphere. The program is broken down into 3 components: case management , program coordination, and community partnerships. Programs coordinated by the team include the annual Holiday Gift Drive, the ORCA Clothing Closet, and a hygiene supplies program.

Ms. Galofteanu shared appreciation for ORCA programs that support those who have limited resources.

[Ms. Kyndhail and Ms. Board left the meeting at 12:11 p.m.]

VI.

Consent Agenda A motion was made and seconded as follows.

Ms. Galofteanu moved to approve the consent agenda as presented.

Ms. Thatcher seconded the motion.

RESOLVED, to APPROVE the Consent items, A. Approval of Minutes from the October 18, 2023 Board Meeting B. Approval of Expenditure Summary Report - October C. Approval of Legal Invoice(s) - November D. Approval of Bank Reconciliation - October The motion passed unanimously.

VII.

Action Items A. Review and consideration of Artificial Intelligence policy to be included in the student handbook

The mission of Oregon Charter Academy is to prepare all students for success in a global society through an inclusive, rigorous, academic environment where students have daily live interaction with highly qualified teachers and continuous access to curriculum. Oregon Charter Academy staff partners with families in a transparent, collaborative school environment to support all students in their academic journey.

Ms. Galvin shared the work done over the summer to develop a draft AI policy.

With advances in technology it is time to get it into the handbook. She noted that the school aims to teach students how to use tools and resources appropriately rather than to catch kids doing things wrong. The new policy addresses the school philosophy toward AI, guidelines for appropriate use of AI tools, and disciplinary measures in the event of abuse of these tools.

Mr. Brown asked the Board if there were any questions or discussion needed.

There being none, a motion was made and seconded as follows.

Ms. Galofteanu moved to approve the Artificial Intelligence policy.

Ms. Thatcher seconded the motion.

RESOLVED, to APPROVE the Artificial Intelligence policy as presented for inclusion in the 2023-24 Student Handbook.

The motion passed unanimously.

B. Review and consideration of network firewall update Ms. Galvin requested approval for a change in provider for the school’s firewall in the offices. The current provider, Pacific Office Automation, has let the school know that they require an equipment upgrade even though the current equipment is operating correctly. Pacific Office Automation is charging over $14,000 for the upgrade. Another local company, Ultrex, is able to do the equipment upgrade for just over $8,500 and has no policy requiring replacement of functional equipment.

Mr. Brown asked about the plan pricing item in the proposal.

Mr. Meyer explained that the monthly fees include updates to firewall and security items on computers. The monthly fees are comparable between the two companies. The ongoing required replacement cost is the concern with continuing to use Pacific Office Automation, and the school is currently on a month-to-month agreement with them. With Ultrex the only replacements required are the ones that occur when equipment breaks.

Mr. Brown asked the Board if there were any questions or discussion needed.

There being none, a motion was made and seconded as follows.

Ms. Galofteanu moved to approve up to $9000 for the Ultrex firewall installation.

Ms. Thatcher seconded the motion.

RESOLVED, to APPROVE up to $9,000 on the Ultrex firewall installation as presented.

The motion passed unanimously.

The mission of Oregon Charter Academy is to prepare all students for success in a global society through an inclusive, rigorous, academic environment where students have daily live interaction with highly qualified teachers and continuous access to curriculum. Oregon Charter Academy staff partners with families in a transparent, collaborative school environment to support all students in their academic journey.

C. Review and consideration of the executive director to take action on recommended action items from a board agenda in the event that a scheduled board meeting is unable to take place due to a lack of quorum Ms. Galvin shared appreciation for how board members support and serve the school. In light of the busy schedules faced by Board members, there are occasions when quorum cannot be reached at a scheduled meeting. After working with school attorney Matt Lowe, Ms. Galvin is requesting approval to take action on recommended action items from a board agenda in the event that a scheduled board meeting is unable to take place due to a lack of quorum. This would only be in the case of time sensitive issues that require approval before the next scheduled Board meeting. This would require that communication with the Board Chair regarding the action items be documented and that the action items be discussed at the following meeting with a vote to ratify the action if necessary.

Ms. Mansfield noted that an example of this is legal invoices that require board approval before being paid. It would be unfortunate to fall behind on those invoices due to lack of quorum.

Mr. Brown asked for clarification around the timing for payment of legal invoices.

Ms. Galvin shared that invoices in line with the annual school budget are paid monthly as approved by the Executive Director under annual authorization from the Board. The legal invoices are different because they are not part of the annual budget and are not school expenses but rather expenses related specifically to the Board.

Mr. Brown asked the Board if there were any further questions or discussion needed. There being none, a motion was made and seconded as follows.

Ms. Galofteanu moved to approve the Executive Director to take action on recommended action items as discussed.

Ms. Thatcher seconded the motion.

RESOLVED, to APPROVE the Executive Director to take action on recommended action items from a board agenda in the event that a scheduled board meeting is unable to take place due to a lack of quorum as long as communication with the Board Chair is documented, and the actions are discussed with the board at the following board meeting, including a vote to approve or ratify such action as necessary and appropriate.

The motion passed unanimously.

[Ms. Galofteanu left the meeting at 12:24 p.m.]

VIII.

Oral Report A. Financial Report

The mission of Oregon Charter Academy is to prepare all students for success in a global society through an inclusive, rigorous, academic environment where students have daily live interaction with highly qualified teachers and continuous access to curriculum. Oregon Charter Academy staff partners with families in a transparent, collaborative school environment to support all students in their academic journey.

1. October Financials a) School update Ms. Mansfield shared the financial report for the school and Boone building in its new format. The cash balance is still strong with approximately $6 million in operations, $2 million in payroll and another $6 million in investments. There will be noticeable change in December when the retention stipend approved at the last Board meeting is paid out to staff.

The revenue and expense statement shows the school, Boone building, and combined total numbers. The school is a little ahead of the budget right now due to the double payment from the state school fund that happens each summer. School enrollment is also now a couple hundred students above the budgeted amount. With this in mind, the school will both bring in and pay out more money than budgeted due to variable revenue and costs.

The expenditure summary in the consent agenda shows year-to-date payments to curriculum vendors. Because enrollment keeps growing, there have been more ongoing curriculum expenses as additional seats and course materials have needed to be purchased from vendors.

Ms. Thatcher asked about the error message in the right hand column in the row “Benefits 403b.”

Ms. Mansfeld noted that the original budget did not include funds for the 403b plan. A percentage cannot be created for the “percent used” column when asking the program to divide by 0. The locations where there are error codes are lines where items were not in the original budget but were approved by the Board at a later date. b) Mary Ellen’s Mansfield’s departure announcement Ms. Mansfield shared that she will be leaving ORCA in the spring to pursue running her own book-keeping business. Working for herself and running a business has been a dream for a few years.

She will be on staff through the month of March and then transition away from the school.

Ms. Galvin noted that she is heartbroken about Ms. Mansfield leaving the school, but went on to share the transition plan. A finance director position is currently posted to the public. Ms. Reid is also completing an MBA degree and has been acting as Ms. The mission of Oregon Charter Academy is to prepare all students for success in a global society through an inclusive, rigorous, academic environment where students have daily live interaction with highly qualified teachers and continuous access to curriculum. Oregon Charter Academy staff partners with families in a transparent, collaborative school environment to support all students in their academic journey.

Mansfield’s back up for several business tasks. To reflect her work in managing school business, she will undergo a title change to Business Manager rather than Office Manager and continue to support the new Finance Director. With this in mind, the school will eventually need to backfill the office manager position.

B. School Leader’s Report 1. School Update Ms. Galvin shared a report on activities and updates in the school.

Enrollment at time of writing her report was at 2213, but is now at 2274, 140 more students than at this time last year. In terms of enrollment, the school is finding a new normal. Ms. Galvin noted that marketing has asked if the school wants to have media around the PPS strike. School leadership is adamant that they do not want to directly comment on the strike or use it to get kids to enroll. a) ODE Spotlight ODE recently did a spotlight on 5th grade teacher James Pollnow.

They specifically wanted to highlight a teacher from ORCA who is using Open Educational Resources tools in the classroom. b) Report card The school’s state report card, At-A-Glance, came out. Ms. Galvin noted that while the grad rate is not great, this report reflects information that came out last January. It was the last data that included students in high school while the school was affiliated with Connections. She also shared that state assessment scores are more reflective of our students, but not included in the report card. In every area of test scores, ORCA’s students are significantly out-performing their peers throughout the state. This is statistically significant and reflects the teaching and learning that happens at ORCA. c) School pulse survey The school pulse survey for the fall came out. 94% of staff participated in the survey, and consistency in results is high.

Ms. Walter shared that overall results of the survey are very positive. The school ranked well both nationally and in comparing growth from fall-to-fall and spring-to-fall. PD and growth for staff have been highly rated over the last year as compared to most teachers in other schools.

The mission of Oregon Charter Academy is to prepare all students for success in a global society through an inclusive, rigorous, academic environment where students have daily live interaction with highly qualified teachers and continuous access to curriculum. Oregon Charter Academy staff partners with families in a transparent, collaborative school environment to support all students in their academic journey.

Mr. Brown asked about the mix of student ages enrolling at this stage of the school year.

Ms. Galvin noted that while students are enrolling at all grade bands, there are more at HS than K-8. Late enrollees are often due to something not working for them in their local district. There has also been an uptick in discipline reviews as part of the enrollment process.

Ms. Thatcher asked about students who have been denied enrollment due to 3% caps.

Ms. Galvin noted that, of those, two of the students were recently ODE-released because ODE determined that attending ORCA was a better fit for the student. The trend is toward districts not denying because they now have to prove their numbers.

2. Charter renewal update Ms. Galvin shared an update from the charter renewal with Santiam Canyon SD. Santiam works through OSBA for the renewal to ensure that all elements of renewal are above board. Ms. Galvin will attend a Santiam Canyon board meeting next month, on Dec. 13, for a public hearing on renewal. Kristin Miles will complete the audit for charter renewal along with the annual performance audit in April. While the contract cannot be finalized and signed until after that audit, an initial draft will be ready well before then.

IX.

Information Items A. Outreach and Onboarding Update Ms. Dillon shared an update on outreach from the marketing team. The biggest social media impressions come from Facebook. Many families connect and follow on Facebook and create word-of-mouth marketing with families who are not yet enrolled. Recent media spotlights include a news spot with teacher Tim Keene and middle schooler Music, and a spot with teacher Bridget Villanueva and elementary student Sienna.

Outreach events slow down during the winter months, but start again in the spring. ORCA is going to be at the Oregon Ag Fest in April for the first time to promote the Veterinary Science CTE pathway and FFA. Salem Saturday Market begins again in March. Ms. Dillon continues to look for new events to attend with homeschool groups, STEM initiatives, and community partners.

Ms. Dillon went on to share about Virtual Information Sessions and onboarding.

85% of attendees at Virtual info sessions enroll. Four families attended this week,

The mission of Oregon Charter Academy is to prepare all students for success in a global society through an inclusive, rigorous, academic environment where students have daily live interaction with highly qualified teachers and continuous access to curriculum. Oregon Charter Academy staff partners with families in a transparent, collaborative school environment to support all students in their academic journey.

and two have already begun the enrollment process. Onboarding sessions continue to occur weekly on Wednesday afternoons.

B. Facilities Update Mr. Meyer shared an update on the facility in Mill City. Construction on the water main is wrapping up. He recently inspected the area with the general contractor to determine any needed cleanup.

Mr. Meyer went on to share about the Boone building in Wilsonville. The Suite 102 AC compressor continues to wait for a part, but is not in use over the winter.

Fire inspections are completed for the year, including one 5-year inspection that was never done by the previous owners. Tenants have been supportive and cooperative as the school updates the building.

C. Legislative Update Ms. Galvin noted that there is no update at this time on current legislation.

However, the change in timeline due to the new rules around 3% caps are showing effect in terms of the number of students released to enroll.

D. Board Updates Ms. Galvin asked the Board if there were any informational items that they would like to hear at the January meeting. She will arrange for one of the school’s programs to share at January’s meeting.

X.

Adjournment Ms. Thatcher moved to adjourn the meeting.

Ms. Brady seconded the motion.

The meeting was adjourned by Mr. Brown at 12:55 p.m.

Next regular meeting date: January 24, 2024 at 12:00 p.m. PST in Zoom

The mission of Oregon Charter Academy is to prepare all students for success in a global society through an inclusive, rigorous, academic environment where students have daily live interaction with highly qualified teachers and continuous access to curriculum. Oregon Charter Academy staff partners with families in a transparent, collaborative school environment to support all students in their academic journey.