9.22.21 Board Meeting Minutes

Oregon Charter Academy (ORCA) APPROVED October 20, 2021 MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS’ MEETING Wednesday, September 22, 2021 at 12:30 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 12:41 p.m. when quorum was reached and all members present could hear each other.

II.

Roll Call Board Members present: Joseph Brown, Bobbie Jager, Becky Badger Board Members absent: Kim Thatcher, Marsha Moyer Members of the Public present: None School Staff present: Allison Galvin, Executive Director, and the following school staff; Todd Schweitzer, Lori Walter, Jason Horton, John Meyer, Rachel Reid.

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.

Ms. Galvin requested the deletion of item “VI D. Approval of Legal Invoice(s) September” from the Consent Agenda as those invoices will need adjustment before approval. They will be added to October’s Consent Agenda.

Ms. Galvin also requested addition of item Action Items “VII C - Review and Consideration for Social Media Management Platform Contract up to $10,000”

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 “VII D - Review and Consideration of Expanding our Charter Contract to Include Seats for Districts Students in 3% Districts for the 2021-22 School Year Only.”

There being no further edits, a motion was made and seconded as follows.

RESOLVED, that the agenda for the September 22, 2021 meeting of the Board of Directors’ of Oregon Charter Academy, as amended, is hereby approved.

The motion passed unanimously.

V.

Oral Report A. Financial Report 1. August Financials Ms. Galvin shared the financial report for August as Finance Director, Mary Ellen Mansfield, was on leave. She noted the inclusion of the July financials in the report to reflect changes as a result of the annual financial audit. The ending fund balance for August is holding strong.

B. School Leader’s Report 1. Back to School Activities Ms. Galvin highlighted some of the back to school activities at ORCA this fall. Due to considerations around COVID-19, the school will have Regional Meet and Greet events in lieu of an All-School Open House to kick off the year. In keeping with ORCA’s 21-22 school theme, Community Counts, this will give families the opportunity to meet and build community with others from their area of the state.

2. Enrollment Ms. Galvin shared that today’s enrollment is at 2780 students and explained two factors affecting enrollment: 10-day withdrawals and the 3% cap. It has been 11 school days since the start of the school year, resulting in a withdrawal of all No-Show students who have not yet attended class. Additionally, Ms Galvin expressed a desire to see the 3% enrollment cap lifted as local districts now have their own virtual programs.

3. OAR 333-019-1030 Ms. Galvin noted that the Governor’s school-staff vaccine mandate does apply to virtual charter schools. Human Resources Director Lori Walter has been collecting vaccination cards as well as medical or religious

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.

exemptions for all staff. She is addressing the logistics for staff who have a religious exemption, including that they will need to have N95 masks when attending in-person events.

VI.

Consent Agenda A motion was made and seconded as follows.

RESOLVED, to APPROVE the Consent items, as amended, A. B. C. D.

Approval of Minutes from the August 25, 2021 Board Meeting Approval of Staffing Report Resumes Approval of Expenditure Summary Report - August Approval of Bank Reconciliation - August

The motion passed unanimously.

VII.

Action Items A. Review and Consideration for Additional Regal Theater Advertisement Ms. Galvin noted the reduction in ORCA’s enrollment this year due to the 3% cap. In consideration of efforts to advertise in areas that are not yet at their 3% cap, she requested funds to run advertisements in Regal Movie Theaters in the Salem and Portland areas during the months of October through December.

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

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

RESOLVED, to APPROVE the additional $20,000 marketing spend for school outreach associated with the Regal Theater advertisement.

The motion passed unanimously.

B. Review and Consideration of Electrical Upgrade for Exterior and Storage Facility in Mill City Mr. Meyer described the need for a functional and safety update to the exterior lighting in Mill City due to a water-damaged fixture. He also highlighted the need to upgrade lighting inside the storage facility to make it more usable by office staff.

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

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

RESOLVED, to APPROVE school leadership to spend up to $8,000 towards lighting upgrade on the exterior and storage facility lighting in Mill City

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.

The motion passed unanimously.

C. Review and Consideration for Social Media Management Platform Contract up to $10,000” Ms. Galvin described the need for more concentrated efforts in social media management in order to pull ahead of other virtual school programs in marketing.

She requested funding to engage in a contract with a social media management platform.

Mr. Schweitzer further explained the social media management platform. This tool is a means to organize all ORCA social media accounts in one place. It also provides an overview of marketing used by other virtual school competitors.

Mr. Brown asked whether this would be an annual or a one-time financial expense. Ms. Galvin noted that it would become an annual expense if it is found to be useful and necessary moving forward.

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

RESOLVED, to APPROVE school leadership to spend up to $10,000 for a social media management platform contract.

The motion passed unanimously.

D. Review and Consideration of Expanding Our Charter Contract to Include Seats for Districts Students in 3% Districts for the 2021-22 School Year Only Ms. Galvin explained that, due to COVID-19, many school districts have developed their own virtual programs. While many of these programs have limited enrollment capacity and are full, districts are still denying ORCA enrollment due to the 3% cap rule. She requested that the board allow leadership to explore the possibility of approaching these districts to allow students who remain enrolled in their local district to dual enroll at ORCA. Mr. Brown asked for clarification on the full time equivalency status of students under this plan. Ms. Galvin explained that the students would take all of their classes at ORCA but remain official enrollees of their local district. Rather than financially claiming the students in question as ORCA students, ORCA would charge a fee to the district for allowing those students to enroll.

Mr. Schweitzer shared that this idea is in the exploration stage, but has been done in some capacity by other schools in the past in Oregon. He clarified that fees could be set as either a flat rate or a percentage, and seats available could be open-ended or based on specific staffing-dependent groupings, such as 9-12th grades only.

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 how this might affect ORCA’s graduation rate if seniors do not finish. Ms. Galvin explained that if set up correctly, these students would remain students of their home district and would not factor into ORCA’s graduation rate.

Ms. Badger inquired what legal considerations would be involved in moving forward with this proposal. Ms. Galvin indicated that, as part of the exploration of this plan, legal counsel would be consulted to create any necessary MOUs. 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.

RESOLVED, to APPROVE school leadership to explore expansion of ORCA’s charter contract to include seat opportunities for students in 3% districts during the 2021-22 school year.

The motion passed unanimously.

VIII.

Information Items A. Outreach and events Update Mr. Horton gave an overview of outreach events over the past month. He noted that ORCA booths at Salem Saturday Market will be wrapping up soon.

Marketing at OSU sporting events has been successful during Football games and will continue into the Basketball and Baseball seasons. Data reports on marketing via iHeartRadio will be available to present in October. Finally, virtual onboarding sessions continue to attract attention, with fourteen families present at the latest session.

B. Annual School Documents 1. Annual Report Ms. Galvin brought forth the annual report. She noted that the financial report will be finalized later this month and included for review at the October Board Meeting. As a charter school ORCA must submit this report to the state on an annual basis. She noted scues in data on the 20-21 report due to waivers of state testing and 10-day WDs due to COVID. 2. School Profile Ms. Galvin highlighted the school profile that is submitted to colleges and the NCAA. This document shows information and demographics for our high school program.

C. Board Relations Update

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. Conflict of Interest Statements Ms. Galvin noted that all Conflict of Interest Statements have now been completed and submitted.

2. Board Recruitment Ms. Galvin indicated that one person has shown an interest in joining the board. Recruiting for a new board member is ongoing.

3. Board Policies Mr. Brown requested an update on the finalization of Board policies with OSBA. Ms. Galvin stated that she expects them to be finalized within the next couple months.

IX.

The meeting was adjourned by Mr. Brown at 1:26 p.m.

Next regular meeting date: October 20, 2021 at 12:30 p.m. PT 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.