FEBRUARY 20, 2019

REDWOOD CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT

Redwood City, California

APPROVED MINUTES OF BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING

February 20, 2019

 

1. Call to Order

 

President Dennis McBride called the Closed Session meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. at the Redwood City School District (“RCSD”), 750 Bradford Street, Redwood City.

Present at the meeting: President Dennis McBride, Vice-President Janet Lawson, María Díaz-Slocum, Cecilia I. Márquez and Superintendent Baker.

Trustee MacAvoy joined Closed Session via telephone.

 

2. Oral Communication

 

None.

 

3. Closed Session 5:00-6:00pm

 

     4. Reconvene to Regular Session at Approximately 6:03pm

 

     5.  Welcome

President Dennis McBride welcomed those present. The School Board dispensed with the recital of the pledge.

 

Present at the Special Board Meeting: President Dennis McBride, Vice-President Janet Lawson, Trustees María Díaz-Slocum, Cecilia Márquez and Superintendent John Baker.

 

Others Present: Linda Montes, Wendy Kelly, Priscilla Aquino-Dichoso, Leslie Stafford, Shana Hackworth, Aaron Hand.

 

Trustee MacAvoy was absent.    

 

6. Changes to the Agenda

 

President McBride requested that Consent Item 9.1 be moved to Action.

 

Superintendent Baker requested to pull Action Item 10.1 from the agenda.

 

7. Approval of Agenda

 

The board approved the agenda as submitted, (Díaz-Slocum/Márquez; 4-0).

  

8. Oral Communication

 

None.

 

9. Consent Items

 

The board approved the Consent Items (Lawson/Díaz-Slocum; 4-0), taking the following action:

 

9.2     Recommendation re: Denial of Claim

9.3     Recommendation re: Approval of Agreement between the Redwood City School District and San Mateo County Counsel

 

President McBride (Ayes)

Vice-President Lawson (Ayes)

Trustee MacAvoy (Absent)

Trustee Díaz-Slocum (Ayes)

Trustee Márquez (Ayes)

 

10. Action Items

 

**Note: President McBride requested that Consent Item 9.1 be moved to Action.

**Note: Superintendent Baker requested that Action Item 10.1 be pulled from the agenda.

 

9.1     Recommendation re: Approval of Field Trip Request to Yosemite National Park, Hoover School

 

The School Board approved the field trip request to Yosemite National Park (Márquez, Díaz-Slocum; 4-0).  

President McBride (Ayes)

Vice-President Lawson (Ayes)

Trustee MacAvoy (Absent)

Trustee Díaz-Slocum (Ayes)

Trustee Márquez (Ayes)

 

10.1  Recommendation re: Approval of Selection of 7-11 Committee Members

 

Superintendent Baker requested that this item be pulled from the agenda.

 

Superintendent Baker commented that the real estate consultant hired to assist RCSD with the leasing of facilities would later participate in the selection of 7-11 Committee members.

 

No voting took place.

 

10.2  Recommendation re: Selection of a Real Estate Consultant

 

The School Board approved the selection of real estate consultant (Díaz-Slocum, Lawson; 4-0).  

President McBride (Ayes)

Vice-President Lawson (Ayes)

Trustee MacAvoy (Absent)

Trustee Díaz-Slocum (Ayes)

Trustee Márquez (Ayes)

 

10.3   Recommendation re: Approval of Orion Alternative Parent Participation Request Letter

 

Shana Hackworth, parent at Orion Alternative School, expressed her gratitude to the School Board and Superintendent Baker for their leadership. Ms. Hackworth stated that she is concerned that the 2019-2020 kindergarten class is not full. Ms. Hackworth added that while she served in the Superintendent’s Advisory Council, the thought of Orion Alternative School moving to a different site, seemed extremely appealing, as it would give Orion Alternative School an opportunity to thrive. However, Ms. Hackworth expressed feeling weary after learning what the current kindergarten enrollment numbers are. Ms. Hackworth felt that during Kindergarten Information Night, Orion parents were unable to answer many question for incoming kindergarten parents and feel that during the school tours, they have not had the information ready to provide incoming families. Ms. Hackworth further added that due to those reasons, she feels that it made it very difficult for parents to decide to enroll their children in Orion Alternative School. Ms. Hackworth asked the School and Superintendent Baker how she and the rest of Orion Alternative School parents can be confident that Orion Alternative School will thrive.

 

In response to Ms. Hackworth’s comment, President McBride commented that the School Board understands how she feels. President McBride stated that he attended the meeting and there was a lot of confusion.

 

In reference to Ms. Hackworth’s comment, Superintendent Baker expressed that there would be a meet and greet with Principal Rivera and together, a plan would be determined to show the community what the program would look like. Superintendent Baker commented that he was hopeful that with the Transition Team, the kindergarten classroom could grow to two classrooms. Superintendent Baker encouraged the Orion Alternative School community to remain patient and optimistic.

 

Assistant Superintendent Montes commented that she had received a list from the Principal of Preschools, Edna Carmona and there were several students who had not registered for kindergarten.

 

In response to Assistant Superintendent Montes’ comment, Superintendent Baker asked if he could obtain a list of the families who have not registered their children for kindergarten and reach out to them inviting them to enroll into the Orion Alternative School program.

 

Aaron Hand, member of the School Site Council at Orion School, commented that Orion School is not a school that only focuses on the parent participation model, but a school that also focuses on project-based learning. Mr. Hand reiterated that he does not wish for members of the community to believe that Orion Alternative School is a school that only concentrates on parent participation. Mr. Hand expressed that he wishes for the new principals and new teachers to have the School Board support and take what was implemented at Orion Alternative School to be transferred over to John Gill School.

 

President McBride thanked everyone that attended the meeting regarding the drafting of the Orion Alternative School parent participation request letter. President McBride commented that Deputy County Counsel Rosendo Padilla had been in attendance at the Orion School Site meeting to make sure the school letter to parents met the Education Code. President McBride further expressed that the aforementioned letter was the end product of the collaboration amongst parents, Superintendent Baker and Deputy County Counsel Rosendo Padilla. President McBride added that parent participation would be encouraged, but not be obligatory. President McBride asked if Orion Alternative School had to write any state reports due to its alternative status?

 

In response to President McBride’s question, Assistant Superintendent Wendy Kelly replied that yes, Orion Alternative School had to annually write a report on its effectiveness as an alternative school and its impacting data, such as test scores, etc.

 

The rest of the School Board members thanked the entire Orion Alternative School community for assisting throughout the process of the drafting of the letter.

 

The School Board approved the Orion Alternative School parent participation request letter (Díaz-Slocum, Lawson; 4-0).  

 

President McBride (Ayes)

Vice-President Lawson (Ayes)

Trustee MacAvoy (Absent)

Trustee Díaz-Slocum (Ayes)

Trustee Márquez (Ayes)  

11.      Information

11.1  Information on the Financial Audit Report for Rocketship Redwood City Prep for 2017-18 School Year

Chief Business Official Aquino-Dichoso stated that Rocketship Redwood City Prep started the school year with a negative fund balance, in addition to an issue with tracking their teachers’ credentials. Rocketship is also having a shortage of instructional minutes and a reduction of LCFF funding.  

President McBride asked if CBO Aquino-Dichoso could comment on why the San Mateo County Office of Education is not as concerned with Rocketship having a negative fund balance.  

In response to President McBride’s question, CBO Aquino-Dichoso commented that she spoke to Deputy Superintendent Denise Porterfield at the San Mateo County Office of Education to inquire about Rocketship’s financial audit report. CBO Aquino-Dichoso expressed that the Redwood City School District needs to revisit the terms and conditions listed under the Memorandum of Understanding between RCSD and Rocketship, in order to avoid having RCSD’s liable for Rocketship’s financial insolvency.  

President McBride recommended that the School Board hold a special study session to discuss the Redwood City School District’s liability in case a charter school became financially insolvent.   CBO Aquino-Dichoso commented that she, together with Superintendent Baker are working closely with legal counsel regarding this matter.

  12.      Adjournment (Action Required)

The board adjourned to closed session at 6:44 p.m. (Díaz-Slocum, Lawson; 4-0).

The Board, Superintendent Baker and Assistant Superintendent Wendy Kelly went back into closed session after the regular meeting and they phoned Trustee Alisa MacAvoy to participate in the closed session.

The board adjourned closed session at 7:15 p.m. (Díaz-Slocum, Cecilia Marquez; 4-0).

 

Alisa MacAvoy, Clerk