Mare Island Technology Academy
Board of Directors Meeting
March 10, 2015
Minutes
CALL TO ORDER
The meeting of the Mare Island Technology Academy Board of Directors was held on Tuesday, March 10,
2015, and was called to order by Board President, Bonnie Katz, at 4:52p.m.
ROLL CALL AND ESTABLISHMENT OF QUORUM
Members present: Jaime Guzman, Bonnie Katz, Debbie Lamb, Reniel del Rosario, James Shorter, Cheri
Summers, Lynne Vaughan, Gary Williams
Members absent: Andrea Wynn-Walker
Others present: Anne Clark, Alex Insaurralde, Matt Smith
ADJOURN TO CLOSED SESSION
The Mare Island Technology Academy Board of Directors recessed to closed session at 4:54p.m.
RECONVENE TO OPEN SESSION – Announcements from Closed Session
The Mare Island Technology Academy Board of Directors reconvened in Open Session at 5:41p.m. There
were no announcements from Closed Session:
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Matt Smith led the Board of Directors in the Pledge of Allegiance.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
On motion of Lynne Vaughan, seconded by Debbie Lamb, the Board of Directors approved the agenda (as
amended). The Board voted unanimously in favor.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
There were no corrections to the Regular Board Meeting minutes dated February 10, 2015.
On motion of Jaime Guzman, seconded by Gary Williams, the Board of Directors approved the Regular
Board Meeting minutes dated February 10, 2015. The Board voted unanimously in favor.
PUBLIC COMMENT
There were no public comments.
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ACTION ITEMS
a) Approval of Strategic Plan:
This Action Item was tabled.
b) Approval of Edmentum / PLATO purchase:
President Katz stated the Edmentum/PLATO purchase was discussed during the Fiscal Meeting, and this
item is being referred to the Curriculum Committee as an agenda item for discussion. The Board agreed to
give action to this item tonight. If the Curriculum Committee agrees on going forward with this purchase,
the Board gives Mr. Smith the authority to enter into the contract.
Mr. Smith stated MIT has a Distance Learning program and Study Island that serve as credit recovery for
using Cyber High. Both the Distance Learning and Study Island have licensing fees. The proposal is that
we go with the PLATO software, which has many advantages over Cyber High, because it will address the
needs of the students who are in credit recovery. Our proposal is to replace Cyber High with PLATO,
continue with Study Island, and we are asking for a third product which is Career Technical Education
package of courses. This course will promote and strengthen our three career technical pathways—
Programming, Robotics, and Video Game Design.
On motion of Lynne Vaughan, seconded by Jaime Guzman, the Board of Directors approved the action
item. The Board voted unanimously in favor.
c) Approval of 2014-15 Second Interim:
Ms. Clark stated the Second Interim reflects changes and revisions of the budget from July 1st through
January of the school year. The revenue increased from the First Interim about .43% and expenses went
down 1% which has a net income of $71,800. The First Interim net income was $16,700, so this is an
increase of $55,000. With the Second Interim we budgeted mental health money from the Federal and
State; we decreased our Pep Grant program based on program needs; we increased the 7/6 stipends based
on the master schedule; we increased the number of teachers getting a 7/6 stipend from nine to fifteen.
On motion of Gary Williams, seconded by Debbie Lamb, the Board of Directors approved the action item.
The Board voted unanimously in favor.
DISCUSSION ITEMS:
a) Architect Search - Mr. Smith stated we lost the architect that we had that was helping with the Everest
expansion. Ms. Clark stated that they have a lead on a new architect.
b) Caliber Schools Vallejo application - Mr. Smith stated he was approached by a representative by the
name of Jennifer Flores from Caliber Schools. They have plans of opening a K-8 program in Vallejo, and
she is very interested in our experience working in Vallejo, what we’ve learned as a charter school, and
what kind of reception she is likely to receive.
c) Wall-to-Wall Academies - Ms. Summers passed out handouts that had descriptions of all eleven
academies—five at one high school and six at another high school. By next year, they will have all 10th,
11th, and 12th grade students enrolled in an academy. One of the academies is a culinary academy which
includes special education students. They have a restaurant they open once a month, called Bethel Bistro.
The students run the restaurant by seating guests and being a hostess, or a waiter that takes the food order.
They begin recruiting students in the beginning of 8th grade and ask them which academy they’ll be
selecting. This year, they had a showcase of currently-enrolled students do a presentation for future students
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and parents about each academy. Each academy has an assigned Academy Lead. Each Lead teaches 3
periods, has a prep, and has 2 periods they dedicate to professional duties related to their academy (releasing
teachers to do professional development, other academy classes, providing feedback to build the program,
or planning).
d) SIS RFP Update – Mr. Smith stated we are actively looking into changing our student information
system for next year. We are currently using PowerSchool, and we have put out an RFP. We currently
have seven bidders for the SIS providers for next year. Part of the criteria is it needs to include the
following: master-schedule capability, attendance, discipline, communication options, a parent portal, and
it needs to be accessible through cell phone. Some of the bidders include; Aries, EdgePoint, Illuminate,
and Sun Guard.
CONSENT ITEMS
a) January 2015 Check Register
b) January 2015 Checks over $5,000
c) Budget to Actuals January 2015
The Fiscal Committee met and recommended approval of Consent Items
a, b, and c.
On motion of Debbie Lamb, seconded by Gary Williams, the Board of Directors approved Consent Items
a, b, and c. The Board voted unanimously in favor.
REPORTS
a) Director – Matt Smith
Mr. Smith stated the lottery results and the lottery application numbers:
 6th grade 199
 7th grade 61
 8th grade 34
This is a total of 294 applications for next year, and 50 applications for the high school.
b) Enrollment Attendance Report – Matt Smith
Mr. Smith stated the attendance is great, we currently have 96% in the middle school and 97% in the high
school.
c) Discipline Report – Matt Smith
Mr. Smith stated that for discipline and referrals the total log entries for the year is 1,300. Last year at this
time we had over 2,000 log entries. The total number of suspensions in the high school is 41 in-school
suspensions and 12 off-campus suspensions. The total number of suspensions in middle school is 81.
d) Chief Academic Officer – Alex Insaurralde
Mr. Insaurralde shared a report from Learnsprout called Data LS Score. This data includes students’
ethnicity, attendance and their GPA at the middle school. This particular report consists of at-risk students
who have a 2.0 GPA or lower and an attendance rate below 80%. Then, he shared a second report with
results that are borderline at-risk students having a 2.0 to 2.5 GPA with an attendance rate below 90%. A
third report has students scoring a GPA of 2.5 and higher with an attendance rate above 90%. Mr.
Insaurralde stated that we have a great attendance rate, but the students with poor attendance are not doing
well. The percentages of at-risk students by ethnicity in the middle school are as follows: 35% for African
Americans and Latinos, 75% EL status students, and the Asian students are on track. Mr. Insaurralde shared
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the Star Renaissance data with teachers and the teachers created charts to show the common core scores
within their grade level. Mr. Insaurralde’s goal is to have a data meeting with every department and all
teachers.
e) Director of Operations – Anne Clark
No report.
f) PTN – Matt Smith
No report.
g) MITATAE – Ryan Cole
No report.
h) Student Representative – Reniel del Rosario
Reniel del Rosario stated the seniors have $42,629.00 right now. They do have several fundraisers going
on at the moment such as the Jamba Juice fundraising, a Mary Kay fundraising, and 3 Center Plates coming
up.
i) VCUSD Representative – Cheri Summers
Ms. Summers handed out flyers and stated that VCUSD will be hosting a community event that will include
a health providers’ workshops for parents and students this Saturday.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
a) Curriculum – Matt Smith
Mr. Smith stated he will be scheduling a meeting.
b) Executive – Lynne Vaughan
No report
c) Facilities – Matt Smith
Mr. Smith stated they met with Mel Jordan to discuss an agreement for partial use of the Widenmann fields.
The agreement includes a share use of the field at set times, supervision requirements, and responsibilities
for the cleanup. Mr. Smith has met with the Widenmann admin team to discuss the concerns and should
come to an agreement for the use of the field.
d) Fiscal – Bonnie Katz
The Fiscal Committee met before the board meeting and gave the recommendations.
e) Volunteer Oversight/Outreach/Recruitment/Public Relations (VOORP) Gary Williams
Mr. Williams stated VOORP met and discussed the dress code. The exchange program is going
exceptionally well, there is a large supply of khakis, polo shirts, and hoodie jackets. In regards to parent
commitment hours, a report showed there was increase in participation. Facebook and Google
advertisement ads were ran to alert the public about Open Enrollment, and they came in under budget.
COMMUNICATIONS
None
ANNOUCEMENTS
None.
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FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS
Presentation on Pathways (Mr. Insaurralde)
Strategic Plan (Mr. Smith)
Update on Distinguished School/Gold Ribbon visit – discussion (Mr. Smith)
ADJOURNMENT
The regular meeting of the Mare Island Technology Academy Board of Directors was adjourned at 7:30p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Gracie Terrazas, Recording Secretary
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