OCC BOARD MEETING AGENDA AND MINUTES
NOVEMBER 12, 2014
1. Roll Call
Chair: Andrea Del Vecchio Present
Vice Chairs: Sarah Schooler Present
Vice Chair: David Valdez Absent
Treasurer: Emily Mechner Present
Secretary: Rachel Lerman Absent
Principal Mayra Canizales Absent
Vic Fernandez Absent
Martín Gurría Absent
Leah Malcolm Skrine Present
Lara Ilao-O’Doherty Absent
Sweta Shah Absent
Mike Benson Present
Cosme Lantigua Absent
Susan Gonzales Present
Robert Ames Absent
2. Approval of 10/8 meeting minutes (attached):
No quorum, could not approve. Will approve via email or at next meeting.
3. Treasurer/Chair Report (Andrea Del Vecchio and Emily Mechner):

Chipotle Night (Leah Malcolm Skrine): Very successful, brought in $1912.30. Suggestion
to look into other local partnerships (Baskin Robbins, Open City, Lebanese Taverna, New
Heights, Open City, Petit Plats, Pizza Hut, etc)

SALSA: YTD is $27,635, last year YTD $39,760. Katharine Huffman thinks there has
been a recent bump from the book fair discount. Plans for a big phone-call push after
Thanksgiving.

Snapshot of budget is almost identical to what it was the same time last year.

Shopping Rewards: need to find Program and Amazon Coordinators. Susan Gonzalez
will work on marketing for rewards program. Rachel Lerman will send blast and put
information on OCC website.

Auction
o New chair: Katie McElroy
o Other auction roles:
 Solicitations: Leah Malcolm Skrine and Sweta Shah
 Online Auction: Rachel Lerman
 Data Entry: Sarah Schooler and Mike Benson
 Communications: Catrin Morris
 Still need someone in charge of art projects
o Date will be changed to March 21, so more time between auction and musical
o Volunteer kick-off party first week of December
4. Principal’s Report: Deferred, Principal not present
5. Teacher Reports and Questions (Mike Benson):

Tutoring payment? Teachers are to submit hours to AP’s, who are to submit list of
teachers/hours to OCC. Nothing yet submitted to OCC from AP’s.

Payments for club leaders? Principal to request payment from OCC. No requests yet.

Teachers feel that not getting reimbursed for sales tax puts an unreasonable burden on
them. The process to get retailers to waive sales tax is onerous, especially online. The
Board agrees that the process should not be burdensome for teachers. However, the
total amount of money potentially spent on sales tax is significant. Emily Mechner will ask
Risa Shargel to set up school accounts for major retailers (Staples, Target, Office Depot).
Also, Mike Benson will disseminate information to teachers about other online suppliers
that the school uses.
6. Updates from Board Liaisons

PD Fund (Andrea Del Vecchio):
o First round: $600 approved for Ana Lopez to attend La Cosecha (bilingual ed.)
Board agrees to increase to $800 (to defray cost of a single room).
o Second round: $600 tentatively approved for Kristin Douglas for NCTM (math).

Heritage Committees/Inclusive Schools Week (Sarah Schooler):
Inclusive Schools Week is Dec 1-5. Kickoff Carnival Monday Dec 1, 4-6 pm at Oyster,
organized by DCPS Office of Specialized Instruction (OSI). Current ideas from
SPED/Heritage committees include: posters/bulletin boards, promotional banners, Lunch
Mix-it-Up Day, dress days, buddy day. Proposed budget for these activities is $550,
which the Board suggests should come from existing SPED/Heritage Committee
budgets. Other potential activities (assembly, in-class activities, and professional
development) are awaiting feedback/support from administration.

Science for Tigers (Andrea Del Vecchio):
First round of Ideaventions workshops has been held for 1st and 2nd grade. 3rd grade is
scheduled for later this month, 4th and 5th grade for December/January. Science for
Tigers committee (Andrea Del Vecchio, Vic Fernandez, and Rosa Berrocal) will consult
with teachers and administration to determine whether or not to schedule second round
of workshops for the spring.
After winter break, Science for Tigers Committee will accept applications from teachers
for the National Science Teachers of America conference (3 spots available).

iPads (Andrea Del Vecchio):
Vic Fernandez is waiting for clarification regarding the cash donation and procurement
process from Stephanie Cobb at DCPS before we can proceed with purchase.
7. Other topics:

Teacher Appreciation Luncheons: Will continue (despite the fact that not all teachers
hold conferences on the designated day).

Communications: LSAT and OCC board members have shown interest in ways to
improve communications, school website and social media.
Next Meeting: Wed Dec 10 at Oyster. Susan Gonzalez will bring food, Sarah Schooler will bring
water.
Submitted for approval on November 12, 2014
OCTOBER 8, 2014
Roll Call
Chair: Andrea Del Vecchio
Vice Chairs: Sarah Schooler
Treasurer: Emily Mechner
Secretary: Rachel Lerman
Principal Mayra Canizales
Vic Fernandez
Martín Gurría
Leah Malcolm Skrine
Lara Ilao-O’Doherty
Sweta Shah
Mike Benson
Cosme Lantigua
Susan Gonzales
Robert Ames
Others: Librarian Laura Kleinmann, Ken Leiner, Yesenia Menjivar, Peter Meliotis
Absent: David Valdez
Treasurer’s Report: Emily. $250K outstanding, $180K in the bank; critical need for
fundraisers to work, SALSA is behind and needs $90,000, Auction needs chair, drop dead
date November 15th?, $50K needed, bake sales are not being coordinated (spoke with
Ms. Berrocal)
Principal’s Report – clarify fundraising and student activities fund; legally bound to
follow Student Activities Fund under CFO; any money raised on campus that goes to
directly to student activities; is it a SAF? Point 7 has been mismanaged; student activities
funds roll over and follow the class, so a high school can start planning a prom in 9 th
grade; under no circumstances should people take money home; DISCUSSION TABLED
FOR FURTHER REVIEW – COPY OF POLICY TO BE STORED ON OCC WEBSITE.
Afterschool enrichment communication– Sarah Schooler. Principal Canizales will follow
up with Google Doc centralizing all afterschool activities, locations, and signup
Questions from Teachers – Mike Benson 1. How to set up Geo Plunge, Mr. B asked how
it works, Ms. Capestany also asked, Mr. Burch asked about funds for Adams – purchases
through the Laura Duenes. Administration will follow up.
Heritage Committees/La Noche: Lara Ilao-O’Doherty. Jewish Heritage and Pan-African
committees will be at La Noche, Teacher Hanru Li will chair Asian. La Noche is pretty
much covered, Lara will follow up with Susan Gonzalez. Andrea will connect Susan
Gonzalez with Katie and Indhira to cover logistics.
Tech for Tigers/iPads: Vic Fernandez. The final purchases have not been made. Vic is
still working with DCPS and OCTO.
$AL$A Update – see attached communication plan. Only $8,000 raised to date.
Auction: Need to set cut off date, publicize need for chair/co-chairs. David has identified
potential company for outsourcing, Andrea arranging meeting.
Book Fair: Sweta Shah and proposal from Laura Kleinmann. Proposal summary:
subsidize the purchase of one book of approximately $15 for each student who qualifies
for Free or Reduced Meals. Approximately $3,000. There were no funds allocated to this
for 2014 book fair. The proposal, or something similar to ensure all children get at least
one book, will be submitted as part of next year’s budget. This year Leah and Sweta will
help the book fair committee. Principal Canizales will also help for this year’s book fair.
Community Proposal: Parent Ken Leiner (and Cosme Lantigua) re: Fundraising Dance
Party for Oyster-Adams. Third grade parent idea, March/April Sunday afternoon dance
class $10 per ticket at Adams. Self-funded event with free childcare, fundraiser/spirit
raiser to bring community together, 2pm-6pm, “every song is great and great to dance
to:, Ken has organized before and will manage music; invite outside community and lots
of schools; premium high quality repeatable event; Cosme pointed out that it is an
opportunity to demonstrate community and Cosme will be the board liaison. Emily
suggested setting up an expense lineup. Universally approved to create line item.
Administrator and Teacher Updates: Professional Development Fund: Rosa Berrocal
Rosa was ill. Principal Canizales will get clarification on the $12K allocated for PD.
Other Updates
Chipotle Night: Leah to arrange date in October with manager. October 22 (Postponed)
Directory: Rachel Lerman, paper copy went to print 10/8, turnaround 10 days, delays
from technical issues and staff discrepancies on website
Musical: The musical theater team will be working with The Highwood Theatre, a nonprofit group recommended by Sylvia Zwi. With Highwood as the production company, a
high-quality musical can be put on in half the time (3 months vs. 6 months) during the
time of year that is least disruptive to the school calendar. $2,000 has been approved.
Next meeting: November 12th.
$AL$A Communication Plan

September: figure out donor tracking plans (Lori Gulin has secured a free
SalesForce license for us); recruit volunteer SALSA team; distribute initial
information about SALSA and solicitation to all families (hard copy in OCC end-ofsummer mailing); distribute SALSA information at Family Fun Night.

October: outreach to all families with a focus/hook of Book Fair Discount; solicit
SALSA donations at La Noche de la Hispanidad (Oct. 17) using Square to take
credit card donations onsite (and chips and SALSA on the table!).

November/December: do second follow up to all families who have not yet
participated – email, hard copy, phone calls by grade/class; end-of-year
solicitation asking everyone to give before December 31st for tax purposes;
drawing for prizes (possibly another iPad mini, other smaller prizes) at a holiday
season school event.

Spring semester: another push in January, contacting anyone who hasn’t yet
given (early in the new year before the auction so that we won’t distract people
with SALSA requests during the months where the auction committee is
recruiting volunteers and funds); final end-of-school-year push to all who have
not yet donated, and following up with anyone who pledged but hasn’t yet paid.