001Good evening and welcome to the Irvine International Academy regular board meeting. It is 6:01 p.m. We're located at Irvine International Academy 4782 Karinan Lane, Irvine, California 9264. I'd >> like to start with roll call. Molly >> here. >> Felipe here. Uh >> Brett, myself is present. David >> present. Thank you all for being in attendance. Uh moving on to the next item, approval of the agenda for the regular meeting of the Irvine International Academy Board of Directors on August 19, 2025. It's recommended the board of directors approve the agenda for the regular meeting of the Irvine International Academy board of directors today, August 19, 2025. Is there a motion? >> I'll make a motion. >> Thank you, David. Is there a second? >> Thank you, Molly. All in favor, please say I. >> I. Any
002post, please say nay. Hearing none, it passes. Moving on to community input on closed session agenda items. Members of the public may comment on items listed on the closed session agenda only. Public comments, including emailed comments, shall be limited to three minutes per comment with up to 20 minutes of public comment. Are there any public comments? >> There are none. >> Thank you. Uh, next we'll move to close session for discussion of possible action. This involves public employee evaluation of our executive director. We shall reconvene in approximately 40 minutes. Uh we just emerged from close session. It is 7:16 p.m. Uh the report out is that we did unanimously approved the executive director uh evaluation rubric that we will be using uh for uh Dr. Henry. I would like to add some comments and and
003just let the public uh know we did take uh the template that we used uh with our prior ED uh and then we enhanced it with some areas based on feedback that uh was received uh last school year uh and that uh specifically we increased the waiting. So we have uh different weights based on the priorities that have been identified. There are five of them. Three of them are directly tied to the LCAP. Uh the particular item is in uh relation to relationship to parent support and engagement and we've increased the waiting on that uh and the way that uh that will manifest itself in addition to some other support activities that have been identified. We have some regular surveys that are part of the LCAP, but then we will also have some uh intermittent
004surveys that are provided as more of a temperature check uh throughout the school year, which will help give us some better indications of how things are going uh with respect to the school community. Okay, moving on. We have the very important flag salute. Do we have any volunteers? >> I volunteer. >> All right, thank you for leaving me. Please place our flag here. Ready? Begin. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with justice for all. >> Thank you very much. Uh, next like to move to community input on agendaized items and non-aggendaized items. The public may comment on items listed on the agenda, including the consent calendar, presentation, discussion, committee, and action items. Public may also comment
005on items not listed on the agenda that are within the legal purview of the board of directors. Do we have any public comments? >> We we do not. >> Thank you. Moving on to the next item, items for consent. We've got uh two items here. Approve minutes from the regular meeting of the IIA board of directors on July 22nd, 2025 and approve the personnel reports. Recommended the board of directors approve consent items A and B. Is there a motion? >> I'll motion. >> Thank you, Felipe. Is there a second? >> Thank you, Molly. All in favor, please say I. I. >> Any opposed, please say nay. Hearing none. It passes. Uh moving on to the items for presentation. Uh got our school update by Principal Schmidter. Good evening everyone. Um so I have a few
006updates I'm going to give. Um so as many as of you know that we had our first day of school. Um and I would say overall it was a success um in terms of the operation. It went smoothly. Um, obviously on the first day of school, we always kind of expect it. Traffic and parking would be very high. So, if you're here that first day in the morning, you definitely it was a lot of people. Um, typically more families parked and walk in, take the pictures. Um, and then starting the next day, we saw obviously it lacked up a little bit. And so now, um, between drop off and pickup, it is going um relatively smoothly. Um, in terms of rostering, uh, students lining up, our student transitions, we've seen big improvements from last year.
007Um, if you are in the school during the school day, you definitely will notice a a change in the volume just in the hallways, students walking through the classroom, even students in the classroom. Um, so we've definitely made that a focus this year. And, uh, we've seen um, we've seen that um, pay off so far. Um, a little bit more on parking. I'm sure many of you are aware that the uh city has added those no stopping signs in front of the school. Um originally they had communicated to us it was going to be more for on the corner closer to Yale up into our lot, but the city extended those um no stopping signs to all the way through the whole front of the school. Um that was a surprise to us and they
008did not notify us about that. So when families told us about that on the first day of school, um we reached out to Irvine PD. Um and so their head of their parking division in the area has been working with us, officer Patel. Uh he was out here for a few days last week. He'll continue to come out and check. Also, the Irvine traffic engineering department visited with us on Friday um to kind of hear from us what some of the concerns were. Um what they want to do is they want to give it some time. They wanted to give it a they say typically they say two months um but want to get at least a few weeks just to see the patterns see how it affects people. Um and so they're they're not
009dead set on that having to be that but they don't want to just change things quickly. So um in terms of that little that parking strip we're working on that. But what we have been doing too is looking at traffic in the area. So the other day I was in the back of the school. Um not many know about that entrance on the back side. I think one of you know you call it your your little secret. But uh um it's it's a quieter neighborhood. So if you want to park and walk, it's it's not much closer, but it's a lot quieter. There's the traffic is lighter. Um so we're just kind of observing that, seeing if kind of communicating that to our families, but we are working with Irvine on that. Um so that's
010where that's at right now. >> Did they give a reason why? You know, it's that it's funny how you say that they don't want to make a big change quickly, but that's exactly what they did, right? Did they say why they're doing this? >> So, they said there was two reasons. There's the first reason was there's that crosswalk in front um in front of the school. And what they said that when you have cars parked there, it blocks visibility of people cross in the crosswalk and that's a safety concern. And then the second reason they talked about was the width of the street. with people parking on both sides, there's a lot of safety concerns because people will stop, try to park, cutting around, going opposite traffic. So, they say that it creates a lot
011of safety concerns. >> I got to tell you, um, it was the width of the street, right? >> That's part of Yeah. >> So, I live in a neighborhood where there's a school just like this right there, and the width of our street, and actually took a picture of it, it's 5t narrower than that one. Yeah. >> And there's no signs. There's nothing. And it's been like that for 50 years. And this street here, I I know you I'm just telling you that I'm very upset about this because this street has been here for 50 years in this school. And all of a sudden, >> you know, they they've done this. So >> So what triggered it was a recent law that passed if you're about stop signs and not parking within a certain distance
012of the stop sign. So that way you look at the corner from was it Karen and to Yale? >> Okay. Um, so that's what started the conversation, but then from there they kind of looked at the whole area and that's where that >> I'm not buying it because that stop sign doesn't go away after 9:00 a.m. >> It's still there. So in reality, if what they're doing, they should have no parking on that whole strip all day long to facilitate that stop sign issue you're talking about or the crosswalk issue. >> The crosswalk issue to the crosswalk is related to school traffic. So that that was our explanation. It could be that somebody could park there after 9:00 am and that could be a problem for that crosswalk, right? But legally, they could park there.
013And I don't want to get into it with you, but obviously, >> you know, I've dealt with engineering solutions before and these arguments do not make sense. They need somebody and if you need my help to get involved with them, please let me know because what they're saying is not true >> in my opinion. And it doesn't make sense and we can we can counter those arguments pretty easily. >> Yeah. and um Officer Patel, the one that's been out um and he was and he's going to continue to come in and observe and he's there to help kind of educate families, but he's also there too just to see the traffic and see how it goes. And so we had communicated on Friday, too, is that when he's out there, nobody parks there. But then
014um what was it like when he's not there, which he wasn't um he's he wasn't there yesterday, today, and it was full of parking, you know. So >> yeah. Uh and and we asked and that's why we wanted are we supposed to be enforcing that? He said no school has no role in that. So it's really this is the city that we have to work with. >> I I would appreciate that if you keep me informed on that subject and when you meet with them let me know because I'd like to be a little bit more involved because I don't believe that >> yeah we talked about a followup in a few weeks. Um so when that happens I'll make sure you're included in that. >> As a matter of fact, I might park there
015just to get a ticket so I could go to court and make a big deal about it. I think they're they're doing warnings right now. Yeah. >> You're not against green ghost. >> Yeah. >> I don't know if you know because I I think it's totally improper what they're doing. >> Yeah. >> We can get that solved. >> Yeah. I just want to say, you know, I noticed on the sign that says, you know, from uh yeah, from uh 7 a.m., 9 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. to 400 p.m. specifically to uh to prevent other parents from parking or stalking there. >> Well, that's that's definitely what it is. They don't want people parking there because they say it creates a safety concern. So, >> the safety concern doesn't go away. the street doesn't get wider.
016The the crosswalk is still there. And this is not a solution we're going to do here today, but it doesn't go away after 9:00 a.m. So, it doesn't make any sense what they're doing unless they're targeting us. >> And then we brought they and we even brought up the fact um that we have early dismissals on Wednesdays where we actually have more traffic and that doesn't that doesn't fall in that. >> So, like if can people park there? They're like, well, yeah, technically. >> Technically. >> So, it doesn't make any sense. Do you know have we ever had a safety incident there in the four years? >> Not not to my knowledge. Uh I mean I can't speak before last year. >> And I think too I think the other side of it is it's
017not just s I think they're also hearing from the community like the neighbors. So they're trying to find a solution. This is this was their solution but they're not saying that this is fixed. They're they want to work with us, but they don't want to just change it right away. >> Dude, who was the who did you meet? So, it was officer Patel, but who did you meet with the Is it the traffic? >> Yeah, it's um I forgot his last name, but his first name is Wyatt. >> There was Well, there's three of them. >> But why his name was Wyatt? He is the I think he was the lead. >> You can get me that name. >> I think I I do have it somewhere in here. >> Sure, whatever. Just let me
018know. So, we're working on it. Um, like I said, there's not going to be just a quick fix on that, but we're working on that. In the meantime, we're trying to help facilitate drop off and pick up um for our families. All right, moving on. Um, teacher updates. to know you guys are aware that um we had some unexpected um open positions open up but um I even have an update to this update that actually today we offered a music teacher and they accepted um so it's a fully credentialed teacher with I want to say seven years experience teaching music um elementary and also middle school. So it's someone who actually who is a really good fit. Um we're excited about that. So, we're going to get them on boarded. Um, we'll work with HR
019on that. And then also, um, the other open position was our fifth grade Mandarin position. Um, and so we had a candidate and we're there was working out credentiing um, for Mandarin teachers is always pretty complicated. Uh, but yesterday we finally got confirmation that we're good to go. Um, so we're planning for that fifth grade man teacher to be in the classroom starting Monday. Um so that's the date that we set today and so we'll be sending out an update to families. So um we'll be back again to fully staff from a teaching standpoint. Um and we hope no more changes after that. Um next update after school. So as you know we launched our after school program. Um giving you um an update on that. I believe last time I met we talked about
020it it was before we had started registration. So we've had our families who qualify for ELOT funding go first and then when we open up to the school community we had over a 100red inquiries in the first five minutes and then we had 300 families um request be part of the program within the first 30 minutes. So there's a lot of interest there's a lot of demand. Um it did start on the first day of school. Um overall the club themselves are going well. Right now we're working on transitions, making sure how to transition from the classroom to the clubs effectively. I will say today we actually had the the best day. Um we we adjusted some of the transition to the classroom and also the dismissal procedures. Um and so we got positive feedback
021from our families about that. Um so it's one of those things you lay out your plans. Not everything happens exactly the way you expect and you pivot and you adjust. And so far we're um we're making progress on that. Um, so I've been working with Mr. Gio on that. He's been great. Um, if you see him, keep him encouraged. He's he just gets a lot of questions and he's talking to a lot of families to start the year. Uh, but we'll we'll be um I'll keep you updated on that. But right now, um, in our after school program, we have about 200 students in our after school clubs. And I know YMCA has over they reached over a hundred students in their um, after school program. their size has tripled in the last week. So,
022they've experienced that growth. And then Strategic Kids, that information is going to go out soon. We're just waiting for updated flyers from them. And that will be launching. They pushed it back to September. And so, we'll be able to see um those numbers as well. But right now, we have over 300 kids in our after school on our at our school. So, it's good number of kids. I think to put it in perspective, last year with strategic kids, I think we served um closer I think overall about 200 um so 100 more kids per day in our after school programs. >> So I get a question about the YMCA and last year I was involved with the strategic kids. Rachel was here and I could see what was going on but she's not involved now
023so I don't get to see how that works. So for the YMCA kids, I know they're in the other building now or the old I'm going to call it the old music building out, but they're not all in there, right? >> No. So they actually have licensed that. And then also a couple of our classrooms right over there. I think rooms one and three. >> Oh, across. You mean just right across? >> Right across. >> Stay in the same area, but right across from there. Um so they're utilizing those classrooms. And then they have a very structured program that they can have kids rotate utilizing um the different areas of the school. So like if there'll be a group of kids will be inside the classroom and a group of kids will be flying and
024then they'll they'll have a rotation to that. So they're able to accommodate that group because they are very organized. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> The and I guess the morning session happens in the outdoor >> before school. Yes. >> The before school. There's not much in that little music. >> And then our uh during our day, the TK group as well >> happens out there. >> Okay. I think I'm going to come by just to see how that looks like, right? See if it goes with me. Now, I noticed this morning or this evening when I came in, the parents were looking to pick up their kids. I don't know if they were really sure what something was happening, wasn't happening. Well, so want to make sure that the parent pickup the parents are satisfied
025with the pickup, right? See, they seemed a little confused. >> Yeah. >> They were waiting. So, I don't know what was going on there. >> Okay. I mean, it just depends on what group they were with. >> Yeah. Yeah. So, she's just I don't know. It didn't look right to me. So, maybe that's something when Gio gets back or whatever how that program, >> like I said, every day we're making adjustments. I'm >> sure. I'm sure. Yeah. Okay. Okay. All right. Um, we've also, um, today we actually had our middle school behavior expectations assembly and tomorrow we'll start with elementary. This kind of goes along with our launch of our tier one for PBIS. It's the training we started last year with Orange County Department of Education. Um, and really it's focused on teaching, reinforcing,
026and providing support to students. And so, it's these are our schoolwide expectations for our students. We just can't think of it as common sense. we have to directly teach it and then reinforce it. And so that's really what we're doing a lot of this year. And that's you've really seen that in the classroom. We've heard it from teachers. We've heard it from stu even students themselves that have recognized the difference. So um we're really um big on that right now. And then um lastly, we have our back to school night. Um it's actually on Thursday. So we have our two sessions. Uh first one's at 4 p.m. second one's at 5:00 pm. It is the same information um in each. So we do that to split up the crowds but also for families with multiple
027children um if so that they can attend different sessions. Um so that's what we're doing for that. And then kind of looking ahead um we have our first coffee with the principal on Thursday. So, uh, again, one of the big changes this year is we've kind of mapped out calendars and what gets covered at different, uh, top at different coffees with the principles, parent workshops. So, um, that will be this Thursday at 8:30 a.m. in here. Um, the week after that, we have our first parent workshop focusing on volunteers. Um, we do have our new school and Labor Day. And then, even though it's it's kind of a ways off, we have our mid autumn festival celebration on October 8th. on Wednesday. Um it's after school from 2 to 4. So um planning's already been
028underway for that, but I kind of wanted to put that on everyone during any questions. Not a question. It's not a question. Just thank you. I understand, you know, the first uh first week of school, I mean, they're so odd and um thank you for being so patient and paying attention to the kids safely police. I know that's not easy. I want to ask whether the police because this school side been here for a long time, >> 50 years. >> So, how did they handle you know the traffic before um >> before us? way before that because this is old school here. >> I mean, to be honest, I don't think any of them really know um because I think that the the ones in the police department now really weren't in in the area.
029So, to them, this is a this is a new new thing to them. They saw it as really an empty school site. Now, it's a full school site. >> May I add to that? as a public charter. Um we have families that come from outside of our neighborhood where when it used to be a school it was more of a neighborhood school. So you had more kids walking and so with any public charter we have families that come from outside the district and so there's it brings more traffic when it's a school of choice. >> Yeah. >> You know I would also add that this school this facility regularly had 600 kids in it. that was normal for this facility. So that wasn't that's not something new. I know that because I used to live
030here. I used to live right by here. And so you know all of a sudden you're I think part of it is like you said this officers and the tra you know it's all new to them but this school it's nothing new to this area. >> But I think the kids long time ago they walked to school to school that I think this is good you know is for the kids safety no matter what you know. a it's a good problem new problem that we need to face. So I'm just really thankful especially in the afternoon too for the after school one. I mean it with three going to be three different uh program going on. Um but but kids will learn I mean once you start getting into routine. So thank you for your
031efforts. >> We're that's what we're doing. We're building the routines right now. >> Building routines. I have a question. Um maybe you know and uh do they need any special like permission from the city um before installing all the signs? >> I don't know that procedure but it was the city who did it. Um so I don't know what their procedure is for that. >> Yeah. You know the the qu the point is without a proper due process that may not be legal. >> That that's you know just a comment. >> Yeah. >> Uh yeah the other question is uh what is uh how many new students are school addicted in this new school year? Well, right now, um I mean the numbers are kind of um changing daily because beginning of the year you
032have a certain number. You don't have those students until they actually show up to school. So, you kind of get a drop on the first day and then we fill we back fill in those spots. So, right now, kind of give you an idea, we're around 595, but we have a number of offers out and we have a pretty lengthy weight list, too. So, that number should be up to our budgeted number. Um and we ended last year at 539. So the in terms of new students that is 66 more students currently >> uh with that number expected to go up but that doesn't account for families who have left. >> Gotcha. >> So I would say I would say estimate we have between 100 120 new students. >> New students. Yeah. >> Thank you.
033I just wanted to uh thank you uh to you and the staff, the team for uh a successful start to the school and uh you feel the excitement for sure. Uh so thank you very much. And then I also wanted to plug uh a book that was put in my daughter's backpack at the end of her school year last year. I think it's called uh Nothing Rhymes with Orange or something like that. Wh what's the story on that book? >> Um so that was a if I remember right that was a book that in third for third grade um it was a part of like some a project they did with your class but that's a book from Orange County doctor. Do you remember more of it? >> I was given the book as well.
034Um it's in my office but it was part of like the history of Orange County um part of the curriculum community project. So I know that um it was it Miss Bake for third grade was able to get as a project that they did books donated. >> Okay. >> And so um and that was before I I got here but the books had been donated and then when she was packing up she said, "Oh, our kids all got copies of this book. Would you like to read it?" And I said, "Yes, I'd love to read it." So I haven't read it yet, but I have it in my office. >> Yeah. So it's excellent. And I think that everyone in Orange County should read it because it's really really it's really well done. I mean,
035yes, it's written for the elementary kids, but uh it's an easy read and it's unbelievably informational about Orange County and the history. So, it makes you very proud to be a part of it. >> I can see if you can continue that because for third grade social studies community is kind of the the main st in terms of standards is community for third grade and so that's kind of why it was part of third grade. Um, we can definitely try to continue that. >> Yeah, it's really great. Dr. Bean wrote I think you wrote the forward uh of the book. So, it it's just it was excellent. Jill Giant, it's a quick read for those that are not wanting a big thick book, but it's great. It's great. Veryformational. So, anyways, I thought I would
036just mention it. >> Thank you very much. >> Can I see a copy >> somewhere around? >> I think we can get some more copies. We'll >> Yeah, >> we'll look at it. I'll talk to the third grade team, too. We have everyone on our third grade team. They're new. >> So, um I can make sure that I share with them. We've been doing a lot and and um >> and actually they they did get a core syllabus, but that would be important to share. >> Yeah, that's very nice. Thank you. Okay, moving on to the next item. 90-day strategic plan. Dr. Henry Good evening. Um, as part of my hiring process, I was asked to create a 90day entry plan. And, um, we're pretty much at the end of the 90 days. So, I
037think it's, um, 3 months and 4 days that I've been here. So, um, I wanted to share an update of the findings and kind of where we're going to go from here. So, um, I'll go through this qu quickly, but in the beginning of the 90-day plan, I included a listening tour. And that was my goal was to meet with key stakeholders asking some core questions. And some of those meetings were one-on-one. Uh, many of them were, some were with small groups, um, with leaders. I met with students in the classroom. I met with families. Uh I met overall in those in that first month with about 50 different individuals. And I had four key questions that I asked um each group. And the first thing I asked is tell me three things that make
038IIA amazing andor what is going well and I'll share with you some of my findings. The second question was, "Share something that I can work on to improve or what challenges do you see?" The third question is my favorite and elicited some really fun responses. If you had a magic wand, what would you fix, implement, or make happen at IIA to make it better? And then the final question was, "What advice do you have for me as we as I move forward in this role?" um depending on who I was meeting with. This was especially with um staff, but I would ask is there someone else I should meet with because they might know who other leaders or voices are that I should keep in mind and try to u meet with. Also, when it
039came to our staff, I I really wanted to understand there's one thing to understand a job description and there's another piece to understand what they're really doing. So, I asked I said, 'I can read your job description. Um, we're almost shutting down. U, but what do you actually do? And I learned a lot about our different positions. Thank you. I can keep going though. Um, and then the final one for our staff as well was, "What are your personal goals?" So that I can see what their long-term goals were and how I could better support them, um, mentor and that kind of thing. So of those questions, here were my findings. So the the the biggest theme that I found about what makes IIA amazing is and it was reiterated over and over again was
040strong close community, a lot of heart here at IIA. But you can see some of the other pieces that came forward. Um our students are great support for that we put in place for our kids. the culture obviously our strong test scores and enrollment and academic program. You'll see that um we've come a long way with implementing policies and procedures. Our staff works well together. A lot of people comment about our parent involvement. Parent volunteers are what makes us special um that we're growing. And then the kids um when I said what makes IA amazing overall their answer was we are small and we get to know our teachers and we really appreciate that. So I changed the question a little bit. Okay. Because I also wanted to know like what's a what's the best
041thing that you've done in or out of the classroom as kind of like a tradition. So they shared that they love their field they love field day. Um, and in fact, when I talked to them at that point, we didn't have a field day for the eighth grade kids. And I came back to the team and I'm like, they really love the field day, so let's make it happen so we can get and we did. We gave them a field day. They loved field trips, the PBIS monthly celebrations. Uh they talked a lot about a water balloon fight. SC they like the com competitive learning, the science fair, the spelling fair, history day, uh leadership class, and then I heard about a project in steam about building a cabin that they all kind of unanimously
042thought was really great. Then I moved on to the challenges. Um and one of the consistent themes is in bold here at top was about communication. making sure that not only are we communication but clarity of communication and then also following through on the communication. Um some of the other challenges is we're small so a lot of people wear a lot of different hats. Um a a theme I had with some of the staff was classroom management. We really wanted to improve that. Um, although we love our specialized classroom mo model, it can be challenging sometimes when you have half a day Mandarin, half a day English. So, it wasn't a complaint. It was just it makes things tight and and and a bit of a challenge. Um, understanding when to stay strong and when
043to make concessions. Um, some of the other themes were that there's a lot of change and that can be difficult. transparency, um, defining terms, getting input. So, you can see those were some of the challenges, um, that we had and that were shared. The magic wand question was always very interesting to me, but it was very consistent across groups and I was surprised that the students were even really consistent with the adults. So, one of the key themes was facilities. When I talked about a magic wand, it was more space. Doors came up a lot. Um, having doors. I know Mr. Delgado and I have looked, you have a whole blueprint of doors, but it's pretty pricey. Um, a better parking. Uh some of the other key themes if we could just wave a magic
044wand would be competitive wages for teachers, better classroom transitions, um improving the appearance of the school, giving us a facelift. Uh some people talked about uh well an unlimited or bigger budget. I think we can all agree upon replicating our school or expansion opportunities for teacher growth and more PD. And then um it was also said that that everything was in place that we hope to put in place. If I had a magic wand, it would all be done. And we know the work is part of the best part. But um but the kids said they brought up facilities, bigger school doors was came up with our students. Um they did ask for separate bathrooms with age groups, which is a common thing when you have TK through 8. Um, and they are for the
045most part separate, but really making sure the practices of when people use the restrooms. That's important. Food always comes up um regardless. So, more choice. Uh, they, this one surprised me because I was expecting them to say no uniforms. Um, and they did not. I even told them, are is this what you mean? And they said yes. They're like, we just wish everyone wore their uniform. And I'm like, "Huh, okay." And that and but they want a little more choice. Um maybe adding an additional color to the middle school or something like that. And then they talked about tutoring and um their other piece was they really wanted to be treated like middle schoolers, talked to like middle schoolers. Um and and that's important, I think, um especially as we're at K8. And then finally,
046when I asked for advice, you can see I just did a little um uh word cloud here of kind of what came up. Um but it was continue to listen um continue to communicate, stick around, um uh develop partnerships, be strong with to be consistent and responsive and things like that. So th that was my listening tour and all the things that I found. And again, I I thought I think the the the most important thing was the consistency and not much surprised me along the way, but I also learned a lot about our community and I learned a lot about our staff and what their dreams and goals are and how I can better support them uh and and for our parents, what they want for their students moving forward. So, that'll help to
047direct my work. So, here are some key priorities that I've put in place. Um, and a lot of these align with the evaluation that we talked about earlier in close session, but you'll see there's some kind of like very specific things. So, I I'm going to continue to listen. My goal is to help continue to build trust and relationships. Uh, to implement the communication plan since that was a kind of a big theme coming forward, developing those quarterly surveys for input. Uh, I will be establishing the executive director advisory committee meetings for a year. Um, I really am looking closely at our organizational capacity and alignment, what people do and how they do them. Looking to make sure we're maximizing um, our organization. We are we have an extra year for the charter renewal, but
048I do feel it's better to start sooner rather than later. Um because I want to make sure that those things that are in our charter we're doing with fidelity uh that we're implementing our core values and and really make sure if we're taking our time I can get a lot of feedback and I think that's going to be really important. Um monitoring and aligning our budget to the LCAP goals is a heavy lift. So that's a key priority. Um establishing our gate program. uh really focusing in on strong instructional practices in the classroom and making sure our programs are strong curriculum implementation. Uh honoring our past traditions and then continuing to create fun and meaningful traditions as we move forward and then also exploring branding opportunities as we move forward to promote help to promote
049and just keep a healthy enrollment and get our name out there. So, some next steps, um, I will continue to listen and be available. I will create and distribute the temperature check survey. Um, I will be sending out information. I did calendar the dates today for the executive director advisory committee and I'll be putting those out shortly. Um, if the communication plan is approved this evening, then I'll begin implementation and blue will talk about that at the first coffee with the principal. um creating tools and capacity to do that budget alignment with LCAP goals so that things match. Uh continuing to work with our new back office providers CMS CS CSMC to uh continue to understand current budget and make sure that we continue to work towards long-term stability. I want to establish a who
050to call list that really details who people can go for when they have different concerns. I don't like it when people are kind of tossed around so that we have know and you people know that there's a direct avenue but really uh also supporting our thinking maps training and um implementing a curriculum committee so that we can have conversations around the sexual health curriculum and then also the math curriculum that we'll be looking at this year. And I did in my one of my first presentations say we would start that work in January. Um and that's still the plan. So that'll that'll be coming up within the next month or so, maybe two months. Starting to get that work together. Uh reviewing our charter so that I know different areas that we can build as
051we go through the renewal process in over a year. And then also Prop 39 for our facilities, developing those relationships with Irvine Unified and um starting those meetings um which will really comes quickly in the fall. So, those are proposed next steps. And I just thought a beautiful message when I did all of my kind of going around is someone looked at me and just said, you know, we have something really special going on here. And I have to agree. The first week of school, the week of welcome that we did the pre-ervice days before school have been they've been wonderful. I couldn't have expected or written it any better if I wanted to. So, it's been a great start and those are the key priorities and what's come out of that 90-day plan. And
052um as another parent told me, uh I don't get to call myself new anymore. So, so I after this after sharing my 90 days, I'll I'll limit that. But I'm new comment. So, uh thank you. That's it. Do you have any questions? I don't I don't have any questions, but I can tell you that you're a big part of why uh the school is so great. Okay, just even your 90 days, you've done a great job and everything that we see in the board and stuff, you know, it's fantastic. You're on the right track. >> So, thank you. >> I appreciate that. >> Definitely. Thank you. And I agree. We have something going on here. You can feel it and I was here for that the teacher's training and I can it was just amazing.
053It was beautiful here. >> Yeah. I don't think your mic's on but that's okay. Um I heard you um but about being here for the first for the week of welcome for the training. >> It was just amazing you know see the teachers together and you set up those round table and we start thinking about what we can use with those round table. we can have so many events here. It just and I met uh the new teachers. Um it just like huge family and thank you for your 90 days and you know in your planning I can see you're not just writing down the the hopes and dreams for the future but you at the same time you already started doing it. You can see it here. So thank you so much. >> Thank
054you. Yeah, I just want to comment. I mean this is great uh great if you have like just like the US president you know have one you know first 100 days this is the first 90 days right? Yes. Great. I see the you know I sense the positive uh momentum. I really um I really feel uh you know very good about it and I think you're on the right track. Uh okay. Congratulations. >> Oh, thank you. I Oh, go ahead. >> Yeah. >> Well, I was going to say I thought it was important to bring it back to you because a lot of times you'll hear >> here's my 90-day plan and then >> you don't get any update on what happened. So, thank you. That's why I wanted to bring it back to you.
055If we you know have a question you know if you want uh I think you did everything right you know by serving by listening communicating with the different stakeholders all right the students uh parents and board members etc. So if you condense all this into top like three or five things to do, what would come to your the top your mind? >> The five things to do I think um are some of the things that are on here, but I'll pull the five. Continuing to improve communication for clarity, consistency. There are a lot of communication tools, but making sure we're maximizing them and making sure that our families have access to what we're communicating. So, that's number one. Um, continuing to build culture and community because uh we have a lot of events and um
056I want to make them more celebratory and really meaningful. like we have a lot like our lunar new year and our fall festival but even to things like orientation bringing in a sense of community uh so I think that's really important I feel the third most important thing is putting together that outlet that advisory committee that by the way it it will not be exclusive it this will be it'll be open to all families or all people that want to come um to those advisory committee meetings so that people feel that they have a voice and they're heard. How many was that? Three. Um um really looking at our um classroom instruction. Our teachers I I said this to someone and I I hope this it's that they play they play the game well. They
057play along. I they're so wonderful. when I would show a strategy, they were all on board instead of like being a little bit hesitant. And then we saw those strategies all the first week like they're they're just soaking it up. So I think really continuing that in the classroom is going to be really important to move us forward. Um and I'm probably missing something really really important. But um really looking at well budget >> the doors the doors >> the doors >> we got to improve the budget by a lot to get the doors. But you know what we did do uh working with our PTO uh that that's been wonderful as well. And they they provided each teacher with $300 at the beginning of the year to do what they wanted. And we gave
058an example and a lot of the classrooms bought um dividers or what am I using the right? Yeah, dividers for to put almost like a door. Uh we did have to buy one really um fancier one because we have a student uh with a need uh a hearing need. So we wanted to make sure that that classroom the sound worked well. But um a lot of our teachers were able to bring that and it gives them that sense of privacy. So it's a temporary fix but um it yeah >> well I'm temporarily happy. >> Okay. Thank you. >> That's a great at least. Yeah. >> Okay. Thank you. Thanks so much. >> Yeah, great uh energy, great presentation. You're very thoughtful about uh ways that we can improve and build on what has been done.
059You've listened. It's clear you've listened. So, thank you. Thank you for your transparency. I think you're very transparent with us. Feel like you're very transparent with the community. Uh so, continue continue the great effort and we've got great momentum for this year. So, thank you to you and and the team. >> All right. Thank you so much. >> Okay, moving on to the next uh financial update and unodudited actuals. Mr. Jones, are you there? >> Yes, I am. Good evening, folks. >> Good evening. Thank you for your patience. >> Yes, no problem at all. Uh and welcome back. Um can someone allow me to share really quickly, please? You should be able to share it now. Perfect. Okay. All right. So, we are going to um discuss the unodudited actuals and the fiscal year ending
060June 2025. Um I did um just for the sake of something you're familiar with with looking at put the unaudited actuals in uh just a quick board report format but I do have this also as well. If you can see this this is the the unodudited actuals itself. So I'll start here with how we finished the year which is really what the unodudited actuals are all about. And if you were here last year or the year before, you know that this is the official unofficial official uh financial statement that we submit to your authorizer and also to the state of California. And then this will be backed up and followed up with the audit uh later on in the year. Uh so just a quick overview of what's going on here. Um and I'll page
061down really quickly so we can get to it. So in the month of June, we received roughly 1.6 6 million in revenues and that's really acrewing all of the outstanding revenue line items um that were due at the end of June but not yet received. So all in total um 1.6 million in terms of revenues uh uh that we received and or acrewed for the year. on the expenditure side since school was out pretty early in June uh less in terms of um uh expenses related to June 656,000 all in you can see those components here broken down 53% of that salaries and benefits another 25% in operational cost books and supplies uh 15% etc uh year-to- date revenues and now this is when we sort of look at the totality ity of the unodudited
062actuals year-to- date revenues and I will definitely show you the compared to the budget how well we did or did not do so that will give you a little bit more context in just a few more slides uh 7.9 million in uh total revenues 77% of that was your LCFF revenues another 3% 206,000 was your federal dollars 16% or 1.2 2 million were for other state revenues and then we had local uh revenues of 362,000. On the expenditure side, we spent 6.6 million. Uh roughly 66% of that was um salaries and benefits. Another 9% was uh books and supplies. Operational costs were uh 1.5 million and other outgo related to borrowing, interest, etc. uh was 24,000 roughly 2% of our budget. Let's kind of look at the total budget compared to our actuals here. And
063we we performed really well considering um as you can see here we had total revenue as I mentioned of 7.9 million. We had initially budgeted at our second interim for 7.7 million. So that's roughly 274,000 more. Um in terms of our overall expenditures, we budgeted 7.1 million. we wound up spending 6.6 million. Um so that leaves us with net income of roughly 1,347,000 which is awesome. Uh compared to our 2425 second interim budget where we have conservatively budget 59,000 in terms of our net income at the end of the year. Um so we did extremely well uh in terms of our net income and just our overall u managing our expenses relative to our revenues. So you can see here on the balance sheet and I'll show you this later on on the interim reports
064when I go back through that our total assets here is 1.67 million. You can see the amount we have in cash here roughly about 700,000. We had 871,000 in liabilities. If you add that together back in with our beginning uh fund balance from last uh ending last June of the deficit of 743,000, add back in our 1.3 million in in the change in net assets. Our net income puts us positive back to where we should be um to the tune of $796,000 in terms of our total net assets ending June 30th, 2025. Uh cashwise, as I mentioned, we have 702,000. This was at the end of June. Um you can see the breakdown of that there. Uh cash in the treasury was 430. We had roughly 156,000 in the Endeavor account. The Cafe Bank uh
065had 115,000 uh as well. Um, and also, um, as I want to go back and just show you that we did pay off right at the end of June, we did pay off the land donate amount. And I'll bring that up a little closer so you can see that line item here. Uh, so that has been paid off. So we we paid back that money that we borrowed from Lindonate. And the only uh uh related expense here uh related to that is the line of credit that's on the books for $375,000. So really good job in terms of paying down those uh liabilities at the end of June uh which was really good for the school in terms of moving forward. I will stop sharing that and share the unodudited actuals. Um, and if there
066are any questions, you guys can uh pause and and ask away, but I will switch over to the unauditive actuals. And most of you all, I think all of you all have seen this before. Um, this is the cover page here that we will have signed once this board meeting is over. Um, uh, Stephanie, I'll make sure you get this. Actually, I think you do have it. You can go ahead and sign once this is over and submit to your authorizer. And I will then tomorrow morning submit the SAX version of the audited actuals once the board approved. As I mentioned earlier, the audited actual gives you a breakdown of those uh revenues and expenses that I just uh went over. And you can see here they do correspond to what's here in terms of
067our 6.1 million in LCFF revenues of the 206,000 in federal dollars, 1.2 million in state dollars, and 362,000 in local revenues. puts our local our total revenues at 7,981. [Music] Again, here you can see the breakdown of our expenditures in terms of teacher salaries, classified salaries, related benefits of 849,000. You can see our program costs here in the various categories that are aligned with those 591,000. And again, our operational cost here, 1.5 million. And then our interest payments here, debt service was $124,000. Altogether, 6.6 million. Subtracting our revenues from our expenses. And again, that leaves us with 1.3 million in net income uh for the year. as it stands uh on our balance sheet and you can see here this is where we finished June of 2024 we we were operating with a deficit in
068terms of our total balance of 555,000 deficit adding back the 1.3 million here puts at 796337 in terms of our ending fund balance at June 2025 just below this are just the components of our ending fund balance and below that you can see here our cash in the treasury in our operating accounts. Our receivables that we booked the two of 949,000. Our capital assets here $16,000 plus our total net assets at 1.6 million. And then subtracting out our liabilities of 871,000 as I mentioned before puts our new fund balance in June at 796,337. I will pause there and take any questions that you may have questions. >> Hey Delano, I got a quick one for you. So, if I'm reading this correctly, you know, our original interterm budget was we were expecting to be at
06959 500,000 at the end of the year, but we actually um exceeded that, right? So, our interim budget actuals or I should say united actuals actually we're our net income is is much better positioned. And I didn't notice does that include or does that is that is the payoff of the loan all already uh calculated in here? So we've got the loan paid off also. Right. >> Yes. On the balance sheet as you can see here that liability is totally gone full. um this 9643 um object code that you see here for this lend donate amount as you can see that's zero because that was paid off uh late June I believe a few days before June was over um we were able to go ahead and pay that back per the contract or the
070agreement with uh Endeavor Bank so so that was paid off as you can see here >> so so I mean that's I don't want to say that's hidden but that's a big plus for us because not only did we exceed our our our estimated uh assets, >> Your ending balance, but we've also paid off. >> Absolutely. Plus paying that off. Absolutely. Yes. That was a plus. Um in terms of just all of those things coming together and being able to uh timewise in terms of being able to do that, but we were anticipated to do that anyway sometime between June and July. So, it really was just good timing to be able to do that to close out the year and not have that carry forward into the next fiscal year, but it would have
071been paid off. >> It would have been paid off anyway, but we we're still looking pretty good after the payoff even. So, that's that's we're in a much better financial position than we've been for a while. >> Yeah, this is a good starting point and and the the the objective going forward again is to build up on this, right? And so it's it's not just today, but what you do uh in this fiscal year and the subsequent fiscal years to come that will tell the story of how well um you're managing your expenses, how well you're um looking at your overall cost. Excuse me. And then also you know the I heard you guys speak early about enrollment student numbers because those are always the driving factors in terms of revenues coming to the school.
072So managing high enrollment is always going to be the key to your success. >> Yeah. Thanks. Thanks Don. Thank you. >> Yeah. I just want to get a clarification. Did do you mean uh we have uh you know basically are we taking any line of credits? >> Yes. You you asked a question about the line of credit. >> Yes. Yeah. >> Yeah. How much are we taking? Uh well, you have up to 375,000, >> right? >> And I don't you had you did not use any at the end of June. I don't know if any of that was used in July or not, but at the end of June, you you had the 375 and you did not use any of it. Okay. At towards the end of >> Okay. I recall two, you know,
073two board meeting and a July board meeting, right? We >> Yeah. Two. Yeah. Two board meeting. Okay, >> that's great. Thank you. >> Your new back office will be able to to speak to that whether or not you pulled >> any cash out of that or dipped into that fund. >> Okay. >> In July, I would not be able to. >> Thank you, Dan. >> Uh yes, you're welcome. >> Hi, Dano. This is Brett. Uh I have a question regarding line item uh on the balance sheet. This is 9642 that CSRLF loan. I was just curious when we think we will pay that off. I know if I remember right, it's pretty low interest. >> So I believe you have until 2029. I'm going to check the schedule really quickly >> to tell you exactly
074when. I have that at my disposal here. So, >> and that was originally >> to pay off the charter school evolving loan. And I'll share this again. >> Was that 250 250k? >> Yes. You're scheduled to pay that off um at the end of this fiscal year. So, at the end of June, you will pay um 2026, you will have paid that off. >> Okay. Thank you. I I also didn't want to miss the opportunity to thank you for your many years of service with us. I think it's been four years if I'm not mistaken, right? Or even before. I think you were probably even supporting us beforehand, maybe even five years. >> Yeah. Yeah. This was I was I've been around since this was an idea. >> Yeah. So, uh I just wanted to
075thank you very much. You know, I know we get into the details here and you patiently wait for us to get through all our jabbering before you, you know, chime in for your financial update, but >> thank you very much for sticking by us and for your many years of service with us. >> 100%. It was my pleasure. Um, and I certainly wish you all the best of luck. I'm always pulling for for IIA. You guys do hold a special place in my heart and I thank you for the opportunity to have served you all for these years and and I know that the school will have nothing but tremendous success because it has great leaders not only uh with Stephanie and Grant but also at the board level. you you four now uh there
076were five um you4 now are exceptional leaders and you guys are in the right place to take uh this school to the next level so thank you very much for that and I certainly appreciate our time together >> thank you and I'm so glad you were able to see a really healthy hopefully you would consider it to be a really healthy P&L right so >> thank you dude I know >> absolutely >> thank you >> I wish I I wanted nothing but the best for the school this year because I knew that there were plenty of folks who were looking at this school to fail, but certainly there was no stopping its success. So, I'm really happy for it. >> We appreciate your support, everything in your service. And I also noticed over the four
077past four years, you haven't grown any gray hairs yet. That's the positive. >> They're here, David. They're hard to see on camera with their hair. Well, thank you very much. I certainly appreciate my time with you all and best of luck uh with the school this year. So, thank you so much. >> If you're in the neighborhood, don't feel don't don't be afraid to stop by. We'd love to see you. >> I will not be a stranger. I promise. >> Yeah, please. >> Um I just wanted also to say thank you to Delano for his service and also to let um the board know we will continue to work with Delano. He's still supporting us with the audit and some other pieces. And I just want to thank you. In the short time that I've
078known you, we've had great conversations and actually uh your follow-through has been very helpful to me um moving forward and I know we'll continue with some of these uh accountability pieces as well as the audit. So, thank you for that. >> Thank you folks. I so appreciate it. Thank you all. Okay, moving on to the next item, back office uh provider update. Mr. Miller, >> good evening everyone. And I'm realizing I am a little dark here. So, I'm going to turn off my camera and it's not because I'm being rude. It's just my lighting is not built for this. So, um but tonight we are going to go over kind of how CSMC has been supporting IIA. So, let me go ahead and share and thank you Grant in advance for giving me access. So,
079this will be a relatively short one. Um, we're just going to really be talking about what we've been doing to support IIA through the transition. So, starting right off, we have a bi-weekly standing call. So, you know, how are we communicating to ensure a smooth transition during this time of change? We meet bi-weekly. So, you know, we all know things can get lost in email. Um, a lot of this is we get as close to face to face as we possibly can. We triage all of our items. We have a set agenda and we really go through, you know, every item that's happened in the past two weeks and just have a really productive meeting. We have one today, in fact. Um, and then after those meetings, I always send up kind of a follow-up
080email talking about what we discussed, um, looking at any action items and really kind of project managing that whole situation. So, that's kind of the first point here. Uh, the second thing CSMC has done is we've implemented three new and one not so new system. So, first is quick purifying. That's completely new. um to kind of spare you the longer text. Uh a lot of this is going to be faster invoice processing with really strong internal controls. Um procurify also is a so it's a fully automated uh AP system. So you'll have a full audit trails for any payments that you submit in there and it's it syncs automatically with our new accounting system intact. So intact is a real time uh accounting software. So with this, anyone who has uh a password can go
081in and immediately check uh in on financials. It's just really great for transparency, for reporting, for pulling any documents. Um it's really kind of that 21st century accounting software, which is great. Um and then lastly, we have Paycom, which I know Dano and his team used. Um I think just the only we made very minor tweaks there. I know there were some uh onboarding manual spreadsheets that we you know our team implemented some automations for. Um it pretty much allows real-time tracking for payroll and personnel changes and then also um that we implemented this employee mobile access for any updates to their account or any pay history um which definitely uh we've seen uh some success in. So then we have our cash flow reports. So I know this has been a point of contention
082with IIA. So I want to get make some uh special time for it. Um what you're seeing here are kind of screenshots from our weekly uh cash flow reports that we do. So what they essentially are is we look at, hey, here's how much cash we have in the bank account right now and we say, okay, based on how many how much AP you guys currently are holding and your payroll, here's where we think you're going to be at the end of the month. And if cash ever looks short, what we can do is we can hold AP. And you know, we we even had this discussion today. It's how we open our uh standing calls for accounting. So when we get to the accounting session, we always go through it together um with Dr.
083Henry and Mary Beth and we go through uh that and today even we decided to you know hold some things that aren't just due yet um just to make sure we keep an eye on the cash flow at because you know payroll is coming in because of how many new um students you have. You know there's that there's that increase in payroll. So, we're kind of waiting on those first numbers after the first payroll cycle of the new year to kind of check in on those numbers, mainly because we just don't have the historical data for it. But, um, but yeah, so that's going really smoothly. And then I also wanted to mention that Dr. Henry and I will begin the process of updating the budget. Uh, we're meeting actually tomorrow. Um, and we're going
084to, you know, really I'm going to walk her through kind of CSMC's process through uh, and how we build out a budget. So, we're going to, you know, pull a lot of the great work that Delana's already done and we're going to kind of incorporate it in a way that's uh, that works for CSMC and I think, you know, will be will be in efficiency as we move forward. And then lastly, you know, I think there was um there was an ask for, you know, kind of a bit about what C CSMC provides. So, I just wanted to go over kind of and g give the board a little blurb about, you know, kind of the four main areas we oversee. So, you know, me personally, I I'm going to be your, you know, point
085of contact and the head of your SPM services, which is the school business manager services. A lot of what I do is kind of that CS CFO level oversight and financial strategy. Um we do cash flow monitoring, we do forecasting, we do uh budget and scenario planning and I take care of a lot of your compliance work. So for instance the Us that Delano um pulled up uh there that will that will fall under kind of my responsibility. Um next we kind of have payroll which is pretty self-explanatory. Um but that's just going to be anything payroll related. So, counseling. So, all all of that stuff is going to be kind of payroll there for the accounting services. That is going to be the AP processing, the bank reconciliations, the month closes, um payroll processing,
086releasing any of the payments we have in Procurify. Um so, that's going to be mainly our accounting department and then student data again is going to be responsible for the cowpads. uh definitely helping in the CALPADS reporting. I know you guys are transitioning over to Aries. So, you know, kind of doing that kind of report preparation with the IIA team um to make sure that you guys have on time and accurate submissions uh to make sure you know you get that LCFF funding which is crucial to charter schools. So, and that's that's really it. I know that was kind of quick. Are there any are there any questions for me? [Music] Thank you, Mr. Miller. We appreciate the overview and uh excited to work with yourselves and see how we can learn from you and
087improve our systems. So, thank you very much for the opportunity to uh to be supported by CSMC. >> Yeah. No, thank you guys and very excited to work with IIA. I think it's been going extremely well given the amount of change that's happening. Um, I got to say the strong Us are a fantastic indication of where the school is trending. So, you know, we're definitely hoping to continue that trend and uh keep you guys on the right track. >> Appreciate it. Thank you. >> Yep. No problem. Have a nice night, everyone. >> You too. >> Okay, moving on to items for discussion and possible action. Uh first item approve uh 2024 25 unodudited actuals education code section 421000B requires that each charter school approved in a format prescribed by the superintendent of public instruction and
088annual statement of all receipts and expenditures of the charter school for the preceding fiscal year and shall file the statement with the entity that approved the charter school. LCAP goal action not applicable funding source not applicable budget financial impact not applicable. It's recommended the board of directors approve action item A. Is there any discussion needed here? >> No, that this is uh the document itself that um that Delano presented uh will be signed and submitted to our charter as well as um it's implemented through a digital system that Delano will be doing for us if and when it's board approved. >> Okay. Thank you. Is there a motion? >> I'll motion. So, >> thank you, Felipe. Is there a second? >> Thank you, Molly. All in favor, please say I. >> I. Any oppose, please
089say nay. >> Hearing none. It passes. Okay. Next item. Approve 2026 2027 to school calendar in alignment with surrounding districts and observed holidays. IIA has created the 2026 27 master calendar. This calendar is published approximately one year prior to the start of the designated school year in order to provide adequate time for planning and facilities use requests. Calendar was reviewed to ensure that lunar new year dates were reflected accurately. LCAP goal action not applicable. Funding source not applicable. Budget financial impact not applicable. It's recommended the board directors approve. Action item B. Any comments? >> Uh we had this on the board agenda last time. it was pulled because after it it was posted, there were some comments that perhaps the it wasn't matching with the Lunar New Year. So, we had several people look at
090it. Uh we feel that it is now aligned um and ready for approval. Once it's approved, we will put it up on our website. So, it will be available a year in advance to our families. >> I just have a question. So now the total days of school is 189. Is that new? >> No. So when I went through that is a work calendar that you have up. Yeah. The um so that's the the one of the work calendars that has 189 days, but the school calendar is still 180 days. >> Thank you. >> There's a lot of documents in there. >> Thank you. >> Yes. Is the work calendar relevant to an item for tonight? >> Yes. >> Okay. So, we will discuss it at some point. All right. Okay. >> Okay. So, any
091um any other comments on the uh 2026 2027 school calendar? >> Um is there a motion? >> I'll make a motion. >> Thank you, Felipe. I'm happy to second. All in favor, please say I. I. Any oppose? Please say nay. Hearing none, it passes. Uh, next item, approve board policy 5125, record retention policy. This revision updates the policies and procedures regarding record retention to include the most recent state and federal laws and guidelines. It also has been updated to reflect new technology and safeguard procedures regarding retention of pupil records. LCAP goal action not applicable, funding source not applicable, budget financial impact not applicable. recommended the board of directors approve action item C. Any comments? >> Yes. So, this is one of the required um board policies for us to approve and that um we will
092be submitting to OCBE as part of our compliance. Uh if you look at the previously approved U policy, it was 22 pages long and that was because it included the administrative regulation. So when um we redlined it for you, we went ahead and took out because it is not required that the board approve the administrative regulation tonight, we thought we'll just do the board policy. Um many of our board policies don't have an administrative regulation. So I believe that will be kind of the next step is to go through all of our we call them ARs. And that really is your board policy is the policy. the AR is how do you implement it? Like what do we do as administrators to make it happen? So because that wasn't required to be approved tonight um
093and really there there were only two extra sections when um I after I crossed out all of the the AR portion the board policy didn't change very much and so and since that was the required piece we decided that was the piece to um include on the board agenda. Thank you. Any other comments or questions? Uh, is there a motion? >> Motion. >> Thank you, Molly. Is there a second? >> I'll second. >> Thank you, Felipe. All in favor, please say I. I. Any oppose, please say nay. Hearing none. It passes. Okay. Next, the approved the 2025 2026 IIIA communication plan. IA has developed a communication plan to provide a clear proactive plan for how information will be shared to ensure consistency of response times and to ensure communication is timely, consistent and aligned with
094IIA goals. LCAP goal action goal three action five funding source not applicable budget financial impact not applicable. It's recommended the board of directors approve action item D. Any further comments on this? um just that we have um presented this through our board updates for your review. We've taken um comments. It has also been shared um somewhat with our cabinet level as well as our instructional leadership team some of the components and so uh we it has gone through several iterations and I do see it as something that even as we implement it will be a working living breathing document because the way we communicate is always changing and then our platforms for communication are changing as well but I think this is a great start um and once it's approved it really will be about
095making sure that it is implemented with fidelity and happening. >> Any comments questions? >> I just want to make one comment and to thank you for uh allowing us an opportunity to provide input into that and for being u responsive uh to our feedback. And I appreciate in the communication plan. It's something I've been talking about for a while now that we have response times in and the expectation of when we respond to individuals that communicate with us. So, thank you very much. It's been very clear now. And yeah, the next step is really to um not only to bring this forward so that our staff understand the expectations, but then also we talked today about um going into our next iteration of the staff handbook that these response times are also in the staff
096handbook and partially in the student family handbook as in this should be what you expect. So, it really is about taking all of these plans because there's a lot of plans and making sure that they all align. >> Perfect. Thank you. Uh, is there a motion? >> Thank you, Molly. Is there a second? Thank you, David. All in favor, please say I. >> I. Any oppose, please say nay. Hearing none. It passes. Next item, approve the 2025 2026 IIA master plan for English learners. IA master plan for English learners has been revised to include updated reclassification procedures as well as updates to ensure that it accurately reflects the current IIA English learner program and is aligned to state and federal laws and education code. LCAP goal action goal one action 8 funding source not applicable.
097Budget financial impact not applicable. It's recommended that board of directors approve action item E. Any comments? >> Um yes. You'll see that this is required that our master plan for English learners as well as our master plan in the next item for students with disabilities uh were updated. And so I did work with um both uh Miss Brown as well as Mr. Fernandez uh who oversee both of those departments to make sure that we are updating what needs to be updated. And um I think we're going to take a deeper look as we go into the next iter iteration of this being approved of like um maybe some other improvements to the plan. But we wanted to make sure that we were compliant and then we will be uploading both of these as well for
098OCD at the end of the month. >> Thank you. Comments, questions? Uh is there a motion? All motion. >> Thank you, Felipe. I'm happy. >> I'll second. >> Thank you, David. All in favor, please say I. I. >> I. >> Any oppos, please say nay. Hearing none, it passes. Approve the 2025 20226 I master plan for students with disabilities. The IIA master plan for students and disabilities has been revised to include updates and ensure that it accurately reflects the current IIA program for students with disabilities and is aligned to state and federal laws and education code. LCAP goal action goal one action 9 funding source not applicable budget financial impact not applicable. It's recommended the board of directors approve action item F. Any comments? U my only comment here is um the update really were
099minimal for this one. It it's more of a historical document is what I noticed. There was a lot of history about the SULPA and the contract. Um but uh we did update with some new um service providers that we have as well as um leadership names. So they were minor for this one. >> Thank you. Any other comments or questions? Uh, I'm happy to make a motion. Uh, is there a second? >> I'll second. >> Thank you, Felipe. All in favor, please say I. I. Any oppose, please say nay. Hearing none, it passes. Item G, approved revision to the speech language pathologist work calendar. The board approved speech language pathologist salary schedule is aligned with the teacher salary schedule with the stipened. Previously approved work calendar for the SLP is aligned with the administrative work
100calendar. Recommend the SLP work calendar align with the approved teaching calendar. Alcap goal action goal one action two funding source not applicable budget financial impact not applicable. It's recommended the board directors approve action item G. So previously I know our board worked very hard last year to approve salary schedules as well as to approve work calendars and other pieces. And you can see one of those um that's in the board folder is redlined and the other is what it would look like moving forward with approval. So when we were reviewing these the salary schedule for the SLP is uh the certificated teacher salary schedule with a stipend that was previously approved by the board. However, um what we had posted as the work calendar was an administrative work calendar and not a teacher. it wasn't
101aligned with the um salary schedule. So, we wanted to make this change in order to align since it is the teaching salary schedule with the teaching work calendar. So trying to bring up here >> she'll work on a lot of days there like Yes. And that and that's an administrative calendar and that was therefore that was the issue is that it was aligned to a teaching salary schedule and it didn't um seem to fit with an administrative work calendar. >> So this is specifically given to the speech and language. >> Yes. This was the only one that we found the misalignment when we were reviewing and so we wanted the board to approve us to better align the work calendar with the salary schedule. >> Do we for the other work calendars do we typically
102identify positions? >> We do not. There are a few standalone positions um that for the work calendar that are that are Yeah. that are unique jobs. >> Okay. Uh, any questions, comments? Nope. Okay. Uh, is there a motion? >> Thank you, Molly. Is there a second? >> Thank you, David. All in favor, please say I. I. Any oppose, please say nay. Hearing none. It passes. Uh, item H, approve Thinking Maps, Inc. Agreement. Thinking Maps is a whole school commitment designed to build foundational critical thinking, problem solving, comprehension, and communication skills necessary for academic success. Eight maps, which correlate to core cognitive processes, provide a common language for learning that will align a dual immersion program serve as a foundation for a rigorous writing program, and improve academic outcomes for students. Cost is $18,192.40 40 cents
103and includes one in-person training for all staff in November, two follow-up three-hour training sessions, materials, and training for two IIA teachers to become trainer of trainers. LCAP goal action goal one action 7 funding source LCFF budget financial impact $18,192.40 recommended the board directors approve action item H. Comments? I I will say that this did come under the budget of a half. we had budgeted about $40,000 in the LCAP for this training and so very happy after reaching out to um one of the um coordinators that it was 18,000 and it also included the longevity by by including that two of our teachers will get that we choose will be trained as trainer of trainers meaning as new staff come in we don't have to go back to the company they grow it'll grow within itself
104and so um it it's a whole package deal so I was very excited to see that how how it was written the agreement >> where did this come from >> so this um thinking maps is something that um I know that Dr. Kernan had been looking at it was already written into the LCAP and that was be right when I got here the LCAP was already in process and um it is I mentioned it actually in my interview I believe and I remember Molly was had a very positive reaction to that um but it it is a very it's researchbased um it's something that I've seen implemented even way back when I was a principal um and it you you see tremendous growth in the way that students can think. It uh just by nature
105of how students start to process and answer questions, test scores improve. You see a lot of improved outcomes um along the way. So researchbased strategy that will build to a writing program but it it in this initial first year implementation it will help to improve writing but there's a other components we can continue to stack on and we'll take that one step at a time um of different writing components that I think will just transform a lot of things here at IIA. Okay, I'll just say something. I'm just so thrilled that we're using this. So, I've used this in my classroom for many, many years when it first came out. So, it's not just going to enhance the writing um because um so kids usually take notes. I mean, we usually take notes as our
106bullet points, right? And for student for young kids quite often, they just copy everything. But the thinking map actually helping student while you're reading or are they identify um are they comparing are they are they telling stories there are sequence uh so it's it it goes into so it's going to help reading comprehension as well because when we're reading you identify the key phrases and so basically you're not your your notes will be uh it's it's a map so they have eight different maps one is for comparison is sequencing. Um, so there's a lot of critical thinking going through while you're reading which is a regular >> and it's also aligned vertically. So it's something that we roll out in TK and K. There's a parent communication component how we say to parents like this
107week we're looking at this map. Here's what this means. Here's how kids are thinking with it. So, it it's a it's a very comprehensive program and it if rolled out correctly, which I've seen it done and I've done that before, um it it it becomes what we do and it happens pretty quickly. I think after a really good full year implementation going into next year, you can walk into classrooms that are TK, they're using circle maps, they're they're learning how to to think based on the questioning. >> That's fantastic. So the the program applicable to all grades noticing all grades >> all grades and all subjects. So this this first training this just the basic thinking maps will be all subject areas across the board. And I really think with our dual immersion program, it's
108a common tool that could be used with Mandarin >> and with English. >> Um and I think will help to align those programs as well. Gotcha. So it's applicable to all grades and also teachers, right? >> Yes. >> So the teachers will receive training from the trainers. >> Two teachers, right? Well, all the we the company will come in and do the initial training and then two teachers and I've already shared this with leadership and really I'm going to be looking for people who who are really excited and passionate about it and then those two will have the opportunity to be trained a little further and then they become official trainers as well and that's all included and then if we have new staff come in next year they can then train those teachers and
109we won't have to to purchase just this part with the company. Now, if we do choose to implement, let's say next year, uh the narrative writing component, which would not be all teachers, it would be just English teachers. It wouldn't be math or PE or music, but the the basic thinking maps that we're doing this year is for everyone. >> Okay. So, the how long that training program, training session? >> So, we're um the plan is for the all day PD in November. So we won't have to pay subs, anything like that. No additional costs. Um we have a full day and they would come in on that November day and do the one day of training and then you allow for some uh initial implementation, teachers to try, teachers to experiment, and then there
110will be two follow-ups. We haven't planned those yet, but one would most likely be in January and one would be in either February or March. And then that's where you get your base of full implementation um step by step throughout the year and then we decide to build. >> So the training materials uh basically can be copied and you know >> they're they're very um they're very strict about that. books that that each teacher will receive a book. Um, and each book will cover how to use the maps at different grade levels. So that actually if I'm a third grade teacher, I can with my materials, I can look at how they're used um in second grade as well as how fourth grade we'd use them. So we have vertical alignment as well. >> Got
111so by paying 18,000, do we receive a site license, you know, to the materials? We will receive um each teacher will receive a copy of the book, >> the training and then um there is a computer component that comes with it initially so that teachers can actually like log into the computer and create maps. If they want to create a map about the Grand Canyon, some teaching something that they're teaching, they can make those. Um that comes with the initial implementation. I know when I've done this before, um we dropped the electronic component after we got good at it, but um you know, we'll see. Okay. >> We'll see how our teachers like it and go from there. But that that license does come with the initial training. >> You know, you know, this sounds
112pretty exciting. Is there an opportunity for the board to have like a demo or something so we could see it? >> Absolutely. Yeah, I'd like to see what the kids >> Yeah, >> I'd like to see once they >> they find a good time or maybe you get the when the trainers are here to give us a demo. I'd like to see a little bit more about that because I'd like to see how you know what you're teaching the kids at that because it seems like a pretty important critical thinking. It it wouldn't that be great to have a board presentation of having some of our teachers they can even like look at our agenda and utilize one of the maps for that? >> That would be good. Yeah, because I want to see it
113in action, right? Because it's one thing to describe it. I'm having a little difficulty >> managing what all those components components are. But I think if I if I had a little bit more visual, >> it would help. >> Absolutely. >> So, if that's possible, maybe at a good time, we could we could see them. or who could do that? >> Do we have any teachers that have already been trained? >> Um, so I did ask that question um when they came back of do I have any teachers who are previously thinking maps trained and I did not hear I was surprised. Um it's it's a pretty common training but um >> but that's okay. I think they're going to love it. >> Opportunities. Yeah. >> Those are assets of the school, right? Uh >>
114absolutely. >> Books. >> Yes. So, we check them out and leave them at the >> Okay. Close. >> That's great. Okay. Um All right. Is there a motion? >> Thank you, David. Is there a second? >> Thank you, Molly. All in favor, please say I. I. >> Any opposed? Please say nay. Hearing none. Passes. Okay. Moving next to the executive director's report. >> Okay, this one will be brief. I do um again want to I really want to thank the whole IIA community. Um I want to thank our board um for your participation um with the week of welcome support all the time that you put in um our staff, our parents, our students um even like our PTO the working relationship. It's been a really exciting, positive start to the school year and um
115I've had several people comment that they can feel, you know, kind of this happiness and um routines and how just how smoothly things are going. So, I I want to thank everyone because it it really does take um take a team for sure. Uh again, the start of the school year, our teachers have really been focusing on those routines and classroom management so that children are able to learn and um children like working within routines as well when they know what's expected. Um our week of welcome was was fun. It was uh gosh seven days of events from new staff orientation to Aries trainings on our new components. We did train in classroom management. Uh we had community building. I want to thank PTO for sponsoring breakfast. Um I'd like to thank the Delgato family
116for sponsoring a full lunch one of the days. A taco guy there. Um it was just a very positive way. We had a Hawaiian theme. Um and uh we just tried to mix it up having fun in between presentations. We modeled engagement strategies because just like our kids don't like to just sit all day in one place, neither do adults. So, we modeled that. Um, orientation was was very positive. We had a huge turnout both to the presentations, but we tried to mix it up a little bit by having the teachers outside with tables and we'll continue to grow on that. But when I was able to get outside in between the presentations, uh just just the buzz, the overall kind of vibe was very happy and positive. People enjoyed being here and that's important.
117Um our enrollment I I think um Mr. Schmid touched on that. Uh we are currently at 595, but we are going to our weight list. We're monitoring it very closely. Um, so just so you know, uh, we do have some openings and, um, we're working hard on filling them. And, um, and then finally, I did want to bring full circle the handbooks, both the staff handbook and the student handbook from the last meeting because we did bring those to legal as suggested by the board. Um, the changes to the staff handbook were minimal in order. We asked them to look at it through compliance and um they were very minimal wording changes and because it was approved um with the caveat that we brought it forward um we decided that it didn't need to come
118back to the board for reapproval and we had their um we asked their legal department if they could if they would agree with that. Um and they said yes, although they don't usually make board decisions, they were like, we don't see any reason why it would need to come back. Uh they did give some suggestions, however, for next year. And so, um with our new HR director, we have kind of written down all those suggestions and as we develop the handbook for next year, we'll look at adding some sections and we'll bring it earlier for review. When looking at the student handbook, um both Mr. Schmidter and I looked at all of the pieces and a lot of them were just listing of ED code and so um we did list those out but it
119really isn't open for interpretation but what I'd like to do for next year and we talked about it is is taking the whole handbook back for legal review and just saying what are some pieces especially because um there are things that change all the time especially with ed code and things like that. So, um, we did our due diligence with that. Um, but because the board did approve those, as long as there weren't any major compliance issues, we felt comfortable moving forward. And we'll get those done a little bit earlier next year and make sure they go to legal before we bring them forward. And that's all I have. >> Thank you. Uh, moving next to director's reports. >> Floor is open. >> Really easy. You know, I was looking at the budget. I know
120I talked about this already earlier, but I noticed that the beginning of the year, our fund balance was was actually negative 500,000, right? And so considering where we started to where we are today at the end of that year, right? It's even better than I thought previously. So, just a lot of kudos. A lot of people working very hard there to make that happen, you know, and uh we're on a good step forward. So, we need to keep doing that. You know, I see nothing but positives coming from that. Um, the only thing I have to add is unfortunately I miss the first day of school. The first time in in five years, I miss the first day of school. I like to be here when that happens. But everything seems very positive. All the
121reports that I get, you know, a lot of good things happening. And that's from, of course, you grant working and the team working together very hard. The one thing I am am not missing is all the PTO activity because my wife is now president of the PTO and and I have a list of things that I'm supposed to be doing for the that I'm volunteering for the PTO. So, just to let you know, they have a lot of good things planned. So, really looking forward to that engagement in the community there with the PTO and stuff like that. Yeah, I got nothing I got nothing but good thoughts here. Thank you. Yeah, I wonder if we can do a comparison, you know, in terms of the growth and measuring the uh student body growth versus
122revenue. I'll be interested to see if there's a correlation. Okay, just a comment. Um yeah, you know, get uh talking about getting school, you know, into a new school year. Uh I probably miss a lot of actions. I wish I could uh uh be here more often and to really kind of feel the dynamics of energy. So I'll try to be here more often. And um um you know one thing I want to kind of comment on uh I recall over the course of you know of the board meetings we approve a lot of revised a lot of policies and things all the all kinds of policies. I wonder how going to implement that uh because we um have more and more new stuff coming in and do they get a regular training and to
123go over some of the documents? >> Yes. So, um, because there were so many board policies that were previously approved, I get a list each month from Orange County Department of Ed >> to really look at what we need to submit. And then I because our, for example, our independent study board policy was approved in March >> of 2025. I brought that to OCBE and say said, "Okay, does this still qualify or do I need to bring it back?" and um they said it's this is good for now. there is a new piece that's coming um about attendance recovery and so once we get some legal consideration for that we'll go ahead and and do that but one of the things that I think when you said implementation working with the cabinet and uh we
124even had examples today as we are making decisions it's always important to pull the board policy >> and look at what is our board policy as well as I am also training people to look to the charter. Some of the things aren't in the charter but they might be in board policy or the other way around but really kind of looking at here's what's been approved and so that's going to help with our decision making. >> Yeah. Because you know if I take a look the regular retention policy right I mean you know typically it pertains to the staff not necessarily to all the teachers but sometimes if you have a uh policies or old like handbooks or whatever and uh you know how often you go back to ask the staff all the stuff
125to dispose of the old stuff old documents electronically or you got to copy and implement the new ones. >> Agreed. Yes. Yeah. It's it's all about making sure everything aligned and and keeping in mind when you change one piece, >> is conflicting information still available somewhere else >> that we have to go back and just kind of make sure everything's working together. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. Just going to go along with that. I remember you mentioned that um for the new teachers or any new regulation you kind of remind them right here. So for the new teachers that do have to go through um and just uh thank you again Dr. Um I all the reports are just so positive. Um and I I truly uh look forward I would like to spend more
126time this year. Try to come as many times as possible and uh get to know the kids and get to know the new teachers. So um look forward and thank all the staff uh and all the teachers. I can see the hard work. This was amazing. >> Thanks. I I know I said a lot earlier, so I probably rehash that. >> Yeah, it's good. >> I saw a request uh earlier to change our September board meeting date uh to the 23rd. So, moving it from September 16th to September 23rd. Is that >> okay? Okay. So, we'll move it to the 23rd barring any >> I was waiting >> changes. Yeah. Uh that's our only conflict, right? Okay. All right. Uh moving on to adjournments. recommended the board adjourn the regular meeting of the Irvine International
127Academy board of directors on August 19, 2025. Uh, is there a motion? >> Thank you, David. Uh, is there a second? >> I'll second. >> Thank you, Felipe. All in favor, please say I. >> I. Any opposed, please say nay. >> Hearing none. It passes. Meeting adjourned. to nine.