What Happened Last Night?

Every month, Encore hosts a public board meeting with Encore's Board of Directors. I want to make sure that all of us are on the same page when it comes to updates with Encore's School Board, so here is a quick summary of what happened last night.

ASB President - Encore's ASB President talked about how tough it is getting to keep students engaged on their Zoom classes. ASB is working on ideas to get the student reinvested into school through virtual activities.

Assistant Dean of Academics - Talked about the end of the first semester coming and that because the stay at home orders are taking longer than anticipated, Encore plans on doing their next novel and materials pickup for students for second semester. The teachers are also finalizing the use of end of semester projects in lieu of finals this semester due to the pandemic.

Music and Theatre Department Chair - Gave his report talking about how challenging teaching arts programs, especially music has been. He applauded the Encore Campus Aide staff for being responsible for dropping off equipment to student homes when they cannot pick up (like musical instruments) and the use of the "Parade of Pianos" organization to get a couple pianos delivered and tuned at student homes to be able to continue with music lessons during distance learning.

Independent Study - Every year, Encore updates the agreements and processes for the independent study program to make it more efficient. The annual document was adopted by Encore's board last night.

WASC Mid Cycle Visit - Encore will have their mid cycle visit on February 8 -9, 2021.

Cafeteria Report - Encore's Student Services Manager reported on the continued remote distribution of meals under the NSLP "Seamless Summer Program." This allows any student to be able to pick up food from Encore's remote drop off locations. Currently about 20 families a day are taking part in the program. Encore also scored a 98% on the recent Health Department visit.

Transportation Report - Encore's Student Services Manager reported on the use of Encore vehicles and submitted a report of mileage. There was a discussion about mileage numbers because the school is closed. The vehicles were used to move out of the Riverside campus and are currently being used for off campus delivery routes of materials for students. The vehicles are being kept off campus due to prior vandalism of the vehicles. Encore received a "Satisfactory" mark from the California Highway Patrol's recent vehicle inspection.

Facilities Report - Encore's Risk Manager / Human Resourced reported on the update of installation of PPE in response to COVID-19. Encore is anticipating the delivery of the new water fountains that will be bottle fillers instead of traditional water fountains within the next couple weeks. This is in response to COVID-19's ability to spread.

Charter Renewal Petition Progress - I spoke about the progress that is being made regarding Encore's Charter Renewal Petition with HUSD. HUSD and Encore are working together to clarify questions that were brought up by HUSD. The vote will be held on January 25th.

Brown Act Training Policy - This policy was board adopted in last night's meeting. On top of Encore employing the outlines of Brown Act, this policy outlines how Encore will make sure that the Brown Act is followed for all Board meetings.

Universal Complaint Process & Procedures - This policy was board adopted in last night's meeting. Encore already had a specific Universal Complaint Process, but this policy has been updated and outlines exact procedures so everyone can understand the procedures for complaints.

Board on Track - In November 2020, Encore's Board voted to adopt the new platform Board on Track. Each month, a new piece of the platform is presented to the board. For this month, a document on the exact board procedures including board training and onboarding new board members that take office midterm was discussed.

LLMF Purchase Approval - The voted to spend LLMF (Learning Loss Mitigation Funds) to purchase new computers for all teaching staff, replace 100 student Chromebooks, and purchase 70 Web Cameras for teachers. This is in response to ongoing Distance Learning. Some of Encore's teacher computers are six years old and the technology drain has proven to be difficult on the teacher's current technology. The equipment is being purchased through Amazon based on availability and price and will start being released to teachers as soon as reasonable.

We hope that this brief summary of our Board meeting last night is helpful. Thank you for our ongoing support.