Council Meeting Notes: February 24, 2026

In Attendance: Amanda, Kristin, Barb A., Lisa T, Kim, Jessica S, T. and M. Joseph, Shoshana, Hilary M, J. Cohen, Kelly, Tess, T. Lockhart, M. Patrick, and other community members (in person and online).

Key Updates

• Charter Renewal process is currently underway.
• Choice Enrollment events for incoming Kindergarten and 8th-grade transitions were highlighted.

Main Discussion Points

• Financial Transparency: A significant discussion was held regarding parents' lack of trust and confusion over how donated funds are utilized.
  • Confusion specifically centered on what happens with donated dollars and the lack of clarity when parents are asked for time, money, and material.
  • Suggestions included providing detailed budget context ahead of voting, consolidating school fees into one single RevTrak payment at the beginning of the year, and displaying how "Hawks bucks" were spent.
• Council Engagement and Rebranding: Barriers to attendance, such as the difficulty for working parents to find two hours a month, childcare, and food, were identified.
  • The meeting discussed "rebranding" Council to focus on shared power and strategic work rather than just time-consuming committee reporting.
  • The goal is to enhance the content of meetings and ensure people feel welcome and included.
• HCG Structure: Concerns were raised about the lack of leadership in HCG and the need for more equitable representation, with one participant noting the imbalance of men on the board versus in HCG.
  • The discussion explored whether the leadership role is still necessary or if it should be shared by a group of parents, potentially merging HCG and the Liaisons. Concerns also included one or two people making decisions on how HCG funds were spent.

Decisions

• Childcare and Food Trial: Approved a motion to spend up to $499.00 for the next two Council meetings (April and May) to provide childcare and food to encourage attendance.

Motion to spend up to 499.00 for the next two Council meetings to fund childcare food and budget to increase council attendance.

• Budget Communication: Agreement to provide financial transparency documents and budget layouts to the community before formal reviews. This includes sharing a draft of the 2026-2027 budget and providing an accounting of how Hawk Bucks (fundraised dollars) have been spent this year.

Action Items

• Council Rebranding and Attendance Initiatives (Admin Action Items):
  • Administration to send out invitations and organize a "Council 101" social event. The initiative also involves changing the May Council date (due to an 8th-grade graduation conflict) and ensuring an email with the remote attendance link is sent the week of Council. Discussion on this topic referenced an existing working document: Revamp Council.
• Liaison-Specific Actions (Childcare/Food Trial): Liaisons were asked to create and send an RSVP (including childcare needs) one week prior to each meeting, decide where to order food from, and place food orders in advance for both meetings.
• Garden Repair Proposal: Repairing the gardens ($20k request) to be brought before the Financial Review Committee.
• Presentation Follow-up: Counselors provided presentation "Anxious Generation" book study along with additional resources and learnings about current student community and strategies for parents and teachers.