March 9 PCSB meeting thread

[Anonymous]

https://dcpcsb.org/board-meeting-march-2026

Here is the Agenda.

10-year reviews for Breakthrough and WLA, both probably fine.

Presentation on oversight and community complaint process-- wonder what this will involve as most complaints seem to be ignored. Is this part of the Eagle fallout?

Board officer elections might be interesting

Some ASPIRE adoption approvals

That's it, maybe a shorter meeting.

[Anonymous]

Board book is up: https://www.livebinders.com/b/3698954

WLA: was doing bad in SY 22-24, but is now doing better but not great. And that's good enough for the PCSB!

Breakthrough: Doing okay, but math proficiency had declined and is well below state average. Math growth is low too. ELA is a mixed bag. School officials promise more test prep and after school tutoring. OSSE intervention to improve their special ed.

Complaints and Oversight presentations: honestly there is nothing very interesting in these. I really wish they would not use the term "co-conspirators"-- it's bizarre. Whatever happened to "collaborators"?

[Anonymous]

New board elections:

Chair - Shukurat Adamoh-Faniyan (challenged by new member Tony Williams but he didn't have enough votes)
Vice Chair - Michelle Yan (new member)
Treasurer - Carissa Stanley Beatty
Secretary - Maura Morino (new member)

New PCSB Chair makes a commitment to charter school quality and improvement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:New board elections:

Chair - Shukurat Adamoh-Faniyan (challenged by new member Tony Williams but he didn't have enough votes)
Vice Chair - Michelle Yan (new member)
Treasurer - Carissa Stanley Beatty
Secretary - Maura Morino (new member)

New PCSB Chair makes a commitment to charter school quality and improvement.

Why was there a challenge?

I'm the OP and recapped a prior meeting, but this one I only got through Breakthrough. Seems like Breakthrough has added a lot of test prep and non-Montessori math in order to bring up their scores and I wonder how parents feel about it. Lots of finance questions for Breakthrough as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New board elections:

Chair - Shukurat Adamoh-Faniyan (challenged by new member Tony Williams but he didn't have enough votes)
Vice Chair - Michelle Yan (new member)
Treasurer - Carissa Stanley Beatty
Secretary - Maura Morino (new member)

New PCSB Chair makes a commitment to charter school quality and improvement.

Why was there a challenge?

I'm the OP and recapped a prior meeting, but this one I only got through Breakthrough. Seems like Breakthrough has added a lot of test prep and non-Montessori math in order to bring up their scores and I wonder how parents feel about it. Lots of finance questions for Breakthrough as well.

It was just the only office that had more than one nominee. Stanley-Beatty nominated Shukurat Adamoh-Faniyan and Tony Williams nominated himself. Williams offered a statement before the vote focused on ensuring the voices of students, families and schools are heard and that there be "real change" and not just the "status quo". He called for a new bold board to operate differently, be data forward and be a bigger player in the larger conversation on enrollment shifts and the place of charter schools. He ended his statement by reiterating a call for other board members to make a vote for "real change."

Adamoh-Faniyan did not make a statement before the vote but did after she was elected. Her statement focused on students being at the center, strengthening the systems for continuous improvement and focusing on performance across the sector. He seemed to be focused on improvement of PCSB's work as a precursor to improving schools. She seemed to focus on schools doing better by leveraging the tools in hand and thanked the staff for being dedicated and steady.

Both good statements. It will be interesting to see what happens next.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New board elections:

Chair - Shukurat Adamoh-Faniyan (challenged by new member Tony Williams but he didn't have enough votes)
Vice Chair - Michelle Yan (new member)
Treasurer - Carissa Stanley Beatty
Secretary - Maura Morino (new member)

New PCSB Chair makes a commitment to charter school quality and improvement.

Why was there a challenge?

I'm the OP and recapped a prior meeting, but this one I only got through Breakthrough. Seems like Breakthrough has added a lot of test prep and non-Montessori math in order to bring up their scores and I wonder how parents feel about it. Lots of finance questions for Breakthrough as well.

It was just the only office that had more than one nominee. Stanley-Beatty nominated Shukurat Adamoh-Faniyan and Tony Williams nominated himself. Williams offered a statement before the vote focused on ensuring the voices of students, families and schools are heard and that there be "real change" and not just the "status quo". He called for a new bold board to operate differently, be data forward and be a bigger player in the larger conversation on enrollment shifts and the place of charter schools. He ended his statement by reiterating a call for other board members to make a vote for "real change."

Adamoh-Faniyan did not make a statement before the vote but did after she was elected. Her statement focused on students being at the center, strengthening the systems for continuous improvement and focusing on performance across the sector. He seemed to be focused on improvement of PCSB's work as a precursor to improving schools. She seemed to focus on schools doing better by leveraging the tools in hand and thanked the staff for being dedicated and steady.

Both good statements. It will be interesting to see what happens next.

It sounds like he’s more in touch with the current moment. The sector is at a challenging moment, and it’s pretty clear that the status quo is not working for them. Though I guess we will see how it plays out; I think the demographic shifts in DC will force their hand anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New board elections:

Chair - Shukurat Adamoh-Faniyan (challenged by new member Tony Williams but he didn't have enough votes)
Vice Chair - Michelle Yan (new member)
Treasurer - Carissa Stanley Beatty
Secretary - Maura Morino (new member)

New PCSB Chair makes a commitment to charter school quality and improvement.

Why was there a challenge?

I'm the OP and recapped a prior meeting, but this one I only got through Breakthrough. Seems like Breakthrough has added a lot of test prep and non-Montessori math in order to bring up their scores and I wonder how parents feel about it. Lots of finance questions for Breakthrough as well.

It was just the only office that had more than one nominee. Stanley-Beatty nominated Shukurat Adamoh-Faniyan and Tony Williams nominated himself. Williams offered a statement before the vote focused on ensuring the voices of students, families and schools are heard and that there be "real change" and not just the "status quo". He called for a new bold board to operate differently, be data forward and be a bigger player in the larger conversation on enrollment shifts and the place of charter schools. He ended his statement by reiterating a call for other board members to make a vote for "real change."

Adamoh-Faniyan did not make a statement before the vote but did after she was elected. Her statement focused on students being at the center, strengthening the systems for continuous improvement and focusing on performance across the sector. He seemed to be focused on improvement of PCSB's work as a precursor to improving schools. She seemed to focus on schools doing better by leveraging the tools in hand and thanked the staff for being dedicated and steady.

Both good statements. It will be interesting to see what happens next.

It sounds like he’s more in touch with the current moment. The sector is at a challenging moment, and it’s pretty clear that the status quo is not working for them. Though I guess we will see how it plays out; I think the demographic shifts in DC will force their hand anyway.

Well, it seems like she didn't have a prepared statement ready. I don't love a brand new person being chair, but I definitely agree the moment is a difficult one and I would rather see the PCSB confront it and be "intentional" (to use their favorite word) rather than just letting nature take its course and prolonging the inevitable with conditions and probations.

[Anonymous]

OP catching up on recap duties.

WLA: Proactive intro casting their performance in a positive light. CSB asks about proficiency, which is below state average. School says 9th graders are coming in 4+5 years behind. 3-week cycle of teaching, data driven. CSB: good ASPIRE is nice but the bottom line is have to have proficiency. Discussion of growth with comparisons to other schools. Other key indicators like 9th grade on track are monitored. Discussion of cash on hand being high, maybe finding a permanent location. Sandman asks about QSR, math not on grade level. WLA says they addressed it. Approved with no conditions.

[Anonymous]

Supportive Oversight presentation was basically just what's in the slides. Discussion of grade level content in QSR process. Sandman raises co ncerns that the mystery called protocol is not strict enough.

Community Complaints presentation: slides then discussion of how complaints are handled individually and as trend data points. Schools also get a year-end report about their complaints. Sandman proposed a sector-wide report.

Then the board officer elections. Maurino and Crusey supported Williams, interestingly.

Done! Looking forward to the March 2 meeting featuring KIPP and its bizarrely inconsistent performance across the city.

[Anonymous]

I have a hard time seeing a long term path for Breakthrough. It's not a good test school. I imagine rent isn't super cheap. The pickup/dropoff is a nightmare. There's basically no outdoor space. With a lack of MS option and Whittier getting a new building it's hard to imagine they don't keep losing kids. And if they're moving away from Montessori to bring up scores I imagine some of the Montessori die hards won't be happy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a hard time seeing a long term path for Breakthrough. It's not a good test school. I imagine rent isn't super cheap. The pickup/dropoff is a nightmare. There's basically no outdoor space. With a lack of MS option and Whittier getting a new building it's hard to imagine they don't keep losing kids. And if they're moving away from Montessori to bring up scores I imagine some of the Montessori die hards won't be happy.

Year over year their enrollment has been growing though it looks like they had a deficit one year. You raise a good point about long term paths. The PCSB (or someone) should look at what the minimum viable enrollment is of any school given fixed costs, payroll, etc.