Board Agendas & Minutes
2023-24 Board Meetings
Board meetings are the first Tuesday of each month unless otherwise noted * Some dates are not on the first Tuesday due to various reasons, such as voting, financial reports, retreat, and public hearing for LCAP.
Finance-HR Meetings
2023-24 Finance/HR Meetings
- November, February, and May. Meeting dates are TBD by committee
All Finance/HR meetings will be held in person at the Pacific Grove Campus Library and broadcasted via Zoom for the public. The meeting Zoom link can be found on the agenda for each meeting. All meeting dates will be announced via ParentSquare and reflected on our school website. The meeting agendas will be posted at each school office, prior to the meeting. Correspondence may be sent in care of:
Monterey Bay Charter School
1004 David Avenue
Pacific Grove, CA 93950
Email: office@mbcharterschool.org
Board of Directors Meetings
All School Board Meetings, Foundation Board Meetings, and Finance/HR Meetings will be held in person. All meetings will still be broadcasted via Zoom for the public. The meeting Zoom link, and in person meeting location, can be found on the agenda for each meeting. All meeting dates will be announced via ParentSquare and reflected on our school website. The meeting agendas will be posted at each school office, prior to the meeting. Correspondence may be sent in care of:
Monterey Bay Charter School
Attention: Candace Villarta, Communications Manager
1004 David Avenue
Pacific Grove, CA 93950
Email: communications@mbcharterschool.org
All correspondence will be delivered to Board members prior to the next scheduled meeting and is entered into the public record.
School Board
Parent Circle
Foundation Board
School Board
Board of Directors
Tomi Burgess, Chair
Yhashika Lee, Vice Chair
Evan Heath, Treasurer
Grace Casserly, Secretary
Rodrigo Nieto Gómez, Director
Lana Andrianova, Director
Thomas Rogers, Director
Robert Tudisco, Director
Mark Martinez, Director
Correspondence may be sent in care of:
Monterey Bay Charter School
1004 David Avenue
Pacific Grove, CA 93950
Email: communications@mbcharterschool.org
Responsibilities of the Board:
- Uphold and revise (with permission of the granting agency) as needed the school charter. Adopt, amend and implement Board bylaws, internal Board policies and procedures.
- Ensure adequate resources for the school’s programs.
- Establish and work toward achieving long-term and short-term goals.
- Oversee the fiscal management of the school including:
- All audits and reports required by state or federal law.
- Approval of the annual school budget.
- Review and approval of quarterly budget reports.
- Secure and maintain the school site.
- Ensure the health and safety of the school.
- Hire, support, supervise and evaluate the school director.
- Approve hiring and termination of school faculty and staff.
- Oversee school parent participation structure.
- Evaluate the effectiveness of school programs.
- Act as an avenue of communication for the school community, including:
The resolution of grievances.
Conducting exit interviews for employees and families who leave the school. - Represent the school in the larger community.
- Prepare and publish an annual report including:
- The progress made towards achieving the long-term and short-term goals established by the Board.
- The fiscal health of the school.
- Significant events.
Tomasina Burgess
Chair
Tomasina Burgess
Chair
Prunedale, California. Tomi Burgess joined the Monterey Bay Charter School School Board in the fall of 2011. She has been a non-profit volunteer for the past 28 years. Tomi has enjoyed different roles in event planning, park restoration, and child advocacy. Tomi has also served on the Monterey Bay Charter School Foundation Board, played a critical role in establishing and managing the donor database, has chaired multiple fundraisers, community events, and Parent Circle. Tomi currently lives in Prunedale with her husband and two children. Tomi’s oldest son attended Monterey Bay Charter School from kindergarten through eighth grade and is currently attending Monterey High School. Tomi’s second child is currently enrolled at Monterey Bay Charter School. Tomi is also pursuing a career in Early Childhood Education.
Yhashika Lee
Vice Chair
Yhashika Lee
Vice Chair
Yhashika Lee is an instructor and a faculty associate in Teaching and Learning Assessment at CSUMB. She has a B.A. from UC Berkeley and J.D. from UCLA Law with a concentration in Critical Race Theory. Yhashika is passionate about helping faculty create culturally inclusive classrooms. She uses her background in Critical Race Theory to re-imagine solutions to the structural inequality that shapes our education system and continues to create barriers for students of color. She is also trainer of trainers in racial justice work and is currently in the process of being a certified diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Evan Heath
Treasurer
Evan Heath
Treasurer
Monterey, California. Senior Treasury Analyst for Granite Construction, Inc.
Evan Heath has 16 years of corporate accounting and finance experience, primarily as an analyst and auditor. He has been involved with the MBCS community since 2011 when his son Elliott began kindergarten. Elliott graduated from MBCS in 2021 and now attends Monterey High School. Evan has been a member of MBCS’s Finance-HR Committee since 2019 and serves as the committee’s vice chair. Having attended California public schools from kindergarten through graduate school, he strongly supports public education. Evan currently lives in Monterey with his wife, son, stepdaughter, and stepson. He is a CPA and received a B.A. in political science from UCLA and master’s in criminology from UC Irvine.
Grace Casserly
Secretary
Grace Casserly
Secretary
Grace Casserly is honored to serve on the MBCS Board, as she and her family have been deeply inspired by the principles of Waldorf education. Her older son is a current student at the Foothill campus. She is also passionate about the importance of arts education in schools. She holds a bachelors of music in piano from USC as well as a masters of music from the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University. She attended medical school at the Keck School of Medicine of USC and completed her internal medicine residency and chief residency at the Sinai Hospital of Baltimore. Grace is a primary care physician at Montage Medical Group in Carmel.
Rodrigo Nieto Gómez
Director
Rodrigo Nieto Gómez
Director
Dr. Rodrigo Nieto-Gomez is a geostrategist and defense futurist focused on the consequences of the accelerating pace of change in homeland security, defense, and policing environments. He is a research professor at the National Security Affairs Department and at the Center for Homeland Defense and Security at the Naval Postgraduate School and has also worked as a certified facilitator and instructor for the Command College for the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) and a former instructor at the Executive Academy of the Emergency Management Institute. He is also a faculty member of Singularity University and currently assists the Common Mission Project as an academic advisor, supporting mission-driven entrepreneurship.
Dr. Nieto has a Ph.D. in Geopolitics from the French Institute of Geopolitics of the University of Paris. He holds a J.D. from the State University of San Luis Potosi, Mexico. His native language is Spanish, and he has bilingual proficiency in English, full professional proficiency in French and intermediate knowledge of German. As an aviation enthusiast, he holds a private pilot certificate.
Lana Andrianova
Director
Lana Andrianova, MD, MPH
Director
Monterey, CA. Lana is foreign-trained physician-scientist with a focus on cancer research and early-stage clinical trials. She works as Medical Director in oncology drug development biotech (Exelixis, Inc.). She has spent the past 15 years in various leadership roles in clinical research across Eastern and Western Europe and US. She was a member of a school board for public schools previously and was involved in several social and environmental initiatives. Dr. Andrianova received her M.D. degree from Saint Petersburg Pavlov Medical School. She completed her Master of Public Health, Masters in Management and Economics at the postgraduate academy and University of Finance and Economics, Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Lana joined the MBCS board in 2022. Both of her kids are MBCS students since 2021.
Thomas Rogers
Director
Thomas Rogers
Director
Thomas Rogers has been career advising for 20 years and working with college students for 15+ years. He earned a BA in Psychology from Sonoma State University and an MA in Human and Organizational Transformation from California Institute of Integral Studies. Thomas worked for AT&T for 7+ years, volunteered with the Peace Corps in China, and currently advises and teaches at CSU Monterey Bay. He keeps his students focused on professional development, equity and social justice, and self-care. Thomas is a practicing Buddhist, proud husband, and father to two young children.
Robert Tudisco
Director
Robert Tudisco
Director
TBA
Mark Martinez
Director
Mark Martinez
Director
TBA
Parent Circle
It is the mission of the Parent Council to unify the collective efforts of the teachers, parents and administration for the betterment and health of the school.
The Parent Council is dedicated to cultivating an active and diverse community that nourishes the vision of the Monterey Bay Charter School. The Parent Council champions volunteerism that comes from the head, heart and hands of its community members, and in turn promotes student achievement.
The Parent Circle strives to:
- Advocate for students’ health, safety and academic success;
- Inspire and support individuals to share their unique and valuable gifts through volunteerism;
- Contribute to the fiscal stability of school programs and initiatives
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead
Contact
Candace Villarta, Communications & Development Manager
Email: communications@mbcharterschool.org
Foundation Board
The Foundation’s mission is to support the work and programs of the Monterey Bay Charter School and to build a new school facility.
A detailed Memorandum of Understanding exists between the Foundation and the School, outlining the roles, responsibilities, and accountability for each entity. The Memorandum of Understanding ensures that the Foundation and School maintain separate fiscal identities while at the same time working toward the common goal of supporting the School and its curriculum.
Foundation Members
Shannon Conner, Board Chair
Shelly Prebula, Vice Chair
Elizabeth Hammond, Secretary
Germaine NG, Director
Mark Martinez, School Board Liaison
The Foundation’s services include:
- Researching and outlining a fundraising structure for the School; planning and conducting fundraising and donor acquisition programs for the School;
- Preparing and submitting private and government grant applications on behalf of and in cooperation with the School;
- Identifying and nurturing relationships with potential donors;
- Engaging in development and solicitation of funding and other resources to support the educational purposes of the School;
- Building a new school facility in a location that is central to all Monterey County students.
2023-24 Board Meetings
Foundation Board meetings are the last Tuesday of each month.
- Tuesday, September 26, 2023 at 5pm
- Tuesday, October 24, 2023 at 5pm
- Tuesday, November 28, 2023 at 5pm
- Tuesday, December 12, 2023 at 5pm
- Tuesday, January 30, 2024 at 5pm
- Tuesday, February 27, 2024 at 5pm
- Tuesday, March 26, 2024 at 5pm
- Tuesday, April 30, 2024 at 5pm
- Tuesday, May 28, 2024 at 5pm
- Tuesday, June 25, 2024 at 5pm
Shannon Conner
Board Chair
Shannon Conner
Board Chair
Shannon Conner, MA is a passionate conservation educator. Currently working for the Bird School Project as an outdoor education instructor in the Salinas Union High School District, teaching students and staff the value of being outdoors. She is the founder of the up-and-coming Dudleya Nature Center in Seaside, California and also worked at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in various capacities over the last decade. When she isn’t hiking around Monterey County with her dog, Shannon can be found working in her garden or crafting various projects around her house.
Shelly Prebula
Vice Chair
Shelly Prebula
Vice Chair
Bio TBA
Elizabeth Hammond
Secretary
Elizabeth Hammond
Secretary
Bio TBA
Germaine Ng
Director
Germaine Ng
Director
Germaine Ng has been a Monterey Bay Charter School parent since her now fifth grade son, has been in kindergarten. Germaine was born and raised in Malaysia and Singapore. Professionally, she is an Account Executive for Williams Sonoma Inc. for their B2b division. Germaine is also an interior designer for residential and commercial buildings.
Personally, Germaine loves to host dinner parties, camps in the summer and snowboards in the winter. Germaine and her son love to travel around to the far ends of the earth, exploring different terrains and cultures. They are adventurous eaters who love different types of foods.
Germaine is also the Fundraising Coordinator for the MBCS Parent Circle team.
Mark Martinez
School Board Liaison
Mark Martinez
School Board Liaison
Bio TBA
Student Council
Some of the activities include:
- Middle school dances and other fun activities;
- School ‘spirit days’ such as Pajama Day and Crazy Hat Day;
- Betterment of the school campus.
Community Service
Community Service must consist of volunteer service for organizations outside of our school community, and a few hours of volunteer work on the school campus. Suggestions for Community Service opportunities at the school will be provided from time to time during the school year. Students are encouraged to find opportunities in the wider community as well.
Subscribe Section
Subscribe to
Special Event Notices
Subscribe to MBCS special event notices (5-6 flyers per school year). Each flyer contains an unsubscribe link so you may opt out easily at any time.
