Concerns on the process and decision made on the recent CCLA Admin Team Pay Proposal

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Dear Yi and all the boards,

Thanks for initiating the meeting. And I understand that it is not a good time this Sunday morning, so can we reschedule it to Sunday afternoon or Saturday?

I think it's important to have a meeting this weekend because of the urgency of the matter.  Regarding to everyone availability, I do not think this should be an issue as it is very difficult to have everyone, as we even do not have everyone on the annual dinner. Regarding to the place, if there is no space on CCSU or South Windsor, then we could check with Stephanie if Marli school is available or not.

All the boards, please reply to Yi and everyone your availability on Sunday afternoon and Saturday asap, and then Yi could schedule the meeting based on majority's availability.

Yi, we all know your strong leadership, and we know you could make it happen.


Thanks.


Jian



Yi and other members,
 
Thank you for offering help on the coming Sunday. Please let me know if you can help. I will meet you at the CCSU basement auditorium at 9:10am to let you know your assignment. 
 
I am sorry that I cannot make 4/25 meeting as I will be in Cape Cod for my father-in law's memorial.
 
Nancy
 
Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2010 22:11:57 -0400
Subject: Re: Concerns on the process and decision made on the recent CCLA Admin Team Pay Proposal
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
CC: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]

Ok, I was just reminded 4/4 is Easter Sunday (I can't believe I missed that), given I'm going to be out of town traveling on business on 4/11 and spring break is the week following 4/18, the next feasible time for all of us to meet would be 4/25.  For that, I'd like to ask everyone make a concerted effort to attend, hopefully third time is the chime, thanks.

On Tue, Mar 23, 2010 at 8:43 PM, Yi Zheng <[email protected]> wrote:
I'm such a terrible parent, my wife just told me that my daughter will be participating in the "I can speak Chinese" event this Sunday, so Nancy I'll be there, let me know if there's anything you need my help with.

On Tue, Mar 23, 2010 at 8:39 PM, Yi Zheng <[email protected]> wrote:
Dear Board Members,

So far we have 6 people already emailed me with conflict with the proposed board meeting schedule this weekend.  In addition, since Nancy also expressed the need for board members to volunteer at this year's "I can speak Chinese" event this Sunday and no class room available at CCSU, I'm going to look for an alternative date for the proposed board meeting.  Could everyone let me know if you can make it if I move this to Sunday 4/4 at the same time at CCSU?

On the other hand, I encourage everyone from the board to volunteer your time at this school event, Nancy, please let the board know how many people you need.  If someone wants to volunteer, who do they contact to make the arrangement?

Thanks,

Yi

On Mon, Mar 22, 2010 at 9:51 PM, Nancy Yu <[email protected]> wrote:
Hi Yi,
 
I am not available for the coming Sunday meeting as CCLA has "I can speak Chinese" event.
 
I also would like to call out the board members to help on this event. We need volunteers on maintaining auditorium and hall way in order, students security, stage management and teacher helper, and auditorium cleaning after event.
 
Thanks,
 
Nancy

 
On Sun, Mar 21, 2010 at 9:21 PM, Yi Zheng <[email protected]> wrote:
Dear Board Members,

Given the email traffic this weekend, I'd like to communicate to you all to address several issues all together:

1. Vote on last Sunday: The voting was conducted with a sufficient quorum and majority approval, therefore the voting results are valid in accordance with CCC by law.  Further, as I indicated in my previous email, I've also consulted a legal counsel for interpretation of the by law to validate such results.  In terms of question around voting through proxy, that is only applicable to membership voting (i.e. at annual meeting for board election) as defined under Article III "Meeting of Membership" in the by law, but for CCC board of directors meeting, the voting process was consistent with the by law defined under article IV Directors, "QUORUM: At any meeting of the Board of Directors, a majority of the Directors shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.  The act of a majorityof the Directors present at a meeting at which there is a quorum shall be the act of the Board of Directors."  Anyone can consult with external entity in terms of quorum and voting procedure defined in our by law.  I'd like to see us move forward instead of stepping back.

2. Clarification on what budget approval means: It came to my attention that people have a different understanding of what budget approval means, therefore it has generated some controversy.  Let me try to help clarify what the approval means.  Given my motion was referring to the top line numbers in Nancy's proposal (slide 17), the approval means overall budget for the school has been approved for 2010 - 2011 year.  As for the details such as how much the administrative team gets paid (which I understand it is controversial) and exact pay strucuture, I've asked the education committee to further evaluate, define and modify if necessary based on their assessment of the market, validation of school functions, guiding principles around administrative management process as well as assessment of the qualified candidates.  Once the proposal is drafted, the proposal will be presented by the education committee to the board for review and approval.  This is consistent with a corporate planning/budgeting process, where details of how the budget will be managed will be worked out be the management team, reviewed and signed off by the senior management team.  In other words, just because the budget was approved, it did not mean that we will go ahead pay the principal $9,900 without any evaluation.  A good personal example would be, even though I have the approved budget for hiring people on my team at work, I would not necessarily spend all that $$ that's budgeted for each position.  That's precisely what I've asked the committee to do here.  I don't want to steal any thunder from them, but for example, I know the committee is considering a salary plan of $3000 for the campus directors (4 hours) and $4000 (5 hours) for the principal based on some feedback.  I'm confident once they have the entire proposal drafted, they will bring it to the board for review and approval.  I think we have an approved concept, we need to start somewhere and adjust or modify based on the environment, market, competitors etc instead of trying to figure out a perfect solution.  None of us has the crystal ball, I'm hoping we all agree taking measured steps and learning from it is better than belaboring the points with status quo.  The goal is to improve school function and ultimately grow enrollment and improve quality and breadth of our curriculum.

3. Education Committee Appointment Process: I want to be clear on how the process was carried out.  On the contrary to statement made that the education committee appointment process was inappropriate, I'm executing my duty as the president defined by the by law.  Under Article V of the by law, the president "shall appoint chairmen and members of standing or Ad Hoc Committees".  My appointment of these individuals was consistent with the by law.  The reason I picked these individuals is that they are CCC board members who are familiar with the school functions.  Given their knowledge and experience at school, I think they are in a better position to examine the current school process and function, evaluate pain points and developing management process to improve such.  On the other hand, since we do have majority of the board of directors having concern over the committee, I'm planning to call a special all board of directors meeting to discuss this.  However, I want to be clear, there's a distinction between a president appointing a committee in accordance with his duty defined by the by law then the board have concerns with the appointed team and wanting to discuss it versus I did not follow proper procedures to appoint this committee.  As I stated at our very first board meeting, I'd like to see all of our discussions as board members based on facts, not speculation.  I respect different opinions and open to fact based dialogue and open communications, but would NOT tolerate any personal attack on my integrity or threat.

4. Progress towards our 2010 plan: To address the question on not making progress, I'd like to remind everyone that for each of the plan items in our 2010 plan, we have both the lead and supporting team assigned in our very first board meeting, I'd like us move on with plan and budget discussion on all other important items in our 2010 plan so we can nail the plan and start executing our duties as the board.  All of these activities need good preparation and improved management in order to achieve our desired outcome.  All that takes time and dedication.  As I suggested in my previous email, I'd like to see these being presented and voted on during our April board meeting.  I welcome any earlier submission if timing wise your particular project needs immediate attention of the board.

Next steps: in response to the written request of a special meeting, I would like to inquire everyone's availability on this coming Sunday 28th in the morning from 9:15 - 11:00 at CCSU.  The agenda will be focusing on the Education Committee formation, we should discuss the status of the current committee appointed by me and vote on any modification needed.  Given the concern over this particular item expressed by the 9 board members, I'd like to hold the meeting with all of the board of directors being present.  Please let me know at your earliest convenience your ability to attend.

On a separate note, the April board meeting was previously scheduled on 4/18, given that's the spring break week for many schools, I'd like to move it to 4/28 instead so parents can take their kids for vacation.  I wish we can move it to a week earlier (say 4/11) but I'll be traveling on business and can not host the meeting.  Please let me know if you can not make the 28th in April.

Thanks,

Yi




some points from Chen Li

Sunday, March 21, 2010 5:51 PM

Yi and All board members,  

I want to take this chance to express some points from my mind.  

First, as for the running model change for CCLA. I believe the paid positions should be the future running model for CCLA. It will benefit and doing good for CCLA from long run. I appreciate Nancy and her team to make this proposal to CCC board. From my point, this is good proposal not perfect one. It has some weakness and not clear issues. That is why we need discuss and make the changes on it. I voted "yes" for the proposal based on what I believe good for CCLA and CCC. However, I share same concerns with other members as well. From my understanding, even we passed this proposal we still have chance to fix it by adding new proposal based on the original one as amendment as long as board members vote "Yes" for new proposal. Now, we need action not only discussion. We can vote on the new proposal from Edmond on next board meeting or earlier based on needs. Personally, I respect the authority of CCC board. I don't want withdraw my vote for last meeting. If we all do this it will hurt the authority of CCC.  

Second, how much should we pay for Principal and directors? I can't answer that question. I don't have any experience. $9000/year may be OK if principal does good job, such as improving quality of teaching, showing strong leadership, increasing enrollment. If not, we just not renew the contract for next year. Also, I think CCC board always can make change based on the different situation.  Why can't CCC? This will be the first year of new running model. Just give a trial and see what is going on. Nobody can predict what will happen for new business model. What we can do is just be ready to make the change based on the future situation. If you have concern and have new ideal just give the proposal to CCC board. The board member can discuss and vote to make it going forward. That is what we suppose to do as board member.  

Third, as for educational committee. I believe five members will be OK. It should include senior member and junior member.  

Fourth, as for efficiency of CCC board meeting. I have to say I am disappointed by it. If we can form several sub-committees to take care different issues, such as financial, education and activity, it will improve it. All committees will be formed by 3 to five members including senior and junior members. The committees will take care issues first and form the solution. Then, the solution will be presented to the board for the vote. I think this will make thing easy and more efficient.  

Thanks for your reading,  

Chen



My vote for last CCC board meeting

Friday, March 19, 2010 7:30 PM

Dear CCC board:

Sorry for that I misunderstood the motion last time.  I only vote for forming the education committee from CCC board first then we can continue talk about the budget. I didn’t approve the budget. I don't agree to use CCC financial resource to pay such high compensation to the principal and the directors because even teachers are paid they are largely still on voluntary base.  They put more time outside of the campus.  They are only compensated based on one or two hour on campus, respectively. This should be applied to the principal and the directors too for equal treatment.  I thinks that in this bad financial situation we should not raise too much tuition to add financial burden to the parents.  I also thinks that the education committee should be formed democratically, approved by the CCC board. The ideal size should be five people.

Lena Tan


On Sat, Mar 20, 2010 at 10:41 PM, Edmond Wong <[email protected]> wrote:
Yi,

This is an addendum to our last letter that was sent to you yesterday.

We want to advise you and anyone in the board that it is important to have a clear and accurate communication about our board decision.  It will not be appropriate to communicate that the CCC Board has approved the CCLA budget in the parents' meeting since we have raised numerous concerns to you including the legitimacy of the vote count.  However, we are waiting to have a sincere dialog with you to resolve the issues, otherwise we may consider taking further actions.  We are asking you to call a separate meeting as soon as possible.

Your prompt attention into the matter will be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Signed by CCC Board Members:


Edmond Wong       Frank Zhu       Jeff Zhu      Jian Yuan     Lena Tan     

Mingxin Lu        Shuning Zhan        Stephanie Sum        Xiongzi Li  




On Fri, Mar 19, 2010 at 10:55 PM, Edmond Wong <[email protected]> wrote:
Dear Yi & CCC Board,

Please see attached letter addressed to you and the board from 9 current board members.


Regards,

Edmond

____________________________________________________________________

Dear Board Members and Yi,

This letter is to officially raise our concerns to the CCC Board regarding the process and decision made on the recent CCLA Admin Team Pay Proposal.

Board Approval Process

·         2 times in a row, the CCLA proposals were not shared ahead of time to allow the board members to   review and understand the content including the budget. It was only shared at the board meeting on 3/7 & 3/14 when Nancy Yu, the current CCLA principal presented her first and revised proposals to the board.

·         There were numerous concerns raised both in writing as well as during the meetings, but the concerns were not addressed.

·         On 3/14, voting on the budget was done after the review of it in less than a minute.  A motion was raised to request for more information since it didn’t allow sufficient time to confirm it’s a sound financial proposal. However, it was voted down in the same meeting by the board members while majority of them currently serve on the CCLA board or part of the CCLA school functions.

·         School improvement plan was also presented on 3/14 and allowed no time for the board to understand and validate if it’s a valid and achievable plan.

·         No organization should make important decision with no time and actions for evaluation and assessment.

·         Other board members who were absent were excluded from the voting of this issue. Shuning has given her proxy to one of the board members and was not counted. The by-law was established for a decision to be made with a quorum but not intended to allow exclusion of votes from other board members who simply were not present at the meeting.  A serious matter like this requires a full board voting.

·         The appointment of the education committee was done by the president himself. This appointment was not discussed nor approved by the board. The made-up of the education committee are the CCLA board members or personnel. This doesn’t provide the objective body of governance.

·         The entire process and appointment of the education committee should be approved by the CCC board.

Budget and School Administration Pay Model

·         While majority of the board members believed the administration team could be paid or appreciated, the proposed pay model is too high for the principal and campus directors.

·         The proposed principal’s pay will take close to 10% of the entire school’s annual operating expenses. The Principal’s pay is 6 to 12 times salary of the teachers.

·         The proposed campus director’s pay is 2.5 to 5 times salary of the teachers. The total Pay for the principal and 2 campus directors will take up to 18% of the entire school’s annual operating expenses.

·         The proposed budget will have $9,000 deficit every year based on the school financial model.

·         We are concerned of this proposal will create unfair compensation to the other school employees based on the current duties every employee has to perform both physically at the school sites as well as time spent beyond school days.  The inconsistent pay model will result in many negative impacts to school management.

·         The 2 paid campus directors have not demonstrated much improvement to the school functions since these 2 paid positions were created. The confidence of simply paying more to the 2 campus director and paying the principal will improve the quality of the school is very doubtful.

·         CCC is a community based organization and volunteer works should continue to be the tradition for CCC and CCLA. We relies on skills and experiences contributed from our volunteers to build a strong community since we are not in a financially strong position to pay for many volunteers who dedicated their time, efforts and talents to the organization. This proposal delivers a poor message to the community and in turn discourages volunteerism, and creates negative impacts to the volunteer based, non-profit school and CCC.

·        CCC is a big family and has 30 year of history and excellent reputation. We expect the CCC president will carry the same mission to service the community.

Proposed Actions/Next Steps:

·         Since the total votes of acceptance of the proposal was less than ½ of the board members and electronic and phone email were not accepted, a re-voting is needed.

·         Form a financial committee to work with CCC education committee to review and adjust the budget and provide recommendation of pay to the administration team.

·         Need board discussion, nomination, and approval of the education committee.  As part of the duties from the education committee, form an organizational assessment team to conduct a drill-down evaluation of every school function.

·         Delay the registration process till May until this issue is properly addressed and resolved.

 

Sincerely,

Signed by CCC Board Members: (in alphabetical order of their first names)

Edmond Wong       Frank Zhu       Jeff Zhu      Jian Yuan     Lena Tan    

Mingxin Lu        Shuning Zhan        Stephanie Sum        Xiongzi Li