Explorations Charter School

Minutes

Governing Board Meeting

Date and Time

Tuesday February 24, 2026 at 5:00 PM

Directors Present

Bryan Raydenbow (remote), Ginni Block (remote), Greg Skinner (remote), Hilary Paden (remote), Julie Luby (remote), Kali Blakeslee (remote), Lori Noto (remote), Robert Peterson (remote), Sarah Annis Haynes (remote)

Directors Absent

Marc Pruchnicki

Directors who left before the meeting adjourned

Julie Luby

Guests Present

Jill Johnson (remote), Joe White (remote), Susan O'Rourke (remote)

I. Opening Items

A.

Record Attendance

B.

Call the Meeting to Order

Robert Peterson called a meeting of the board of directors of Explorations Charter School to order on Tuesday Feb 24, 2026 at 5:03 PM.

C.

Approve Minutes - 01/24/2026

Robert Peterson made a motion to approve the minutes from Board Retreat on 01-24-26.
Lori Noto seconded the motion.

Social media, marketing discussion

Internship program

The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

II. Financial

A.

January Monthly Report

Susan provided an update re: income and future deposits

 

Jill provided an update re: incoming grants, budget, and future expenses

 

Audit presentation to the Board on March 17 by Chris King

Sarah Annis Haynes made a motion to approve the monthly budget Finance Committee Meeting on 01-21-26.
Hilary Paden seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.

III. Action Items

A.

Fundraising

Sarah spoke about fundraising and marketing

 

  • March 16 tentatively set for Lori and Sarah to come
  • Time to set up brain storming with staff and board members

 

 

B.

School Safety / Security Plan Appendix

Joe spoke about school safety

 

  • State Statute re: ICE at school
  • Draft plan (version 2)
  • Joe to share Doc with Board for review
  • Tom Dylan, security planner; audit services quote forthcoming
  • Julie to send Winchester's plan for us to use as a comparison for best practices
  • Policy to vote at March meeting

Lori suggested a contact (TJ) we could use for further aid

IV. Committe Reports

A.

Policy Committee

No policies to vote on at this time.

B.

CEO Support & Evaluation Committee

Lori spoke about next steps:

  • Date to send out evaluation to students, parents, and staff
  • Board to review evaluation questions and take notes for future evaluations
  • Reiterated privacy and anonymity of report comments

Ginni suggested we use the same evaluation as last year

 

Jill spoke about Support and Evaluation Training she attended with Lori at EdAdvance

 

C.

Personnel Committee

Julie Luby left at 5:40 PM.

D.

Finance Committee

Ginni reported budget for 2026-2027 in progress

V. School News

A.

General Updates

B.

Teacher Report

Kali reported:

  • Community updates
  • PLC updates
  • Pasta Dinner to be held Thursday, March 12
  • St. Paddy's Day social to be held Friday, March 13
  • Bulletin Boards to be updated this week
  • GSA fundraiser

Greg reported:

  • Adventure Ed coming up Friday, March 6
  • Wilderness School an option

Joe reported

  • All school events
  • Raffles

VI. Closing Items

A.

Adjourn Meeting

Robert Peterson made a motion to Adjourn meeting.
Hilary Paden seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 6:00 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
Kali Blakeslee