Explorations Charter School
Minutes
Governing Board Regular Meeting
Date and Time
Tuesday November 15, 2022 at 5:30 PM
Directors Present
Ginni Block (remote), Hilary Paden (remote), Lori Noto (remote), Robert Peterson (remote), Sarah Annis Haynes (remote)
Directors Absent
Bill Hallam, Melony Brady-Shanley
Guests Present
Jill Johnson, Joe White (remote), Susan O'Rourke (remote)
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
C.
Approve Minutes
II. Finance
A.
Report from October
B.
Grant Update
Jill will be working with Susan to update the budget based on receiving the allocations for the Consolidated (Title I and Title II) Grant and the SRSA Grant.
ESSER II and ARP ESSER / ESSER III Funds will be able to be used until June of 2024 (September 2024 for ESSER III). The funds have been awarded and allocated to cover a portion of the salary of the Social Worker and After School Enrichment Activities. Any changes to this will be presented to the finance committee for review.
III. School News
A.
Attendance / Chronic Absenteeism Updae
Chronic Absenteeism rate as of the end of October was 41.9%, up approximately 5% from the previous year. The biggest change noted by administration is that students can no longer be counted as present for logging in and participating in classes remotely and/or completing work and meeting with the teacher remotely as had been allowed in the previous school year.
Administrators have met with parents and students both in person and virtually to discuss concerns. There have been a significant number of COVID cases as well as anxiety related to fear of COVID and just overall anxiety of "back to normal". Administrators also noted that many students are still completing work for teachers despite their mounting absences.
B.
General Update
C.
Corrective Action Plan & SDE Oversight
Jill and Joe presented an update of the Corrective Action Plan that they have been working on with support from members from the SDE.
IV. Other Business
A.
Policies - discussion of upcoming policies
Joe and Ginni will be meeting to update policies that will be presented to the board for approval at future meetings.
B.
Discussion re: feedback from students
Joe and Jill have met with students regarding the beginning of the school year.
The biggest concerns were related to their being no option to remain home if sick.
Additionally, students advocated for a change in the passing grade from the current 70 to bring it to 65 which is in line with other local schools. This matter will be reviewed by the Education Committee.
C.
Board on Track Update
We are excited to have training on Board on Track and look forward to full implementation early in January 2023.
V. Committee Reports
A.
Education Committee Report
No Report
B.
Finance Committee Report
No Report
Susan reviewed October 2022 Financial Statement with the board noting that we were 1/3 through the Fiscal Year.
Anticipated Special Ed Revenue is down based on fewer students. It is still unknown what the per pupil revenue will be due to recent change in funding formula. Jill will follow up with Robert Kelly to see if she can get clarification on this.