No public comments.

Update the minutes from September 8th, 2022 to reflect the approval of the June 9th, 2022 minutes.  The vote was unanimous. Leah Crosby abstained because she was absent for this meeting. 

Each member of the board introduced themselves, current employment and position,  and their city of residence.  

Anthony Cortopassi, with Elliott Davis, the overall audit went smoothly.  The summary of audit results were an unmodified opinion on the financial statements. No significant deficiencies relating to the financial statements. No material weaknesses and no instances of noncompliance.  Called attention to the SaaS114 letter. A couple of uncorrected misstatements that needed to be corrected. Expensed was reported instead of pre-paid. Also, deposits should have been credited to expense since they represented refunds. The cash balance was in excess of the FDIC limit. This did not have a material impact on the audit. 

Lee Winters explained what is called a sweep account which is the type of account for SC Whitmore School. This means if you have  less than 1.25M in the account, then the account is protected by FDIC. 

Some discussion concerning the investment options. 

Maria Head from Prestige School Solutions gave a review of the current financials including overview of the balance sheet, total cash available, total assets and the total liabilities. The percent remaining in each account is approximately 58% which is slightly off due the funding increase from the 45 day count will not be available until March. The reimbursement of federal funding from the district after the initial funds have been spent by the school. Marketing is lower because more money is spent at the beginning of the fiscal year. The school looks to be in good financial health. 

Further discussion on determining the amount of funds that are liquid and available and the healthy approach. Discussion of the student per counselor ratio is lower than the norm because this is a need for our students. 

Ashten Latta gave the board information on the students' activities. First day of school pictures, virtual open house, students attended the Midway physics day at the State Fair, seqwaying in Greenville, and the SCWS talent show.  The counselors had a cookies and cocoa with students. A food tour in Columbia will take place next week. Also a list of student activities for the spring including the first ever SCWS prom and 5K. Also the upcoming trip to Washington DC. 

Josie White explained the school will have a well known author virtually visit in March. More discussion on prom and the Washington DC trip. The cost was a significant factor and therefore, several fundraisers have been completed. The spring 5K will also be a fundraiser for the trip. 

The school will be supporting two of our students for the holidays, selected by the Student Resource coordinator based on need. 

Troy Crump, one of SCWS' CTE teacher, explained CTE and how he is increasing the paths for students by using a new software, ICEV.  He wants to have the first completer program for law enforcement. This is just the beginning for SCWS students and CTE curriculum. 

Susan Herring gave a brief presentation of the new Board on Track governance software. The software will house all the agenda's, minutes and recordings for the board meetings. This software was designed just for charter board of directors. 

Kim Dunbar gave an explanation of the additional accreditation through Cognia, which the school wants to pursue. This will require documentation, interviews and teams for all hands on deck. The fees associated with this accreditation has been added to the Federal CSI plan. 

A discussion on paying the mortgage on the school building off a few months early. The board wants to use the money saved from paying off the mortgage early to be used to help students attend the Washington DC trip. 

Kim Dunbar shared the Esser III budget, Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief. SCWS needs to amend the original Esser III budget plan. The changes include the inclusion of payment of support from Prestige to help with these funds. The original plan included AP textbooks, social and emotional learning (SEL), contract teachers to support our students, books for the school library, curriculum to support learning loss, and then customization of the new curriculum. 

No other business.