Laureate Academy Charter School Board of Directors
Minutes
March Board Meeting
Date and Time
Monday March 16, 2026 at 5:30 PM
Location
The Nest at 2115 Oakmere Drive, Harvey, LA 70058
The matters listed are those reasonably anticipated by the Chair to be discussed at the meeting. Not all items listed may, in fact, be discussed. Other items not listed may be brought up for discussion to the extent permitted by law. All agenda items are informational unless otherwise denoted, though all committee reports require a vote for acceptance. Unless otherwise stated, the meeting will be held on the campus of the school (2115 Oakmere Drive Harvey, LA 70058).
Laureate Board Meeting
Monday, March 16 · 5:30 – 6:30pm
Google Meet joining info
Video call link: https://meet.google.com/vdd-cjwq-eze
Or dial: (US) +1 252-346-6437 PIN: 876 470 153#
Directors Present
Bria Joshua, Caitlyn Scales, Jordan Whittenburg, Monique Handy, Toyane Faulkner
Directors Absent
Dr. Jahquille Ross, Janel Green
Directors who arrived after the meeting opened
Jordan Whittenburg, Monique Handy
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
Caitlyn Scales called a meeting of the board of directors of Laureate Academy Charter School Board of Directors to order on Monday Mar 16, 2026 at 5:46 PM.
C.
Prove What's Possible
II. FINANCE
A.
Updates re Current Financials (through March 2026)
B.
Upcoming Financials & Budget Timeline
- Discussion of 2026-2027 Budget Prep Timeline as shared in working doc.
- FYI: The upcoming budget will show a significant increase to cover the need for more SPED teachers.
- This is expected, however, and in line with the Board's finance priorities as expressed at the 2026 Annual Board Retreat
- @Claire will request that the timelines are more definitive, removing the "TBD" labels.
III. GOVERNANCE
A.
Updates re Building Purchase
Jordan Whittenburg arrived.
Closing for the building purchase is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, March 25, 2026. Board members are invited to participate, if available.
- The church (included in the purchase) has a number of items with resell value that are not needed by Laureate. The items includes large slabs of marble and a huge crucifix. Board discussed whether such items should be donated or sold.
B.
Updates re Board Recruitment
- Recruitment is currently a two-tier process: 1) review of resumes and qualifications (basic outreach) and 2) in-person meeting with Claire, Caitlyn, and/or another Board Member
- @Caitlyn plans to get through the first tier within the coming weeks, starting with the list of potential members provided by Board Members.
C.
Fundraising Efforts
Next board meeting (after Closing) would be a better time to discuss capital campaign ideas.
Monique Handy arrived.
D.
2026-2027 Compensation & Benefits Program
- Stated Goal: Laureate must remain competitive, not just with other schools but with other industries.
- St. Charles Parish has one of the highest paid teacher salaries, ranked third in Louisiana.
- Sliding Scale Teacher Roles:
- Associate
- Bachelor's (Non-Certified)
- Certified (Certified via Louisiana Department of Education website; NOT including Practitioner Licenses)
- Special Education (SPED)
- SPED teachers require particular certifications, so their salaries should reflect the additional trainings-- as shown on the working doc, a sliding scale is proposed.
- Historically, teachers were categorized together and SPED teachers were not compensated any differently.
- Charter schools have the discretion to define priorities for qualifications for most roles; however, SPED certification is required for teachers in charter schools.
- Support & Operational Roles:
- Instructional support staff (i.e. paraprofessional, interventionists, in-house substitutes) are paid based on their qualifications
- Support staff are considered to be competitively paid; however, some staff have not passed the PRAXIS, so they are paid closer to the District's average.
- The pay scale for operational, nursing, and facilities staff roughly remained the same.
- Performance Pay and Growth:
- Proposed change: Staff will be rewarded for school-wide achievement and growth and not necessarily based on LEAP and DIBELS growth.
- Time Off:
- Time off is about the same.
- Historically, Laureate pays out up to five days.
- Issue is whether Laureate can afford the pay outs, which currently costs ~25k/year.
- @Claire will update the Board with the "math," enumerating pay outs, time off statistics, proposed cap on rollover days, etc.
- Education Reimbursement Program (Teacher/Staff Incentive)
- Issue: Teachers/Staff do not have the resources to pay the upfront costs of education. Laureate promotes growth in students as well as teachers/staff. Parameters for qualifications and retention agreements needs to be narrowed.
- PRAXIS
- Board agrees with Jahquille's suggestion to pay for the PRAXIS tutoring, which would come from the PD budget.
- The issue remains the whether the staff member should be commit to Laureate once they complete the PRAXIS program.
- In addition to certifications, teachers/staff are further incentivized to earn certifications or continued education because their salary and benefits also increase.
Caitlyn Scales made a motion to approve the 2026-27 Compensation and Benefits Program documents as discussed.
Monique Handy seconded the motion.
See above notes for discussion.
Caitlyn Scales made a motion to add an agenda item to approve the 2025-26 PTO to staff.
Toyane Faulkner seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
Caitlyn Scales made a motion to approve the payout of three PTO of staff during the 2025-26 with the role over of zero days.
Toyane Faulkner seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
IV. ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE
A.
Current Hiring Needs (for 2025-26 School Year)
B.
Updates re Enrollment and Re-enrollment
Enrollment numbers look great. Namely, there are currently 291 students waitlisted for the 2026-27 school year.
#ProvingWhatsPossible
C.
Student Assessment Data Reports
V. Resolution*
A.
Added to Agenda
Caitlyn Scales made a motion to add a section to the agenda to vote on the Resolution first posed at January's Annual Retreat.
Monique Handy seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
Caitlyn Scales made a motion to approve the Board Resolution authorizing the purchase of a facility at the address: 2114-15 Oakmere, Harvey, Louisiana. The purpose of this Resolution is to purchase this property for a price no higher $1.7 million.
Monique Handy seconded the motion.
The Resolution will be modified and approved by legal counsel and circulated for signature of Board Members.
VI. Closing Items
A.
Executive Session
Caitlyn Scales made a motion to enter into executive session in accordance with La. R.S. 42:16 @6:56p.
Jordan Whittenburg seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
Caitlyn Scales made a motion to to exit executive session @7:21p.
Monique Handy seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
B.
Approve the Minutes from Annual Board Meeting
Monique Handy made a motion to approve the minutes from Annual Board Meeting on 01-10-26.
Jordan Whittenburg seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
C.
Action Items for Next Board Meeting
FOLLOW-UPS:
- Caitlyn: Board recruitment
- Claire: TBD sections need to be updated on the budget timeline
CARRY OVER AGENDA ITEMS:
- Fundraising efforts/Capital campaign
D.
Adjourn Meeting
There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 7:30 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
Bria Joshua
**Finance discussions were considered first and out of order, awaiting quorum. Voting members present included: Caitlyn, Toyanne, and Bria. The Agenda was followed in order after the Finance and arrival of voting members were marked accordingly.