Mr. Martin shared ideas for Governance Committee goals, such as how many more board members to recruit and add, board courses for member development. Next steps: Identify more specific goals during the committee meeting. 

Dr. Shaw shared the following recommendations for annual board goals: 
1. Academic Excellence: Set according to the school wide academic goals that should be presented at the November meeting;
2. ED Support: We will evaluate the ED at least once annually by April;
3. We will have a fundraising goal of $5,000 for the 2022 calendar year;
4. We will have facilities decided by January 1, 2022;
5. All board member financial contributions will be completed by December 31st;
6. We will grow our board by 2 members by July 1, 2022. 

Dr. Alexander supported the idea to develop an annual goal with each committee and how those goals will align with and support the school's goals. Next steps: Identify possible goals and have them ready to discuss at the November meeting.

Mr. Brack and Ms. Brownlow also agreed with the idea of developing committee-level goals.

Next steps: Each committee chair will develop goals to discuss with the committee and present them at the November board meeting. Dr. Shaw will share the membership rosters of each committee with all board members. 

Dr. Shaw shared the nepotism hiring policy draft, which may be found in BoardonTrack under Resources. Mr. Martin read the draft aloud to the group. Mr. Martin shared his concern that in the absence of an HR department, all final decisions would fall to the Executive Director, which could potentially cause a conflict of interest since the ED is also doing the hiring. Mr. Brack suggested the final decision could fall to the Board of Directors until an HR professional is added to the staff. Dr. Shaw updated the nepotism policy in real time to give the board, rather than the ED, final hiring powers when a potential conflict of interest could occur. 

Dr. Shaw shared that the Profit & Loss statement, Cash Flow, Balance Sheet are available in BoardonTrack. She also said at future board meetings she will present anticipated expenses over $10,000 for the board's review and approval. 

Rene Fumich, financial consultant, shared the Cash Flow statement on screen and explained the September income line items and notable expenses. She also shared the Balance Sheet on screen and explained discrepancies between the Cash Flow and Balance Sheet bank account balances. She shared the Budget vs. Actuals and explained discrepancies between where the balance was anticipated to be and the actual balance. 

Dr. Shaw shared that she met with the Planning Committee and considered the possibilities of either 1) purchasing the building, or 2) continuing to rent the facility and purchasing a second facility to create a separate 8th grade campus. She also shared she is working with Charter School Growth Fund and Level Up, one of their partners, to discuss facility acquisition funding. She shared that a construction company has provided an estimate for the work that would be needed. 

Next steps: Make final decisions by Dec. 17 of this year. 

Dr. Shaw shared that MKS Partners visited the school in October to interview community partners and observe classrooms. A report will be produced by Nov. 5th of the initial findings to begin development of a strategic plan. 

Dr. Shaw shared that the President of TSU visited the school and gifted 25 scholars with full scholarships to the school when they graduate high school.

Dr. Shaw shared CSGF has invited Dr. Shaw and a team to visit Noble Charter Schools in Chicago to observe best practices March 13-16. 

Dr. Alexander shared thoughts about the importance of aligning the board's annual goals with the strategic plan being developed. Next steps: Dr. Shaw will ask MKS Partners to meet with board members as she collects information and makes recommendations for the strategic plan. 

Mr. Martin asked board members for their opinions of the best time to schedule board meetings to optimize attendance and suggested a survey. Dr. Alexander agreed a survey would be helpful so each member can identify the times and dates best for them. Next steps: Mr. Martin will meet with Dr. Shaw to conduct the survey and identify the best times and dates for future meetings. 

Next meeting currently scheduled for Nov. 23 at 6:00pm Central time. After discussion of availability, the meeting was confirmed tentatively.