The Exploris School
Minutes
The Exploris School Board Regular Monthly Meeting
Date and Time
Thursday September 25, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Location
The Exploris School: Elementary Campus
17 S Swain St, Raleigh, NC 27601, USA
5th Grade Classroom
Directors Present
E. Grunden (remote), G. Bayo (remote), L. Collins (remote), M. Nelson (remote), P. President, R. Averitte (remote), S. Darroch (remote)
Directors Absent
E. Buchan, M. Perry, S. Scipione
Ex Officio Members Present
D. Brown, J. Corbat
Non Voting Members Present
D. Brown, J. Corbat
Guests Present
Aaron Bugher (remote), Christina Serafino (remote), K. Morgan, Lisa Averitte (remote), Rachel Bugher (remote)
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
S. Darroch called a meeting of the board of directors of The Exploris School to order on Thursday Sep 25, 2025 at 4:33 PM.
C.
Approve Minutes
R. Averitte made a motion to approve the minutes from The Exploris School Board Regular Monthly Meeting on 08-28-25.
M. Nelson seconded the motion.
- Correct the submitter of minutes from Meredith to Eric.
- Public comment from Rachel B. of Wake Co. needs to be added.
D.
Public Comment
- No public comment was given.
II. Committee Reports
A.
Finance
- The State Budget has not yet been passed.
- The audit is underway! Everything will be submitted by the state deadline.
- Cory Draughn from Charter Success Partners will present to the Board next month.
- Josh is working with our bank and other institutions to explore options to capture more interest earnings from our Reserves.
B.
Educational Excellence
- The Committee is thrilled with our achievement results from last year. Exploris recently earned a 'B' school grade for the first time in many years.
- Meredith gave an update, including metrics of achievement.
- Communications are being drafted to share with our community, including graphics and a one-pager.
- Comms will be careful to message how important and impressive the 'B' grade is while still showing the significant gains we made in recent years.
- Eric mentioned that the effort put forth by the teachers, staff members, and Directors is what led directly to these gains.
C.
Governance
- Lauren would like to bring the Campbell Education Law & Policy Society group as a partnership for Exploris.
- In the committee meeting, policy updates were given and handbook modifications were discussed (none were brought forth for a vote today).
M. Nelson made a motion to accept the change in process for new Board Member onboarding.
E. Grunden seconded the motion.
- Steven recognized that this makes the process for efficient and official.
- Deb informed the Board of a staff member doxxing attempt, which the Directors handled quickly and has not resurfaced in any form to date.
- The Committee will explore possible changes to our Social Media policy to better protect teachers and staff members.
- At Steven's direction, the Committee discussed the ongoing Strategic Planning work. Documents are being draft and will include feedback from our family community that we are currently collecting via our Family Survey. Focus Groups will be organized following Fall Break.
- The draft Strategic Plan includes Four Pillars:
- Joyful Learners
- Empowered Teachers
- Community Classroom
- Caring Spaces
D.
Community & Connections
- An email was recently sent out for membership in this community. Several of our family members have responded. Details will be shared following Fall Break.
E.
Director Evaluation & Support
- The Directors sent out a survey (each separately) to gather input from our teachers and staff members for our annual goals.
- The Board would like to aim for early to mid-November for goal-setting meetings with the Directors.
F.
Facilities
- The Committee gave updates regarding the ongoing work of the Unified Campus Project.
- Richard asked about the scope of work for Rosewood. Josh gave an update about when we will revisit our engagement.
G.
Kaizen
- Kaizen met this week and discussed further refining a new feedback-collection tool.
- Peaceful Schools recently worked with the 5-person Leadership Team (which includes our Kaizen Teacher Leads) to explore the best way for our team to collaborate.
III. The Exploris Foundation
A.
Foundation Update
- The Foundation is working on communications announcing this year's Budget and planned expenditures.
- The Foundation Board is working on building the infrastructure (systems and structures) for fundraising, leading to the Capital Campaign.
IV. The Exploris Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO)
A.
PTO Update
- The PTO Board met this month. We are working on increasing parent involvement. Communications and information are being crafted to get the word out.
- Fall Festival is coming up! October 24th, 5-8 p.m. at the Elementary.
- The Buildings & Grounds committee is being explored for inclusion in groups already supporting beautification and repair work.
- Steven commented that he is enjoying seeing the social media posts announcing the PTO Board members.
V. Meeting Items
A.
Directors Report
- The Directors gave highlights of the Report:
- We had visitors from Hiroshima University this week, which was lovely!
- Our Counseling team led a successful 'Start with Hello' week last week.
- Our first home Cross Country meet is happening at the same time as this meeting. :) Ethan is representing the Leadership team at the meet.
- The 6th-grade position is being offered soon. Several excellent candidates were interviewed while our long-term sub was in place.
- Steven asked the Board and Directors how we can build a relationship with education reporters and other influencers.
B.
Board Business
- We previously discussed the Strategic Framework earlier in the meeting.
- Richard made comments about the importance of helping our community understand the difference between Public Charter Schools and Private Schools.
- Deb serves on a committee through the NC Association of Charter Schools, and they are working to promote Charters and dispel pervasive myths.
E. Grunden made a motion to move into Closed Session.
M. Nelson seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
VI. Closed Session
A.
Facilities & Legal Items
R. Averitte made a motion to move out of Closed Session.
P. President seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
VII. Closing Items
A.
Adjourn Meeting
- The Board clarified that the Community & Connections is the latest evolution of the group which will work on building stronger connections and support systems for our community, both in-school and more broadly.
There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 6:14 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
J. Corbat