The Exploris School
Minutes
The Exploris School Board Regular Monthly Meeting
Date and Time
Thursday July 23, 2026 at 4:30 PM
Location
The Exploris School, Elementary Campus
17 S. Swain St.
Raleigh, NC 27601
Directors Present
A. Rodriguez (remote), E. Grunden, L. Collins (remote), M. Nelson (remote), P. President (remote), S. Graham (remote)
Directors Absent
M. Perry, R. Averitte
Ex Officio Members Present
D. Brown, J. Corbat, K. Taylor
Non Voting Members Present
D. Brown, J. Corbat, K. Taylor
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
E. Grunden called a meeting of the board of directors of The Exploris School to order on Thursday Jul 23, 2026 at 4:34 PM.
C.
Approve Minutes
E. Grunden made a motion to approve the minutes from The Exploris School Board Regular Monthly Meeting on 05-28-26.
S. Graham seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
D.
Public Comment
II. Board Business
A.
Votes & Upcoming Events
A. Rodriguez made a motion to Accept resignation of Ethan Burton.
M. Nelson seconded the motion.
no discussion
P. President made a motion to Appoint Leah Ruto has interim elementary director for the 26-27 school year.
L. Collins seconded the motion.
- Josh shared Leah's credentials
- the board discussed the rationale behind an interim appointment
III. Committee Reports
A.
Governance
E. Grunden made a motion to Approve the amendments to the charter, as listed in the packet document.
L. Collins seconded the motion.
- The board asked that we check on hours or days of attendance as counted for the charter; change to language that Exploris will operate within the required amount of instructional days or hours.
- Motion passed with that recommended update
E. Grunden made a motion to Motion to seat Grace Whittemore to The Exploris School Board.
M. Nelson seconded the motion.
- The board thaked outgoing Board member Lauren Collins for her service with the board
- the board welcomed Grace
The board recognized that we need to amend our policy that says our 2 teacher Kaizen leaders are voting members of the Board of Directors, and instead to make teacher leaders as ex offico but not voting members in order to be in compliance with NC statute. The Board directed the school leadership to make those changes our in Board on Track policies and in any other documents.
B.
Educational Excellence
- the committee has had several conflicts and has plans to regroup
- the board discussed the annual report on Educational Excellence
- the overall headline is that we continue to show grow and increase proficiency as we work towards our SIP goals
C.
Facilities
- Josh provided an update on:
- Facilities progress
- Capital Campaign progress
D.
Finance Committee
- Josh reminded that the June report does not fully encompass end of year as more data is coming in before we close
- The state has passed the budget but we need to get more information on what the allotments and new salary scale will be before we can finalize our own internals
- We are able to operate step increases for teacher salaries
E.
Director Support & Evaluation
- Eric will make the appointments with the directors to discuss evaluation and compensation and invited other newer board members to join the committee work.
IV. Director's Report
A.
Documents
E. Grunden made a motion to Approve the slate of new hires as listed in agenda.
A. Rodriguez seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
V. Community Reports
A.
Kaizen Report
Mariah reported on the Kaizen retreat at the end of the school year.
B.
PTO Report
- Josh and Grace gave an update on the PTO
C.
Foundation Report
Josh gave an update on the Foundation work
VI. Closed Session
A.
The board moved to closed session to discussion of compensation and salaries, HR, and contract items
A. Rodriguez made a motion to The board moved to closed session to discussion of compensation /salaries and HR issues.
P. President seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
E. Grunden made a motion to move back into Open Session.
A. Rodriguez seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
VII. Closing Items
A.
Adjourn Meeting
There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 6:05 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
D. Brown
Eric read out the policy and guidelines for public comment.
There was no public comment during the meeting or remarks received in writing ahead of time.