The Exploris School
Minutes
Board Meeting
Date and Time
Tuesday December 17, 2019 at 4:30 PM
Location
Middle Campus - 401 Hillsborough St. Rm 7N (upstairs)
Directors Present
C. Greer-Banks, C. Hutchens, C. Jones, D. Deaton, E. Schollmeyer, G. Burnette, J. Korreck, K. Byars-Nichols, K. Johnson, T. Kingsberry, T. Miller
Directors Absent
J. Jenkins
Directors who arrived after the meeting opened
J. Korreck
Guests Present
Alannah Rodriguez, M. Parkerson, Shannon Hardy, Stephen Darroch
I. Opening Items
A.
Call the Meeting to Order
C. Jones called a meeting of the board of directors of The Exploris School to order on Tuesday Dec 17, 2019 at 4:36 PM.
B.
Record Attendance and Guests
C.
Approve Minutes from Regular Board Meeting from 10/29
K. Johnson made a motion to approve the minutes from Board Meeting on 10-29-19.
C. Jones seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
D.
Public Comment
J. Korreck arrived.
There were no public comments.
II. Executive Director Report
A.
Personnel/ Operations
T. Miller made a motion to approve resignation of Stephanie Gleason and Sonja McKay and the hire of Martha Merrill and Lori Mauro.
G. Burnette seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
T. Kingsberry made a motion to revise attendance policy per the recommendation of the Governance committee.
K. Johnson seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
C. Hutchens made a motion to Board approval is requested to approve the start date of August 19, 2020 for the 2020-2021 school year. The full calendar will be presented at the January meeting for approval.
T. Miller seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
B.
Finance
The Finance committee met to review the year to date revenue updates, expenditures, and project future impacts. Based on YTD activity, we are projecting an end of year surplus of $238,903.55. The summary of budget adjustments, balance sheet, and income statement along with the YTD budget report part of the board packet. 401K Changes approved by the Board in October will be implemented 1/1/20.
C. Hutchens made a motion to Board approval is requested for the 2019-2020 budget amendments and to accept the budget projections as the updated 2019 -2020 budget.
D. Deaton seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
Grant Funds Awarded (to date):
- Access Grant: $142,000 (2019-2020)
- Title II Funds: $4,255
- School Safety Grant: $22,000 for additional school counselor and $2,280 for visitor mgt system Applied for Special State Reserve Funds to support a new K student found eligible for an IEP and in need of a one on one aide.
III. Facilities
A.
Discussion on Facilities
Theo presented several potential new school sites and opportunities.
T. Kingsberry made a motion to approve a letter of intent from the the ED when and if a property comes available (without any legal obligations).
G. Burnette seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
IV. Standing Committee Updates
A.
Finance Committee
Christine plans to have an open finance committee meeting in January to discuss/plan the budget for 20-21.
B.
Development Committee
George reported that the development committee/Foundation Board met in early December to discuss fundraising, marketing, and future plans. Into the new year they want to try something a bit different in terms of reaching out the folks using alumni and community members who will share their stories about how Exploris has affected them.
Camesha asked how the board can help. George stated that we still need 100% board participation in donating. He also said we need more bodies on the Foundation Board and the Governance Committee. Ellie commended Kimberly Harris for her work with the most recent fundraising campaign.
C.
Governance Committee
Grievance Policy Work: Cori presented comments from the Kaizan Team and OCR feedback on our current grievance policy. The themes of the questions were the definition of the grievance, the timeline and the development of a clear process and paper trail to lead to the finalization of the process. Next steps:
CEO Evaluation: We pulled together 15 questions from multiple 360 and will continue to amend until we have 10 questions focused on CEO Leadership. Tom will have this done by January.
- Tighten the definition of a grievance.
- Improve the communication process to ensure issues go to the middle management leaders. Who is responsible for what?
- Revise the process to ensure the wording of the supervisory position aligns with the level and grievance.
- Look into a third party to be a sounding board.
- Create a form written by the Grievant to track the evidences of the process.
CEO Evaluation: We pulled together 15 questions from multiple 360 and will continue to amend until we have 10 questions focused on CEO Leadership. Tom will have this done by January.
Tom clarified that the process for interviewing potential new board - current board members would vet and solicit resume then forward to Governance Committee.
K. Byars-Nichols made a motion to remove Jacqueline Jenkins from the board.
T. Kingsberry seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
D.
Excellence in Education
Katie reports that she is working on making slight modifications to the EEC measurement tool (which helps the board see what the school is doing). Jay reports that the Equity and Diversity committee has a family recruitment event is planned at Chavis, flyer/recruitment events for under-represented neighborhoods in January, improving the signage so families near the campuses better know we're here. Next meeting is 1/7 to plan Chavis Park event.
V. Closed Session - Legal / Personnel
A.
Legal/ Personnel
T. Miller made a motion to move into closed session to discuss issues related to legal and personnel issues.
C. Jones seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
K. Byars-Nichols made a motion to come out of closed session.
T. Miller seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
VI. Closing Items
A.
Adjourn Meeting
T. Kingsberry made a motion to adjourn the meeting.
G. Burnette seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 6:00 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
T. Kingsberry
Documents used during the meeting
- Attendance Policy 2019 Draft.pdf
- ED Report.pdf
- 03. Board Report 2019.11 Exploris.pdf
- 05. Income Statement 2019.11 Exploris.pdf
- 06. Balance Sheet 2019.11 Exploris.pdf
- December 2019 Amendment.pdf