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The Exploris School

Minutes

The Exploris School Board Regular Monthly Meeting

Date and Time

Thursday December 19, 2024 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, G. Bayo (remote), S. Carothers (remote), S. Darroch, S. Scipione, T. Void (remote)

Directors Absent

E. Buchan, W. McLamb

Ex Officio Members Present

D. Brown, J. Corbat

Non Voting Members Present

D. Brown, J. Corbat

Guests Present

K. Morgan (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 Dec 19, 2024 at 4:38 PM.

C.

Approve Minutes

E. Grunden made a motion to approve the minutes from The Exploris School Board Regular Monthly Meeting on 10-24-24.
S. Scipione seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

D.

Public Comment

E.

Board Development: CapDev Capital Campaign Update

  • Ann Thomas, Senior Counsel with CapDev, presented the Readiness Report to the Board.
    • CapDev is cautiously optimistic about Capital Campaigns for all Charter schools, as there is a bias that current families should be (and often are) the primary drivers of all fundraising for a school.
    • Campaigns are hard work; much of the work is in person and takes ample planning.
    • The best advice is to start with those who have the most to gain right now (our current families and their extended families).
    • Finalizing a site in the near term is paramount to the success of the Capital Campaign.
    • Recommendations:
      • Donor identification and research is going to be important.
      • A full-time staff member for fundraising and development is a necessity. This will allow our leadership team to continue in their roles while still striving for success with the Capital Campaign.
  • Susan Singer asked about making a different type of case in which giving is more a value proposition for businesses and corporations.
    • Ann Thomas mentioned that very little philanthropy happens at the corporate level; individuals are responsible for a vast majority of philanthropy in the US.
    • Susan thanked CapDev for a thorough report, and laid out a case for shifting our mindset on giving when we approach businesses and individuals.
    • Susan made a case for offering her skills as the staff member mentioned in the Readiness Report.
    • Steven Darroch mentioned the disparate Boards (School and Foundation) and the need to build more synchronicity. 
    • Susan agrees with the need to add a seat to the School Board for the Foundation Chair.
    • Steven tasked the Governance Committee with considering adding the Board position for the Foundation.

II. Committee Reports

A.

Governance

  • Deb: Governance is meeting on an as-needed basis.
  • Actively reaching out to potential Board members.
    • A few offers were made, but declined. Other names were given through this process.

B.

Finance

  • Koren: William sent an email that summarized the activities of the Committee.
  • Our audit is finalized with no findings.
  • Amanda Habich will present the audit; should we do this in January?
  • Raises were implemented in December to align with the new State Salary Scale for Teachers.

C.

Educational Excellence

  • Eric and Ethan: We have made great progress in growth for early literacy over the past few years. We are now also looking at math instruction through the same lens.
    • PD is being explored for math instruction.
  • Vertical alignment in teaching practices is being explored for math.
  • Stacey mentioned that she is still willing to help with the Committee.
  • Steven asked about the latest US News and World Report rankings and whether Exploris is interested in pursuing higher rankings in reports like this.
    • Deb: Often, the data on these sites is outdated, which makes it difficult to pursue this with any efficacy.
    • Ethan: We have worked with SchoolUp Wake to gain more visibility in the area.
  • We will need to ensure we are on the appropriate sites when it comes time to launch the Capital Campaign.

D.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

E.

Director Evaluation & Support

  • Steven outlined a plan to move forward with Director Evaluation process in the new year.
  • Ethan, Deb, and Steven discussed incorporating the latest Trust Survey data point into the evaluation process.
  • Stacey would like to review the survey that was sent to teachers and staff members in conjunction with Kaizen and Leadership.
  • Deb reminded the Board that BoardOnTrack's surveys tend to focus on a single Director. Stacey mentioned that BoT has improved the tool.

F.

Facilities

  • Josh: Our Traffic Impact Analysis and Traffic Demand Management plans have both been delivered to the City. The City has agreed to a January 15th deadline for first comments to be delivered to us.
  • Emily Vlkojan-Reece has done an excellent job of mustering volunteerism to support and improve our campuses.

G.

Kaizen

  • Shawna: We didn't have a Kaizen meeting in November or December.
  • In our October meeting, the main topic was on how the team is spending their time.
  • The School Improvement Plan (SIP) was discussed, as well as the FAM-S survey and how it fits into the overall structure of the SIP.
  • Working Groups were discussed as a structure to drive more focused work through Kaizen.
  • Steven thanked Shawna and Tasha for working with Stacey on the Director Evaluation survey.

III. Meeting Items

A.

Directors Report

  • Deb: Margie Fowler is up for Board approval. Margie comes to us with a storied career in Education. She most recently was a Wake County administrator and wanted to step back into the classroom. Margie has seamlessly integrated into the team.
E. Grunden made a motion to accept Margie Fowler's hire.
S. Scipione seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
  • Deb invited the Board to tomorrow's Elementary Community Circle.
  • The Board Retreat will be 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. on January 25th.
  • Steven asked about our current 9 open seats.
    • Deb: Two students moved out of the area. A number of students' families identified the need for a different type of placement due to student needs. Two families received Opportunity Scholarships to transfer to private schools.
    • Steven: Do we open the available seats to those on the waitlist?
    • Josh: The Leadership team has decided to make it a part of our process to continue enrolling through the end of Trimester 1. 
    • Leadership has discussed and will move forward with more on-the-ground strategies for recruitment.
    • Susan re: Marketing: Search Engine Optimization will be imperative to the overall recruitment strategy.
  • The Governance Committee will set the agenda for the Board Retreat.
  • Leadership updated the Board on the latest Indoor Air Quality efforts at both campuses.
    • The Elementary is undergoing a large project to fix legacy issues and improve our bathrooms.

B.

Board Business

IV. Closed Session

A.

Facilities & Legal Items

E. Grunden made a motion to enter closed session.
S. Scipione seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
E. Grunden made a motion to come out of closed session.
S. Carothers seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

V. 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 6:08 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
J. Corbat