Brighten Academy

Minutes

Brighten Academy Charter School Governing Board Meeting

Date and Time

Monday April 27, 2026 at 6:00 PM

Location

5897 Prestley Mill Rd 

Douglasville, GA 30135

The Brighten Academy Governing Board will meet on Monday, April 27, 2026 at 6:00 pm, in the Media Center.

Directors Present

C. Claiborne, J. Smith, K. Moses, M. Vitale, S. Battle

Directors Absent

C. Burns Falker

Guests Present

D. Davis, K. Smith

I. Opening Items

A.

Call the Meeting to Order

B.

Record Attendance

C.

Adoption of Agenda

J. Smith made a motion to adopt the amended agenda.
S. Battle seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.

D.

Approval of Minutes

J. Smith made a motion to approve the minutes from Brighten Academy Charter School Governing Board Meeting on 04-13-26.
S. Battle seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.

II. Public Comment

A.

Aknowledgment of Guests

n/a

B.

Public Comment

n/a

III. School Leadership Report

A.

Information Only

  • Contracts to present for the 26/27 school year (K. Smith)
  • Staffing Update  
  • Maintenance Job Description (K. Smith)Campus Facility Coordinator Job Description
  • PTO Updates
  • Workplan Dashboard Update
    • Elementary School iReady Scores (Sparks)
      • K-2nd Reading
        • Across the K–2 grade band, we saw strong and consistent academic growth from Fall to Spring.
        • Kindergarten demonstrated exceptional gains, increasing from 26% to 82% of students at or above grade level, reflecting the strength of our foundational literacy instruction.
        • 1st grade showed significant improvement, with students at or above grade level increasing from 23% to 62%, while also reducing the number of students in the lowest performance band.
        • 2nd grade made notable progress, increasing from 34% to 62% at or above grade level, and reducing students two grade levels below from 20% to 3%.
        • Across all grades, we saw a substantial decrease in students performing two or more grade levels below, demonstrating the effectiveness of our targeted interventions and MTSS supports.
        • While this growth is encouraging, approximately one-third of students in grades 1 and 2 remain one grade level below, which represents our key focus area moving forward.
        • Overall, this data reflects that our instructional practices, early literacy focus, and intervention systems are driving measurable gains, particularly for our most at-risk students.
        • 3rd - Math
          • From Fall to Spring, we saw significant academic growth across all performance levels in math.
          • Students performing at or approaching grade level increased from 18% to 38%, more than doubling our proficiency percentage.
          • Our highest-need students (2 or more grade levels below) decreased from 28% to 13%, reflecting a strong impact of targeted interventions.
          • Notably, students 3 or more grade levels below dropped from 8 students to just 1, showing accelerated progress among our most at-risk learners.
          • While progress is strong, 49% of students remain one grade level below, which is our key focus area moving forward.
          • These results demonstrate that our MTSS framework and instructional strategies are producing measurable gains, particularly for students who needed the most support.


 

  • Middle School iReady Scores (Littles)
  • Culture and Character
    • (Littles) Discipline Update -ES During March, 25 administrative referrals were submitted at the elementary level, including 6 for physical aggression, 8 for inappropriate physical contact, and 1 for fighting. The remaining referrals were related to disrespect, theft, defiance, or disruption. 
    • MS-During the month of March 56 administrative referrals were submitted at the middle school level, including 3 for physical aggression and 7 for inappropriate physical contact. There was a rise in administrative referrals for students being out of area (11), disrespectful actions (6), and disrespectful language (8). The remaining referrals were related to unauthorized possession of electronics, disruption, and accumulated classroom referrals. Overall, incidents of a physical nature decreased from 60% of referrals last year to 31% this year
    • (Sparks)Attendance -For the month of April, our school’s attendance rate 
    • is 96.84%, reflecting a positive increase compared to 96.14% during both the 2024–2025 and 2023–2024 school years. This growth highlights our continued focus on strong attendance practices and family engagement. Additionally, we are proud to share that we have maintained an overall attendance rate of 95% or higher throughout the school year, demonstrating consistency in student attendance and a strong commitment to daily engagement in learning. 

B.

Voting Matters

C. Claiborne made a motion to Staff Bonus: $2000 March Surplus 25 damaged Chromebooks, 3 lost books.
S. Battle seconded the motion.

March Surplus: Jamilia put forth the motion, Cary approved.

 

The board VOTED to approve the motion.

IV. Executive Committee

A.

Requests for Proposals Update

J. Smith made a motion to Approve the Accelerate Institute for the organizational health capacity study and Lead 180 to facilitate the compensation study.
C. Claiborne seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.

B.

Leadership Development

S. Battle made a motion to accept the proposal for Chair to participate in the ARC Leadership cohort.
C. Claiborne seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.

C.

Leadership Douglas Candidate Slate

J. Smith made a motion to Leadership Douglas Brighten Candidate: Abriel Cameron.
C. Claiborne seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.

D.

Northwestern Mutual Board Member Incentive

Chair presented a proposal for board incentive from Northwestern Mutual.

V. Finance Committee

A.

Finance Committee

n/a

VI. Governance Committee

A.

Info Only

n/a

B.

Items for Vote

S. Battle made a motion to presented the board candidates to the board. The board approved the new board members.
C. Claiborne seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.

VII. Other Business

A.

Announcements

  • End of the Year Student Council Meeting- May 4th @ 3:45pm
  • Mean Girls tickets are on sale 
  • 8th grade graduation: May 20th @ 1:30pm
  • Kindergarten graduation: May 14th @ 4pm
  • Founders Day: May 15th 

B.

Executive Session

VIII. 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 9:49 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
J. Smith