Élan Academy Charter School
Minutes
Board of Directors Meeting
Date and Time
Wednesday April 29, 2026 at 5:30 PM
Location
6501 Berkley Dr. New Orleans, LA 70131
6501 Berkley Dr., New Orleans, LA 70131; (504) 619-9720; www.elanacademy.org
The matters listed are those reasonably anticipated by the Chair to be discussed at the meeting. Not all items listed may, in fact, be discussed. Other items not listed may be brought up for discussion to the extent permitted by law. All agenda items are informational unless otherwise denoted, though all committee reports require a vote for acceptance. The meeting will be held on the campus of the school.
All meetings are lived streamed from: https://tinyurl.com/elanboard
Directors Present
D. Patin, G. Briggs, J. Thibodeaux, L. Knight
Directors Absent
C. Silas, D. Barnes, G. Thomas-Batiste
Guests Present
Alexandra Gonzales, Alicia Humphries, M. Clark, Michele Rossi, Monica Cador (remote)
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
C.
Approve Minutes from February Board Meeting
II. CEO Report
A.
CEO Report
III. Academic Committee
A.
Mid-Year Testing Results
Dr. Clark provided the Academic Committee report on end-of- year testing. Highlights include:
- 67% of K-3 at or above grade level
- ELL and SPED scholars remain a priority
- iReady reveals struggles in middle school grades. Not seeing what we would like to see. Possible reason due to students coming to Elan in middle school but being several grades behind
IV. Finance/Development Committee
A.
FYE 2026 YTD Financial Review
4th Sector Solutions presented the FYE 2026 financials through March. Highlights include:
- Revenue projected to be 7m which is 500k over budget due to additional state funding and investment income
- Expenses projected to be 7.2m which is 675k over budget due to staffing changes throughout the year, additional expenses associated with obtaining own LEA, salary related to SPED coordinator not anticipated in original budget, increased evaluations, SPED van routes, additional substitutes and additional tutoring.
- Exceeding all metrics and satisfactory dashboards.
V. CEO Support & Evaluation Committee
A.
CEO Annual Performance Evaluation Discussion
D. Patin presented the CEO Support Committe report. In process of completing CEO evaluation. Dr. Clarke has completed her self-evaluation. Appropriate committee chairs have received their portions for completion. Plan is to present first draft of the evaluation to the committee at the next meeting in May to present formal report to board in June.
VI. Governance Committee
A.
New Board Member Discussion
J. Thibodeaux presented Alex Gonzalez for consideration to the Elan Board.
VII. Executive Session
A.
Discussion of CEO's Return to Work Plan
Dr. Clark presented a return to work plan due to child care plan not working out. Plan would be to work from home 3-4 days a week and 1-2 a week in office. Mrs. Bastian and Mrs. Jenkins will no longer be required to assume aditional responsibililties.
B.
Discussion of Legal Matters
Dr. Clark gave an update on two outstanding legal matters.
- SPED lawsuit settled.
- Received workers comp claim from former employee. Matter has been turned over to legal and workers comp. At this time, no suit has been filed. Attorney for claimant seeking settlement. No update as of today.
D. Patin made motion to move out of Executive Session.
G. Briggs seconded motion to move out of Executive Session.
Dr. Clark presented the CEO report. Highlights included:
Dr. Clark also gave an update on her annual goals. Currently at 63% achievement which has been impacted by her maternity leave