David Nagel read the conflict of interest and ethics statement - no conflicts brought forward.

Jeremy Greene stated that no public comments had been received via email. 

Public comment was then opened to online guests. 

There was one public comment regarding an item on the agenda titled Board Composition Recommendation. The speaker requested that the Board consider staff/teachers for any possible additional positions. There were responses from David Nagel and Jeremy Greene reflecting their appreciation of the comment, but as part of the Board's duties included evaluating the Executive Director and other personnel business, it had historically been deemed inappropriate. 

There were no other public comments noted.

Representing the Academic Committee, Margaret Barr reported that one of this year's goals is to develop a policy ensuring that all instructional and student-facing staff possess the qualifications necessary to deliver high-quality educational experiences, uphold professional standards and maintain compliance with state and accreditation requirements, while allowing flexibility to recognize equivalent professional expertise and experience. 

The Committee is proposing a new minimum educational qualification policy for instructional and support staff. The policy would apply to all instructional roles at Eno River Academy, including teachers, instructional assistants, academic interventionists, and other staff whole primary duties involve direct instruction or academic support of students. M. Barr reviewed the requirements by role including required education, licensure/credentials and waiver provisions. 

David Nagel commented regarding waivers being the exception and confirmed that any candidate under a waiver would come to the Board for approval.  There was also discussion of the first sentence under Section V being confusing. An edit was proposed to take out the words 'educational requirement' but leave in 'licensure requirements'. 

Lindsey Sealy had provided the Charter Renewal Self-Study Document as a pre-read to the Board, but briefly reviewed, stating that the document was due to DPI by the end of November. 

The document did require ERA's five year school goals, but due to formatting templates, Mrs. Sealy had to move the goals around. Also in the Education Section, it was noted that it included a lot of teacher feedback, and input from both principals as they discussed curriculum and instructional approaches.

The document was reviewed by both the Governance Committee and the Academic Committee prior to bringing to the Board. 

There were no questions, and the Board stated it's appreciation for Mrs. Sealy's work.

Lindsey Sealy provided a plan to guide the School Expansion Task Force which included:

• Scope
• Membership expansion
• Deliverables with timetable

Board representation will include David Nagel, Adam Haber and Trish Blackmon. Several other initiatives are interdependent with the work and timing of this task force.  It was also noted that both consulting groups that we are considering working with could bring strategy and planning support to this task force.

In May, 2025, the Board authorized a plan for a proposed modular band and office space to accommodate the increase in numbers of administrators, teachers, staff and the growing band program. The results from the planning phase are now available and were provided to Board Members. Lindsey Sealy stated that a recommendation to move forward will be postponed to ensure it aligns with the School Expansion Task Force recommendations.

Trish Blackmon reviewed steps taken up to this point including that Eno River Academy’s Board of Directors, Fundraising Committee, and Expansion Task Force have discussed the potential of contracting with a consulting group to support both the development of a strategic growth plan and capital campaign feasibility and implementation. As ERA looks towards academic excellence, strategic success, and financial sustainability, we recognize the need for focused expertise and experience to be successful. 

At this time ERA’s need is to support both the Expansion and Capital Campaign Task Forces as they begin developing long-term growth and development strategies for possible projects such as new academic programs, athletic, arts and technology upgrades and/or land and new buildings to accommodate additional students.

It is proposed that the initial focus of any consulting support will be to provide expertise and guidance for the Expansion Task Force as their due diligence and recommendations will be central to ERA’s next steps. Once that work is underway, support will be provided for the newly formed Capital Campaign Task Force.

The Fundraising Committee and Expansion Task Force are recommending contracting with a third party for consulting expertise and support in order to 1) evaluate options and priorities to support future growth of Eno River Academy and 2) determine fundraising capacity and design a structured, strategy for achieving our long-term goals. The recommended amount to be designated for this work is not to exceed $50,000.

There was discussion if hiring a capital campaign group was putting the 'cart before the horse', but it was clarified that both of the consulting groups being considered bring strategic/financial planning and charter school development expertise which is needed by the Expansion Task Force. The initial work would be done with the Expansion group and stakeholders to determine what is needed, what is wanted, associated costs and how it fits in with the mission and vision of ERA. Based on those outcomes, the consultants would then begin working with the capital campaign group to identify and develop those next steps. 

Adam Haber stated that the requested amount was appropriate from a financial/budgeting perspective. 

Representing the Governance Committee (GC), David Nagel reported that coming out of the retreat in August, it was recognized that we need more people to do the work, and individuals with specific skill sets.  The GC has examined how other boards solve this issue and are making a recommendation to modify the composition and types of seats on the board through a bylaw revision process.

The Governance Committee is recommending the following composition:

• Maintain member model, majority parents, and elections 
• Directors able to flexibly recruit and select 3-5 community directors 
• Can directly recruit for talent aligned to needs
• Committee chairs can still recruit additional experts/staff 
• Increase community terms to two years for improved continuity 
• If appointed by the Board, the immediately preceding Chairperson of the Board may serve an additional one-year term on the Board. This Past Chairperson seat shall only be available in the year immediately following the expiration of the term of a Board member who served as Chairperson in the final year of their three-year term.

Suggestion was made that it be 1-5 community directors based on the needs of the board. All supported the idea of the parent seats not changing but bringing in specific expertise to meet the needs of the board. It was also recommended that a policy should be written around how to determine 1 - 5 community seats needed, how to recruit and fill. These would be the next steps to take to the Governance Committee, if approved.

Lindsey Sealy reported that ERA has updated it's Beginning Teacher Support Program documentation in order to align with new state requirements and current practices.  Last update was in 2017. Asking the Board to approve for submission to NC DPI.

Budget and financial update provided by Adam Haber.

Lindsey Sealy brought a recommendation for staff holiday bonuses based on the following:  

The proposed holiday bonus structure is based on 1% of each employee’s annual salary. To keep the amounts consistent and manageable, the number is rounded down to the nearest hundred dollars. Example: A staff member earning $68,000 would receive $600 (1% = $680, rounded down).

For the custodians paid hourly -  $150 each.

This recommendation has been reviewed in the Finance Committee and is a budgeted item.

K. Martin provided the October Administrative Update:
 

Celebrations:

• Dr. Brown’s family grew by 2 feet.  Welcome baby Lux to the Bobcat Family!!!
• Attendance data tracking and follow up has been helpful and appears to be making a difference in student attendance.
• Ms. Shepard (Guidance Counselor) has returned from her Maternity Leave and K-5 Staff and Students are thrilled!  
• 4th and 5th Musical Performance was amazing!
• The bookfair was successful and we are able to continue to purchase books for ERA with the money that was raised.
• High School Chorus and Piano concert was beautifully done!
• Last week, Faith Hemric (Middle School EC Teacher) was awarded EC Teacher of Excellence in North Carolina.  We’re grateful for her passion and dedication to ERA students and meeting their individual needs.
• Everything has been submitted to Cognia for Accreditation!! Way to go, Ms. Sealy!!!

Testing:

• 4th Grade CogAT and High School WorkKeys were completed successfully
• 4th grade families received CogAT scores and AIG plans for students this week.
• Middle of Year Benchmarks open in December and will be open for all 15 days to collect growth data on K-8 students.
• Fall EOCs will take place the final 5 days of the Fall Semester.  Mr. Trull and Ms. Coburn are finalizing testing plans and getting ready to train teachers.

Personnel Report: 

Curriculum:

• Exact Path was implemented in 6-8 and will be utilized in English 2 next semester.  This program provides targeted feedback for teachers and students. Exact Path creates an individualized learning path for each student that can both help fill in gaps and push advanced students. 
• Worldly Wise is to be implemented in 6-8 for cohesive vocabulary instruction, focusing on vocabulary in context.
• IXL was purchased and teachers will do some training in December to track data on Science growth for our students.

General:

• K-2 completed their first Trimester as well as Parent Conferences.  Teachers continue to appreciate the time provided by Conference Day.
• 3-12th grades completed Parent Conferences as well.
• K-5 ADHD Training with our school Psychologist Intern was extremely informational, produced many more questions and we are planning to do a Part Two.
• AI Guidelines are being drafted for teachers as well as students.  
• Mrs. Martin and Mr. Jenkins attended and represented ERA at a Charter School Fair for pre-school families and met many wonderful parents and potential future bobcats.