Mr. O'Malley read the Conflict of Interest Statement and no comments were made regarding the statement.

Mr. O'Malley turned the meeting over to Mrs. Yagnow for the public comment period.  Mrs. Yagnow noted that there was one written comment that had been submitted prior to the meeting.

To summarize the written comment, Dawn and Ed Atkinson, parents of students in eighth, sixth, and third grades at ERA, encouraged that the school would allow younger students to return to in-person learning based on recent updates and adjustments allowed by the Governor's Office and the Department of Health and Human Services.  The parents are open to find solutions to make this happen.

The next public comment was from Mr. and Mrs. Worth Overman, a parent of a senior, to ask the board to reinstate high school athletics based on a petition that was submitted previously as well as the research that supports the benefits of sports.  They also asked that the high school move to Plan B for learning for their students as soon as possible.  

The next public comment was from Scarlett Jordan that asked that students and families be given the chance to continue with virtual learning for this year even if the school leadership and the Board determines to bring students back for in-person learning.

Mr. Tapper asked if the Board could give a response to public comment.  Mrs. Anspach stated that the public comment period is not a Q & A session.  The typical process is to take the feedback and then come back with an answer or update.  Mrs. Yagnow indicated that since many of the concerns and questions presented were COVID-related that parents could get some answers with the next agenda section.  Mr. Tapper noted that was relevant for tonight's concerns/questions; however, it may not always be the case.  Mrs. Yagnow stated that this would be a good topic to discuss at the October retreat and determine what is the best process.  Mrs. Gonzalez noted that it is always good to be as transparent as possible and make sure this information is publicly available.  Ms. Bair let Mrs. Gonzalez know that there is a weekly update sent each week to parents and also posted on the website.  

COVID 19 percentage of positive test cases by county:
Orange 2.8%
Alamance 5.4%
Durham 3.4%
Chatham 3.3%
Overall Average 3.7%
State of NC Average 5.4%

~Staff and Family surveys will deploy tomorrow. These will give us updated numbers of staff and their level of concern for returning to face-to-face instruction and how many families will participate in Plan B (hybrid) vs. virtual. 

Mrs. Barr asked if the Board was part of the day-to-day decision process with this and if the Board was making any of those decisions with returning to school.  

Mrs. Yagnow asked about the bias and conflict of interests with healthcare professionals serving as consultants for ERA's plan on returning to in-person learning.  Ms. Bair indicated she has also consulted with the Orange County Health Department for their expertise and insight.

Mrs. Yagnow also asked for more updates on what's happening and how decisions are being made as related to COVID-19 and school opening/closing.  She indicated that the monthly updates were not feeling sufficient.  

Mr. Penny suggested that the Board would be setting up a conflict of interest with getting into the day-to-day operations by asking for more udpates.  Mrs. Anspach suggested that we be cautious about not involving parents who have expertise in certain areas as we want to leverage those available resources.  She also indicated that there would be a big shift in how the Board operates with getting information and the frequency of meetings.

Mr. Tapper suggested that COVID-19 is different than day-to-day operations and would want a more collaborative approach in being informed.  Mrs. Barr suggested that if the Board wants to make the decisions that they need to be take more action in the process.  Mrs. Yagnow clarified and stated that she wants the Board to be more informed of the process in the decision-making.  Mrs. Gonzalez said there should be some clarity of how information sharing and trusting the process.  She also indicated that while we should tap into our internal talent pool, we should also look at other resources to make decisions.

 

~Eagle Scout Project: We have a high school student, Robbie Williams, who is installing/erecting a flag pole for the K-8 campus. We are honored that he chose us as the donor. 

~Athletics Town Hall-Dr. Davis, Mrs. Hartingh and I hosted a town hall explaining the rationale for canceling sports for this year. There were only 43 people in attendance including the 3 of us. We had two families that asked for an additional meeting where they shared their disagreement with the decision. 

~Progress Report Parade-K-8 had a parade last week to distribute progress reports and pass out class materials. It was well attended and went over our original time by over an hour and a half! It was a lot of fun seeing everyone in person.

~Mr. Penny noted that a grant was recently secured to help struggling families with rent/mortgages and utilities who live in Caswell, Chatham, Alamance, Person, and Rockingham counties.  He will share the information with Ms. Bair and Dr. Davis to include in their weekly messages.

PATH and Dr. Davis held a Building Community Town Hall to share ideas about how to engage students and families more into the ERA high school community.  This includes the creation of PATH Ambassadors (Parent Ambassdaors to help build and support community/communication), social networking, sponsoring members of the senior class, and other ideas.

No updates at this time.

Mrs. Anspach shared the June 2020 final budget report that showed a surplus reserve.  She then shared the August budget report.  The budget shows a small deficit right now as some COVID-19 funds have not been added yet and certain budget categories related to COVID-19 funds have not been added.  Those funds will be rectified and adjusted with the September budget report.

Ms. Bair and Dr. Davis gave an overview of the Scribbles software package and how it will be useful to for program and organization management in terms of lottery application, enrollment managment, transcripts, and student records.

Ms. Bair asked for the Board to approve the contract cost of $7200 per year for a three-year contract at a total cost of $21,600.

The task force met the week of September 14 and developed four pillars to priortize as part of the Diversity and Inclusion work for the school admin team.  The four pillars include staff development, staff recruitment, student body recruitment, curriculum & culture.  The task force recommended a few consultants for the school administrative team to contact for additional information.  The next steps will be for the school administrative team to interview the consultants to find a final candidate.

Ms. Kuhl talked about the high school has started a Diversity and Inclusion Club.  She applied for a small grant to help get the club get started.  

Elizabeth Millan has agreed to serve on the Grievance Committee again for the 2020-2021 school year.  Another parent will need to be named to the committee.

Mrs. Yagnow has asked for someone to serve as secretary for the upcoming year.  She also reminded Board members that she had sent out descriptions for the other roles earlier this year.  

Mrs. Barr agreed to serve as the PATH liaison.

Margaret Barr and Dianne Gonzalez were appointed to the Board as members at the August 2020 meeting.

The Board Directory will be shared at a later date once all roles/positions have been finalized and updated.  

The Board discussed which date and week the monthly meeting would be held along with the time.  

No closed session needed for this meeting.