Eno River Academy
Minutes
April Board Meeting
Date and Time
Wednesday April 14, 2021 at 5:00 PM
Directors Present
Charles Penny II (remote), Dianne Gonzalez (remote), Kristi Anspach (remote), Margaret Barr (remote), Michael O'Malley (remote), Sabrina Kordys (remote), Sarah Yagnow (remote)
Directors Absent
None
Directors who arrived after the meeting opened
Charles Penny II, Dianne Gonzalez
Guests Present
Amy Davis (remote), Danial Nijhout-Rowe (remote), Kristin Martin (remote), Lisa Bair (remote)
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance and Guests
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
Michael O'Malley called a meeting of the board of directors of Eno River Academy to order on Wednesday Apr 14, 2021 at 5:03 PM.
C.
Approve Minutes from prior meeting
Margaret Barr made a motion to approve the minutes from March Board Meeting on 03-09-21.
Sarah Yagnow seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| Charles Penny II |
Absent
|
| Kristi Anspach |
Aye
|
| Sarah Yagnow |
Aye
|
| Margaret Barr |
Aye
|
| Sabrina Kordys |
Aye
|
| Dianne Gonzalez |
Absent
|
| Michael O'Malley |
Aye
|
II. Monthly Agenda Review
A.
Review and revision, if needed, for meeting agenda
Sarah Yagnow made a motion to approve the agenda from April 14, 2021 meeting.
Margaret Barr seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| Kristi Anspach |
Aye
|
| Michael O'Malley |
Aye
|
| Sabrina Kordys |
Aye
|
| Charles Penny II |
Absent
|
| Sarah Yagnow |
Aye
|
| Dianne Gonzalez |
Absent
|
| Margaret Barr |
Aye
|
III. Public Comment Period
A.
Public comments in accordance with the ERA Public Comment Policy, updated May 5, 2020. Please submit emailed public comments to board@enoriveracademy.org for the April 2021 meeting.
CW was excited to get an email from Coach Gatt for camps this summer.
Dianne Gonzalez arrived at 5:09 PM.
IV. Executive Director Announcements and Updates
A.
Monthly Executive Director Update
~Plan A started this week. We had many parents share that they were comfortable coming back now because they were happy with how we handled Plan B.
~We held our 3rd quarter honor roll ceremony on Friday, March 26th.
~Teacher Appreciation Week is May 4th-7th. We are appreciative of Nicole Hill, Anne Kenyon, Amy Davis and Kristin Martin for their work on this along with the senior celebrations.
~The high school team held scheduling meetings and information sessions with our rising 9th graders.
~Senior celebrations-the high school team will be meeting with seniors on April 22nd to discuss the possible prom (May 22nd) and graduation! We are excited for the Class of 2021!
~Graduation will be on May 27th at 4:00pm. If Board members would like to join us, we will have a seat ready for you. Please let us know no later than May 25th. Drive Thru Graduation will move forward around K-8 building.
~In the May meeting, we will be sharing our athletic plans for summer/fall as well as our senior awards. We are excited about the scholarships and award money that our ERA seniors are receiving.
~Dr. Lanier, D&I Consultant update. Dr. Lanier and I met to discuss next steps in the process. Before the end of May, he will attend a D&I task force meeting and an admin team meeting. We will then brainstorm and get PD dates on the calendar. Dr. Lanier will present his plan for August and beyond in the June Board of Directors meeting.
Prom Discussion:
- High school students asked for traditional prom (dance, food, dressing up).
- Administration is working on scenarios and developing plan (indoor vs outdoor)
- Next Thursday (April 22nd) announcing to families the plan as well as graduation strategy
Sabrina Kordys asked if more than 50% of students were returning for Plan A, which Lisa Bair responded they have.
B.
Celebration of events and achievements by ERA Staff and Students
C.
Mr. Danial Nijhout-Rowe - Code.org Pilot Site
- Computer Science Education focused
- Few schools offer AP computer science programs, most of the teachers trained were done so through Code.org
- AP Computer Science Principles (AP CSP) went live in 2016, and by 2019 an increase in 184% participation in AP Computer Science exams
- ERA will be piloting the new system of AP Computer Science A class and instructing teachers across the country.
Margaret Barr asked if this is only for high schoolers, and Danial Nijhout-Rowe answered that it is, but that Code.org has materials for middle schoolers.
Amy Davis added that the school went through many rounds of consideration and is a big deal for ERA.
V. Committee Updates
A.
PATH Update
Mrs. Martin is in the process of matching volunteers with Seniors for sponsorship. PATH will assemble goody bags for those seniors who do not have a sponsor. The bags will be given to Seniors on May 25th at the rehearsal for graduation. 58 of the 79 Seniors have been sponsored to date.
PATH is working on finalizing lunch plans for Seniors. Lunch will be provided for Seniors and staff after the rehearsal on May 25th. There are 63 of the 79 seniors sponsored to date.
Pavers for 44 Seniors have been ordered. They will take 8-10 weeks to be delivered which means they should be here by May 25th! 37 of the 44 orders have been sponsored to date.
A sign-up for Teacher Appreciation week will be posted this week for donations to the “snack-pot” during Teacher Appreciation. Nicole has details on the week’s plans. Teacher Appreciation will be May 4-7.
Sabrina Kordys suggested 1) including detailed information on what it means to sponsor a senior (such as the email Kristin Martin sent to those that volunteered already) and 2) ask for donations to a pot of money to sponsor the seniors in case people can't fully contribute or don't have time to gather materials.
Kristin Martin will add email "blurb" to a Facebook post and Lisa Bair stated that they will be outlining how much money they need to finish out so that parents know the total needed. ERA will pay for any additional money needed so no one goes unsponsored.
Mike O'Malley asked the best way to get money to school, Lisa Bair said any way possible (car line, child's folders, office hours), also looking at using PayPal to automatically submit.
B.
Future Visions Update
The next Future Visions meeting will be in May.
C.
Finance Update
Mike O'Malley displayed the updated financial statement.
Kristi Anspach presented financial statement.
Early Grade Reading money has been dispersed and is being used for consumables for reading. We are on target for where we should be this semester with a nice surplus (~$716K).
VI. New Business
A.
Comprehensive Manual
"Back in the day" there wasn't a Comprehensive Manual, and so it was added for annual updates to policies as needed and kept on the BoD agenda so that version history was kept. At this meeting, we will be voting to approve adding the approved policies to the manual.
Suggested that we remove it from any other location/website, so that it is the only version for review on the public Board On Track so that all locations don't need to be updated and master document will be upkept by the board.
- Sarah Yagnow is in favor of having the manual only available on Board On Track so that families can get used to visiting the site and reviewing documents.
Kristi Anspach made a motion to adopt April 2021 version of the Comprehensive Manual with of the 2020 updates as discussed.
Sarah Yagnow seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| Sarah Yagnow |
Aye
|
| Sabrina Kordys |
Aye
|
| Michael O'Malley |
Aye
|
| Margaret Barr |
Aye
|
| Kristi Anspach |
Aye
|
| Charles Penny II |
Absent
|
| Dianne Gonzalez |
Aye
|
B.
Strategic Plan Review
Strategic plan is updated every year (attached to the meeting agenda). Previously approved on 09Dec2020.
- Table vs. document format discussion:
~ Margaret Barr liked the document format over the table format since it was hard to see where each goal and strategy was.
~ Dianne Gonzalez thought it was more legible and easier to read.
Charles Penny II arrived at 6:02 PM.
VII. Old Business
A.
Board Elections
Sarah Yagnow will send the board elections information to Lisa Bair for families.
VIII. Closing Items
A.
Closed Session
Kristi Anspach made a motion to go into closed session to discuss items which warrant confidentiality pursuant to article 33C, Section 143-318.11 (a) 5&6 of the North Carolina General Statutes.
Margaret Barr seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| Dianne Gonzalez |
Aye
|
| Charles Penny II |
Aye
|
| Sarah Yagnow |
Aye
|
| Sabrina Kordys |
Aye
|
| Kristi Anspach |
Aye
|
| Margaret Barr |
Aye
|
| Michael O'Malley |
Aye
|
Sarah Yagnow made a motion to come out of closed session.
Dianne Gonzalez seconded the motion.
At 7:42PM.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| Michael O'Malley |
Aye
|
| Sarah Yagnow |
Aye
|
| Charles Penny II |
Aye
|
| Margaret Barr |
Aye
|
| Dianne Gonzalez |
Aye
|
| Kristi Anspach |
Aye
|
| Sabrina Kordys |
Aye
|
B.
Adjourn Meeting
There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 7:43 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
Sabrina Kordys
Dianne Gonzalez made a motion to close the Board of Directors April meeting.
Charles Penny II seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.