Sarah Yagnow read Conflict of Interest and Ethics Statement

There were no public comments

~The administrative team held our annual retreat prior to the staff returning to the building. We were thrilled to have our new High School Dean of Students, Mr. Michael Brown joining us. Mr. Brown’s first day will be on Tuesday, September 10th. 

~We had an exciting few days with our faculty during our opening teacher workdays. The team came with incredible enthusiasm and are ready to meet the needs of students. 

~Mrs. Martin and Mrs. Hover have been working with our new staff in order to get them acclimated to ERA and to make them feel welcome and supported.

~Our campus beautification project continues with the lawn weeding project in full swing ahead of the seeding for the soccer field.

~The K-8 school building was pressure washed, gutters were cleaned, and new mulch was placed on both playgrounds.

~Our lockdown procedures were updated over the summer and have been approved by the County Fire Marshall. They will be participating in our drill along with Sheriff’s Department and City of Hillsborough Police Department. That date is TBD and will be relayed to parents once secured.

~Our IT renewal is complete and all systems are working well. 

~There has been significant legislative activity related to education bills recently. I will include a comprehensive update in the September meeting. The Charter School Association attorney and our school attorney are working on next steps and once I receive them, we will outline the changes and respond accordingly.

Discussion concerning updates- voice over IP details, new legislation impact on ERA.

Jeremy made this announcement concerning the finances:

[AS OF WEDNESDAY 8/16]

It has been announced by the General Assembly leadership that the budget will be delayed past the end of August, and due to this delay, School Business will provide an additional authority to draw to ensure schools have funding available. An initial 20% was provided in early August and an additional 30% will be released no later than Friday September 1st to allow IPSs to draw up to 50% of the planning funding.

We will continue to monitor the budget situation and update as necessary.

• The Charter and Lab Schools may use $6,439 per student for planning purposes and the (Average Daily Membership) will be adjusted once the 20 days enrollment numbers are in.

We won't receive any local funds until September or October depending on the Local Education Agency (LEA). 

The ERA Budget Report Chart was shown. Can see attachment in meeting agenda. 

ERA is adding a Service Animal Policy- developed with school attorney and advisement from other schools with Service animal policies. As well as working with a student at ERA in need of a Service animal at this time. See attached policy in meeting agenda. 

Discussion on service animal policy and if there are other needs for persons with disabilities.

Charles Penny II and Pamela Bustin are appointed as parent Reps for the Community Grievance Committee

David Nagel -presentation on the potential for development of a governance committee for the ERA school board.  

Recommendations:

1. Transition to a Strategy-oriented Annual BoD Calendar

2. Form of an ERA BoD Governance Committee-

• Detailed Slides concerning Board and Direction of Board and ERA
• Tracking goals and monitoring progress- clear goals
• Organization of how to accomplish these goals (multiple diagrams)
• Committee breakdown (example given of D&I task force)
• Implement a cycle for implementation of strategy-oriented annual calendar.
• The Governance committee would have oversight on these objectives.

3. Discussion on this presentation and board members giving feedback.

4. A conversation to continue discussion of this topic at board retreat.

• Recommendation for postponement of vote for Board calendar for 2023-24 to incorporate some of Dave's calendar suggestions at board retreat. 
• Postpone vote for Board Calendar for 2023-24

Meeting Dates- third Tuesday of the month 

9/23 (Saturday Retreat in person), 10/24, 11/14, (no December meeting unless needed), 1/16, 2/20, 3/19, 4/16, 5/14, 6/18.

Discussion on board Retreat dates.

Sarah sending out a doodle pole to finalize a date.