A. Gozycki read the Mission Statement.

M. Dixon asked Board members to announce who is speaking at the time that they speak and otherwise keep microphones muted.

There were no members of the community who wished to make a comment.

A. Pieper gave the Directors Report.

Educational Excellence and Student Information:
Virtual and Remote Learning program underway  - Parent Experience Survey will go out this Friday with questions that pertain to the parent experience so that we can prepare for remote learning program for the Fall.
Civics and Economics 8th Grade - This year's 8th graders will have an option to receive an elective credit for Civics/Economics rather than a HS Social Studies credit because of a reworking of the NC High School Social Studies graduation requirements. A letter will go out this week to 8th Grade families with details about this change.
HS Grading - PC19/WC19 - Students taking courses for High School credit will have a choice to take a number grade or PC19 (passing) on their transcript for a passing grade. Number grades and PC19 grades will get high school credit. Failing grades will receive a WC19 (withdrawn) on transcripts (no credit given).
Intent to Re-enroll for rising grades 1-8 (YES - 330/334) Three students are leaving and one student is currently undecided. Vacated seats will be filled from the wait list.
iReady - close to 90% of students have signed up to take the iReady online as of 5/25.

Teachers and Staff:
Staff Survey about online learning will go directly to the Shared Decision Making Committee for anonymous feedback for the purpose of planning for the Fall.
Teacher Workday - June 5th - Staff will go to school to do an end-of-year wrapup and plan for the Fall start of school

Special Events:
Computer turn in/Student Materials pick up sign ups are happening currently via signup genius.
8th grade graduation will be on June 9th at 6:30 via Zoom.
New Scholars will have a video presentation with an on-site followup date TBD.

Committees, Compliance, and Budget Items:
Calendar Changes - August 17 will be the new start date as per the NC State Mandate.
All Return to School Committee subcommittees have met and outlined a plan. We now await guidance from the state in order to make plans for the start of school.
Remote Instruction Plan is due to OCS on July 20th. There will be guidance from the State on June 5th during a webinar that Ms. Pieper will attend, so there should be a plan in place in the next few weeks that will be able to be communicated to the Board.
The Safe Schools grant is going to be renewed, so we can apply for funds to increase security. Ms. Pieper will put the grant together over the next two weeks.

S. Korrapati gave the Expansion Committee Report.

Friday, May 29 will be the next Expansion Committee Meeting.
The Committee continues to monitor market changes.
There will be a further discussion in Closed Session.

S. Liner gave the Governance Committee Update.

The Governance Committee met last week.
Because of the State of Emergency, there are additional rules to keep in compliance with NC open meeting laws.

• For Board meetings met over Zoom, there needs to be instructions made available to the public to join the Zoom.
• Public Comments can now be submitted in writing up until 24 hours after the meeting to board@scholarsacademy.org. 
• All voting has to be done by roll call.
• Closed Session requires a separate Zoom session.
• These rules will stay in place for the duration of the State of Emergency.

The Board will plan for the yearly retreat in July. There will be a Board meeting in August so that the Committees can begin their work in August.

There will be a contract discussed in Closed Session.

A. Gozycki gave the Strategic Plan update.

The next step in the Five-Year Strategic Plan formation will be for Committees to begin to define and work on year one action items. These action items can be discussed during the Board Retreat in July in the committees.

S. Dasu gave the report on new Board Member Nominations.

There were four applications submitted. Over the next 3-4 weeks, interviews will be conducted and members of the interview panel will submit their recommendations at the June Board Meeting. Elections for new Board Members as well as elections for Board Officers will happen at the June Board Meeting.

S. Schroeck discussed the Board Evaluation.

Members of the Board have received a link to an evaluation questionnaire. Over the next month, Board members will complete the questionnaire and the results will be discussed in the next Board Meeting.

M. Ramasamy gave the Foundation Application Status Update.

The Committee met and through a number of emails back and forth with the Attorney was able to complete the application. The application was submitted last week. Based on the normal processing time, it should take 5-6 months to hear back about the status of the Foundation.

A. Farooqi gave the Annual Giving Campaign Update.

As of May 20, 2020, the amount received is $359,000. There are $37,000 in pledges yet to be received. Participation so far is 86%. Current funds raised represent 90% of the fundraising goal. The projection is that $425,000 to $439,000 will be received by the end of the campaign. Thanks to the volunteers who have just made the third round of reminder calls to families.

M. Mittal gave the FY21 Budget Review report.

One time and ongoing adjustments to the budget and spending priorities for next year were discussed.
The budget is adjusted for an approximately 5% reduction in State and Local funds, but the exact amount allocated cannot be known until the state budgets are approved which will not happen until after the start of the new school year.
The budget is currently at a $24,000 surplus for next year.
 

M. Mittal discussed the budget amendments. Most amendments are just to adjust the budget to be closer to actual dollars spent/received. In total, a surplus of $9,500 has been added to this year's budget.

M. Mittal discussed the PPP Application Considerations.
Payroll Protection Program allows small businesses to apply for a loan in order to cover payroll if income has been affected by the pandemic. If 75% of the loan is used for payroll, the loan amount can be forgiven.
Charter Schools are also eligible to apply for a PPP loan. As Scholars Academy has been affected by the pandemic, we can potentially put in an application. There will be further discussion regarding this in closed session. If a vote is necessary, the vote will happen in open session.

There were no members of the Community who wished to make a comment.

S. Liner asked the Board to acknowledge that the first day of school will be August 17 pursuant to the order from the NC Governor.