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Metrolina Regional Scholars Academy

Minutes

Board Meeting

Date and Time

Monday April 26, 2021 at 6:30 PM

Location

LIVE STREAM: https://youtu.be/hzU0wkbcx0s

Directors Present

A. Farooqi (remote), A. Starling (remote), C. Lewis (remote), M. Dixon (remote), M. Ramasamy (remote), S. Dasu (remote), S. Korrapati (remote), S. Liner (remote), S. Schroeck (remote)

Directors Absent

A. Young

Ex Officio Members Present

A. Pieper (remote)

Non Voting Members Present

A. Pieper (remote)

Guests Present

Abhishek Kesharwani (remote), Karen Ely (remote), Kerbie Neal (remote), Megan Vespa (remote), N. Zagorski (remote), T. Hemming (remote)

I. Opening Items

A.

Record Attendance and Guests

B.

Call the Meeting to Order

M. Dixon called a meeting of the board of directors of Metrolina Regional Scholars Academy to order on Monday Apr 26, 2021 at 6:34 PM.

C.

Read Mission Statement

C. Lewis read the Mission Statement.

D.

Administrative Meeting Review

M. Dixon gave the Administrative Meeting Review by stating the rules and procedures of the Zoom webinar platform.

E.

Approval of Prior Minutes February, 22, 2021

S. Schroeck made a motion to approve the minutes from Feb 22, 2021 Board Meeting on 02-22-21.
S. Dasu seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.

F.

Approval of Prior Minutes March 22, 2021

S. Schroeck made a motion to approve the minutes from Board Meeting on 03-22-21.
S. Dasu seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.

G.

Approval of Prior Minutes March 29, 2021 (SPECIAL BOARD MEETING)

S. Schroeck made a motion to approve the minutes from SPECIAL Board Meeting 03/29/21 on 03-29-21.
S. Dasu seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.

H.

Adoption of the Agenda

S. Schroeck made a motion to adopt the agenda for tonight's meeting with an amendment that S. Liner will give the Policy Update in A. Young's absence.
S. Dasu seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.

II. Community Comments (First Opportunity) - subject to guidelines

A.

Community Comments - guidelines

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

III. Director's Report

A.

General Items

A. Pieper gave the Director's Report.

 

Educational Program

 

  • 4th Quarter Update - now in week 2 of all hybrid students attending school four days a week. There are challenges now that all the children are in the building. Dismissal is taking longer than before because there are no after school activities and fewer carpools. Administration is working on solutions to this challenge.
  • End of Year Activities - School Musical, Talent Show, Awards Program, Musical Performances, and 8th Grade Graduation will all be outdoors. Grandpeople Day will be virtual next week. Field Day will not happen this year.
  • Summer Program - All traditional public schools are required to have a summer program. Charter schools are excluded from this requirement. The program requires 30 full days. Administration has determined that there is not an academic need for a 30 day program. The Scholars Academy program will run for two weeks at the end of July.

 

Staff

 

Next year's staff slate will be discussed in closed session.

 

Students

 

2020-2021 Hybrid and Virtual Attendence

 

There are now 243 hybrid students and 141 virtual students. This is a reversal from the beginning of the year as there have been an increase in families choosing the hybrid program.

 

Compliance and Finance

 

  • Contract renewals - Acadia and Health Services
  • Staff End of Year Bonus
  • Building Exterior Maintenance - Pressure Washing/Mulch

IV. Expansion Committee

A.

Status Review

S. Korrapati gave the Expansion Committee Update. 

 

The Committee is looking to put the building back on the market. The Board remains committed to expansion. The school will remain in its current home for the next school year.

V. Governance Committee

A.

Status Review

S. Liner gave the Governance Committee Update.

 

Committee chairs were reminded to evaluate progress on Strategic Plan Goals at their next meetings.

 

Four to five applications have been received for Board Positions so far. Applications are due May 24. New Board members will be approved by the board in June.

 

The committee also discussed partnering with the SOS committee to have a staff feedback loop. The Board will add some questions to the staff survey and push the ED evaluation to the end of the year to allow more touchpoints of communication between the Board and staff. In the next school year, there will be additional opportunities for the SOS committee to communicate staff ideas and concerns to the Board.

 

The ED evaluation will be presented in closed session.

VI. Diversity & Inclusion

A.

Status Review

S. Dasu gave the Diversity and Inclusion Committee Update.

 

The meeting this month was primarily a report from the Staff D & I Committee. The Committee discussed changing the name to include the word "Equity" and adding to the strategic goals defining Equity as it applies to our school.

VII. Educational Excellence

A.

Status Review

C. Lewis gave the Educational Excellence Committee.

 

The Committee met and discussed end of year events and began planning for the next school year.

 

Next year, the committee plans to work on a framework for assessing the diversity content in social studies and language arts programs. The Committee also discussed a plan to re-engage with the parent community better with events such as community conversations. The Committee also plans to work on a longer term professional development plan for staff.

VIII. Whole Child Committee

A.

Status Review

S. Schroeck gave the Whole Child Committee update.

 

The Committee met at the end of last month. The committee has planned a virtual grandpeople day for May 5. Participants will be getting a communication this week with instructions on how to join their Grandchild's SEL zoom.

 

The State of NC is requiring all K-12 schools to come up with a comprehensive mental health plan. A. Pieper clarified that the plan must be submitted to the Board by June and sent to the State by September.

IX. Policy Committee

A.

Status Update

S. Liner gave the Policy Committee Update. 

 

Tonight is the second read and final vote on the new admissions policy. The Board will review the document and vote on it after closed session.

 

S. Korrapati had a question regarding the wording and meaning of one paragraph in the policy document. The specific paragraph in question will be discussed in closed session.

X. Development Committee

A.

Status Review

A. Farooqi gave the Development Committee Update.

 

The Annual Community Giving Campaign: $320,000 received $164,000 in outstanding pledges. The campaign for 2020-2021 is on pace to reach the financial goal of $450,000 provided that all pledges are fulfilled. Analysis over the last 10 years are showing a decline in giving overall. More families are giving, but they are giving in smaller amounts. Additionally, a change in the Wells Fargo matching gift policy lowering the max matching gift from $5000 to $2000 has negatively affected the Annual Giving Campaign.

XI. Foundation Committee

A.

Foundation Committee Update

M. Ramasamy gave the Foundation Committee Update.

 

The application to make the Foundation to make Scholars Academy a supporting organization for Scholars Academy has been filed. A response is expected in a month or two.

 

The Committee is working on a proposed budget in order to file a fundraising solicitation license so that the Foundation can start to fundraise next year.

 

S. Dasu added that the Foundation Committee will be recruiting a Foundation Board in the coming months.

XII. Finance Committee Update

A.

Finance Recommendations

A. Starling gave the Finance Committee Update.

 

Instructional Supplies, Furniture, and Computer Lab equipment including chromebooks need to be purchased for the next school year. There are funds available for these items, but the budget will need to be amended. There will also be a need for $10-$12 thousand for building maintenance as well.

 

The Committee started working on a draft of what next year's budget will look like. There will be an increase in line items for marketing in anticipation of Expansion.

 

The Summer Camp funds needed will come out of next year's budget.

 

The PPP loan forgiveness application is expected to be completed by the next board meeting. The deadline for that application is in September.

 

We are currently running a budget surplus of $234,000. Some will be used for landscaping and some will be used for a teacher bonus. Approximately $80,000 will roll over into reserves to assist with expansion.

XIII. Community Comments (Second Opportunity) - Subject to Guidelines

A.

Agenda Item Summary

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

XIV. Closed Session

A.

Closed Session

S. Dasu made a motion to convene in closed session pursuant to N.C.G.S. ยง143-318.11: (a)    To prevent the disclosure of privileged or confidential information; (e)   To discuss contract negotiations; (f)     To discuss personnel matters involving an individual employee or prospective employee.
A. Farooqi seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.

B.

Vote on any items from Closed Sessions

S. Liner made a motion to approve the admissions policy with amendments to paragraph 4 subsection "Enrollment Priorities" to replace "Economic diversity priority" with "Economic disadvantaged priority" and to replace the word "filled" with the word "accepted" for the purposes of clarity and consistency. The amended paragraph 4 will read: "After the Economically Disadvantaged Priority Slots are offered to applicants, if all the slots are not accepted, Scholars Academy will fill the Economically Disadvantaged Priority Slots from the waitlist by applying the economically disadvantaged priority, in the order applicants qualifying for this priority were selected in the lottery. If the Economically Disadvantaged Priority Slots thereafter remain unfilled, Scholars Academy will release the Economically Disadvantaged Priority Slots and fill the slots from the waitlist.".
A. Starling seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
A. Farooqi made a motion to approve the year end bonuses as proposed during the Director's Report,.
S. Dasu seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
A. Farooqi made a motion to approve the Accounting contract as proposed in the Director's Report.
A. Starling seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
S. Dasu made a motion to approve and renew the Therapist contract as proposed in the Director's Report,.
A. Starling seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
S. Dasu made a motion to approve the employee slate as proposed during closed session.
A. Farooqi seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
Roll Call
A. Starling
Aye
C. Lewis
Aye
A. Young
Absent
S. Schroeck
Aye
S. Liner
Abstain
S. Korrapati
Aye
A. Farooqi
Aye
M. Dixon
Aye
M. Ramasamy
Aye
S. Dasu
Aye

XV. Closing Items

A.

Adjourn Meeting

S. Dasu made a motion to adjourn.
A. Farooqi seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 9:18 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
S. Schroeck