Uwharrie Charter Academy
Board Meeting
301 Lewallen Road
Asheboro, NC 27203
May 8, 2014
6:30 PM
Mac Whatley, chairman, called the meeting to order at 6:31 PM.
Board members present:
Julia DelGrande
Lisa Garrison
Leslie Green
Mark Hensley
Shannon McCrary
Michael Strickland
Mac Whatley
Others:
Heather Soja, Chief Education Officer (ex officio)
Rhonda Dillingham, Chief Curriculum Officer (ex officio)
Susan Yow, Executive Assistant
Steve Hubrich
Maxx Sumner
Consent Agenda:
Board members were emailed minutes from the April meeting. Mark presented the treasurer’s
report via email to the Board. Lisa made the motion to adopt consent agenda. Shannon
seconded. Motion carried.
CEO & CCO Reports:
Heather met Mark on Friday to go over the budget. Mark states that the figures (math) didn’t
add up and the report needed to be clearer, (the 3 components surplus revenue is still unclear to
draw remaining funds for the end of the year). Heather explained about an excel spreadsheet
prepared by LB & A. There are 7 other charter schools that LB & A work with and they are paid
$1,333 a month for their services. Heather and Mark are meeting with LB & A on May 16. On
October 31st our audit is due. The current enrollment is 198 students with 119 for the upcoming
ninth grade class. We have 10th and 11th grade waiting list for this fall. The new doors were
installed and we passed fire inspection so that the orchestra room can be utilized. The summer
repairs will be painting and the HVAC system has to be repaired. We purchased a new bus
previously owned by the city of Greenville with only 46,000 miles on it. On Tuesday, May 13th
the land purchase will be ready to be signed. Next year’s Average Daily Membership is
projected at $4,708 per student from the state. We are looking into a draw down company called
Acadia. Heather and Rhonda are looking over the finances. In June, salary and personnel will
be discussed. Heather stated that over 50% of our teachers’ have their master’s degrees. Heather
attended Randolph County Schools auction and purchased numerous items including, teachers’
desk, chairs, etc. There will be a STEAM class next school year aimed at encouraging young
women to go into those disciplines, where women are generally underrepresented.
Rhonda reported that our last Flex Day was on Friday, April 25th. Students were at 16 different
locations in the community. Mr. Suttles’s class went to RCC to work on a physics and physical
science lab. The girls that participated in the quilting class are presenting their quilts in June. It
has cost us around $8,000 for JR’S Transport Service to transport students this school year. Julia
stated that she wants to feel more like it’s a Flex Day instead of a field trip. Raleigh Charter
hires a person that handles only Flex Days. A suggestion was made that teachers need to be on
the Flex Day committee. Our 10th graders participated in a Budget 101 Workshop on Saturday,
April 26th that was sponsored by Edward Jones. On Saturday, April 26th select freshmen
participated in the Zoo’s Amphibian Awareness Day. Our 9th graders on Wednesday, April 30th
participated in the Communities in Schools’ Reality Store. We have had no response still from
Timken. Rhonda stated that a representative from RCC met with her on May 2nd to discuss our
students’ career path. Next year will include colleges and universities. Our Spring Formal will
be on Saturday, May 10th from 8:00 pm-12:30 am. The Spring Formal revenue is around $1,600.
There will be 4 benchmarks improving reading skills.
Facilities:
Heather stated that the lease here at Klaussner is for 5 years. Charlie Brown and Heather will
negotiate the contract and cost for the field. Mac stated that we need to notify Klaussner of our
plan for the middle school.
Steve Hubrich presented the Board with a proposal about the existing building and the new
facility. He discussed terms of possible financing options and asked the Board to vote to accept
initial proposal. Julia made a motion to the Board to vote by email to accept the proposal. Lisa
seconded. Motion carried.
Maxx Sumner presented the Board with his technology proposal. The chrome books need to be
cleaned off before the summer. Projected need for $2,000 additional hardware, $4,000 for
Meraki 48 port switch with a 7 year license, $60.00 per year for windows licensing and 8 more
cable drops installed costing around $100.00 each. The phone system that was installed cost
around $42.00 per phone this school year. Maxx stated that we had many damaged screens.
There will be a preliminary meeting with Mark Uhl (computer tech) to investigate our best
options for the next school year. Heather suggests BYOD (bring your own device) if at all
possible.
Public Relations:
There are 161 letters of intent for the middle school. Mark said that we need 300 letters of intent
to present to the state in October. Lisa volunteered to head up the middle school LOI recruitment
effort and suggested that LoriAnn Owen might be available to help out with that effort.
Other Business:
Rhonda presented the Board with the Charter Schools Criminal Background form to be voted on.
Mark made a motion to adopt the form. Leslie seconded. Motion carried. There is a survey
monkey on the website for parents to fill out about how the school year went. Mac suggested
making a wish list of things that we might want added to the new school (ex. gym/pool/
auditorium). The tax rate could be raised to 2.25%.
Mark moved to adjourn the meeting. Julia seconded. Motion carried.