Mike Fedewa, Chairman, CSAC

JoAnne Woodard

Roger Gerber

Alfred Bryant

Ben Currin

John Geil

Kathryn Meyers

John Crowder

Sandy Carmany

Kate Alice Dunaway

Arlene Ferren

Betty Huskins

Kathy Taft, SBE

Brad Sneeden, Deputy State Superintendent

Hank Hurd, Associate Superintendent, Financial and Business Services

Otho Tucker, Director, Office of Charter Schools

O’Linda Williams, Administrative Assistant, Office of Charter Schools

Carl Pridgen, Ed. Consultant, Office of Charter Schools

Chairman Mike Fedewa opened the meeting with the welcome and introduction of the three new Charter School Advisory Committee Members, Kate Alice Dunaway, Arlene Ferren and Betty Huskins. He presented a brief biography of each new member. Chairman Fedewa also recognized the reappointment of current members, JoAnne Woodard, Sandy Carmany and himself to another four-year term.

Brad Sneeden, Deputy State Superintendent welcomed the three new members to the Committee and expressed to them the importance of the work of the Charter School Advisory Committee. He also extended thanks to the three re-appointees. Mr. Sneeden commented on the impact the decisions the Committee makes and the implications of these decisions for what goes on in schools across the state. He acknowledged charter schools as being very much a part of the public school system of North Carolina.

Mr. Sneeden also addressed the new charter school representatives. In his remarks, he reminded the representatives of the important milestone achieved by being accepted into the charter movement. Mr. Sneeden extended his best wishes to the school representatives as they prepare to implement the plan presented in the charter application.

Hank Hurd, Associate Superintendent, Financial and Business Services extended congratulatory remarks to the three new members of the Committee and the three re-appointees. Mr. Hurd complimented the Committee for its dedication and hard work and acknowledged the appointment of the three new members as tremendous assets to the Committee. He acknowledged the representatives of the three newly approved schools that were present and expressed his desire for them to be successful as they prepare to open their charter schools.

Presentations were made to the following three schools: Mountain Discovery Charter School located in Swain County, Community School for Children in Durham County and Gray Stone Day School located in Rowan County. Representatives from Casa Esperanza were not available to participate in the recognition ceremony.

Dr. Otho Tucker began the Recognition Ceremony by presenting a brief overview of each school after which he introduced the board chair for the schools. Each board chair signed the Charter, received a school plaque, and posed for a photograph to commemorate the occasion. Participating in the recognition ceremony were Kathy Taft, SBE, Mike Fedewa, Chairman, CSAC, and DPI representatives Brad Sneeden, Hank Hurd, and Otho Tucker.

Signing the Charter for Mountain Discovery Charter School was Board Chair Mary Ellen Hammond who introduced other members of the school’s board. Representing Community School for Children was Board Chair Vicky Patton who recognized the other members of the board in their absence and the principal of the school. Helen Nance, Board Chair, Gray Stone Day School was present to sign the Charter. Ms. Nance recognized the other members of the board in their absence. She also thanked the Committee for recommending Gray Stone Day School to the SBE for approval.

Schools on Delay

Governance Concerns

SBE Meeting

Request for Delay

Otho Tucker reported on the status of the five schools on delay. He informed the Committee that Tar Heel High School in Bladen County is having difficulty finding a suitable location for the school and, the Tar Heel Board will convene to decide whether or not to open. The school was approved in 2000 and is in its second year of delay.

Arts-Based Charter School in Forsyth County approved in 2000 is on track to open in the fall. The school is leasing space in the wing of a traditional public school in Winston Salem and plans to open with fewer students than projected in the charter for 2002 due to space issues.

Queen Grants Charter School in Mecklenburg County is also on track to open after a one-year delay.

Oak Ridge Charter School is requesting a second delay in opening. Representatives from the school have submitted a written request to address the Committee at its June meeting to present the plan for opening in the 2003-2004 school year. The school was granted a one-year delay in 2001.

Both Queens Grant Charter School and Oak Ridge Charter School were approved in 2001 and are managed by National Heritage Academies.

Ann Atwater Community School in Durham is also on track to open. Dr. Tucker acknowledged that the administration of Ann Atwater School has been very involved in all the training offered by DPI during its planning year.

Dr. Tucker reported that a number of charter schools are on cautionary status. Seventeen schools are on Governance Cautionary Status due to teacher licensure concerns. Two of these schools have already provided supporting documentation that clears up the concerns that placed them on cautionary status. Another school, placed on cautionary status due to reporting concerns has since addressed the concern and hence removed from cautionary status.

The Committee was reminded of the actions that the State Board of Education has taken regarding charter schools since its last meeting in January. In March, the SBE approved the addition of Casa Esperanza Charter School to fill the last available slot and approved the enrollment request for schools requesting to increase their enrollment by greater than 10 percent. In April, the SBE approved the revision of the Charter Agreement, now correctly referred to as the Charter. In May, the only item that will be presented to the SBE is the request from Mountain Discovery Charter School to open the school in Jackson County for one year due to the inability to secure space in Swain County.

Two schools approved in March 2002, Casa Esperanza in Wake County and Community School for Children in Durham County, are requesting a one-year delay in opening. Both schools cite the need for more intensive planning and site acquisition issues as reasons for the request to delay. A motion to accept the request for a one-year delay from both schools was made and seconded. The motion carried.

Attorney Laura Crumpler, State Attorney General’s Office, updated the Committee on the status of the PHASE Academy case. Attorney Crumpler reported that the Administrative Law Judge adopted the decision of the State Board of Education regarding the closing of PHASE Academy. The former charter school is appealing the SBE decision to the Court of Appeals.

In regards to the Leandro Case, Attorney Crumpler shared that it is the opinion of the State Attorney General’s Office that Judge Manning’s decision applied to the traditional public school system and not charter schools because they are schools of choice. She added that this is a preliminary decision from the State Attorney General’s Office involving the Leandro Case.

Attorney Crumpler provided some guidelines the Committee may consider adopting when addressing the 90% commitment for schools requesting to increase their enrollment by greater than 10 percent. Schools requesting to increase their enrollment by greater than 10% must meet five objectives as outlined by the General Assembly. One of these guidelines is commitment for 90% of the requested maximum growth. She recommended that the Committee request the school’s previous year’s waiting list. However, that in itself is not an accurate predictor of the 90% commitment since the schools are schools of choice. Surveys could also be used as predictors.

Jennifer Bennett, Director School Business, updated the Committee on the current status of the Charter School financial audits received through January 24, 2002 from the Local Government Commission (LGC). A total of 85 charter school audits are due to DPI and at the time of the report, 83 audits had been received from the LGC.

In other related matters, Ms. Bennett presented the charter schools watch list for fiscal year July 1, 2001 through June 30, 2002. The list is compiled based on UERS data submitted by the schools, cash flow analysis and other factors. The following are the results as of February 28, 2002:

She reported that School Business staff would try to do on-site reviews at approximately 10 schools over the next several months to attempt to clarify various issues and remove the schools from the "watch list."

Ms. Bennett provided the Committee with information about the inquiry into Turning Point Academy and Success Academy. Both schools are located in Durham at the same location, 2703 Holloway Street. The schools are have been placed on Financial PROBATIONARY Status according to the Policy for Charter Schools on Financial and Governance Noncompliance.

Ms. Bennett presented the letters that were sent to each school in which school representatives will have to provide written responses to the inquiries presented in the letter by May 15, 2002. Representatives from the schools will be invited to the next meeting of the Charter School Advisory Committee to provide further clarification as needed.

Board Chair, Mary Ellen Hammond and other members of the Mountain Discovery Charter School (MDCS) updated the Committee on the school’s status in locating a suitable site for the school. The Board has found a temporary space in Jackson County, the Old Barker’s Creek School, a school that is 99% renovated. This school, according to Mountain Discovery Representatives is seven miles away from the Old Whittier School, which MDCS plans to renovate and occupy in Fall 2003.

Mountain Discovery Charter School would lease the Old Barker’s Creek School space for eleven (11) months and as soon as school year is over, the Mountain Discovery Charter School would then relocate to its permanent site in Swain County.

Sandy Carmany, reiterated the fact that Sub-Committee B reviewed the application and found that it was the best-written application that Sub-Committee has ever received.

The CSAC members discussed the impact statement submitted from Jackson County.

In other business, the Committee approved the 2002-03 Meeting Schedule with the revision to have the meetings on Thursday’s beginning at 11AM.

The Committee began initial discussion regarding the timeline for making recommendations for schools with their renewal status pending. The approval would be based on the outcome of the corrective actions the schools were required to implement. The discussion focused on how to address the evaluation situation involving the seven (7) schools on one-year delay.

Chairman Fedewa asked the Committee to consider options for how to address the next steps for the charter schools that may not sufficiently correct the deficiencies for which they were cited during the renewal process. The Committee will discuss these options at its May 23, 2002 meeting.

The Committee was reminded of the May 16, 2002 Renewal Training scheduled for schools approved in 1999. Committee members were invited to attend and to participate in the training.

In addition to the summarizing the Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy press release announcing the first graduate of the school this coming May and his scholarship award, Dr. Tucker reported on the highlights of the charter schools he has visited.