Tony Cozart

Tannis Nelson

JoAnne Woodard

Simon Johnson

Ben Currin

Alfred Bryant

Nancy Farmer

John Crowder

Sandy Carmary

Laura Cumpler

Otho B. Tucker, Director

Office of Charter Schools

Carl F. Pridgen, Consultant

Office of Charter Schools

Gail Scott Taylor, Consultant

Office of Charter Schools

Linda Ivy, Accountant II, Charter School Auditing

Zoe Locklear, Associate Superintendent, Leadership Development and Special Services

Gene Bruton, Accountant, Charter School Auditing

Scott Douglass, SIMS Auditor, Information Analysis and Support

Absent: Jackie W. Jenkins, Consultant, Office of Charter Schools

In the absence of Chairman Mike Fedewa, the meeting was called to order by Dr.Tony Cozart, CSAC Member who extended welcoming remarks to the Committee and the Office of Charter Schools staff.

Dr. Cozart called for a motion to approve the minutes of the February 13, 2003 CSAC Meeting. A motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes of the February 13, 2003 CSAC meeting. The motion passed.

Ms. Gail Scott Taylor shared that Kestrel Heights Charter School, a middle/high school in Durham was recognized for its student achievement by the Durham Public Education Network. The school was recognized by the Network for being designated as a School of Excellence and a School of Distinction as measured by the State’s ABCs Accountability Model. The Durham Public Education Network (DPEN) is part of a national organization, the Public Education Network. The mission of the DPEN is to encourage the Durham Community to come together in support of its public schools.

Mr. Bill McGrady, Section Chief, Compensatory Education addressed the Committee on the topic "NCLB: Beyond AYP." Mr. McGrady’s presentation included a discussion of the four key elements of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and the sanctions for Title I schools not meeting Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). He discussed at length the options outlined for schools that fail to make AYP over a period of seven (7) years.

Mr. McGrady provided several websites for Committee members to review in order to find out more information about North Carolina’s plan and No Child Left Behind information for policy makers, administrators and parents. The main websites references are:

Dr. Zoe Locklear acknowledged the article that appeared in several newspapers across the state that contained comments made by Dr. Otho Tucker regarding the status of charter schools. The information Dr.Tucker provided at the Central Regional Charter Schools Fair held at Exploris on March 8^th was the exact same information he along with Mr. Mike Fedewa, Dr. Bryan Hassel and Dr. Brad McMillen shared with the NC State Board of Education at its February meeting. Dr. Locklear considers this very encouraging information for charter schools.

Ms. Linda Ivy, Accountant II, Auditing and Charter Schools reported that audits from Imani Institute in Guilford County and Provisions Academy in Lee County have yet to be submitted. The lateness in the submission of the Provisions Academy audit is a result of the auditor not fulfilling his obligations in regards to completing the audit.

Imani Institute was placed on Financial Probationary Status for failure to provide a financial audit for fiscal year ending June 30, 2001. As of March 13, 2003, Imani has failed to submit its FY2001-02 audit to the Local Government Commission (LGC) and to the Department of Public Instruction. The charter school has been placed on extended Financial Probationary Status until May 20, 2003 to comply with state statues governing school audits. If the audit is not provided at that time, the school will be placed on Financial Disciplinary Status.

Ms. Ivy expressed concern about three schools: Provisions Academy, Chapel Hill Free Academy and MAST Charter School. The nature of this concern is due to the schools having spent most of their state funds and without information about their local funds, DPI does not have information to determine if these three schools have sufficient funds to operate until June 30, 2003. The Financial and Business Services section has requested additional information from these schools that should provide more insight into their financial situation.

Dr. Otho Tucker reported that State Board of Education did not take any action regarding the renewal of the Charter for Wayne Technical Academy. The SBE is concerned about the quality of the audit. At this point, Wayne Technical Academy in Wayne County has not been renewed. The SBE has requested that Wayne Tech be placed back on its agenda if new information becomes available. If the Charter is not renewed by June 30, 2003, the time in which the Charter expires, the school will at that time cease to operate as a public charter school.

Dr. Tucker also reported that there is a bill in the legislature that will allow two charter schools a reprieve to opt into the state retirement system. The two schools in question, Casa Esperanza in Wake County and Central Park School for Children in Durham have been operating under a SBE approved one-year delay.

Dr. Tucker reported that the issues surrounding the location of Chapel Hill Free Academy in another LEA other than the one for which it was chartered as well as conducting school in a site without providing the Office of Charter Schools with a Certificate of Occupancy have been cleared up. He reminded the Committee that Chapel Hill Free Academy’s temporary move to Durham was to a site that was approved for educational purposes as noted on the Certificate of Occupancy. The school has moved into its new site in Orange County located at 1717 Legion Road in Chapel Hill.

Dr. Tony Cozart surveyed members of the Committee to find out if any of the applications they have been assigned to review present a potential conflict. Dr. JoAnne Woodard mentioned that individuals associated with Kinston Academy Charter School had visited her school, but she did not offer any help in writing the application. She recommended that if the Committee saw this as a conflict, she would be fine with that application being moved to another subcommittee. The Committee did not see this as a potential conflict.

In the absence of Ms. Kate Alice Dunaway, CSAC Member, Dr. Tucker shared that she has written and submitted one of the applications and will be the presenter if selected for an interview. The application is for The Beahms School, serving students in grades K-12 that will be located in Iredell County if approved. She is recusing herself from making any comments or addressing any of the applications. Dr. Tucker advised Ms. Dunaway that she may become an active participant should her application not make the interview round.

Ms. Tannis Nelson, CSAC Member suggested that if the application submitted by Ms. Dunaway is chosen for an interview that she goes first as to not present the perception that she benefited from the other interviews.

Ms. Sandy Carmany sought clarification as to why the application for Children’s Community School is in two locations. Dr. Tucker responded that representatives of the potential school contacted him to discuss the possible dilemma of placing the application in either Mecklenburg County or Iredell County. According to representatives, a business in Iredell County contacted them with an offer to finance a facility for the school. This facility is located only four (4) miles from Mecklenburg County where the school was originally intended to be located.

It is the intent of the applicants to make a decision regarding the viability of one of the applications by the time the interviews are held. Dr. Tucker cited that multiple applications from one organization had been submitted and reviewed by multiple committees.

Dr. JoAnne Woodard noted that although the EMO in question submitted the same application for various counties, each potential school had its own board.

Dr. Tucker reviewed the contents of the boxes containing the applications and reviewed guidelines for completing the application review sheets.