Attendance

Mike Fedewa

JoAnne Woodard

Arlene Ferren

Alfred Bryant

John Geil

Sandy Carmany

Tannis Nelson

Tony Cozart

Ben Currin

John Crowder

Kathy Taft, State Board of Education

Janice Davis, Deputy Superintendent

Zoe Locklear, Associate Superintendent, Leadership Development and Special Services

Laura Crumpler, Attorney, State Attorney General’s Office

Otho B. Tucker, Director, Office of Charter Schools

O’Linda Williams, Admin. Asst

Gail Scott Taylor, Consultant, Office of Charter Schools

Jackie W. Jenkins, Consultant, Office of Charter Schools

Carl F. Pridgen, Consultant, Office of Charter Schools

Paul LeSieur, Director, School Business

Jim Knight, Assistant Director, School Business

Linda Ivy, Accountant II, Auditing and Charter Schools

Scott Douglass, Teacher Allotment Supervisor

Ms. Tannis Nelson and Dr. Alfred Bryant shared comments regarding their participation in the National Authorizers Conference held in San Diego, California on November 13-14, 2003. Ms. Nelson stated that she felt immersed in charter schools as she attended the general sessions and workshops that were offered. She also suggested that each member of the Committee should have a copy of the book that was mentioned at the conference. Ms. Nelson indicated that she would provide the Office of Charter Schools with the title of the book.

Dr. Bryant said that his participation in the conference was enlightening. Many of the same questions, concerns, issues and processes that North Carolina deals with are shared by other states.

Dr. Tucker presented a brief summary of the following items that will be presented to the State Board of Education in December for action on first read:

Recommendation for Charter School Advisory Committee

Approval of Federal Subgrants Allotments

The following items will be presented as discussion:

Charter School Renewal Recommendations

Financial & Business Services

Laurinburg Charter School

Mr. Paul LeSieur, Director, School Business reported that the Local Government Commission (LGC) has received 76 charter school audit reports. The Department of Public Instruction has received 45 of 76 audits. He explained that the reports are due October 31, but the LGC allows the charters and LEAs a 30 day grace period.

Mr. LeSieur noted the issues associated with Laurinburg Charter Schools in regards to providing average daily membership information to the auditors. The issue being that auditors are not able to access records to ensure the appropriate funding of charter students. Mr. LeSieur stated that he would make a report at the next CSAC meeting concerning the progress his staff has made in dealing with the reluctance of Laurinburg Charter School to provide the necessary information to the auditors. His staff will visit the school again in an effort to obtain the necessary information.

Mr. LeSieur reported on the status of Rowan Academy. He prefaced his report by sharing that he had thought Rowan Academy was making progress financially due to a gift the school received to help relieve it of some of the debt. According to Mr. LeSieur, the auditor for the charter school indicates that it appears as if Rowan Academy will have an approximate deficit of $120,000 of which $66,000 was due to a contract broken with bus transportation company. There is also concern that the school does not have access to $37,000 of state funds as they have been frozen by the court. State money cannot be taken back in that manner. The school is also operating in an uninsured building that is in foreclosure. Members of the Committee expressed concern about the fact that the school is operating in an uninsured building and could lose its Certificate of Occupancy.

Chairman Fedewa informed the Committee that the representatives from East Winston Primary School were not present as requested to address concerns. He asked Dr. Tucker to bring the Committee up to date regarding the situation with East Winston Primary School.

Dr. Tucker presented a historical overview of correspondence and meetings that have taken place involving East Winston Primary School since May 12, 2003. His specific concerns are the accuracy of the minutes submitted by the East Winston Primary School board of directors and the failure of the school to provide information as requested in a memo dated August 4, 2003.

He also directed the Committee to a table that contains dates, types of correspondences and or meeting events and the main points of those events. Dr. Tucker highlighted concerns with the minutes that were submitted for meetings that took place on August 6, 2003, August 11, 2003 and August 19, 2003. The minutes do not accurately reflect what took place during those meetings as representation from the Office of Charter Schools and the Charter School Advisory Committee were present at those meetings. The school did not submit minutes for the August 11, 2003 meeting. However, Dr. Tucker pointed to several documents that confirmed that the meeting did take place.

Mr. Paul LeSieur presented the results of the East Winston Primary School Audit findings. The results show that DPI is due a total reimbursement of $241,413.16 that must be paid from local funds only.

Mr. LeSieur said the Department would be putting out an audit exception for repayment. The next steps will depend upon the recommendation of the Committee.

In response to Ms. Carmany’s question regarding the number of students being funded for this year, Mr. LeSieur indicated that the student headcount is 122 based on East Winston’s first month average daily membership.

Dr. Nancy Farmer sought clarification on the time frame the fiscal concerns that were presented covered and if there may be possible concerns for this year. Mr. LeSieur indicated that the fiscal concerns presented represent last school year’s deficit. He added that with the continued liabilities, including an abandoned building the school is paying rent on, a bus ordered in March in which the school owes $79,000, repayment to the state and local agency, the deficit could be a large as $250,000.00.

Chairman Fedewa indicated that the school at one time appeared to have been functioning and that the Committee had done everything it could to help the school.

Ms. Carmany said that there are some things that can be written off as misunderstanding or not knowing, but the submission of minutes with inaccurate information appears to be a deliberate falsification and cannot be excused.

Chairman Fedewa recapped the two main concerns, the governance of the school and the management of the school and asked if those areas had been adequately addressed. He asked Office of Charter School staff if those areas seem to have been addressed. In response to Chairman Fedewa’s question regarding whether Mr. Jimmie Bonham’s role has been clarified, Dr. Tucker responded no. He also added that the governance of the school is still a concern as there are questions regarding the accuracy of the resumes that have been submitted.

Attorney Laura Crumpler informed the Committee that its options are to (1) to continue to issue further warnings (2) instruct DPI to follow-up, (3) do nothing, (4) or recommend that the SBE initial steps to revoke the Charter.

Dr. Tony Cozart shared that he felt the Committee had shown a lot of patience with East Winston Primary School, and that at this point there doesn’t appear to be any other recommendation other than the most punitive for which he is saddened.

A motion was made and seconded to recommend revocation of the Charter of East Winston Primary School. There was no further discussion. The motion to recommend revocation of the East Winston Primary School Charter passed unanimously.

Dr. Otho Tucker presented the applications of the nine schools that are seeking alternatives status for academic purposes for a three year period. He indicated that caution was taken to ensure that the percentage of at-risk students was not duplicated in other categories. In areas where there was concern, the school was contacted.

Dr. Tucker reviewed the process for evaluating the alternative schools applications to determine if the applicants meet the criteria for alternative school status. The Committee was also advised to make note of any recommended changes members may have in regards to modifying the application.

Dr. Tucker presented the list of schools that have requested to increase the student enrollment for the 2004-05 school year by greater than 10% of the maximum enrollment and/or expand the grade structure beyond what was presented in the original charter application. The Committee was directed to review the statues that govern the approval of expanded enrollment and grade expansions. The Committee was also directed to review the LEA impact statement submitted by Carteret County School in response to Tiller Charter School’s request to expand the current grade structure to accommodate grades 7-8.

Members of the Committee discussed the implications for moving forward with recommendations without having the benefit of receiving impact statements from all of the LEAs that will be affected if the charter school requests are granted.

Chairman Fedewa suggested that the Committee wait until next month before sending forth recommendations to the State Board.

Sub-Committee A recommended 10-year renewal for the following schools seeking an initial Charter renewal for the schools approved in 2000:

1. Washington Montessori (Beaufort)

2. Bethel Hill Charter School (Person)

3. Arts Based Elementary School (Forsyth)

4. Millennium Charter Academy(Surry/Mt. Airy)

Sub-Committee A recommended postponement for one year and the development and implementation of a corrective action plan to address the enrollment concern for the following school:

5. Alpha Academy (Cumberland)

Schools with Less Than 5-Year Renewal

Sub-Committee A recommended 10-year renewal for the following school that was approved in 1998 and granted a one year renewal (2003-04):

1. Sugar Creek Charter School ( Mecklenburg)

Schools on One Year Delay

Sub-Committee A recommended five year Charter renewal for the following schools that were approved in 1999 that was granted a one year delay to development and implement a corrective action plan:

1. Provisions Academy (Lee)

2. Laurinburg Homework Center (Scotland)

Sub-Committee B recommended 10-year renewal for the following schools seeking an initial Charter renewal for the schools approved in 2000:

1. Charter Day School (Brunswick)

2. Piedmont Community School (Gaston)

3. Success Institute (Iredell)

4. Cape Fear Center for Inquiry ( New Hanover)

5. Union Academy (Union)

6. Community Partners High School ( Wake)

Member John Geil offered his interpretation of the renewal rubric and the reasons behind structure of the original and current rubric. According to Mr. Geil, the main reason the legislature changed the statute was to provide better or additional financing for charter schools. The revised rubric also is less subjective. He said that if a charter school meets the requirements, then the school should get the maximum term of the Charter. He expressed the need for the subcommittees to be uniform in their recommendations for renewal.

Schools with Less than 5-Year Renewal

Sub-Committee B recommended a 10-year renewal for the following school that was approved in 1997 and granted a three year renewal for 2002-2005:

1. Healthy Start Academy ( Durham)

Schools on One Year Delay

(Eligible for 5-Year Charter Renewal)

Sub-Committee B recommended a five year Charter renewal for the following schools that were approved in 1999 that was granted a one year delay to develop and implement a corrective action plan:

1. Crossnore Academy (Avery)

2. Omuteko Gwamaziima ( Durham)

2000 Charter Schools Seeking Initial 10-Year Renewal

Sub-Committee C recommended a 10-year renewal for the following schools seeking an initial Charter renewal for the schools approved in 2000:

1. ArtSpace Charter School (Buncombe)

2. Phoenix Academy (Guilford). The subcommittee expressed concern regarding the husband and wife being the only 2 board members who are compensated and the fact that the chairman of the board owns the transportation business the school uses. The subcommittee felt this expresses a possible conflict of interest.

3. Metrolina Regional Scholars (Mecklenburg)

4. Bethany Community Middle School (Rockingham)

5. Haliwa-Saponi Tribal School ( Warren)

Schools with Less than 5-Year Renewal

Sub-Committee C recommended 10-year renewal for the following school that was approved in 1998 and granted a one year renewal (2003-04):

1. Carter Community School (Durham)

Schools on One Year Delay

(Eligible for 5-Year Charter Renewal)

Sub-Committee C recommended nonrenewal for the following school based the school’s current fiscal deficit, potential building foreclosure, and operating in an uninsured facility:

1. Rowan Academy (Rowan)