Mike Fedewa

JoAnne Woodard

John Geil

Simon Johnson

Tony Cozart

Sandy Carmany

Richard Clontz

John Crowder

Otho B. Tucker, Director, Office of Charter Schools

Laura Crumpler, State Attorney General’s Office

Jim Knight Assistant Director, School Business Services

Gail Scott Taylor, Consultant

Office of Charter Schools

Carl F. Pridgen, Consultant

Office of Charter Schools

Jackie W. Jenkins, Consultant, Office of Charter Schools

O’Linda Williams, Admin. Assist. Office of Charter Schools

Chairman Mike Fedewa called the meeting to order and acknowledged the addition of Richard D. Clontz as a member of the Committee. He reminded the Committee that Mr. Clontz is a recent retiree from the Department of Public Instruction where he worked as a consultant in the Office of Charter Schools.

Dr. Otho Tucker, Director, Office of Charter Schools informed the Committee of the passing of Ms. Linda Ivy, Accountant in the Auditing and Charter Schools division of School Business. He also shared that Mr. Gary Williamson, Section Chief of the Accountability’s Reporting section has rendered his resignation and will be leaving the agency on January 16, 2004.

Dr. Otho Tucker reported on his visit to Lake Norman Charter School to present the ABCs School of Excellence banner for its state testing achievement.

He plans to visit Laurinburg Charter School, Laurinburg Homework Center, STARS, and MAST the week of December 15^th.

Dr. Tony Cozart reported that he visited Haliwa Saponi Charter School. The stated that things are going very well at the school and that the long range plans include serving students through grade 12. School representatives are in the process are working to resolve some facilities issues.

Attorney Laura Crumpler, State Attorney General’s Office shared with the Committee the action of the State Board of Education regarding its vote to initiate termination of the East Winston Primary School’s Charter. East Winston Primary Charter School will have 10 days from the date of the letter dated December 8, 2003 to appeal that action. Ms. Crumpler informed the Committee that the letter was hand delivered, faxed, and sent via certified mail.

If the school elects not to appeal the State Board’s action, the Charter would automatically terminate on December 31, 2003. If East Winston Primary Charter School decides to appeal, the SBE would appoint a review committee consisting of members of the State Board of Education to review the full board’s decision.

Once the review panel has heard from the parties involved, members of the panel meets, deliberates, and forwards a recommendation to the SBE for action.

Dr. Otho B. Tucker presented the charter school items the State Board of Education approved at its December 3-4, 2003 meeting. The items included:

(1)the changes to the renewal policy from the five year charters to up to 10 year charters

(2) approval of Richard Clontz to fill the unexpired term of Kathryn Meyers

(3), federal implementation grant awards to charter schools in their first or second year of serving children and

(4) Federal funding for the Principal’s Executive Program (PEP).

Chairman Fedewa asked Dr. Jackie Jenkins if she sensed a difference between traditional schools and charter schools in terms of expectations and training needs regarding the programs provided by PEP.

Dr. Jackie Jenkins, Consultant, Office of Charter Schools said that the coaches experienced a steep learning curve. They were able to obtain a better perspective of charter schools through the training PEP provided and on-site experience.

Dr. JoAnne Woodard added that she has attended many of the professional development programs offered by PEP and found that although charter schools may be structurally different, the content that is offered is relevant to charter school leaders.

Dr. Tucker reviewed with the Committee financial status of Rowan Academy as reported at its November meeting. As of the date of this meeting, Rowan Academy officials have not submitted a corrective action plan that addresses measures to remedy the current financial situation reported by Mr. LeSieur at the November 20, 2003 CSAC meeting. The Office of Charter Schools staff will continue to monitor the situation along with the School Business Division.

Dr. Jenkins presented an interim progress report of the four (4) schools that have been granted preliminary approval by the State Board of Education. The report included a summary of the training sessions held in September, October, and November for the following schools:

Carolina International School – Cabarrus County

Children’s Community School – Mecklenburg County

Kinston Charter Academy – Lenoir County

PACE Academy – Orange County.

Additional DPI training sessions are scheduled for January, February, and March. The preliminarily approved charter schools will continue to focus on issues that pertain to policy development, financial planning, and reporting.

Representatives from Carolina International School were asked to address concerns raised regarding the Consciousness-Based Education and its affiliation with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Concerns have been raised regarding the religious nature of the school.

Dr. Richard Beall, Director, Carolina International School presented members of the Committee with an information packet that contained information about Consciousness-Based Education. The packet also contained a letter addressed to the CSAC in with answers to questions raised by members of the State Board of Education.

Some members of the Committee expressed that it was not in the purview of the Committee to determine if this school is teaching a sectarian approach, but rather an opinion from the Attorney General’s Office may be required.

The Committee recommended the approval of Carolina International School with a reminder to the school that it must be careful to operate in a nonsectarian capacity at all times.

Enrollment/Grade Expansion Request

Requests for Enrollment Increases

Requests for Grade Span Changes

Requests for Enrollment Increases and Grade Span Changes

Mr. Carl F. Pridgen, Consultant, Office of Charter Schools reported that James G. Merrill, Ed.D. Superintendent of Alamance-Burlington School System submitted an impact statement in reference to the request of River Mill Academy to increase the enrollment by greater than 10%. Dr. Merrill indicated that the Alamance-Burlington School system had no desire to file an impact statement and extended well wishes to the charter school.

The following school submitted a request to increase enrollment by greater than 10%:

1. River Mill Academy – Alamance/Burlington School System – from 315 to 360

2. Chatham Charter School – Chatham County -from 242 to 324.

The two schools met the requirements pursuant to GS115C-238.29D (d).

A motion was made and seconded to recommend approval of the request from River Mill Academy and Chatham Charter School to increase the enrollment by greater than 10%.

The motion passed.

The following schools submitted a request to expand the current grade structure:

1. Alpha Academy – Cumberland County – from 6-10 to 4-10. Members of the Committee questioned whether this request should be considered at this time since the school is in the Corrective Action Phase of the renewal process due to low enrollment. Members agreed to wait until the school submitted long-range plans that address the following two major concerns: (i) plans for the high school component and (ii) plans for the elementary school model and the curriculum that will be used to implement the design. Once this information is submitted, the Committee will consider this request via telephone conference call in January 2004.

2. Healthy Start Academy – Durham County – from grade K-6 to K-8. A motion was made and seconded to approve the request of Healthy Start Academy to grow from grades K-6 to k-8. The motion passed.

The following schools requested to expand the grade structure which would increase enrollment by greater than 10%:

1. Tiller School – Carteret County – from grades K-6 to K-8. The grade structure change represents an increase of 53 students.

2. A Child’s Garden School – Franklin County – from grades K-5 to K-8. The grade structure change represents an increase of 33 students.

A motion was made and seconded to recommend approval of the requests from Tiller School and A Child’s Garden School to expand the current grade student and increase enrollment by greater than 10%. The motion passed.

The following charter schools applied for Alternative Schools Status for inclusion in the ABCs accountability model:

Crossroads Charter High School (9-12) Mecklenburg County

John H. Baker (9-12) Wake County

Provisions Academy (6-12) Lee County

Grandfather Academy (K-12) Avery County

Laurinburg Charter School (9-12) Scotland County

Laurinburg Homework Center (8-12) Scotland County

Lakeside Charter School (6-12)Alamance-Burlington System

Kennedy Charter School (6-12) Mecklenburg County

Crossnore Academy (K-12) Avery County

The schools met the eligibility requirements as presented in the State Board of Education Process for Inclusion of Charter Schools in the Alternative Schools’ Accountability Model (HSP-C-013).

A motion was made and seconded to recommend approval of the above schools for alternative status for inclusion in the alternative schools’ accountability model.

The motion passed.