CSAC Minutes -  February 13, 2004 Conference Call Meeting

North Carolina Charter School Advisory Committee Conference Call

Friday, February 13, 2004

10:00 AM

Attendance (Roll call conducted by Dr. Zoe Lockklear):

CSAC: Nancy Farmer, JoAnne Woodard, Sandy Carmany, John Crowder, Richard Clontz, John Geil,

Tony Cozart, Alfred Bryant

SBE: Kathy Taft

DPI: Zoe Locklear, Lou Fabrizio, Jackie Jenkins

Gail Scott Taylor

AG’s Office: Laura Crumpler

Dr. Locklear began the conference call by informing the members that Chairman Mike Fedewa was unable to participate in the call due to the unexpected death of one of his teachers.

Dr. Locklear stated that the purpose of the conference call is in response to the SBE’s request for the Committee to reconvene for the following reasons concerning the Alternative Schools Policy for Charter School:

to review the changes in policy #EEO-U-011 and

to act upon those changes and to determine if item #2 that references performance scores is needed.

Dr. Locklear provided a historical overview of the actions that have taken place regarding this policy September 2003 at which time it was presented to the SBE. Department staff that included Dr. Locklear, Dr. Elsie Leak, Mr. Lou Fabrizio, Mr. Carl Pridgen, and Dr. Otho Tucker met to review criteria # 2 which some members of the SBE felt made the policy to restrictive for charter schools. Some members of the SBE saw the criteria listed as a cut score and would invariably exclude schools for which the policy is intended.

Committee member John Geil stated that it is his opinion that # 2 should not be in the policy since there is no such provision in the Alternative School Policy for alternative schools within the LEA. Mr. Geil further stated that #2 takes away discretion from the Committee and the SBE.

Dr. JoAnne Woodard concurred with Mr. Geil’s observation and reiterated the fact that she felt # 2 should not be included in the policy.

Mr. Simon Johnson added that #2 is too restrictive and that it reduces the flexibility of the schools to make decisions regarding applying for alternative schools status.

Ms. Nancy Farmer inquired as to whether being designated as an alternative charter school affects the criteria of success for maintaining their charter.

Mr. John Crowder expressed his comfort with the policy and wanted to make it work considering that any necessary revisions could be made as needed during the process.

Dr. Locklear called for a motion regarding the Committee’s pleasure regarding eliminating #2 from the policy.

A motion was made and seconded to eliminate #2 from the policy. During the discussion, Dr. Tony Cozart questioned whether eliminating #2 from the policy limits the CSAC’s ability to have safeguards in place to ensure that the schools that met the criteria were considered. Dr. Cozart also wanted to know if removing this item take away an element of that policy that DPI and the Committee felt were important during its development.

In response to Dr. Cozart’s concerns, members of the Committee felt that #3 is a "catch-all" for #2.

After no further discussion, the motion to eliminate #2 from the policy was called to question. The motion passed.

The Committee then considered #3. Dr. Locklear reminded the Committee of Mr. Geil’s previous recommendation to include the definition of "at-risk" as stated in SBE Policy HSP-Q-001.

A motion was made and seconded to amend #3 to include a reference to the definition of "as-risk" as defined in SBE Policy HSP-Q-00l. The motion passed.

Dr. Locklear reminded the Committee of the SBE’s second request was to vote again to determine if the schools originally recommended for Alternative Schools Status would receive that same recommendation with the changes to the policy.

A motion was made and seconded to approve the schools for Alternative Schools Status under the newly revised policy.

Ms. Kathy Taft, SBE Member, reminded the Committee that Provisions has enrollment below 65.

After that disclosure, the original motion was withdrawn and an alternate motion was made to recommend the schools for approval pending compliance with all governance requirements. Some members of the Committee, Attorney Laura Crumpler, and DPI staff felt that it was best to deal with governance issues separate from the alternative schools policy issue.

The original motion to approve the entire list of schools seeking alternative schools status was made and seconded. The motion passed.

After no further discussion or comments, the conference call was adjourned.