CSAC Minutes -  May 12, 2005

 NC Charter School Advisory Committee Meeting

State Board of Education 7^th Floor Meeting Room

NC Department of Public Instruction

 

May 12, 2005

 

Draft Minutes

 

Attendance/CSAC	Tannis Nelson John Geil Sandy Carmany Richard Clontz Kate Alice Dunaway Michael Fedewa Ben Currin	JoAnne Woodard Alfred Bryant Tony Cozart   Absent:  Simon Johnson, Kathy Taft, Matthew Lanner, Arlene Ferren, Nancy Farmer, John Crowder
Attendance/SBE/DPI	Office of Charter Schools      Jack Moyer, Director      Jackie Jenkins, Consultant      Carl Pridgen, Consultant      Joel Medley, Consultant      Karen Frazier, Finance	Attorney General’s Office      Laura Crumpler SIMS Consultant       Scott Douglass

 

 

Welcome/Agenda Overview/Approval of Draft Minutes:	Upon attaining a quorum, Chairman Fedewa called the meeting to order.   The draft minutes from the April 14, 2005 meeting were available and were approved by the committee (if the change of removing the duplication of Sandy Carmany’s name).   Chairman Fedewa, with the assistance of Jackie Jenkins, discussed the process for interviews.  The CSAC determines whether the individual school is worthy of receiving a charter (2/3 must agree the school deserves the charter).  Once those pass this muster, the schools are ranked in order to see which school will be granted the open charter.  Further, two spots may become available; so the additional ranking allows for future recommendations to the SBE.   Jack Moyer updated the CSAC on the situation with East Winston and Laurinburg.  No change has been made with East Winston, but Laurinburg did go before the State Board.  The motion did not receive a second, so the issue “died” on the floor.  Thus, Laurinburg’s charter will expire on June 30, 2005.
Fiscal Update:	Karen Frazier covered the end of year close outs as well as the budget submissions that are required.  She even shared the good news about Raleigh Charter High School being ranked number 9 in the nation.
New Applicant Interviews:	Roxboro Community School (Person) – The school seeks to offer parents a choice because this county has one high school and it is woefully overcrowded.  The local county commissioners have unanimously endorsed the presence of this school in Person County (a copy of this endorsement was brought and read before the CSAC).  They will use William Perky’s invitational learning model (people, policy, program) to meet the NC SCOS and supplement that approach with the Core Knowledge Curriculum.  The students will also have a community service component in the school environment to facilitate individual growth beyond school.  This school will not serve as a feeder from Bethel Hill, but questions did surface on the transportation plan that partnered with this same school.  To prevent student barriers from attending, the application will have a question regarding transportation needs and the proposed site is centrally located.  The grades 7 – 12 grade span was adopted to meet the needs identified from a parent forum.  Initially, no extra-curricular activities will be offered so that the school will secure themselves financially before venturing into this arena.  The two principals from other charter schools serve only as advisors in this initial phase and will rotate away if the charter is granted.  A few suggestions were made about board membership to allow for smooth transitions as the rotation begins.  The school will serve EC kids accordingly but seek to serve children based upon the inclusion model (as much as possible).  All public communications that have been submitted were done so in English and Spanish, and their marketing plan is trying to have as much diversity as possible.    Academy for Classical Education (New Hanover) – Few charter schools exist in this area, but the main concern is the high illiteracy rate among urban families (child and parent).  A partnership with UNC-W and the Wilmington Housing Authority has already been formed to begin a reading program this summer, and this program is the basis of the education offered at the school.  The school and this program will share the same facility but will not be under the same accord.  A few concerns were voiced as to the clear delineation between the separate non-profit and the charter school.  The representatives seek the charter first and this reading program would be used as an arm of the school.  The school will systematically borrow from the Comer model to meet the needs of the students and to offer comfort to the parents as well.  The classical method was selected for this K – 8 school because of the hands-on approach that matches individual learning styles, and professional development will be required before the school opens.  The by-laws need modification to operate via voting and not by consensus.  Transportation will be carpooling and provision of bus passes to prevent any sort of barrier to enrollment; however, the location of the school will further determine what transportation plans must be developed.  The school has an established commitment with the community and believes that relationship works in their favor.  Their focus on low-income families also seeks a summer component to further their educational growth.  The school operates on an extended day to prevent any sort of homework (with exception of reading for 30 minutes), thereby, leveling the playing field for all families and allowing kids to be kids.  Some questions surfaced regarding the budget (i.e. lack of custodial services) and the school stated they were hoping for parental participation to alleviate these extra costs.        Winston-Salem Suzuki Academy (Forsyth) – The school’s mission is to use the Suzuki method to teach skills to both students and parents.  The constant contact between parent, child, and school (the Suzuki triangle) would foster growth for all involved.  They want to teach the children and parents simultaneously.  The school wants to work with WSFC schools instead of competing against them; and their program will enhance the traditional high school’s music programs.  They will deliver the NC SCOS as their main educational focus but remind that music has a tremendous developmental impact upon the child’s brain.  Further, the children will be taken outside the school for public performances granting relevance to their instruction.  For parents who cannot attend the weekly lessons, the schools will engage the businesses continuously and will extend some flexibility to the parents if needed.  For families that cannot buy or rent an instrument, the school will have some instruments on hand for student use.  Each student will have a primary and secondary instrument, which grants some flexibility, and the school will address EC needs as they arise.  If the instrument is a required piece of the curriculum, does this not constitute a fee for school admission?  Some debate centered on this issue, and the resolution was that no child could be barred admission due to this requirement.  They are going after the kids that have never had this opportunity for instruments.  The projected numbers are based upon current private instructional numbers, and Hickory, NC has two quite large Suzuki programs.  The assumption is that Winston-Salem could offer a higher number of participants.
Lunch:	At 12:30pm, Chairman Fedewa briefly adjourned the meeting for lunch; and upon reconvening at 1pm, the applicant interviews continued.
New Applicant Interviews Continued:	Davidson Secondary School (Mecklenburg) – The school has adopted the Paidea seminar approach as their major educational thrust in the middle school (a more traditional approach in high school).  The school wants to provide an interdisciplinary, liberal arts education with a civic thrust for all children.  The children will receive factual knowledge as well as actual experience through a service-learning component added to the curriculum.  The proposed school location is in a quickly growing area; and to meet that need while maintaining a small school setting, separate sites will be employed.  They seek to incorporate as many partnerships with non-profits, colleges, NC Civic Education Consortium, etc. to provide immediate leadership development for their children.  Regarding facility issues, the school seeks to maintain the community ties (it is walk-able) as CMS is about to build a new school well outside the town limits.  The existing school, which will be abandoned shortly, is the proposed site for the charter school.  They would need to add a wing to the school to accommodate students and a gymnasium is being proposed.  The second school site would be in an African-American neighborhood that is the oldest in Mecklenburg county.  Its proximity to a transit hub would allow many to catch bus rides to school in that manner.  Davidson College was contacted by the mayor to proofread the charter, and many relationships are being formed with this institution to meet charter needs (i.e. licensure, professional development, etc.).  All kids will have an individually planned academic program to eliminate the stigma of kids with IEPs while also maintaining their track in the college prep program.  The issue of separate schools was not to create the same programs yet situate them at two sites.  This would be an upper and lower school issue.     Institute for Cultural and Technological Studies (Orange) – The school wants to provide a quality education to highly at-risk students, who are presently slipping through the cracks, through in-depth studies of technology and world cultures.   The definition of at-risk is more than just an educational label because they seek the widest base of student populations.  The school wants to help students identify with their own culture while also learning to respect the cultural differences in this world.  An explanation was sought for a different non-profit organization being incorporated to oversee the charter itself.  They are possibly considering the specific incorporation of the school as its own non-profit.  The planning board has folks from outside the community, but that would then change if the charter were granted.  The school is focusing upon grades 4 – 9 to use fourth grade as a rebuilding year from those coming from traditional schools.  The stopping at grade nine is related to the existence of another charter school but also to give the students success before they venture into a large school environment.  The school will use the social development theoretical model to cross teach subjects in small, collaborative groups, thereby, granting the children a better understand of the big picture.  The curriculum will be based upon the NC SCOS so that a student’s transition into the regular LEA would be as smooth as possible.  The culture the school seeks to establish is one of focused learning based upon the formulation of sound, interpersonal relationships.  The desire is to provide success and then use that success and the building blocks for additional skills (the school system does not foster community relationships through the practice of redistricting).  The hope is to stem the tide of dropping-out and the subsequent behaviors of those children.
CSAC Voting:	Tabulation of the committee votes ended with three schools receiving an affirmative vote:  Roxboro Community, Academy for Classical Education, and Davidson Secondary.  As the committee ranked these schools, they are listed in the final, descending order:  Roxboro Community, Davidson Secondary, and Academy for Classical Education.  The committee decisions are being forwarded to the State Board of Education for final approval for 2005-2006.
Adjournment	Completing all business, the meeting was adjourned.  The next meeting is June 9, 2005 at 11am.

Minutes submitted by Joel E. Medley, Consultant, NC Office of Charter Schools.