Attendance/CSAC

Tannis Nelson

John Geil

Sandy Carmany

Richard Clontz

Arlene Ferren

Michael Fedewa

Nancy Farmer

Simon Johnson

 

Absent:  JoAnne Woodard, Kathy Taft, John Crowder, Tony Cozart, Alfred Bryant, Ben Currin, Kate Alice Dunaway

Attendance/SBE/DPI

Office of Charter Schools

     Jack Moyer, Director

     Matthew Lanner, Admin. Asst.

     Jackie Jenkins, Consultant

     Carl Pridgen, Consultant

     Joel Medley, Consultant

     Karen Frazier, Finance

 

Attorney General’s Office

     Laura Crumpler

Accountant I

      Gene Bruton

Welcome/Agenda Overview/Approval of Draft Minutes:

Upon attaining a quorum, Chairman Fedewa called the meeting to order.  The draft minutes from the June 9, 2005 meeting were available and were approved by the committee.

 

Jack Moyer then gave a brief overview of the agenda to set the stage for the CSAC meeting.

Transfer of Imani Charter:

No representatives were present for Imani Charter School, but Chairman Fedewa brought some concerns about the lack of an audit for the school in the last three years.  Mr. Gene Bruton shared with the group about the death of the director several years ago; but presently, no funds are released without prior approval from School Business or the Office of Charter Schools.  The school is on financial disciplinary status and has been so for several years.  The CSAC decided to postpone their recommendation for charter transfer until all outstanding audits have been received and approved by DPI.

Concerns with Rowan Charter School:

 

Jack Moyer gave a brief overview of the financial and governance concerns that Rowan received notification of from the Office of Charter Schools.  Archie Jarrell, the chairman of the school board, came to represent the school along with a few parents and teachers to speak on the school’s behalf. Chairman Fedewa did mention that Rowan Academy was in a similar situation a few years back; and without the gift of a substantial donation, the school would not have made it through that year.  Now, these issues have resurfaced again.

 

Mr. Jarrell did note the financial difficulties.  The current enrollment is around 82 (having signed an application declaring intent).  The school has met with the “Guiding Light Ministries,” an organization of 10 churches, to attract students to Rowan Academy from these areas. 

 

An outside agency came through and performed a study of student populations surrounding their present location, and those numbers were not that high.  Rowan is seeking to relocate to the old Dunbar Center, which has local historical ties and a much higher surrounding student population.  Further, their recent board additions have connections with local medical centers and Food Lion, which should assist in paying off these debts.  Food Lion has created a foundation in which Rowan could use the interest each year for the school.

 

To cover the standing debt, they have met with the landlord to stop their present rent and have a delay for seeking of funds until September ($21,000).  At that point, they would sit down and create a payment plan.  This plan is not in writing as of yet but is being created by attorneys.  The majority of the funds (roughly $65,000) are due to teachers while other debts are being decreased as funds become available.  The faculty knows of the deficits but seem to be loyal to the school’s mission.  To address the large debt facing them now, they will continue to seek funds from benefactors that have contributed in the past as well as trying to tap into new resources.  If they reduce the debt greatly but still have debt to pay, they will secure a bank loan for the remnant so they can open.

 

The new building is part of the Rowan-Salisbury School System, so the paperwork for building would be minimal.  The present facility is $3,000 plus the additional expenses (insurance, taxes, utilities, etc.) while the new facility will by all-inclusive of $2,500.  This reduction in rent would allow for substantial savings in the budget throughout the year.  Tonight, the local county commissioners will meet to approve or disprove the facility.

 

The school year’s budget is based on 130 kids even though the numbers are below that at the present moment.  A representative from Acadia-Northstar was present and stated that 130 students are required to make the budget work.  Chairman Fedewa noted the quandary of this situation – the school has huge budget concerns but they are doing quite well academically.

 

Mr. Jarrell was quite honest in his synopsis of the situation in that the school may or may not get the debt to zero, thereby, preventing them from opening.  He agreed that past financial difficulties are of huge concern, but this present board has established more continuity than in the past.  The present board members, especially the new additions, came onto the director board with the knowledge of these financial difficulties with a willingness to work on them.  These past donors are, now for the first time, seeing local support.

 

Chairman Fedewa explained that this committee has, in the past, asked for the SBE to revoke charters for such financial difficulties.  The CSAC must look at protecting taxpayer dollars from going into situations where debt would only accrue further.  The concern is that the school does not have a “drop dead date” (if a specific amount of debt is not paid or specific number of students is enrolled, then they should not open). 

 

At the August 18 meeting, the CSAC does want the weekly updates to the Office of Charter Schools (including student enrollment and debt payment).  Also, the school needs to create an exit strategy to be provided to the CSAC for their perusal.  This information will be passed along electronically.  Essentially, the school will either make it or not of their own accord.

Update on Crossroads Charter School:

Jack Moyer provided a status update of the situation as this school.  The school has submitted some answers to the charge given by the CSAC.  The board of directors (now six members) has narrowed the principal selection from 15 candidates to 2, and they will make a decision soon. 

 

Jackie Jenkins has been invited down to provide some board training for them.  She will do a short presentation to them on their roles and responsibilities, public meeting procedures, etc.  These new board members have varied backgrounds and are possibly including a parent on the board.  They have released some of the personnel at the school and are making the difficult decisions to help ease the issues at the school.

Update on Laurinburg Charter School:

 Laura Crumpler provided this update for the committee.  The SBE essentially allowed Laurinburg to remain open for one more year provided they go through the renewal process.  A consultant will visit the school at least once a month, so the school will be strictly supervised.  The school did agree to drop the lawsuits but they also must pay back money owed to the state for student record issues.

CSAC Policy Changes:

The State Superintendent will appoint the chair of the CSAC annually.  The committee remains a fifteen-member group with three-year terms and an allowance of two consecutive terms.  If a person is appointed to fill a vacancy, then they finish that term and are allowed to serve the two consecutive terms.

CSAC Calendar Dates:

Jack Moyer mentioned that the dates are not as standard as in the past because the boardroom is booked quickly.  If the committee does not have to meet (i.e. handled via a conference call), then they will not meet.  One suggestion was to try and have meetings at some charter schools in the state.

 

This led into a discussion of the charter school conference with the changes, plans, and who needs to attend from the CSAC.  A brief overview of the conference was presented as well.

Renewal Procedures:

Jack Moyer went through the new renewal procedures for the 30 schools that need that renewal.  A few, procedural changes were made; but the major change is that this process will be completely electronic.  The schools that appear before the CSAC are the ones that have difficulties and must create Corrective Action Plans.  Their renewal actions will be delayed until the CSAC has a chance to view how their plans were implemented.

 

The schedule cannot be deviated from because of the enrollment/grade expansion timelines are simultaneous.  The enrollment schedule will follow a similar timeline, so December 2005 will be a very busy month to allow these items to go before the SBE.  A discussion ensued that focused on what sort of criteria will be used to determine which schools are allowed to grow.

Consultant Update:

Carl Pridgen discussed his visit (meeting the new principal at Kinston).

 

Jackie Jenkins mentioned the success of Raleigh Charter High School (i.e. their inclusion in the Education Innovator and 9^th ranking in the nation).

 

Joel Medley discussed his visits (i.e. SPARC the issues they are having, Two Rivers needs to get their certificate of occupancy, Franklin Academy opened a brand new building, and Charter Day supplied a newspaper for review).

Fiscal Update:

Karen Frazier reported on the zeroing out of the school year and that budgets are needed coming in regularly.  They were due on Friday, July 15 and a few are still non-existent.

Adjournment

Completing all business, the meeting was adjourned.  The next meeting is August 18, 2005 at 11am.