CSAC Minutes -  September 22, 2005

 NC Charter School Advisory Committee Meeting

State Board of Education 7^th Floor Meeting Room

NC Department of Public Instruction

 

September 22, 2005

 

Draft Minutes

 

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

 

Welcome/Approval of Draft Minutes:	Chairman Fedewa, when a quorum was met, called the meeting to order.  Mr. Moyer walked the committee through the agenda and the contents of the packet.   The draft minutes from the July 21, 2005 meeting and the September 15, 2005 conference call were presented for review.  The Conference Call minutes were approved by amending them with the inclusion of comments that Tannis Nelson submitted via fax.  The July minutes were approved without discussion.   A motion was made to go into Closed Session, was seconded, and the Charter School Advisory Committee moved into such session.  Upon completion of that discussion, the CSAC moved back into open session.
Update:  Rowan Academy	Mr. Archie Jarrell, the board chair, was present representing Rowan Academy.  The school has 40 children, which is below the 65 number and the budget projections they needed to eradicate the deficit.  Their move to the Dunbar Center was denied due to a move by the local board of education, and this occurred 3 days prior to moving.  The school opened September 6, which led to the decrease in student population from the 110 children that were slated to enroll.  A forthcoming article in the local newspaper will be printed indicating an open house, and the school has also run advertisements in the paper and on the radio.  The school has cut costs by dropping kindergarten completely.   Chairman Fedewa questioned him about the need to pay off the deficit required 130 students and the “drop dead date” for relinquishing the charter.  Mr. Jarrell stated that the board voted to remain open, despite the information at another CSAC meeting, because of possible donations from contributors.  He also added the break-even point for this year’s operation is 105 children; but to take care of the debt, the school needs 130 children.  The school can remain solvent based on early allotments through October but not beyond that point.    Richard Clontz asked Mr. Jarrell what is in the best interest of the children, and he replied that Rowan Academy remain open because of its quality of education despite the financial difficulties.  Chairman Fedewa asked a clarifying question – would it still be in their best interest if the school had to close after two months?  With the student transfers, Mr. Jarrell said it would not be best for the students to remain.  Simon Johnson spoke on Rowan’s behalf stating that the lower performing children are making it at this charter school while they may not be doing so at the LEA.  Kathy Taft, of the SBE, mentioned the board policy (i.e. schools must serve more that 65 students) and that schools needed to be treated equally in governance issues.   Tony Cozart asked about the situation on the previous lease, and Mr. Jarrell stated they were not making payments on that lease.  However, the previous chairman paid $135,000 to own the property with a verbal agreement for no charge.  He then asked for them to make the monthly payments, and the school did so.  Rowan did miss a few payments and a lawsuit commenced, which has gone through much wrangling.  Rowan did leave the playground equipment (valued around $50,000) and hope to use that in negotiations.   After discussing options, the CSAC decided to allow them to return to the October meeting as the final say.  Rowan, if they get above 65 students, must provide documentation of the number of students and the financial commitments.  If the school is not above 65 students, they need to submit an exit strategy for relinquishing their charter.
Update:  East Winston Primary School	No representatives from East Winston were present to speak on their behalf.    Scott Douglass highlighted his visit of only having 14 students enrolled.  He physically counted 11 students.   Paul LeSieur stated that Katrina evacuees would be considered as part of their ADM; but his concern is that the charter is targeting a specific population.  Further, the numbers of those children in Winston-Salem is unknown.  Paul LeSieur returned at the end of the meeting to state that 42 Katrina evacuees are enrolled in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School system.   A motion was made by John Geil and seconded that the CSAC recommend to the State Board of Education that they initiate revocation of East Winston Primary School’s charter.  The motion carried and will be forwarded to the SBE for their consideration.
Update:  Two Rivers Community School	No representatives from Two Rivers were present to speak on their behalf.   Jack Moyer walked the CSAC through the packet of information dealing with Two Rivers having children in school without proper safety documentation and after being instructed not to have children in those facilities.  He shared the information contained in the July 11, 2005 letter mailed to the director, Linda Rigell well in advance of this situation.  The consultant for the school, Joel Medley, has also communicated on numerous occasions (site visits, emails, phone calls) with the school about the need for a certificate of occupancy.  The school also kept the children in school for another week after Jack Moyer directed them not to have school.   John Geil asked about the letter from the Appalachian State University attorney stating the facility was acceptable.  Laura Crumpler did speak with this attorney and he drafted the letter to be of assistance to the school.  During the conversation, it became apparent that he did not know of the charter school requirements and had been mislead in this process.  Linda Rigell asked him to write a letter stating the facility was safe but did not know this would be used to put primary and elementary children into the building.  The letter’s intent was to describe the facility as an educational building, and he is not in the position to describe the local codes required for young children.   Mr. Geil then added that Two Rivers has not satisfied the requirements needed to open a school; so the school cannot be opened.  Official documentation must be provided from the appropriate authorities.   Mr. Moyer then asked if the 3 weeks operated without a certificate of occupancy should be counted as the school days.  The School Business Division would have to sort out that answer.  He also asked about the required 180 days for a school year.  The school would have to address that issue whether it involved Saturday school, no spring break, or holiday break.  The local code enforcement must be made aware to see if they actually hold school.   A motion was made by John Geil and seconded by Sandy Carmany for the CSAC to back the Office of Charter Schools that the school not be open until they satisfy all the requirements in the charter.  The motion carried without dissent.    Representatives from Two Rivers are also required to be in attendance at the October 20, 2005 meeting to answer for their falsehoods.
Lunch Adjournment:	A break for lunch ensued, and the CSAC would reconvene at 1:15pm.
Renewals:	The CSAC reconvened and began to discuss the renewal phase and how this year it was modified via conference call.  The committee will not be voting on schools today but serves as a time for additional questions to be answered.  The sub-committee chair served as the facilitator for the individual discussions.   Sterling Montessori – Kate Alice Dunaway began with the questions of the committee (late SIMS data and missing information in the self-study).  Mike Jordan, the director, addressed the issues with SIMS, which were more transmission related than lack of data; and the school has been through 3 different SIMS managers in the last few years.  Also, the school runs a 190-day school calendar, which may skew the results.  He assured the committee that the issues have been corrected.   Chairman Fedewa asked Mr. Douglass if he would concur with the analysis of the director.  Mr. Douglass concurred with synopsis that the ample progress was being made, and the majority of the tardy reports were some time back.   Tannis Nelson asked about addressing the certification areas, and Mr. Jordan stated that their auditors were finalizing the audit.  They verbally indicated that the school would be in compliance.  Mr. Jordan also added that classrooms are grouped in multi-age areas, so that makes the issue a bit more difficult.   In asking about the accountability data, they did re-submit that information and was included in their packets.  The performance composite was included but the break down by grade was missing.  No Algebra I scores were tabulated from 2003-2004 because it was not offered, but that course is being again added.  The school did not have any recognition for several years and they are going to resubmit that information.   Ann Atwater – Alfred Bryant facilitated the discussion by listing the concerns (i.e. EC issues and a decrease in student enrollment).  Gayle Erdheim, the principal, and several board members were present for the discussion.  Joel Medley passed along the information from Bobbie Grammar in the EC department that satisfied those questions.   Regarding enrollment, the school has struggled with the mission – they made an effort to serve struggling students, so their perception has become one of an alternative school.  With that mission, they have struggled to attain a high population comfortable with alternative students and more traditional students intermixed.  The school has 64 students enrolled today, which Chairman Fedewa pointed out was a SBE policy issue.  To address the issue, the school is working with a core of school families to reach into the community to support.  The marketing arm of the school, by Ms. Erdheim’s own admission, has been much lacking.  Last year the school had 85 on the last day of school, but now, the 20th day, they only have 64; so knowledge of why they have left is unknown (i.e. no exit interviews being performed).   Chairman Fedewa indicated that the CSAC would have a difficult time recommending renewal if they do not have more than 65 children.  He charged them to be above 65 by the meeting in which decisions are being made.    Regarding the grade configuration (formerly 4-12 now 6-10), Chairman Fedewa asked why the change had been done.  The school dropped the 4th and 5th grades because of the satisfaction of parents with LEA elementary schools.  The parents of the younger children had issues with their children being on buses and in the same facility as the older, more alternative students.   Lakeside – Alfred Bryant facilitated the discussion again and listed the issues – low certification numbers, low student performance, and not matching the population.  The principal, President of Elon Homes, the principal of Kennedy Charter School, and the director of program were present on Lakeside’s behalf.   Low teacher certification numbers were due to the population pool and demands of salary.  They had 4 highly qualified teachers apply, and the school has hired 2 of those individuals.  Of the two not hired, one wanted too much money and the other was not comfortable with the population of students.    Chairman Fedewa asked about the list of alternative status, but it was not included in the document.  He clarified that their alternative status does remove them from that specific set of standards.  The school will go back and resubmit the information to DPI for clarification.  Last year was the first year of their alternative status and that changed the viewing – they look at attendance, parent involvement, and a final one could not be remembered.  It appears that they did not complete the form accurately, so the alternative status changes everything.    The faculty not reflecting the student population is also due to the lack of numbers in hiring.  The school has done extensive advertisement to recruit personnel.  They have 7 teachers and 5 others for a total of 12.  Of the 12 staff members, 4 are minorities.  With the student population, 58 students are not residents of the Elon Home, which leave about 12 that are residents.  The enrollment has grown tremendously in the past year due to marketing.    The school is officially asking for 10 years.  The confusion arose over communication from the Office of Charter Schools, so that error may have been on our part.  We will go back and examine the issue.  The questions that arose over cover sheets and letter of intent were faxed to the Office of Charter Schools instead of incorporating that with the document.   Dr. Grosse described the initiative with the school and how they are working to serve the students as both a recovery and preventative manner.  His discussion helped clarify those matters and a resubmission will be forthcoming.   Quality Education – Alfred Bryant facilitated the discussion for Quality Education, which focused on the drop in student enrollments.  Simon Johnson admitted that his school has that issue and is working on resolving that matter.  The school is perceived as a school that helps those children who are struggling, and they do so.  Parents see the results and pull those students to place them back in the regular LEAs.  They are now running parent empowerment groups to make sure the relationships are forged and maintained.  They ended the year at 104 but began this year with 206.   Chairman Fedewa also asked about the number of certified teachers in 7th grade.  They rotate through, so the teachers are certified.  He will correct that minor and get that back to us.
Open Discussion by the CSAC:	It was opened for comment by all members of the CSAC instead of subcommittee viewpoints only.  The following schools were mentioned.   Community Charter – financial issues, staff certification, uninsured money.  The uninsured money was from the 03-04 audit and has been corrected.  The licensure has been nearly corrected.  Gray Stone Day – the state language issue has been addressed and internal controls.  Karen Frazier has been down to train their finance officer. John Baker – their reporting issues are due to connectivity issues and someone hacking into their system.  The dealing with county government took time, and Mr. Douglass said that it has been fixed. Learning Center – the cautionary status was in the past but now they have been removed.  The certification issues have one teacher with an expired license, but they are in compliance with 5 of 6 teachers. Mountain Discovery – their licensure numbers have been resolved.   Kate Alice Dunaway wanted a report from the consultants on the schools that had questions but not to the point of bringing them back before the CSAC.
Renewal Process:	Jack asked questions about the committee’s review of the reports.  His concern was that several schools accountability data fluctuated greatly, but those schools were left unquestioned.  His advice was for the group to think through these numbers about raising the bar because, if we do not do so, we are not doing our job.   Chairman Fedewa reviewed information from the past in that the CSAC stipulated that low performing was the great question in accountability.  The ultimate responsibility for the charter school, in fact, falls upon the parents because if the school does not perform, the children are pulled.  He went one step further and said that we have a responsibility to being schools before the CSAC whenever they are having difficulties.   John Geil suggested that we begin to look at the renewal rubric so that we can make sure that each school is doing what they should be doing.
Consultant and Fiscal Update:	Carl Pridgen had no schools to report on.   Jackie Jenkins mentioned her findings at Socrates.  The school has an entirely certified staff but they did open with 64 students serving K-1 children.  The curriculum is in place and the facility is in great shape.  She has visited Carolina International School but the school, to her knowledge, is not meditating as they were in the past.   Joel Medley spoke about the great things happening at STARS Charter in Vass.  Their facility is about to begin construction, and hopefully, both phases will be completed by August 2006.   Karen Frazier brought an update on Downtown Middle and Carter G. Woodson with the questions from the renewal phase.  They have corrected all their issues.  Also, 34% of the allotments were delivered to the schools and more would be following throughout the year.   Jack Moyer shared highlights of his visit to Laurinburg Charter.  He discovered only 23 students present and 47 on the SIMS roster, but two of those children were there for the second day and did not even have a schedule.  The testing coordinator is the same person as it was last year.  A copy of the report did go to Dr. Bitting, the chair of the board of directors.  On the finance side, the school is 3 months behind in their payments to the state.  Mr. LeSieur commented further about the back-payments owed to the school.  He has allowed the school to use state funds to pay a claim that surfaced in small claims court.  This prevents them from being labeled “in contempt” but they will, again, have to reimburse the state for those loans.
Chairman Fedewa’s Charge:	He hopes that those who are looking to replace the 7 rotating members would attend some meetings to identify with the process.  He also wanted the present members scheduled to rotate off to consider coming back to prevent such a great turnover.
Adjournment	Completing all business, the meeting was adjourned.  The next meeting is October 20, 2005 at 11am.

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