John Geil

Sandy Carmany

Michael Fedewa

Kate Alice Dunaway

Simon Johnson

Nancy Farmer

Richard Clontz

Tony Cozart

JoAnne Woodard

Absent: John Crowder, Ben Currin, Arlene Ferren

Kathy Taft – Absent

Jack Moyer, Director

Matthew Lanner, Admin. Asst.

Jackie Jenkins, Consultant

Carl Pridgen, Consultant

Joel Medley, Consultant

Philip Price

Laura Crumpler

Scott Douglass

Paul LeSieur

Jack Moyer then walked the committee through the meeting’s agenda.

Tom Williams, from Acadia-Northstar, said that all faculty members and bills were paid through November 18 (which, to his knowledge, was their closing date). The principal and secretary were to remain until November 30 to smooth the transition. He was shocked at their remaining open, and discovered that fact upon a phone call. The school is claiming 66 children and has very little money in the bank. To remain through the rest of the year and pay-off the debt, the school would need $250,000 to finish the year. DPI has funded the school at 38 children and the school has received and expended two-thirds of that money. Mr. Williams stated that nothing, in writing, exists to cover the funds.

Chairman Fedewa stated that the CSAC could not allow another $250,000 debt to be created. The school has been given numerous opportunities to correct the situation, but no such action has been finalized.

A motion to recommend to the State Board of Education that Rowan Academy’s charter be revoked was made by JoAnne Woodard and was seconded by Sandy Carmany. No further discussion occurred and the motion carried unanimously.

Visions Charter School – Craig Willis, the principal of Visions, was in attendance on behalf of the school. The school has increased the student by 9%, but, unfortunately, it leaves the school below 65 students. They presently have 60 students. The previous year’s administration did not fulfill their duties, but the school is not looking at the past but to the future.

The school has four options – (1) shut down because of the forecasted $100,000 deficit by June (2) early reception of funds to make it through January and then have a clean break at the end (3) turn to a school management system to allow them to survive through the end of the year and move into next year with success (they will be meeting with the management firm this afternoon) and finally, (4) find a local benefactor within the next month.

Chairman Fedewa stated that the CSAC cannot recommend a renewal for a school that has less than 65 students. They do have another school year to operate under the present charter, and the school must have more than 65. Mr. Willis mentioned that he is trying to make it through the end of the year. If the school does not make it through January, then the school will shut down in January (at their semester break). The school has 4 teachers, so they do not have room with which to make additional cuts.

Chairman Fedewa wants the school to keep the Office of Charter Schools informed of their present circumstances.

Charter Day School – Baker Mitchell and Mark Cramer were representatives from Charter Day School. Their waiting list is huge and that list has remained every year. They have brought in the number of students and the facility can handle the. Tannis Nelson moved to forward their request to the SBE and Simon Johnson offered a second. The motion carried without dissent.

Guilford Preparatory Academy – a discussion ensued as to the numbers within their charter. Kate Alice Dunaway said that she believed whatever number is listed in their charter should be their number. They do not have to ask for those numbers if that is what their charter states. So, the CSAC affirmed support for her thoughts and stated that no action is needed on this school.

Torchlight Academy – Cynthia and Don McQueen were present representing Torchlight Academy. Tom Williams stated the school’s charter allows for the school to go to 285 students, so the approval is not needed. Kate Alice Dunaway, again, stated that the school’s financial situation is because of a policy from the Financial and Business Services that has not been communicated. Cynthia McQueen stated that she was under the impression that the school could go beyond their MAX to the number of the charter. Jack Moyer stated that the school received a letter stating the number would be 166 (submitted in May), but Mrs. McQueen stated the school did not receive that such communication.

Mr. Williams reminded the committee that a few years ago the school was about to be close with only 14 children. Now, the school is making progress towards getting students (beyond the cap of the school) but is in financial straits because of the situation between the MAX and charter. Mrs. McQueen stated the school is unable to survive because they are serving 47 students beyond what they are receiving funding.

Paul LeSieur, Director of School Business, mentioned that the school has met with him and that School Business would need to see if any additional funds would be available. Presently, the other numbers are continuing to come in and the exact nature of those funds is yet to be determined because of budget cuts. He explained that all adjustment requests are coming in to be considered, and he hopes that information would be ahead by Christmas. He cannot guarantee that funding will be available but will see what is available.

Chairman Fedewa stated that the school would be allowed to grow to 285 because that is what was stated in their charter. Kate Alice Dunaway stated that a serious discussion needed to be undertaken to clarify the law and policies from the financial side – that every student be funded up to the amount in their charter. These changes seem to have occurred recently, so the correct information must be disseminated.

JoAnne Woodard wanted Financial and Business Services to report back on how the situation with Torchlight was resolved. Once the Office of Charter Schools receives the finality of how the policy and procedures are to be implemented, the individual charter school administrators need to be informed. Mr. LeSieur stated that School Business would definitely report back.

Chairman Fedewa wanted to see the updated education plan and how this would fold into what they are currently doing. This plan would show a smooth transition from one segment of population to another. The CSAC would like to see a financial plan and curriculum plan before making a recommendation to the State Board of Education. If those items could be submitted to the CSAC prior to the January 2006 meeting, then the process would move much more smoothly.

Then, the outgoing members were recognized – JoAnne Woodard, Alfred Bryant, Tony Cozart, Sandy Carmany, and Michael Fedewa.

Following the presentation of plaques to outgoing members, the meeting was called back into order.

Chairman Fedewa mentioned that the initial charter was 63, so more than doubling the enrollment will change the focus of the school entirely. Fred Grosse stated that the environment will remain the same (i.e. the program); but they seek to continue the alternative status. Chairman Fedewa questioned why the school would grow so large so fast, especially considering the at-risk population they are serving. The school responded that the need continues to grow in their county as some children are not in school anywhere.

JoAnne Woodard asked if Mecklenburg offered an alternative school for those children. Stacey Rose indicated that the school does offer alternative schools, but that many parents lament their children having to attend the school.

The school has 53,000 square foot facility and will be adding another 10,000 to the building. Also, the present campus has another 14 acres with which to use.

Kate Alice Dunaway indicated her support for the need that the school is filling and used the opportunity to brag on how well their children performed at the NC Charter School conference.

Richard Clontz made a motion to forward the enrollment request to the SBE and it was seconded by JoAnne Woodard. The motion passed without dissent.

Union Academy: Ken Templeton, the principal, was in attendance to represent the school. The school is requesting an additional 50 students beyond the approval by the State Board of Education in the school’s renewal. Union’s facility has expanded and will also open a new gym in January 2006. The gym will open four additional classrooms for the present site. The school has 350 on a waiting list from the summer’s lottery, and they also have a 150 member "second waiting list." The school would create a fourth section at each grade level to completely fill the school. The vast expansion in their area will make the growth easily accessible.

Mr. Moyer shared the STARS and CHAMPS program that began at Union through a dissemination grant. Further, they have increased their outreach to other charter schools and traditional schools as well.

A motion to forward their request to the SBE was made by Richard Clontz and was seconded by Sandy Carmany. The motion carried without dissent.

A question did arise about the numbers in the provided hand-out. The Office of Charter Schools will double-check those numbers and verify the amount.

The school presently teaches the NC Standard Course of Study through the arts. Parents have been requesting that the charter grow into a middle school because no other middle school offers the type of curricular education they need.

Children’s Community School: Joy Warner, the principal along with many teachers and board members, came to represent the school. The school is located in Mecklenburg county and is serving K-4 children. They are seeking to expand into a K-12 school over the next several years due to the county’s expansion and overcrowded schools. The school’s waiting list was in excess of 600 children. This school integrates the arts and implements a hands-on process for their students.

The school has studied schools across the country to see what models exist for their possible adoption. The school has already visited 8 schools across the nation and they are still seeking to visit 9 more schools. The research allowed them to create their vision for the K-12 expansion. The school’s achievement scores are in the 90% range as they have crafted a track record of success. They have also undergone a financial audit and have $200,000 in the bank to be used for future development.

The current facility has an additional 29,000 square feet that would be available for their attainment at this present moment. That site would allow for expansion to middle school but not high school; so the school is seeking to put up a high school facility on separate land. The long-term vision is to take that new site and run the high school grades immediately with the future thought of moving the elementary and middle schools to that new site.

Richard Clontz mentioned that a great need does exist in Mecklenburg, and Kate Alice Dunaway also echoed the need. Chairman Fedewa questioned why the large jump so soon and the track record (i.e. the school has only been in operation for two years). Ms. Warner said that the long-term vision of adding a high school is the goal without the incorporation of modular units. Chairman Fedewa’s concern was the location of the high school being far away from the existing site; however, the school has already begun to seek land within the local community. The lender and developers are working against a timeline as they seek opportunities, so now is the time for them to move.

A motion to recommend their request to the SBE was made by Kate Alice Dunaway and was seconded by Tannis Nelson. Upon no further discussion, the motion carried without dissent.

Queen’s Grant Community School: Ted Biggars, the chairman of the board of directors, was present to represent the school. They did provide a curriculum list and financial statement for the school’s future. Their waiting list is already in excess of 400 children, so they are seeking to expand.

Chairman Fedewa asked why the school would not ask to accommodate K-12. Mr. Biggars stated the school was not ready to immediately go K-12 because the facility would not allow future expansion. They would like to have the year to take care of the facility plans and would reappear for next year.

It was mentioned that the board of the school had already approved the move to K-12 but sought to do so incrementally. The board chairman requested to modify request to K-12 instead of K-9. Chairman Fedewa said that the plan, because of their incremental request, would not be as detailed as he hoped for the full request. The school is NHA, so they would follow the Core Knowledge Curriculum. Chairman Fedewa also asked about the size of the facilities, and they are seeking to house the 9^th grade on-site. Approximately 40 more acres are available for purchase, so the expansion is feasible.

Roughly 20% of the student population is minority while the majority of the population is from the middle class. The school has 5 full-time EC teachers to serve their needy population.

A request was made to forward their request of expansion into 9^th grade to the SBE by Simon Johnson and that motion was seconded by Tannis Nelson. The motion carried without dissent.

Jackie Jenkins visited 16 schools since the last CSAC meeting. She did visit Queen’s Grant and was pleased with what she saw. She also concurred with what two CSAC members observed while at Children’s Community. She also visited Evergreen, which has several rewards, Brevard Academy, Metrolina Regional, Community Charter, Sugar Creek, Lake Norman, Lincoln, Mtn. Discovery, Piedmont Community, Francine Delany, Union, Carolina International (373 students in K-8, opened some new modular buildings, and have revised their structure), Summit, Highland, and Thomas Jefferson Classical.

Joel Medley mentioned that he visited Academy of Moore County, Millennium Charter, Quality Education Academy, Two Rivers Community, and Laurinburg Charter. A copy of his report was provided for the CSAC to review.

Karen Frazier added information about the Governor’s Salary Increase for teachers was available December 1. Also, yesterday, December 7, 2005, Karen had a successful first meeting with financial officers in a training report.

Also, Mr. Moyer shared his board training that was created for Two Rivers and that the principal would stay instead of serving as a short-term solution. He also stopped by Crossnore Academy and Grandfather Academy and was impressed by both schools. Mr. Moyer did share his concern about the transition from the Homes for Children and Grandfather Academy – Homes for Children has developed one employee handbook for all subsidiaries instead of keeping the school a bit separate.

He also covered the letter that Fred Grosse submitted indicating that Lakeside’s charter is being voluntarily relinquished. All of the agency’s focus will be placed upon Kennedy and the needs in the Charlotte area.

In conclusion, Richard Clontz read a poem that was adapted from "Twas the Night Before Christmas" in honor of those departing members. He also presented a stocking for each of those leaving the CSAC.