Charter Schools Advisory Board Membership
The Charter Schools Advisory Board (CSAB) consists of eleven voting members. Attached is a spreadsheet of the current CSAB members.
Per G.S. 115C-218, the group is comprised of the following:
- The State Superintendent of Public Instruction, or the
Superintendent's designee, shall be the secretary of the Advisory Board and a
nonvoting member.
- The Chair of the State Board of Education shall appoint a
member of the State Board to serve as a nonvoting member of the Advisory
Board.
- The Advisory Board shall consist of the following 11 voting members: (a.) Three members appointed by the Governor, including the chair of the
Advisory Board; (b.) Three members appointed by the General Assembly upon the
recommendation of the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, in
accordance with G.S. 120-121; (c.) Three members appointed by the General Assembly upon the
recommendation of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, in
accordance with G.S. 120-121; (d.) One member appointed by the State Board of Education who is not a
current member of the State Board of Education and who is a charter
school advocate in North Carolina; and (e.) The Lieutenant Governor or the Lieutenant Governor's designee.
As the CSAB makes its recommendations to the State Board of Education (SBE) the mission of the CSAB is always considered. The mission of the CSAB is working to ensure
the existence of high quality charter schools in North Carolina.
Attachment: Charter Schools Advisory Board - Member Contact Information (pdf, 196kb)
 Union Charter Academy State and National School of Character Presentation
The North Carolina Charter
Schools Advisory Board met Tuesday and Wednesday, Nov. 15-16,
in the 7th Floor Board Room, Education Building, 301 N. Wilmington Street,
Raleigh. The agenda for this meeting is attached.
During the November 16, 2016, the CSAB heard from the Leaders of Union Charter Academy on its National and State Recognition as a School of Character. The leaders of the school, including the Head of School, Dr. Ann Walters, presented information about how the recognition was achieved and how character is an integral part of the school.
Attachments: 1115 CSAB Draft Agenda.pdf
1116 CSAB Draft Agenda.pdf
|
Charter School Application Reviews
The CSAB committees began the review and clarification phase for 11 of the 38 applicants proposing to open in 2018-19 on November 15, 2016. Five of the 11 applicants appearing before the CSAB committees requested special consideration to open during the 2017-18 school year. The 5 applicants did not meet the minimum requirements to accelerate or fast track their proposed school opening which resulted in the CSAB committees denying these requests at this time. While the applicants were not granted their special requests, the CSAB committees considered each application for the 2018-19 school opening.
Of the 11 applicants appearing before the CSAB committees for the review and clarification phase of the process, 7 received a recommendation of the full CSAB to move forward to the interview opportunity with the full CSAB during its December 8 - 9, 2016 meeting. The schools moving forward to interview include:
- High Point Charter Academy
- West Lake Preparatory Academy
- Union Preparatory Academy at Weddington
- North Wake Preparatory Academy
- Bonnie Cone Classical Academy
Attached below is the approved application timeline and process which details what happens with each phase of the application process for schools proposing to open in 2018-19.
Attachment: 2016 Charter Application Timeline and Process (pdf, 86kb)
 Assumption Policy Revision
The attached draft version of TCS-U-017
contains amendments to the policy proposed by the Charter Schools Advisory
(CSAB) board upon recommendation from the Office of Charter Schools at its
November 2016 meeting, consistent with House Bill (HB) 242, which directs the following:
"If a charter school is continually
low-performing, the State Board is authorized to terminate, not renew, or seek
applicants to assume the charter through a competitive bid process established
by the State Board. However, the State Board shall not terminate or not renew
the charter of a continually low-performing charter school solely for its
continually low-performing status if the charter school has met growth in each
of the immediately preceding three school years or if the charter school has
implemented a strategic improvement plan approved by the State Board and is
making measurable progress toward student performance goals. The State Board
shall develop rules on the assumption of a charter by a new entity that
includes all aspects of the operations of the charter school, including the
status of the employees. Public assets shall transfer to the new entity and
shall not revert to the local school administrative unit in which the charter
school is located pursuant to G.S. 115C-218.100(b)."
To help guide the assumption process, the Office of Charter Schools recommended
a Process and Timeline (attached) which the CSAB discussed and slightly
adjusted on November 15, 2016.
Attachment: CSAB
November Assumption Documents
|
 Charter School Renewals
32 charter schools have requested to renew their charters before the June 30, 2017 expiration date. The Office of Charter Schools (OCS) and the board of directors at each school provided data to the CSAB at its October 2016 regarding the academics, finances, operations, and governance. Any school that met the statutory requirements (G.S. 115C - 218.95) for a 10-year renewal did not have to appear before the CSAB at its November 2016 meeting.
Nine (9) schools appeared before the CSAB on November 16, 2016 to present additional data to help the CSAB make a renewal recommendation to the State Board of Education. While preliminary recommendations were made for 23 of the school in October 2016 and the remaining 9 this month, the preliminary recommendations will appear on the CSAB's December 2016 agenda for their final recommendation to the State Board of Education with the exception of one school. Community Charter School, located in Charlotte, NC, received an assumption recommendation which will move forward to the State Board of Education in December for their consideration and final decision.
|
Reflections from Mr. Alex Quigley, Chair, Charter Schools Advisory Board
First, I want to say Happy Thanksgiving to all our charter
schools and partners across the state. I hope you can take some time to step
back, relax, and appreciate the privilege we all have to work as educators in
North Carolina. I also want to extend our prayers to those schools, student,
and families, impacted by the fires in the west.
The CSAB entered into it's "busy" season this
month with the first round of application reviews and a series of renewal
interviews. Over the next five months, our board will delve deeply into each of
the new applications and work to determine which ones meet our standards for a Ready-to-Open recommendation to the State Board of Education.
We have improved
upon our application review process in two critical ways:
1.
We have provided an additional opportunity for in-person
clarification at the first review, thereby
removing the unwelcome burden
applicants faced last year to respond in writing to external
reviewers.
2.
We have also divided first reviews into our two committees,
enabling board members to focus
deeply on a subset of applications during the
first review, which will ensure that only high-quality
applicants/applications will make it
to final interview with the full CSAB board.
We believe these improvements will further
increase transparency and rigor in the authorization process for new charter schools.
In the renewal process, we utilized the rubric, staff
recommendations, and our evaluation of the presentation of each school to arrive
at our recommendations to the State Board of Education. In reflecting on this
process, which often leads to some difficult decisions regarding the fate of
schools across the state, I am compelled to impress upon all schools to think
far ahead of the renewal process when considering how to ensure your school's
long-term stability. Renewal planning should begin at a minimum of three years ahead
of the actual renewal date, and should be at the top of mind of any Director. Keeping a
10 year renewal goal as core, ongoing, strategic planning, Directors and Boards can
stay focused and work towards ensuring they are meeting their mission and are in
compliance over a multi-year period.
Thank you for all you do to ensure that we provide
high-quality charter schools for children in North Carolina. I look forward to
working alongside each of you and the Charter School Advisory Board as we work
to grow the effectiveness and scale of the charter movement in North Carolina.
|
