NCDPI Office of Charter Schools (OCS) Updates
From the Desk of Mr.
Dave Machado, Director, Office of Charter Schools
It has been a fast six months since I had the honor of
being named your Executive Director of the Office of Charter Schools. I am very
appreciative of the warm welcome I have received from the OCS staff, NCDPI staff,
and most importantly from you, the charter school stakeholders across the
state.
Our office has challenged ourselves to provide our schools with the best
customer service possible and I hope that you have experienced the service we offer to charter schools. We are
committed to our new Mission and Core Values:
Office Of Charter School’s Mission:
In conjunction with the SBE and CSAB, the Office of Charter Schools works to ensure the existence of high quality public charter schools by providing guidance and monitoring oversight to charter school non-profit board of directors and charter schools through a rigorous approval process, effective oversight, and meaningful collaboration.
Core Values:
- Service
- Teamwork
- Accountability
- Reliability
- Accuracy
There are many professional development opportunities
available in the upcoming months provided by our office and NCDPI. Continue to check out our
newsletter for more information. Our office is here to answer any questions you
might have and to navigate our schools through the many laws and statutes that
effect all of us. Please use OCS as the source for information, if we do not
have the answer, we will get it for you.
Additionally, begininng January 2017, OCS will welcome a new staff member Mr. Craig Tucker. Please join OCS as we welcome Craig to our office.
On behalf of Deanna, Kebbler, Brian, Mary, Cande, and
Shaunda, I hope you and your families have a wonderful holiday season and
prosperous New Year!!
 Training Opportunity
Board members from charter schools that are opening in 2017 are required to attend 5 face-to-face planning year sessions from September to January. The school leader and some of the board members are also required to attend the New Charter School Leaders Institute in June.
As a customer service, the Office of Charter Schools continues to open up these sessions to all charter schools. If you have a new school leader and/or a new board member interested in attending any of the sessions, he or she must register to attend.
The next session is scheduled on Wednesday, January 25th. Registration is now open for this session, which will focus on planning for day one and beyond. Agenda topics will include licensure, grants, EDDIE, and other items of importance. Registration ends on Monday, January 16th.
Please use this Planning Year #5 Registration Link to register.
For questions, please contact Dr. Kebbler Williams at kebbler.williams@dpi.nc.gov.
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Community Charter School Assumption Notice
On November 16, 2016, the Charter Schools Advisory Board (CSAB) interviewed Community Charter School to determine its renewal status. The interview, board discussion, and data review of enrollment, finances, and academic performance, resulted in an “Assumption” recommendation to the State Board of Education from the CSAB for Community Charter School.
At its December 1, 2016 meeting, the State Board of Education (SBE) accepted the recommendation of the CSAB to allow another entity to assume Community Charter School.
Attached is information on the assumption process. Please contact the Office of Charter Schools with questions or concerns at 919-807-3491.
Attachment: (pdf, 116kb)
 NC Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) Updates
Flexibility in School Calendar to Accommodate Extraordinary
Circumstances
S.L. 2016-124 (HB2) became law on December 15, 2016. This legislation
provides a waiver of some makeup days for any local education agency (LEA) that
closed any school during the month of October 2016 due to the inclement weather
conditions related to Hurricane Matthew. If the school was closed for at
least 2 consecutive school days, the school is deemed to have completed any
scheduled instruction hours and days in excess of those 2 days. All teachers
and school employees will be paid as if they had worked the scheduled
instructional days missed due to Hurricane Matthew in excess of those 2 days.
For example, a school in the LEA was closed 5 days due to Hurricane Matthew.
The school is required to make up 2 of the 5 days missed. The LEA does
not have to make up the additional 3 days and all teachers and other school
employees will be paid as if they had worked these days.
Any regional school under the direction of a regional board that was closed
during the month of October 2016 due to the inclement weather conditions
related to Hurricane Matthew, follows the same process as a local education
agency as described above.
Any charter school closed during the months of October or November due to
the inclement weather conditions related to Hurricane Matthew or to wildfires
in the western part of the State for at least 2 consecutive school days, does
not have to make up days in excess of those 2 days.
If a local education agency or charter school has made-up some or all of the
missed days, the impacted employees are not to be paid again for those days
based on this legislation. In other words, an employee’s annual days of
compensation (215 for teachers or 185 for some teacher assistants) cannot be
exceeded based on this legislation.
S.L. 2016-124 requires the LEA to pay all employees (regardless of the
source of funds) for days missed in October due to Hurricane Matthew in excess
of the 2 days that the schools are required to make up. This requirement
includes LEA employees who are paid from federal funds – eg, child
nutrition workers are required to be paid. The responsibility to pay the
federally-supported workers falls to the LEAs.
If you have questions, please
call Gwendolyn Tucker @ 919.807.3708 or gwendolyn.tucker@dpi.nc.gov
DPI will provide a Q&A document on our website based on the LEAs calls and
emails.
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2016 Special Session Legislative Update
Please
see the attachment below for the Legislative Update on the Special
Session.
Attachment: Legislative+Update+12.21.16.pdf
 Charter School Curriculum Leaders Collaborative (CLC)
The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction is
pleased to announce the first annual Curriculum Leaders Collaborative for
Charter Schools beginning in early 2017!
The purpose of this optional 4-day
Curriculum Leaders Collaborative will be to provide charter school
administrators who are responsible for the implementation of content standards
with a process for discussing how professional development, technical
assistance/coaching, communication/visibility and research/evaluation can
support quality implementation that can be sustained and monitored for
fidelity.
Dates and applications will be announced in early 2017. We hope you
will consider this opportunity to connect with colleagues across the state as
we deepen capacity for effective problem solving and standards implementation!
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Charters In the News
Sugar
Creek Charter School Leading the Way
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