CHARTER SCHOOLS:  DID YOU KNOW?

Charter schools are EXEMPT from advanced mathematics requirements. Last year’s HB 986 put new requirements on local boards regarding advanced courses in mathematics. The full text is linked here. These requirements do not apply to charter schools.

Hurricane Florence and certified employee leave options

School Leaders:

We are continuing to work to support you during this difficult time following Hurricane Florence. We know how important schools are not just to students, but to educators and communities as well.

This message provides requested guidance to school districts who have had to close schools due to Hurricane Florence. As you know, when schools are closed for students and teachers due to inclement weather or other emergency, LEAs and charter schools must account for the days that employees do not report to work.

There is more than one option for how the LEA or charter school accounts for these days. In addition, the N.C. General Assembly has the authority to allow payment for missed workdays, and they exercised that authority in 2016 after Hurricane Matthew (see the document linked below this message).

At this time, the State Superintendent is reaching out to the General Assembly to discuss the impact of Hurricane Florence on schools and remedies such as calendar flexibility waivers. In the meantime, please see the options below for accounting for missed workdays for certified staff:

Option 1

Pay teachers for the missed workdays and schedule make-up days for teachers. Teachers will have the option to work on the scheduled make-up day or use appropriate leave. All missed workdays must be accounted for by the end of the current fiscal year.

• This option requires less administrative work if the General Assembly does forgive the workdays missed due to Hurricane Florence. LEAs can simply cancel the make-up days.

Option 2

Charge all teachers annual leave for the missed workdays and schedule make-up days. Under this option, LEAs can return the annual leave day to teachers who attend the make-up days and account for those teachers who do not attend. LEAs should ensure proper communication of the plan to its employees. Any negative annual leave balances must be resolved by the end of the fiscal year.

• If the General Assembly forgives the missed workdays, LEAs would be required to refund the annual leave days that were charged to the employees.

These are the two most common options that were used by LEAs and charter schools after Hurricane Matthew. There are certainly other options that allow systems to account for missed workdays. As you develop your organization’s plan for missed workdays, please keep the following in mind:

• A consistent paycheck is essential for employees recovering from an emergency – assigning days without pay to an employee is not the preferred approach.
• Sick leave is not appropriate in most cases. Employees who have suffered personal illness or injury during the emergency may use sick leave, but inclement weather is not an approved use of sick leave.
• All missed workdays must be accounted for by the end of the fiscal year. Employees who separate from the organization prior to the end of the school/fiscal year must account for any missing workdays before a final payout is provided.
• Hourly employees do not have to make up time because they would not report hours during the missed workdays. LEAs and charter schools should consider the financial impact of missed work on these employees.

DPI is here to assist LEAs and charter schools with any HR questions related to Hurricane Florence. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact educatoreffectiveness@dpi.nc.gov or 919-807-3429.

• SL2016-124_Hurricane+Matthew.pd

 NC MTSS

NC MTSS Cohort 5 had three successful area networking meetings with over 50 participants statewide representing various charters.

The days were spent sharing resources and tools, networking, and planning for the school year. Our focus was on teaming, prioritizing, core action planning, and coaching.  Participants overwhelmingly had positive feedback about each the topics and activities.

Specifically, they reported it was a "wonderful day" that was "well-spent" and that they "enjoyed the time to work and collaborate."  

Participants were reminded that there will be follow-up opportunities to receive feedback, coaching, and support through monthly Virtual Coaching Sessions.  These coaching sessions held on the first Wednesday of every month, started September 5th. To learn more or to sign up, please contact your Area IABS Consultant:

• Northeast, North Central and Southeast Regions: Rhonda Harrell - Rhonda.Harrell@dpi.nc.gov
• Northwest, West, and Piedmont-Triad Regions: Jennifer Phelps - Jennifer.Phelps@dpi.nc.gov
• Southwest and Sandhills  Regions: Karmen Mills - Karmen.Mills@dpi.nc.gov

As always, for charter schools who are engaged in Cohorts 1-4, please contact your IABS Regional Consultant.

 The 2018 Charter School Leadership Institute is coming!

 What is it?   

The Charter School Leadership Institute is an annual gathering of charter leaders, staff, and board members from across the state. Join us for informational sessions, hands on workshops, and panel discussions on a wide range of topics including specific tracks for finance and serving special populations. Sign me up!

When is it? 

Great question! Thursday, October 18 (8am-4:30pm) and Friday, October 19 (8am-1pm)

Where is it? 

Even better question! This year’s Institute will be at Pine Springs Preparatory Academy at 220 Rosewood Centre Drive, Holly Springs, NC 27540. Huge thanks to Pine Springs for hosting!

How much does it cost? 

Less fun, but extremely relevant question. The registration fee is $55 per participant.

Where should I stay? 

There are a few options in the immediate vicinity. Here are some recommendations: Hampton Inn and Suites Holly Springs (3.3mi); Comfort Inn Apex (2.7mi); Holiday Inn Express Apex-Raleigh (3.2mi)

What else should I know? 

Lunch will be provided both days. Agendas, speakers, logistics, and more coming soon!

Cash Management and MSA Training (Charter Schools):

We will have a Cash Management and MSA training class for Charter Schools on Friday, October 12, 2018 at the Department of Public Instruction in Raleigh, NC, Room #564 from 10:00 am - 4:00 pm. 

There is no registration fee for the class, but you must register to attend.  The class is designed for those who work in the charter school’s finance office.  The class consists of "Hands-on" training with the emphasis on understanding the monthly financial reports, a brief lecture on Compliance & Monitoring, and a brief overview of the Cash Management System.  Instruction is geared to the beginner or new user and as a refresher for others.  There are only a certain number of seats in the training room, so limited space is available on a first come, first serve basis.

If you would like to attend this class, please provide your name, charter school name, charter school number and email address. 

Please email Roxane Bernard at roxane.bernard@dpi.nc.gov.  If you have questions, please call Roxane Bernard at 919-807-3725.  You will be notified by email when you have been successfully registered for the training class. 

Office of Civil Rights Coordinator Contacts in EDDIE - Last Opportunity to Update

Please inform other staff as appropriate. 

Note:  LEAs, charters and schools that were not open in the school year 2017-18 are not required to participate in this collection. Data for the collection is from the School Year 2017-2018.

The Office of Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) will begin in the winter of the 2018-2019 school year.  To date, the Federal Government has not published an official start date for the collection period, however, starting October 1, 2018, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) will begin populating the CRDC Submission Tool with information about schools and contact information.  The NC DPI will notify the State once an announcement has been made regarding the collection open date. 

LEAs and charters have a final opportunity to verify or update the EDDIE System with two staff who have been identified as the 'Office of Civil Rights Coordinator'.  These staff are the technical contacts for the CRDC and will be responsible for running the PowerSchool CRDC Preview Report, verifying data, correcting and adding data to the Federal CRDC Tool, and certifying in the Federal CRDC Tool when the collection is complete.  Please delete records for OCR contacts no longer with your LEA/charter.

LEAs and charters are also strongly advised to verify or update the Student Information Coordinator contact as well.   Brief instructions for updating EDDIE contacts are located at http://www.nc-sis.org/Documents/OCR/OCR_CRDC_1516_EDDIE_Contacts.pdf. 

The NC DPI will send Superintendent and Office of Civil Rights Coordinator Contacts to the OCR the week of October 1, 2018.

Please contact Terra Dominguez at terra.dominguez@dpi.nc.gov with any questions you may have.

 Communication 1: 

Payroll Object and Purpose codes that provision staff into Truenorthlogic/North Carolina Educator Effectiveness System (TNL/NCEES).

To all Finance/HR/Payroll leads - the Home Base TNL/NCEES system for Staff Evaluations and Professional Development uses a selection of payroll object and purpose codes from the Chart of Accounts to give staff access to TNL/NCEES.

This process is updated nightly with the creation of a TNL Person Import File from data in NCDPI Staff UID (https://cedars.ncpublicschools.gov/staffid/), HR and Licensure.

 This linked document NCEES Data v5 lists all currently approved salary object or combination object and purpose codes that provision staff into NCEES. Staff without one of these salary codes will not be included in the TNL Person Import File and will not have access to TNL/NCEES.

 Please work with the TNL/NCEES lead on requests for updates to the payroll code to provision staff into NCEES. If there is no code that fits, NCEES district leads are asked to open a Remedy Ticket that includes the current salary code, job title, number of staff affected, and what evaluation rubric applies to this job title. These requests will go under review and consideration for approval to be added the approved list of salary codes for TNL/NCEES.

  Communication 2:

 Making staff inactive in Staff UID for TNL/NCEES when staff leave an LEA or Charter

TNL Charter Data Elements

 It is very important for LEA/Charter designated staff responsible for  NCDPI Staff UID updates (https://cedars.ncpublicschools.gov/staffid/) to send an Active Status=No on a staff’s current record in Staff UID when staff leave a district or a make a school move in district. Changing the Active Status=No is critical when staff leaves a district to take employment in another NC LEA or Charter.

Do ASAP: Send an Active Status = No on leaving staff to Staff UID and leave the current payroll code and location code. This needs to be done for the following  two reasons:

1. There is a TNL Person Import file created nightly which uses Staff, Location, a NCEES approved pay code and the active status = Yes to provision staff into NCEES. The Person Import file also uses Active Status = No to inactivate staff in NCEES. If there is not  an Active Status = No the staff remain active in NCEES at that location which leads to the following issues:
2. The staff's Evaluation and Professional plans from the previous district are visible at the next district which is a violation of legislation that states one district should not view the evaluation from another district.
3. When the prior district inactivates the staff, the TNL/NCEES plan is system triggered to deactivate which allows the next district to start new plans that are connected to the current location.

Best practice for staff moving between schools within a district - send the active No to Staff UID for the previous location one day and the next day send the active location. This gives the active location the newest update date in Staff UID.

 Communication 3:  Charter HR Data:

All Charters, not using HRMS or a non-HRMS payroll such as LINQ and regardless if opted-in to Home Base should update their staff HR Data. This updates Teacher Classification in the data systems for NCDPI. Upload staff information per the attached Charter Data Element document to https://www.rep.dpi.state.nc.us/app/hrdata.

Key for classification codes to include:

Career Status (SP2 License) = CLC

Probationary (SP1 License) = CLP

Unlicensed = UNL

Charters must open a Remedy Support Ticket to request their username and password for this upload site. this upload must be updated as teacher classification statuses change.

 CTE Regional Contact Information

Career Technical Education’s Regional Staff is excited about the 2018-2019 school year.  We look forward to working with Charter Schools that offer or are planning to offer Career Technical Education Programs. 

Regional meetings are held regularly throughout the school year.  Meeting groups are generally divided by job functions and include CTE Directors, Instructional Management Coordinators, Career Development Coordinators and Special Populations Coordinators. 

To learn more about the scheduled meetings or for CTE support please contact the Regional Coordinator serving your area.  Have a wonderful year!

Northeast Region; District 1 - Christy Harris Christina.Harris@dpi.nc.gov

Southeast Region; District 2 - Lee O’Neal Lee.ONeal@dpi.nc.gov

North Central Region; District 3 - Bob Gantt Bob.Gantt@dpi.nc.gov

Sandhills Region; District 4 - Ann Callicutt Ann.Callicutt@dpi.nc.gov

Piedmont‐Triad Region; District 5 - Marty Tobey Marty.Tobey@dpi.nc.gov

Southwest Region; District 6 - Vacant (interim contact Ann.Callicutt@dpi.nc.gov)

Northwest Region; District 7 - Lisa Conger Lisa.Conger@dpi.nc.gov

Western Region; District 8 - Anna Hair Anna.Hair@dpi.nc.gov

Thank you & please feel free to contact me as topic in which CTE can partner arise and/or you have information to share.

Ann K. Callicutt

Career and Technical Education Coordinator, Sandhills Region

North Carolina Department of Public Instruction

P. O. Box 293

126-B East Avenue

Seagrove, NC  27341

336-873-7000 Phone

336-872-0004 Fax

ann.callicutt@dpi.nc.gov

How a Technology Department Can Support School Safety”

In October, NCDPI's Digital Teaching and Learning Division is partnering with the School Planning Division and the Center for Safer Schools to hold 8 regional days around the topic of “How a Technology Department Can Support School Safety”  The goal is to bring together cross functional teams consisting of district and school safety directors, technology directors, maintenance directors, and executive leadership to talk about best practices in school safety. Topics may include anonymous reporting apps, surveillance cameras, lock systems, 911 connections, automated call systems, and other topics.

We are asking one representative from each district or charter be responsible for signing up one team to bring to the event in the district or charter's region. The team may consist of up to five people.  Again, potential attendees could include:

• Superintedent/Assistant Superintendent/Charter School Executive
• CTO/Technology Director
• Maintanence Director
• School Safety Director

To Register for the Event please follow this link:     How a Technology Departments Can Support School Safety Registration     

The dates for the events are as follows:

October 8: Region 1 -Wayne County Public Schools

October 9:  Region 2 - Beaufort County Schools

October 10:  Region 5 - Guilford Technical Community College

October 15:  Region 3 - McKimmon Center

October 17:  Region 8 - Asheville Event Center

October 18:  Region 7 - Wilkes Community College

October 22:  Region 4 - Cumberland County

October 23:  Region 6 - UNC Charlotte

Sign-in starts at 9 and the agenda will begin promptly at 9:30.  

Agenda:

9:30 - 9:35:  Welcome

9:35 - 10: 20:  Safety Best Practices - School Planning

10:20 - 11:05:  Anonymous Reporting Tool Requirements

11:05 - 11:35:  911 Communications

11:35 - 12:00:  Local Spotlights

12:00 - 1:00:  Lunch and Networking

1:00 - 2:30:  Roundtable Discussions

Lunch will be included as part of the day.  Additional details and confirmation will be sent to the email addresses provided prior to the event. 

If you have any questions, please contact Nathan Craver, nathan.craver@dpi.nc.gov or Jill Darrough, jill.darrough@dpi.nc.gov

Nathan Craver

Data, Assessment, and Continuous Improvement Consultant

N.C. Department of Public Instruction

(336) 448-4178

 NC EVAAS Exploration Summit Save the Date & Call for Proposals

We are pleased to inform you that SAS is hosting the third annual NC EVAAS Exploration Summit on Thursday, November 15, 2018, at SAS World Headquarters in Cary, NC.

What is this?

The NC EVAAS Exploration Summit is an engaging and informative daylong event focused on using data to drive school improvement and fostering student growth. Sessions led by North Carolina educators and SAS EVAAS trainers will help you to learn and share best practices, build a network of data leaders, and expand your EVAAS toolkit. There is no charge to attend the summit, and participants will receive conference certificates to request continuing education units (CEUs) as determined by their district.

Call for Proposals

To provide the most engaging and useful sessions to attendees, the Summit is asking for presenter proposals. If your district currently engages in effective EVAAS practices, please have your data leaders register for the conference and submit a proposal highlighting your district’s best practices.

The session topics will focus on three key areas:

·      School Improvement

·      Supporting Students Equitably

·      Teachers & Data for Continual Growth.  

Proposals will be accepted until September 12, 2018.  Please submit your call for proposals here by September 12, 2018 at 5:00 pm. 

 Who should attend?

Our goal is to have educational leaders who promote data leadership and are interested in how EVAAS can support them. Each district should coordinate the participation and registration of three leaders.

Participants can be district-level administrators, principal leaders, data coaches, and educational leaders at the district, school and classroom level.

What is next?

Registration will open soon.  You and some of your district leaders will receive an email from usersconnections@sas.com with additional information about registration, featured speakers, hotels, and deadlines. November 15th is fast approaching, so we encourage your 3-person district team to save the date! In the meantime, if you have any questions, please contact us at usersconnections@sas.com.

We look forward to seeing your district’s data leaders at the NC EVAAS Exploration Summit!

Guidance for Homebound and Modified Day Placements

Please see the attached memo and guidance document.

The guidance document is the product of stakeholder collaboration - professionals from schools, advocacy organizations, community disability and mental health providers.

It is designed to guide IEP teams that are considering a homebound or modified day placement for a child and represents the collective thoughts of the stakeholder group on best practices to be followed by IEP teams.

This document should be used in conjunction with the North Carolina Policies Governing Children with Disabilities, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the federal regulations. It reinforces the basic legal requirement that every child is entitled to a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment; and it supports teams in their efforts to implement that requirement. 

• Memo+-+Homebound.Modified+Day.pdf
• HB+Document.FINAL.9.13.18.pdf