Reflections from Ms.
Lindalyn Kakadelis, Charter School Advisory Board (CSAB)
Dear Charter Leaders,
What a week! Our prayers are with the schools damaged by
Hurricane Florence. Glad the sun is shinning again in areas hit by storms. Remember – It always seems impossible until
it is done! Hang in there through the
weeks of clean up and repair. Our thoughts are with you!
September CSAB meeting covered several topics.
Dr. Tom Tomberlin discussed the role of the
Professional Educator Preparation and Standards Commission (PEPSC). This Commission makes recommendations to the
State Board regarding all aspects of teacher preparation and licensure.
He also led a discussion regarding the North Carolina
Educator Evaluation System (NCEES).
There has been some confusion whether charter schools are required to
use this system in determining the teacher’s
“proficiency.” CSAB expressed the importance of charter schools having
the flexibility of developing their own teacher evaluation plan. The discussion
ended with the need of further clarifying charter schools’ flexibility.
Dr. Danielle Allen gave an informative update on the
application process. As of last week the
OCS had 45 potential applications.
Ms. Shaunda Cooper reviewed the renewal cohorts for 2019 and
2020. Thirty-five schools are currently
going through the renewal process for 2019 and twenty for the following year.
Charter Schools across the state have been sending in
documents for the “deep-dive” review of the Performance Framework’s
criteria.
Ms. Stephenie Clarke updated
CSAB on this regulatory monitoring report. We appreciate the OCS staff helping
schools accomplish this task.
Mr. Eric Snider, SBE Attorney, briefly described
the process SBE will take sending policies to the NC Rules Review
Commission. He reminded CSAB of the
difference between policies/rules for internal purposes
and external (school) purposes. His office is in the process of determining
which external policies will advance to the Commission.
Mr. Jay Whalen updated CSAB on new initiatives in the Office
of Charter Schools.
He stated that OCS will be having a twitter account to
better promote our schools and send out announcements to the broader
public. OCS is also increasing their
support for low-performing schools by offering two training camps.
Needless to say, the next few months will be our busiest
reviewing applications and renewing charter agreements. Thank you for the work you are doing every
day!
Best,
Lindalyn
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