NCDPI Office of Charter Schools (OCS) Updates
CHARTER SCHOOLS: DID YOU KNOW?
Bylaw revisions are only officially approved and adopted once you have received confirmation from our office of approval.
Bylaws are incorporated into the original charter application and revisions need to go through our office for school records. These amendments are required by SBE Policy CHTR-014. The date on the approval letter from our office would be the official adoption date of your board’s new bylaws. A board’s vote to amend/revise the bylaws must be followed with approval from our office. The Office of Charter Schools recommends that all boards retain record of approval from our office and any supporting documentation for all bylaw revisions. Many grievances arise out of a board’s improper bylaw modifications. Protect your board by following SBE policy. If you have further questions or would like to submit an amendment, please contact Ashley Baquero at Ashley.baquero@dpi.nc.gov.
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Board members from charter schools that are opening in 2019 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. Please note the remainder of the schedule below:
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Time
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Location
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Topic
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January 30, 2019
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8:00 - 4:15
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DPI: Room 150
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Our School Opens in 7 Months! Now What?
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June 11 - 12, 2019
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8:00 - 5:00
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DPI: Rooms 150, 224, 564
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New Charter School Leaders Institute
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Registration is now open for the January session. Registration ends on Sunday, January 20th. Please use this link to register: https://goo.gl/forms/iyzXBEF9lEwdU86n1
For questions, please contact Dr. Kebbler Williams at kebbler.williams@dpi.nc.gov or 919-807-3598.
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2019 Performance Framework January Submission
OCS collects evidence of operational, financial, and academic compliance through the Charter School Performance Framework (PF). Please find the submission criteria due on Thursday, January 31, 2019.
Deadline- January 31, 2019- All Schools
A01.1 – School Performance Score and Letter Grade
A06.1 – Board Admissions and Enrollment Policy
A06.2 – Lottery Application
A08.1 – Parent Grievance Policy
A08.2 – Employee Grievance Policy
A14 – Certificate of Occupancy
Information will be collected through a new web-based document management tool called Epicenter. In November 2018, the Office of Charter Schools hosted four (4) in person training sessions across the state. Here is a link to a web-based version of training on how to use Epicenter.
Submission tasks have been assigned to all schools, including items that may be deemed Not Applicable. Each submission task in Epicenter contains submission instructions and lists the acceptable file formats. Please read and follow the instructions provided in Epicenter.
All schools must submit the required documents per the established reporting timelines. While the submissions are divided over the course of several months, schools are invited and able to submit any items ahead of the defined due dates if doing so is more convenient.
Below you will find links to additional resources:
2019 Charter School Performance Framework Document List
Epicenter FAQ – How to Satisfy a Task Not Listed in the Tasks Queue
Epicenter FAQ – How to Edit a Submission
January Submission Resources
For questions regarding the 2019 Charter School Performance Framework, please contact Stephenie Clark at (919) 807-3492 or stephenie.clark@dpi.nc.gov .
For technical support, please contact the Epicenter Support Center at (855) 899-1624 or support@epicenternow.org .
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NCCAT Conference: Advocacy & Best Practices - The Charter School Connection
Contact: Karen Sumner (Karen.Sumner@nccat.org) or Jay Whalen (Jay.Whalen@dpi.nc.gov)
Join us in Cullowhee, NC on January 28-31, 2019 for the annual NCCAT Charter Conference. This program, designed specifically for charter school teachers, will focus on teacher leadership through advocacy, best practices, and school growth. We will explore how teachers can better advocate for their specific school and charters in general, and how to utilize your own leadership style to help support school initiatives. Teachers will learn best practices in STEM, literacy development, and digital learning and discuss ways to model these practices in your schools.
Interested participants must apply online and a select number of attendees will be selected. One teacher per charter school may apply and spots are limited. Apply Here!
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 SECU Foundation ----- People Helping People
You are cordially invited to the
2019 “People Helping People” Scholarship
Webinar Training for spring scholarship submissions $$$$!
When: Tuesday, January 22, 2019
Register at the link below
https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/6974698530617328898
Each year the State Employees' Credit Union Foundation awards three $10,000 scholarships to graduating seniors attending North Carolina Charter Schools. These scholarships will be awarded to students attending one of the 16 constituent campuses of the University of North Carolina.
Contact Ms. Shaunda Cooper at 919-807-3490 or through email at Shaunda.Cooper@dpi.nc.gov
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Socrates Academy was named a Blue Ribbon School and recognized at the SBE December meeting. In the picture are:
Dr. Antonis Sylianou and Mr. Larry Peroulas and Ms. Sandra Brighton
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2019 North Carolina Charter School Teacher of the Year
The Office of Charter Schools is excited to announce that Doug Price has been named the 2019 NC Charter School Teacher of the Year! Doug is the sixth grade Core Connections teacher at Voyager Academy Middle School in Durham. Please join us in congratulating Doug!
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NC Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) Updates
Early Bird Registration Opens January 4th
http://www.ncpublicschools.org/cces/
Early Bird Registration for the 2019 Connecting Communities of Education Stakeholders (CCES) conference opens this FRIDAY, January 4, 2019, and will continue through February 14, 2019. The registration rate will increase on February 15, 2019.
All teachers, student services personnel, principals, superintendents, parents, school administrators, community and business representatives are invited. The new registration options provide additional flexibility for schools and districts. Visit the Participant Registration webpage for more information.
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Prepare Now for the CSADM Phase I Submission - Due January 25, 2019 from Charter and Regional Schools with Current Enrollment Only
Phase I: Average Daily Membership (ADM) Projection - Initial Submission for School Year 2019-20
EVERY charter school and regional school Executive Director (Head of School, Board Chair, etc.) is required to submit to the Charter School ADM Projection System (CSADM), Phase I - ADM Projection Initial Submission for School Year 2019-20. The CSADM will accept these Phase I submissions between January 15 – 25, 2019.
Phase I requires the following field to be completed: Requested 2019-20 ADM. This represents a projection of the number of students who will be in membership for the fiscal school year 2019-20.
This submission is required even if your school has requested State Board approval for growth higher than 20%; you must respond to this request.
The CSADM Projection System is accessible at the following links:
As this impacts your school's funding, we will only accept information submitted by the Executive Director.
The CSADM is an online system designed to assist each charter school with improving the accuracy of key components in the budgeting process; projected ADM and grades served request. The projected ADM is the number of students who will be in membership for the fiscal school year, 2019-20 and grades served should capture any planned grade level expansion or reduction for the 2019-20 school year. This information is critical to the budget process and ensures adequate funding and minimal disruption to charter schools and LEA funding.
To access the system, the Executive Director will need a North Carolina Identity Management identification (NCID) login. If you do not have an NCID, you must contact the Charter Schools' NCID administrator to set up an account for you. A directory of charter school NCID administrators is available at www.ncid.its.state.nc.us/LEAListing.asp.
DPI cannot assign an NCID or reset NCID passwords. NCID questions should be directed to the North Carolina Department of Information Technology (NC DIT) at https://it.nc.gov/ncid/.
If you have questions concerning CSADM, please contact Angela Harrison in the Division of School Business at 919-807-3734 or angela.harrison@dpi.nc.gov.
1/2/2019 - December 2018 Child Count Change Report
The 2018 Year to Year Change Report showing the student count changes for each LEA from the December 2017 Child Count to the December 2018 Child Count has been posted to the CECAS information site on the documents tab under the Periodic Count section. Please look at the report and if your LEA, Charter school or State Operated Program has been listed in red text, your LEA has shown a significant increase or decrease of more or less than 20% and more than 20 students between the two school years. The EC Director should email an explanation for the significant change to kelley.blas@dpi.nc.gov by 2/1/2019. Districts only need to send in an explanation if their information on the report is in red. We appreciate your timely response to this request.
Webinar: CTE Indicator Assessments (CTE-IA)
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/rt/6311297194422678787
To ensure that the needs of all participants are addressed, questions related to CTE-IA should be submitted by January 7, 2019, using the following link:
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
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Other News
Rescheduled New Homeless Liaison Training
NCHEP will be conducting its annual New Homeless Liaison Compliance Training (NHLCT) for Charter Schools on January 10, 2019 from 9:00 am - 4:00 pm. This is the replacement date for the training canceled on September 13, 2018, due to Hurricane Florence. Registration for January 10th is needed even if you registered previously in September. Please visit the NCHEP NHLCT web page for details, including the registration link. Registration is limited, so please register by December 18th.
https://uncg.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bHD5jjyHv3H6ddb
School Health Consultant Announcement
New Charter School Health Nurse Consultant
Annette Richardson will be the new Charter School Health Nurse Consultant. Ms. Richardson is a Nationally Certified School Nurse with experience working in both charter schools and the public school system. She currently serves as the Regional School Health Nurse Consultant in the Northeast providing technical assistance and guidance to school nurses and other school health professionals. Ms. Richardson will be the contact person for school health and her information is provided below.
Annette Darden Richardson, MSN, RN, NCSN
Charter School Health Nurse Consultant
Division of Public Health - Children and Youth Branch
NC Department of Health and Human Services
Office: 252-339-3009
annette.richardson@dhhs.nc.gov
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