A huge thank you to the NC Coalition for Charter Schools for hosting a very informative legislative update for all charter school leaders. Here is a summary of what was discussed.
Mask requirements
Complicated issue involving multiple levels of govt
Toolkit became a requirement thru the initial emergency Covid leg that applied to 2020-21
The reopening bill (S 220) required LEAs to follow toolkit; the bill does not apply to charter schools
The authority now requiring schools to follow the toolkit are executive orders
EO 220 (6/11/21) lifts most masks requirements but requires schools to continue using masks and requires PSUs to follow the toolkit
This is now where the requirement to follow the toolkit comes from
Last toolkit updated 6/11/21 – masks required in school with some exceptions
Toolkit will likely be amended in the next few weeks following amendments to CDC guidance
S 173, currently in conference, would give PSUs authority to make decisions regarding mask requirements
LEAs vary greatly in terms of what they require to process local payments
H335 passed w/bipartisan support
Requires LEAs to pay per pupil funds within either 30 days of enrollment verification form from charter school or receiving monies into local current expense fund
Sets out consequences if LEA does not pay by deadline – includes procedures charters must follow to notify LEAs of late payments
If doesn’t pay after those procedures are followed (LEA has 15 days) the charter receives 3% late fee and 8% continuing interest
Requires State Superintendent to establish uniform procedures and forms for invoicing LEAs
Bill sets out what charters are required to provide – LEAs cannot ask for other information
Upcoming Events and Reminders!
Save the Date!
"Vision Casting: Bringing Clarity to 2021 and Beyond," the annual NC Association for Public Charter Schools conference, continues on July 22, 2021. Registration is free! Learn more and register here.
The 2021 NC Charter School Application process is open as of Friday, May 28th at 5 pm Eastern Time (ET). The 2021 charter application window will close on July 30, 2021 at 5pm ET. Applicants who are interested in opening a charter school in 2022 under the accelerated timeline, or in 2023 under the standard timeline must submit their charter applications on or before the July 29, 2021 application close date.
Both the online application and $1,000 application fee must be submitted on or before July 30, 2021 at 5pm ET.
The link to the 2021 NC Charter School application is posted on the NCDPI Charter Schools Application page found here.
Back-to-School Safety Summit - DAY 2
Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021 9:30 - 4:30 UNC-G Seating is Limited REGISTER TODAY!
The NC Center for Safer Schools will be hosting Day 2 of the Back-to-School Safety Summit. The Center will conduct trainings on various school safety topics, including:
To ensure schools have funding available, an authority to draw funds will be provided to independent public schools by July 21st. The authority will be calculated at:
20% x Initial average daily membership * estimated 21-22 State average base for continuation funding.
2021-22 State average base for continuation funding is as follows:
Charter Schools $5,853.17
Virtual charter schools $ 5,664.94
Funds shall only be made available to schools that have a certificate of occupancy approved by the Office of Charter Schools.
Charter School Bus Inspections
DPI Transportation Services offers charter schools courtesy inspections of their school buses, just like they do at the county school bus garages. Please send an email to Teresa.West@dpi.nc.gov in Transportation Services to request a courtesy inspection this summer. Please include your location, contact person, contact email, contact phone number, and how many school buses are in operation.
Questions can be directed to Transportation Services Section Chief Kevin Harrison (984) 236-2932 or kevin.harrison@dpi.nc.gov.
OCR/CRDC - Office of Civil Rights Coordinator Contacts in EDDIE - Due Friday, September 24, 2021
Please read and inform other staff as appropriate.
Dear Coordinators,
The Office of Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) window for the 2020-2021 school year data will begin in early 2022. Note: PSUs that were not open in the school year 2020-2021 are not required to participate in this collection.
The first step in preparing for the collection is ensuring the NCDPI has the most recent staff contact information.
PSUs must verify or update the EDDIE system with two Staff who have been identified as the 'Office of Civil Rights Coordinator'.
Delete any records in EDDIE for OCR contacts that are no longer with your PSU.
These staff personnel 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.
PSUs are also strongly advised to verify or update the Student Information Coordinator contact as well. Updates must be completed by the close of business, Friday, September 24, 2021.
More information about the CRDC is located at https://crdc.grads360.org/#program. Notice on the homepage that there is a timeline of the CRDC phases.
It is important to keep in mind that the NCDPI assists all PSUs with the CRDC by facilitating the transfer of data to the federal submission tool. No action other than to update your contacts in EDDIE is required at this time.
Dear Charter Directors, This is a reminder that the 2021-2022 Eligible Schools Summary Report (ESSR) must be submitted in PowerSchool for all local education agencies (LEAs) and charter schools in North Carolina. All charter schools are required to report these data regardless of whether they accept any federal funds and the report is used to meet several requirements, such as School Report Card, CEDARS and Teacher Loan Forgiveness. Thank you in advance for your support.
As you may know, all charter schools are required to report their progress on meeting the guidelines set forth by the NC State Board of Education's SHLT-003:School-Based Mental Health (SBMH) Policy. This is a new reporting requirement, and we have included the required reporting questions in the Healthy Active Children's (HAC) policy report. You will be able to complete your report online. In the online reporting portal, you will indicate that you are a charter school, and you will be directed to the SBMH policy questions. To make it easier for you to assemble your report information prior to going online, a Word version of the online survey is attached to this email. Please complete the online survey to submit your report.
The information needed to complete the SBMH progress report will come from your School Mental Health Improvement Plan, which is required to upload and must include the mental health training program and suicide risk referral protocol.
Please note the deadline to complete the HAC Progress Report / School Mental Health Policy Report is September 15, 2021.
You can access the reporting portal through the link below.
If you have questions or challenges in completing this online survey, please contact Les Spell at Les.Spell@dpi.nc.gov.
We appreciate the time and energy spent in completing this report and look forward to reading each submission. The Healthy Active Children Report / School Mental Health Policy Report is a valuable tool in efforts to provide quality school health systems that will raise academic achievement and promote physical and mental health among North Carolina’s schoolchildren.
CECLI is our Charter Exceptional Children's Leadership Institute we offer to charter coordinators in their first couple of years, to provide support and guidance in navigating EC as the EC coordinator/director. This PDF contains a link that provides the memo outlining what we are offering, a registration link and directions to ensure the application is completed and submitted on time.
Please review the attached EC Division communication updates and Guidance.
ASTHO Guide with Testing Resources (Includes examples of what other schools are doing and insights from their experience thus far. Several schools cover considerations around parental consent.)
With the new fiscal year upon us, be sure to inform the Office of Charter Schools of any leadership changes at your school, preferably through Epicenter, but you can always email ocs@dpi.nc.gov
Now is a great time to review Epicenter and ensure your school user accounts are accurate and up to date. If a user is no longer with your school, please deactivate them by following these steps.
The Office of Charter Schools is pleased to release the dates for the 2021-2022 Planning Year Professional Development calendar. All schools (boards and school leaders) in the Ready to Open process are required to attend five (5) planning year sessions as well as the New Charter Leaders Institute in June, 2022, as part of the successful completion of the Ready to Open and Planning Year process. While these sessions are mandatory for brand new charter schools, we invite those who may new to a leadership role at an established charter school to join the virtual sessions, or access the materials online, under the Planning Year tab of the Office of Charter School's website.
Whom Should I Contact at the Office of Charter Schools?
Please note that response times to voicemails left on our phones will be much slower than usual due to the COVID-19 response efforts. Sending us an email is ideal. Clicking the link on our names will bring up an automatic email prompt. Thank you!
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT – EDDIE is the
authoritative source for NC public school numbers and demographic information, is used by multiple NCDPI technology systems including: Accountability, PowerSchool, NC School Report Cards, and is used to meet federal reporting requirements.LEAs and charter
schools are responsible for ensuring their data in EDDIE are complete, accurate, and current. EDDIE is located at: http://apps.schools.nc.gov/eddie