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Teammate in the Spotlight
With the new school year we are adding a new feature to our newsletter. Each month we will put a face to the name of one of the amazing staff at the Office of Charter Schools. For September we are featuring Ms. Claire Porter!
Claire Jenkins Porter joined the OCS in 2019 and currently serves as the lead for the Ready to Open/Planning Year process. Claire has served in a variety of roles in public education: French teacher, Principal, Director of Secondary Instruction, BOD member and founding administrator of a charter school. Claire grew up overseas as her parents served in the Foreign Service (U.S. Department of State) and has studied and worked abroad. She is also a former attorney and mediator who practiced law in her native Virginia prior to returning to education. Most importantly, Claire is a wife and mother of two teens and she values family time above all else. In her spare time, Claire enjoys travel, family adventures, reading, yoga, baking, time spent in nature, and art history. Claire is a graduate of Smith College(B.A.), Iowa State University (M.Ed.), and Tulane University School of Law (J.D.)
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The Details
ACTION ITEM: School Mental Health Policy Report
Due September 15th
Dear Charter School Leaders,
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.
2021 Healthy Active Children Policy Report Survey
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.
Thanks for all you do.
Les Spell
Data and Policy Consultant
NC Healthy Schools
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction
984-236-2815
Les.Spell@dpi.nc.gov
School Mental Health Policy Report pdf
School Mental Health Policy Report doc
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Independent, Charter & Lab Schools Webinar, NC FBS
Hi Independent Public School Directors,
There will be a webinar on Wednesday, September 15, 2021 at 9:00am for you and your finance staff so they may attend this School Business Webinar!
Please forward this email to any staff member or anyone else who you would like to have listen to the webinar. We do not save the webinars for future distribution.
This will be a Q&A format. Enter your questions in the Q&A box, not the Chat box. We will read the questions aloud and answer them for all to hear. Only the webinar hosts and panelists can see all the questions and respond verbally.
Here is the address for the webinar event.
Event address for attendees: https://ncgov.webex.com/ncgov/onstage/g.php?
MTID=ef4c1d298545cc7d5204933fc8294ea9e
Icilma Burroughs
School Business
NCDPI
Icilma.burroughs@dpi.nc.gov.
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New Homeless Liaison Training for Charter Schools
NCHEP will be providing the New Homeless Liaison Compliance Training for liaisons in charter schools (including Charter, Lab, ISD and Virtual Schools) virtually on Thursday, September 16, 2021. Participation in the training is required for homeless liaisons who are new to their position. Please contact your Program Specialist, Tricia Lentz, to obtain the training session access link.
For session times and additional details, visit the NHLCT web page.
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EL Stakeholders From: ESL/Title III Team - EL Program Quality
2021 Language Instruction Educational Program (A5 EL Component of Performance Framework)
Starting in 2021, compliance for the Charter Schools Performance Framework English Learner (EL) Component (A5) involves two components:
1) LIEP Training (attestation of attendance either live or archived)
2) LIEP Submission (uploaded to Epicenter and completed per guidance)
The training (live or archived) will walk school leaders through the LIEP process, helping them develop an EL program plan that is tailored to their specific context. Development of the LIEP is useful for much more than compliance! It can be used for scheduling, staffing, and advocating for your EL program needs.
Join us
Tuesday, September 21, 9:00 - 11:00 am Register
or
Thursday, September 23, 1:00 - 3:00 pm Register
Archives will be posted within a week of the last live broadcast.
LIEP service charts and attestation of training are due in Epicenter on October 31, 2021.
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Charter Reporting Requirements
Charter School administrators have the opportunity to opt-in to the DHHS COVID-19 K-12 Testing Program. Charter schools that have also elected to receive funding for temporary school health staff associated with this program will be required to report on nursing services as a component of the funding requirements.
A portion of this reporting will be completed in December and a portion will be completed in June. If a charter school opted not to take advantage of the staffing funding option, then the reporting will be same process as past reports and will be still completed in June only. If you have hired an RN school nurse with the temporary funding, the RN school nurse will complete the additional questions at the end of the Charter School Health Services Report and Section Two. If you have additional questions or concerns, please contact Annette Richardson at annette.richardson@dhhs.nc.gov or 252-339-3009. Report information will be shared.
Charter Leaders call with DPI Senior Leadership
Procedures for the Transfer of Local Payments to Charter Schools
Superintendents, Charter School Leaders, and Finance Officers,
Please see the attached memo, Procedures for the Transfer of Local Payments to Charter Schools, from state Superintendent Catherine Truitt.
Recent Memos and Need to Know
OCR/CRDC - Office of Civil Rights Coordinator Contacts in EDDIE - Due Friday, September 24, 2021
Dear Coordinators,
Please inform other staff as appropriate.
The Office of Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) submission window for the 2020-2021 school year opens in December 2021. Note: PSUs that were not open in the school year 2020-2021 are not required to participate in this collection.
PSUs must verify and 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 valid for your PSU. 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.
PSUs are also strongly advised to verify or update the Student Information Coordinator contact as well.
Updates to the EDDIE system for the OCR Collection must be completed by the end of business, Friday, September 24, 2021.
If you are unsure who your EDDIE administrator is please visit the Subscribed User List located at https://www.dpi.nc.gov/districts-schools/district-operations/financial-and-business-services/demographics-and-finances/eddie#help-using-eddie
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.
Please contact Terra Dominguez at terra.dominguez@dpi.nc.gov with any questions you may have.
ESSER Reminder
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.
Information regarding the data collection can be found at https://www.dpi.nc.gov/districts-schools/federal-program-monitoring/federal-program-data-collection
School Business Division
Zero-out Processing
At the beginning of every school year, there is no zero-out processing for the month of July. The zero out process will be starting with the August 2021 data files through June 2022.
If you have any questions, please contact Roxane Bernard at roxane.bernard@dpi.nc.gov.
Confirmation of Funds for Annual Financial Statement Audits by CPA firms
DPI is providing the appropriate reports to your independent auditors via the internet. These reports for FY21 are now posted in a public application at: http://apps.schools.nc.gov/auditorconfirmationreports (Annual Reports).
Please direct your independent auditor to the site provided.
Please contact Roxane Bernard at roxane.bernard@dpi.nc.gov with any questions.
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EC Division
Please see the attached parent newsletters.
Also, we would like to share with you a Save the Date for the 70th Conference on Exceptional Children, November 17-18, 2021 at the Koury Convention Center in Greensboro NC. Registration information will be available on our website: EC Annual Conference | NC DPI
Office of Charter Schools (OCS) Updates
Important Weighted Lottery Guidance
ARE YOU PLANNING A WEIGHTED LOTTERY IN 2021-2022? If you do not currently have a weighted lottery approval from the State Board of Education, you must seek it through an amendment. This process takes a minimum of three months and must be aligned to the CSAB and SBE meeting calendars. For example, if you plan a lottery in March 2022, you must have approval by that time which means it must be approved by OCS and sent to CSAB by its December meeting (SBE would consider in February). If you have questions or need guidance on the process, please contact Ashley Baquero at ashley.baquero@dpi.nc.gov. There are several outstanding weighted lottery requests, so please make sure you are communicating with our office and seeking guidance to make sure you meeting deadlines. Our office does not “create” the deadlines and they are not flexible.
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Planning Year Calendar 2021-2022
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.
OCS Consultant Sites:
The Scoop With Coop-All Things Renewals
Ready to Open/Planning Year
Performance Framework Companion Site
Professional Learning 101
 OFFICE OF CHARTER SCHOOLS
NC ACCESS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
2021-2022
Session 1 - Creating a Culture of Collaboration: Professional development from the teacher next door - September 14, 2021, 4-5pm
The most powerful professional development is watching another teacher teach, yet we rarely have time for it. In this session we will look at how to create a culture of collaboration through encouraging teachers to learn and grow from each other. This session is geared towards administrators, professional development coordinators, and teacher leaders. Participants will leave the session with ideas they can immediately implement tomorrow.
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZErc-iqqD8pH9RxwG7_0zaqny4r37JN7Pj9
Session 2 - Digging the Data: Assessing students abilities in a way that cultivates and motivates growth - September 28, 2021, 4-5pm
How do you get to know your students in a meaningful way, in order to build relationships and capitalize on students’ strengths? We will discuss how to collect meaningful data from your students in order to create relevant lessons that set your students up for success. This session is geared toward any educator or staff member who works to build a relationship with students and uses that relationship to make informed instructional decisions. Participants will leave the session with templates and resources to use in their classroom.
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAkcuihqTwsHdYgdVIkA-96pocMxRv-yPU8
Session 3 - Teaching the Whole Child: Addressing the needs of each child in the classroom - October 19, 2021, 4-5pm
This session examines ways to address the physical, social, emotional, and cognitive needs of students. This session is geared toward any educator or staff member that works with students.
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZckduysrTkqG92utcZyxSO4JKg4duIlaH9b
Session 4 - Embrace Your Space: Digital tools for the virtual, in-person, and hybrid classroom - November 16, 2021, 4-5pm
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0kde2uqToiHtyLiyO5lHXo9oisrCkfQ85q
The past year educators spent countless hours learning digital tools to make their lessons dynamic and engaging. In this session we will dive into how to use different digital tools, no matter what your classroom space looks like. Come ready to share with and learn from other participants. This session is geared toward any educator who delivers instruction.
Session 5 - Teaching Through a Literacy Lens - December 7, 2021, 4-5pm
We will dive into tips and tricks for teaching content area literacy. This session is for teachers of all grade levels and subjects.
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYld-2vrjouH9KkCjP6Ng5xEi2UOVkvxBJK
Resources Galore:
Leadership Opportunities:
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!
OCS Main Number: (984) 236-2700 / Email: ocs@dpi.nc.gov
Dave Machado 984 236 2702
Director of the Office of Charter Schools
Shaunda Cooper 984 236 2712
Consultant, Renewals & Stakeholder Support
Claire Porter 984 236 2707
Consultant, Planning Year & Ready to Open Process
Ashley Baquero 984 236 2708
Consultant, Amendments & Compliance
Joseph Letterio 984 236 2703
Consultant, Epicenter Tech Support & Performance Framework
Darian Jones 984 236 2705
Consultant, Professional Development
Melanie Rackley 984 236 2712
Consultant, Charter Applications
Jay Whalen 984 236 2711
Program Administrator, NC ACCESS Program
Barbara O'Neal 984 236 2706
Program Coordinator, NC ACCESS Program
Davida Robinson 984 236 2878
NC ACCESS Subgrant Program Manager
Lakisha Robbins 984 236 2704
NC ACCESS Finance Administrator
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