School Resource Officer Census
As required by legislation (Session Law 2019-222, House Bill 75; § 115C-105.57), the NC Center for Safer Schools shall conduct an annual census of School Resource Officers. This year, there are 32 questions in the survey. Most are multiple choice questions, so it should only take a few minutes to complete. Responses are anonymous.
Please forward the survey link below to all School Resource Officers serving in your school(s) and request that they complete the survey by Friday, December 10, 2021. Thank you for all that you do to help keep our schools and the children of North Carolina safer and secure!
School Resource Officer Census
SURVEY DEADLINE: 11:59pm, Friday, December 10, 2021
School Business Division
STATE FISCAL RECOVERY FUND PREMIUM PAY BONUS
FAQ: as of 12/06/2021
SL 2021-180 Section 39.2 (c-h): The State Fiscal Recovery Fund Premium Pay Bonus is for ALL permanent State employees regardless of funding source employed on December 1, 2021. (The technical corrections bill (SL 2021-189: HB334) has both portions of this bonus tied to the December 1, 2021 as of employment date).
ALL PSUs:
- Anyone who was employed on December 1, 2021 receives a lump-sum one-thousand dollar ($1,000) bonus. This would include anyone retiring with an effective date of January 1, 2022.
- Per the Office of State Human Resources (OSHR), they will be applying the $75K language related to salary based on the salary in effect as of December 1, 2021, BEFORE the legislative increase. Section (d) covers this additional $500 bonus payment and the criteria.
- Per (h) these bonuses are to be pro-rated for permanent part-time employees.
- The bonus must be paid no later than January 31, 2022.
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Use PRC 141 for ALL PSUs --- including Charter Schools, innovative schools, and regional schools, see section 39.2 (e).
- This is part of the State Recovery COVID funds. The Division of School Business will provide information in January related to monitoring and compliance. Please be reminded these funds will have additional audit requirements to ensure compliance.
Charter Schools, Regional Schools, Innovative Schools ONLY:
- Request State CASH through your normal SPSF request mechanism to cover these payments in PRC 141.
- Division of School Business will provide an INITIAL Authority to Draw for the $1000 bonus payment based on estimated FTE. Funding for the additional $500 bonus for those less than $75K will be in January after required information is provided.
- Should funding in this initial allocation not be sufficient, please use other available funds until DPI is able to provide the supplemental funding based on the required report below.
- Each school is required to report to NCDPI the staffing who qualify for each bonus category. This is due January 7, 2022. After the Division of School Business receives this report, your allocation in PRC 141 will be updated. Funds will not be provided if you fail to report this information.
- We will provide you with a template for this reporting requirement by December 17, 2021.
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New Charter School Nurse Consultant - Western Region
The newest member of the Charter School Health Community is Amy Johnson, and she will serve as the Charter School Health Nurse Consultant for the Western half of the state (Districts 5-8). Annette Richardson will continue to serve the Charter School Health Community for the Eastern half of the state. The school nurse consultant map is here for your convenience when determining which consultant serves your charter school.
Amy Johnson is a nationally certified school nurse with experience as a lead nurse. Over the past two years, Amy has been a regional nurse consultant for the Piedmont-Triad District providing technical assistance and guidance to school nurses and other school health professionals. As staff in the School Health Unit, her responsibilities include 1) program assessment, planning, and development, 2) program implementation, monitoring and quality assurance, 3) clinical and program consultation, 4) coordination and collaboration, and 5) training and resource development. The Charter School Health Nurse Consultant position continues as a member of the regional nurse consultant team. Amy received her BSN from Western Carolina University and MSN from Appalachian State University with a concentration in Nursing Education.
North Carolina’s charter schools are required to comply with the Care of Students with Diabetes law (G.S. 115C-375.3.) and with the School Supply of Epinephrine Auto-Injectors law (G.S. 115-375.2A.), as well as charter specific state board policies regarding some student health services. Annually, charter schools report on compliance with these, providing information that identifies staff educational and support needs related to compliance and student safety. Amy will provide support and assistance to the charter schools in Districts 5-8 to ensure these requirements are met. Her email address is amy.t.johnson@dhhs.nc.gov.
Recent Memos and Need to Know
OCR/CRDC SY2021 - Update to PowerSchool Preview Report Expected
PowerSchool CRDC Preview Report Will Require Update
Thank you to the PSUs who reported anomalies in Out of School Suspensions. There is a discrepancy between the School Detail and School Aggregate reports for Out of School Suspension data. The discrepancy will impact the following survey questions:
- School detail – DISC-2, DISC -11
- School Aggregate – DISC-1A DISC-7c, DISC-7d, DISC-9c, DISC-9d, DISC-12
The PowerSchool vendor is researching the issue. Once root cause is determined, the report will be updated and will require a re-run to capture accurate data. Please continue to review the PowerSchool Preview Report but do not approve the report. NCDPI will notify all PSUs when the update is complete.
Please contact Terra Lynne Dominguez with any questions. For the purposes of the CRDC, you can book an appointment with Terra in the afternoons from November 1 through December 3, 2021. To book an appointment, click here.
ESSR Reminder
As a reminder, 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 here.
Announcing Learning Innovations: Fall Webinar Sessions for Educators
10 Tips to Make Canvas Work for You
November 18th, 11:00 am EST
Presented by Rob Caldwell, NCSSM Instructional and Information Designer
New Cybersecurity Standards: Why You Should Care
December 9th, 11:00 am EST
Presented by Charlotte Dungan, NCSSM AI Program Architect
Register here.
Other Important MEMOs from DPI:
Monthly NCDHHS/DPI Joint Call
If you were unable to attend December's monthly DHHS/DPI COVID Call, please email communications@dpi.nc.gov for a recording of the webinar with integrated chat.
Find DHHS' slide deck from the call with helpful resources here.
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New Guidance: Maintenance of Public and Student Records
School leaders, the new retention and disposition schedule for Local Public School Units has been released, and this schedule also applies to charter schools. You can find it here. LPSUs will also need to use the General Records Schedule: Local Government Agencies to find the appropriate retentions for common records like HR and Legal, and this schedule is available here.
These schedules are ready to be approved and implemented. Please contact Courtney Bailey (919-814-6918) if you have any questions.
NCEES Webinars
NCEES Webinars are held most Tuesdays from 4-5PM.
Click on the titles below to register. Navigate to Webinars 2021-22 to view webinar descriptions.
EdStar Courses now in Premium Library
Premium Library now has Edstar Analytics courses!
NCEES District Administrators can view Premium Library content by navigating to System Administration > Applications: Premium Library.
Learn more about purchasing Premium Library courses for your PSU:
Screenshot shows a sample of the 12 courses from EdStar Analytics in the NCEES Premium Library.
PowerSchool Status Update – Fix Complete – Submission Dates Updated
The OSS update and second semester course length update were implemented this weekend. The Submission Start and End Dates have been updated. If the LEA Office Level report was not re-run as of December 06, 2021, please press the Run button. If users are working with school level reports, verify that the report at the school level was re-run to avoid confusion.
EC Division
Please see the attached parent newsletters.
Office of Charter Schools (OCS) Updates
Register for Planning Year Session IV
2022 NC OCS PHP Scholarship Information
The 2022 NC Office of Charter Schools People Helping People Scholarship Application is now Open! Final submissions should be returned to Dr. Darian C. Jones, darian.jones@dpi.nc.gov no later than March 18th, 2022 by 5:00 p.m. with all of the requested information. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to Dr. Jones at the above email.
The Carolina Panthers Regional Spelling Bee
The Carolina Panthers invite you to register your school for the Scripps National Spelling Bee and your chance to qualify students for the Carolina Panthers Regional Spelling Bee presented by Bank of America!
The Carolina Panthers are excited to announce registration is open for the Scripps National Spelling Bee program and your opportunity to qualify students for the Carolina Panthers Regional Spelling Bee presented by Bank America. The Carolina Panthers Regional Spelling Bee will be held on a TBD date on either March 12, 13, 19 or 20, 2022 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte. Final date confirmation will be provided by January 1, 2022. The top four North Carolina spellers and top two South Carolina spellers from the Carolina Panthers Bee will advance to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. in June 2022. Interested schools/districts can learn more and find registration information by clicking here.
Click here for a special message from Carolina Panthers Head Coach Matt Rhule!
Key dates to consider:
January 31: Deadline for schools to register with Scripps for this year's Bee program.
February 18, 2021: Deadline for school districts to submit winning students who have earned the opportunity to advance to the Carolina Panthers Regional Spelling Bee.
March 12-13 OR 19-20, 2021: Carolina Panthers Regional Spelling Bee for designated NC/SC school district winners. Bee will be held at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.
OCS Consultant Sites:
NC ACCESS ASPIRING MINORITY SCHOOL LEADERS PROGRAM
SEEKING INTERESTED PARTICIPANTS FOR A FALL 2022 COHORT
The NC ACCESS Program is looking to potentially offer two cohorts of the Aspiring Minority School Leaders Program with only 20 slots available! One track for applicants WITH a master’s degree to complete a MSA Add-on Licensure program AND one track for applicants WITHOUT a master’s degree to complete a Masters in School Administration program. Learn more about the Add-on Licensure Program here. The full MSA program would be a new offering.
PLEASE SEND THE NAMES AND EMAIL ADDRESSES OF POTENTIAL CANDIDATES FOR THE PROGRAM TO DR. BARBARA O’NEAL.
Sharing News About Our Charter Schools:
Lincoln Charter School student lives out her gratitude to our veterans!
Alex Kresge, Lincoln Charter School student, built a bench to be dedicated to service members in honor of Veteran's Day.
Read the full story here.
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Student Testimonals:
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Join us at Fresh Take: Strategies for Student Success on February 4. This year's keynote speaker is Donalyn Miller, The Book Whisperer!
Fresh Take conference brings together top educators for a great day of learning and conversing. An early registration discount is available through 12/1 as well as discounts for groups of five or more.
We look forward to learning alongside you at the best professional development of the year!
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Other Resources from DPI:
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 2707
Consultant, Renewals & Stakeholder Support
Claire Porter 984 236 2709
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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