OCS Weekly Newsletter for August 16, 2022

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Office of Charter Schools

August 16, 2022

Some upcoming dates of note:

  • 8/26/22 The last date to request state cash with an FRD of August 31
  • 8/29/22 All students still not proficient in reading must be coded as Reading Retained in PowerSchool
  • 8/30/22 School Safety Grant Application due
  • 9/12/22 English Learner training session
  • 9/15/22 Mandatory School Mental Health Policy Report due
  • 9/30/22 Mandatory Digital Learning & Media Inventory due

DUE SEPTEMBER 15: 2022 School Mental Health Policy Report

Dear Charter School Leaders, 

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.  We have included the required reporting questions in the Healthy Active Children's (HAC) policy report, and 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 linked. 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, 2022. 

You can access the reporting portal through the link below.   

2022 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

Les SpellData & Policy ConsultantDivision of Academic StandardsNC Department of Public Instruction(W) 984-236-2815Les.Spell@dpi.nc.gov


School Business – August Updates


July 2022 MFR Data

Due to a posting issue, July 2022 State and Federal expenditures doubled on DPI books. This doubled expenditure postings impacted your July 2022 zero-out resulting in charters receiving more cash certifications during the zero-out processing.

Your charter does not have to adjust your July expenditures. However, during the August data file processing, DPI ledger balances will correctly adjust to record Year-to-Date expenditures as of August 31, 2022.

We also suggest you not request additional state or federal cash if you do not need to. The last date to request federal cash with a Funds Requirement Date (FRD) of August 31, 2022, is Thursday, August 25, 2022, and the last date to request state cash with an FRD of August 31, 2022, is Friday, August 26, 2022.

If you have questions, contact Roxane Bernard at roxane.bernard@dpi.nc.gov.

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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 FY22 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.

IRS Travel Rate Update

The IRS standard mileage rate set by the Internal Revenue Service is 62.5 cents per mile

effective July 1, 2022.

Please review the Memorandum from State Budget Director Charles Perusse regarding

Change in IRS Mileage Rates Effective July 1, 2022.

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School Business – August 12, 2022

 The FBS website continues to be updated with COVID-19 policies and information related to School Business, as well as our ongoing operations.  Please check the FBS homepage regularly for updates.  New Posts:


Reminder GEER and CAREs ACT Funds

Just a reminder that the GEER funds and CARES Act funds end September 30th.  Please ensure these funds will be spent in the time permitted.  If you think you may revert or have funds that will not be spent by September 30th in any of those programs, please contact John Keefer (john.keefer@dpi.nc.gov) so that we can pull the funding and get those resources reallocated to other areas that have need.  Thank you.


State Initial Allotment Formulas FY 2022-23

The formulas used to calculate the initial allotments for FY 2022-23 have been published to the web at State Allotments | NC DPI.

 


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 FY22 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.


From the Center for Safer Schools

The Safer Schools grants opened on August 5th, 2022, and will close on August 30th, 2022, at 11:59PM EDT. The grants included in this application are the SRO, Safety Equipment, Services for Students in Crisis, and Safety Training.

You can access the grant application through CCIP under FY 2023, Funding application: Safer Schools.

Before you apply for this grant, make sure to read Session Law 2021-180 and Parts II and III of Session Law 2019-222. www.ncleg.gov/Sessions/2021/Bills/Senate/PDF/S105v8.pdf

The funding application must be submitted at least through 'Chief Administrator Approved' by the closing time. No exceptions.

Please submit your questions to: schoolsafetygrants@dpi.nc.gov for a response.


From System Modernization

School Business Data Stored Off-Site Sign-Off

Per updated Session Law 2021-180 Section 7.79.(b) all public school units "...shall store their school business data at an off-site premises by June 30, 2023".  It is anticipated that fewer than 17 public school units are potentially impacted by the above language in Section 7.79(b) and fewer than 35 public school units by 7.79(b) as a whole.  NCDPI School Business Modernization (SBSM) asks all PSU CFOs to please complete this Sign-Off form prior to the end of August.

Contact: Barry Pace, Director


From Exceptional Children

IDEA Grant Budgets

NCDPI School Business has uploaded the carryover for PRCs 185, 186 & 187. The budgets need to be submitted. The fiscal consultants will verify budget alignment with the Use of Funds and notify the PSUs if any revisions are needed. If the grant is still in the initial approval process, the grant cannot be approved until the ARP carryover budgets are received and approved.

If you have any questions, please contact your Fiscal Monitor.


Did you know? You can find all School Business newsletters on the website, organized by year. 


Have questions about student health requirements? Counseling? Healthy schools in general? The NC Healthy Schools staff can help …

Sarah Blanton, Healthy Schools Consultant 

Kisha Bryant, School Counseling Consultant

Ellen Essick, Section Chief

Burt Jenkins, Healthful Living / Athletics Consultant 

Pachovia Lovett, School Social Work Consultant

Lillian Pinto, Reproductive Health Consultant

Susanne Schmal, School Health Partnerships & Policy Consultant

Les Spell, Data and Policy Consultant

 


Reminder: Coding Read-to-Achieve Reading Retained Students

 

Students who are still non-proficient after summer reading camp need to be coded as Reading Retained in PowerSchool.   It is imperative that this is completed ASAP. Students who transfer between districts and remain non-proficient after summer reading camp will not get the label from the previous district in the Transfer Student Record process.   Students must have this label to access the Amplify platform.  Therefore, this data entry should be completed no later than August 29, 2022DPI will notify you when the archival process and the pulling of twice retained students will take place later.  DPI will also run a script to remove labels from students in grades 5 and higher one last time prior to archiving the data. Labels entered for the current year should not be removed by PSUs until notification has been sent that this data has been properly archived. The Home Base Team has created a QRD, "Coding Read-to-Achieve Reading Retained Students", to assist PSUs with properly coding the "Read Retain" label in PowerSchool for students under Read-to-Achieve. This document also contains links to additional resources that provide background legislative information and FAQs. If you have questions pertaining to this process, please contact your Early Literacy Consultant.


OCR/CRDC - SY2022-2023 - CRDC Contacts in EDDIE

Dear Coordinators,  

 Please share with other staff as appropriate.  Read this message carefully. 

The Office of Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) will be conducted in the 2022-2023 school year.  Data for the collection is from the previous year (School Year 2021-2022).   

To date, the Federal government has not published an official start date.  The NCDPI will notify PSUs once an announcement has been made. 

Note:  PSUs which were not open in the school year 2021-2022 are not required to participate in this collection. 

  

CRDC Contacts in EDDIE 

This week, NCDPI will make the following updates to the EDDIE system to prepare for communications regarding the coming collection: 

 

·        All past Office of Civil Rights Coordinator contacts have been deleted from the EDDIE system. 

·        The EDDIE Staff Role name has been updated from ‘Office of Civil Rights Coordinator’ to ‘CRDC Coordinator’. 

·        PSUs may record up to two CRDC Coordinator staff roles only. 

 

Beginning August 8, 2022, please record two staff members who have been identified as the CRDC Coordinator.  These staff will be the technical contacts for the CRDC.  

PSUs are also strongly advised to verify or update the Student Information Coordinator contact in the EDDIE system. 

 

CRDC Coordinator Responsibilities: 

1.      Serve as the technical contacts 

2.      Review data collected by NCDPI on behalf of the PSUs before the federal submission 

3.      Add and correct data in the CRDC Federal Submission Tool 

4.      Certify the data collection in the CRDC Federal Submission Tool 

 

Instructions for creating Staff Entries (Roles) in EDDIE are in the Help Using EDDIE section of the NCDPI website. 

 

Please contact Terra Dominguez at terra.dominguez@dpi.nc.gov with any questions you may have. 


Discipline, Dropout, and ALPS data coordinator contact information

DISCIPLINE DATA

With the start of the 2022-2023 school year, NCDPI would like to make sure that we have the most accurate contact information for your PSU’s discipline data coordinator. 

 

Please update your Discipline Data Coordinator Contact Information by filling out the Qualtrics Survey found here:

https://ncdpi.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1FVZftpuoO7Ul14

 

 

ALTERNATIVE LEARNING PROGRAMS & SCHOOLS (ALPS)

With the start of the 2022-2023 school year, NCDPI would like to make sure that we have the most accurate contact information for your PSU’s ALPS data coordinator. 

 

To update the ALPS Data Coordinator Contact List, click the link to the update form provided below:

https://ncdpi.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3RgXSJfQuv2zyse

 

 

DROPOUT DATA

With the start of the 2022-2023 school year, NCDPI would like to make sure that we have the most accurate contact information for your PSU’s dropout data coordinator. 

 

To update the Dropout Data Coordinator Contact List, click the link to the update form provided below:

https://ncdpi.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0DGJvrcKiQI16tM


The NC Digital Learning & Media Inventory (DLMI) is due Sep 30, 2022.

    • All PSUs (LEA, Charter, Lab, Regional) must complete the DLMI annually.

    • Remember that this data feeds into the NC School Report Card, the Office of Civil Rights Report, and the new Digital Dashboard required by legislation.

    • For your data to be on this year’s School Report Card, it MUST be input into the DLMI system by the Sept 30 deadline because we must submit the SRC data the following week. 

    • Charter, Regional, Lab schools must complete the PSU level as well as the School level, therefore need to request PSU admin access.

    • Please see the 2022 NCDLMI Training Deck for directions and links.  

    • Contact your regional consultant for further assistance.


Register for Fall Literacy Instruction Standards (LIS) PD!

To assist districts and schools in implementing the Literacy Instruction Standards (LIS), the NCDPI ELA Team will provide regional train-the-trainer sessions for instructional leaders that include:

  1. Building a deeper understanding of the LIS and practices

  2. Utilizing the "Literacy Look-Fors" tool to observe and coach

  3. Planning next steps for improving literacy in their PSU

We are inviting up to 3-5 leaders per charter to attend. Suggested participants:

  • K-12 representation; Vertical representation

  • Content area representation 

  • Instructional leaders who will support/provide PD locally

  • Literacy and/or Instructional Coaches

The charter session will take place October 5th from 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM.

 

The NCDPI ELA Team encourages charter teams to work with their school leadership to ensure registration accurately reflects needed charter representation. While each team member should register separately, charter leaders should follow up with their team members to ensure individual registrations are completed. 

Register for your session!

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To learn more about the support the ELA Team will provide for the 22-23 school year, view our public-facing timeline.  If you have any questions, please let us know!
Thanks,
Stacy Daniel, Ed.D.Section Chief for ELA & LanguagesEnglish Language Arts and LanguagesOffice of Academic StandardsNC Department of Public InstructionP: (984) 236-2829stacy.daniel@dpi.nc.gov

Important MEMOs:

MEMO: 2022–23 Annual Testing Program and Accountability Requirements

Thoroughly read the  linked memo, 2022–23 Annual Testing Program and Accountability Requirements, from Dr. Michael Maher and Dr. Tammy Howard. 


New NCEES Information and Resources Site

 

The North Carolina Educator Evaluation System has a new public site, https://bit.ly/ncees-resources.

 

This site houses NCEES information and resources to support all educator evaluations in North Carolina. If you cannot find the resource(s) you are searching for, please email: EducatorEffectiveness@dpi.nc.gov.

 

The NCEES Google Site was discontinued on June 30, 2022. Please bookmark the new site, https://bit.ly/ncees-resources, and share this information with your NCEES system users.


Exceptional Children Logo

EC ANNOUNCEMENTS

Please review the attached EC Division communication updates and Guidance. 

Calling ALL EL Data Stakeholders! 

Are you relatively new to English Learner (EL) identification, EL Data in PowerSchool, the Home Language Survey process, and other critical elements for EL data? In that case, register now for the upcoming session. We recommend this for anyone with less than three years of working with multilingual learners, EL data, and PowerSchool. 

September 12th from 9:00 - 11:30 am - Registration

New DOE Guidance:

 Support Students with Disabilities and Avoid Discriminatory Use of Discipline


OCS

Office of Charter Schools (OCS) Updates

Planning Year 22-23 newsletter announcement and September registration for applicant schools:

Planning Year Calendar 2022-2023

The Office of Charter Schools is pleased to release the dates for the 2022-2023 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, 2023, as part of the successful completion of the Ready to Open and Planning Year process. Registration is for Planning Year/RTO schools only.
Link to registration for Planning Year One: Governance: https://forms.office.com/r/PCnhBayfgC

2022 NC Charter Applications Press Release 5/24/2022


2023 Burroughs Wellcome Fund NC Teacher of the Year Nomination Process

 

The Burroughs Wellcome Fund NC Teacher of the Year is recognized at the school, regional, and statewide levels. Individual public charter schools nominate a Teacher of the Year who participates in a selection process facilitated by the Office of Charter Schools at the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. Once the charter school nomination processes are completed, the teacher finalists vie as one of the state’s nine Regional Teachers of the Year. [The state is divided into eight geographical regions and NC Charter Schools are clustered together to form the ninth region of the state. The Charter School Teacher of the Year joins the Regional Teachers of the Year team as a finalist for the state Teacher of the Year]. This selection process is facilitated in each region by Regional Education Facilitators.  If you need additional information please reach out to your Regional Educator Facilitator or Dr. Sonja Brown at Sonja.Brown@dpi.nc.gov   Please remember to nominate your school's Teacher of the Year.  

ACCESS

The NC ACCESS Program is offering two amazing (and FREE) development opportunities for charter school leaders and teachers during the 2022-23 school year. Visit ncaccessprogram.com/learn for more information.

  1. Science of Reading (LETRS) Training for 200 teachers and 100 administrators. NC ACCESS is partnering with Lexia Learning to provide the same LETRS training that the state is offering to traditional public schools.
  2. The ACCESS Fellowship for 100 charter school leaders. To-date, this intensive development institute has only been available to NC ACCESS subgrantees. This year, it is open to all. Apply today!

NC ACCESS Aspiring Minority School Leaders Program 

Are you looking for School Leaders? 

The North Carolina Advancing Charter Collaboration and Excellence for Student Success (NC ACCESS) grant program in the Office of Charter Schools was excited to embark on the Aspiring Minority School Leaders Program in collaboration with Appalachian State University. The Aspiring Minority School Leaders Program was designed to recruit, support, and build a pipeline of minority school leaders prepared to meet the challenges of leading schools. North Carolina charter schools will benefit by having access to a cohort of school leaders of color and women who are exceptionally trained, ready to be part of innovative school reform initiatives, and ready to move into leadership positions with strengthened organizational and instructional leadership skills.  

We are proud to announce that we have twelve completers from the program. All have a Master’s Degree and years of school-based experience. If you are actively looking to fill certified school leadership positions, please send your listing to Dr. Barbara O’Neal in the Office of Charter Schools at barbara.oneal@dpi.nc.gov. I will send your position notices to the program completers.  

Note: This special effort to inform this group of twelve does not replace the normal process of sending open positions notices to the OCS Newsletter, please continue to send them your position notices. Questions, please feel free to contact me at the same email address. 


Other Resources from DPI


Charter School Job Postings 

If you have current teaching/leadership positions open and wish to share them in this newsletter, reach out to Joseph.Letterio@dpi.nc.gov and provide a link to the posting/s. 


Whom Should I Contact at the Office of Charter Schools?

OCS Main Number: (984) 236-2700 / Email: ocs@dpi.nc.gov

Name

Email

Phone

Workflow

Ashley Baquero

Ashley.Baquero@dpi.nc.gov

984.236.2708

Interim Director; 

SBE/CSAB/Amendments/Risk Assess.

 

Anita Holbrook

anita.holbrook@dpi.nc.gov

984-236-2753

Executive Assistant/Communications

Joseph Letterio M.

Joseph.Letterio@dpi.nc.gov

984.236.2703

Performance Framework/ Epicenter/ Comms&Data

Lakisha Robbins

Lakisha.robbins@dpi.nc.gov

984.236.2704

NC ACCESS Finance

Davida Robinson

Davida.robinson@dpi.nc.gov

984.236.2878

NC ACCESS Program Manager

Barbara O’Neal

Barbara.ONeal@dpi.nc.gov

984.236.2706

NC ACCESS Program Coordinator

Claire Porter

Claire.Porter@dpi.nc.gov

984.236.2709

RTO/Planning Year

Jay Whalen

Jay.Whalen@dpi.nc.gov

984.236.2711

NC ACCESS Program Administrator

Jenna Cook

Jenna.Cook@dpi.nc.gov

984.236.2707

Renewals

Darian Jones

darian.jones@dpi.nc.gov

984.236.2705

Prof. Dev./Stakeholder Support

Melanie Rackley

Melanie.Rackley@dpi.nc.gov

984.236.2712

Applications