 The Office of Innovation at NCDPI is interested in showcasing exemplars of the Portrait of a Graduate Competencies as an extension of the Promising Practices Clearinghouse, and we are hoping each of you will be able to assist us in collecting these exemplars.
As you know, the competencies include Adaptability, Collaboration, Communication, Critical Thinking, Empathy, Learner’s Mindset, and Personal Responsibility. We are seeking to spotlight these competencies from various perspectives, such as leaders being collaborative, teachers being critical thinkers, students being adaptable, etc. We are especially interested in student-based exemplars. We are collecting this information on the Portrait of a Graduate Exemplars Google form. Please direct any questions to Angie.Mullennix@dpi.nc.gov
Charter School Transportation Grant funds have been distributed
Transportation Grants for this school year were released in PRC036. Nearly $2.4M was awarded to a total of 44 charter schools. Questions can be directed to Ashley.baquero@dpi.nc.gov. As all funds were allotted for this year, there will be no further grant submissions until next school year.
School Business
Local Use PRC for Federal Grants: 353-Local Foods for Schools – All PSUs
DPI assigned local use PRC 353 for the Federal Grant being awarded by the NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The name of the grant is: Local Foods for Schools.
Please note that this is Federal grant funding not appropriated thru NCDPI which carries the fund 3 code. For this and similarly funded grants you use a LOCAL fund code (2, 8, etc.) with a PRC (Program Report Code) in the 300-399 series. Examples are Medicaid Reimbursements, Head Start, etc. Please see the Chart of Accounts on the FBS website for more information on the various PRCs in the Supporting Documents section.
Since PRC 353 is a local PRC, DPI will not assign a Chart of Accounts. Review the grant to decide which account codes to use for the local PRC. Within your general ledger for this local PRC, flag the revenue and expenditures as federal funds.
Any additional questions about the specific grant funding, please contact NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services directly, Kirk Smitherman, kirk.smitherman@ncagr.gov.
For questions related to the coding structure please contact Roxane Bernard in School Business at roxane.bernard@dpi.nc.gov.
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Local Use PRC for Federal Grants: 352-School Health Advisory Council Grant – All PSUs
DPI has assigned local use PRC 352 for the Federal Grant being awarded by the NC Department of Health and Human Services. The name of that Grant is: School Health Advisory Council Grant (SHAC).
Please note that this is Federal grant funding not appropriated thru NCDPI which carries the fund 3 code. For this and similarly funded grants you use a LOCAL fund code (2, 8, etc.) with a PRC (Program Report Code) in the 300-399 series. Examples are Medicaid Reimbursements, Head Start, etc. Please see the Chart of Accounts section of the FBS website for more information on the various Program Report Codes in the supplemental information section.
Any additional questions about the specific grant funding can be directed to Marshall Tyson with the NC Department of Health and Human Services directly at marshall.tyson@dhhs.nc.gov. For questions related to the coding structure, please contact Roxane Bernard in School Business.
OCR/CRDC -SY2021-2022 - Collection Information Pending Federal Opening
Dear Coordinators,
Please share with other staff as appropriate.
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). Note: PSUs which were not open in the school year 2021-2022 will not participate in this collection.
To date, the Federal government has not published an official start date or requirements for the collection. The information from the Federal government may be published as late as the summer of 2023. NCDPI will notify PSUs once an announcement has been made.
There is no need to run the CRDC Preview Report in PowerSchool.
PSUs can begin to prepare for the SY21-22 CRDC by:
- Verifying or updating the CRDC Coordinator contacts are recorded in EDDIE
- As a reminder, all PSUs must have at least one CRDC Coordinator contact in EDDIE
- Ensuring Section 504 data for SY 2021-2022 been recorded in the Special Programs section of PowerSchool.
- Use the Enrolling Students in a Special Program guide to add student records.
- PSUs using third party applications for Section 504 will be required submit Section 504 data to the CRDC on their own if a record is not added to PowerSchool.
- Section 504 Designation guidance is provided at the local level. Please contact the PSU 504 Coordinator with any questions.
PSUs will be required to gather and submit the following data for the CRDC:
Review and collect data using the SY2021-2022 CRDC School Form for the following survey questions:
- OFFN-5: Offenses -Number of Incidents Committed by School Staff
- OFFN-6: Offenses -Allegations Against School Staff (Resignation or Retirement)
- OFFN-7: Offenses -Allegations Against School Staff (Determined Responsible)
- OFFN-8: Offenses -Allegations Against School Staff (Determined Not Responsible)
- OFFN-9: Offenses -Allegations Against School Staff (Determination Pending)
- OFFN-10: Offenses -Allegations Against School Staff (Duty Reassignment)
Please email nc.ocr.crdc@dpi.nc.gov with any questions you may have.
Want information about the CRDC, but are not the CRDC Coordinator contact? Add your information here: 2122 CRDC – Info Only Contacts List
Advertising Upcoming Social Studies PD in Region 1
In Partnership with NCDPI, the Ashbrook Center at Ashland University will be hosting a one day seminar in Elizabeth City on Saturday March 25. This free professional learning session is open to all 6-12 Social Studies and ELA teachers who want to increase their content knowledge on the Kennedy and Johnson presidencies and who would like to earn 8 contact hours towards CEUs. The seminar and discussion will all be using primary documents to model best practices for students. A light breakfast and lunch will be provided. Please see the registration linked. Please contact Tom Daugherty if you have any questions.
NCSTAR Spring 2023 Professional Development
The Office of District & Regional Support within the Division of District & School Support Services is excited to announce the Spring 2023 NCStar & School Improvement Planning Professional Development!
This two-day training will be offered in six different locations across the state during the months of March through May. These sessions will cover the same material and resources shared during the Fall 2022 sessions.
Day 1: Participants will learn about school improvement using NCStar and how to navigate the platform to assess, create and monitor school-based practices. Participants will also learn about the components of Set Direction in NCStar, including the use of Performance Measures to monitor the progress of school improvement goals.
Day 2: Participants will continue to learn about school improvement using NCStar with a focus on the Continuous Improvement Cycle (Assess, Create, Monitor) to create robust school improvement plans. Participants will also learn about best practices for school improvement teams, including how to run an effective SIT meeting, effective forms of distributive leadership and the critical role that SIT leaders and committees play in moving the school achievement needle forward, and the evaluation of a school’s School Improvement Plan.
To register, please click here.
New Round of Grants for Digital Teaching & Learning Available for 2023-24
Digital Teaching and Learning in North Carolina’s public schools will benefit from a new round of competitive grants approved December 1, 2022, by the State Board of Education.
Up to $1.25 million in grants funded by the General Assembly through the state’s Digital Learning Initiative will be available to school districts, charter schools, lab schools, and regional schools during the 2023-24 school year.
These competitive grants are intended to support North Carolina districts and schools as they address challenges, harness opportunities, and leverage resources for digital-age teaching, and learning. As specified in the state’s Digital Learning Plan, this grant program is intended to support the development and dissemination of local innovative digital teaching and learning across North Carolina.
For the 2023-24 school year, there will be two request-for-proposal applications: the Digital Learning Impact Grant and a mini-grant for professional learning and also for emerging technologies. The window for the request for proposals for the grants opened December 1, 2022, and will close with a February 28, 2023, deadline.
For more detailed information, please see attached RFP Announcement.
Charter schools and AGPIP
School leaders,
As you may be aware, the statutory investment authority for NC’s charter schools was recently expanded. In particular, charter schools can now participate in the Department of State Treasurer’s investment program for non-pension governmental entities, referred to as the Ancillary Governmental Participant Investment Program (AGPIP). To assist charter schools, we have drafted some FAQs regarding AGPIP (linked).
We also included a few questions regarding the Supplemental Retirement Plans (NC 401(k) Plan and NC 457 Plan) because similar eligibility questions may arise for SRP and AGPIP.
The link to the Department’s AGPIP page is here: AGPIP and Investment Management Programs | NC Treasurer.
You can find more information on SRP at www.myNCPlans.com and the Board of Trustees page (Supplemental Retirement Board of Trustees | My NC Retirement).
Social Studies Leaders' Institute
Student Accounting Manual Update (SASA)
The SBE approved the attached updated draft of the SASA Manual at their meeting on November 3, 2022. We have linked the full SBE packet so you can see the changes that were made. Most are technical corrections for legislative changes such as the Student Code of Conduct and those applicable items now applies to ALL PSUs and not just LEAs. We also have provided the update to the PMR Attestation statement as well as updated coding that is no longer applicable post-pandemic. If you have any questions, please contact LaShon Creech at lashon.creech@dpi.nc.gov. Please make sure your LEA Data Managers are aware the manual has been updated.
Important MEMOs:
 NC ACCESS Program Offers Teach Like a Champion Training
Over 200 Charter School Administrators and Teachers across North Carolina attended a 2-day educational development training, offered by the NC Office of Charter Schools and NC ACCESS Program. The training was held on January 24 – 25, 2023 at The McKimmon Conference and Training Center on the campus of NC State University.
Teach Like a Champion is about the belief that the solutions to education challenges exist in the classrooms of real-life teachers, and that exceptional practitioners of the art of teaching are the true experts. Their job is to find them, study them, and share what they do, so others can copy, practice, and adapt it to their own teaching. Their mission is to dramatically improve teaching. By studying outstanding teachers and leaders and sharing what they learn from them, they aim to help schools create classrooms that are radically better for children, especially in communities where systemic inequities and discrimination have left students with limited access to an education worthy of their highest aspirations.
Teach Like a Champion provides educators with a set of techniques, a shared vocabulary, and a framework for practice that equip teachers to achieve dramatic results with their students.
One of the initiatives of the NC ACCESS Program is to host immersive professional development experiences intended to provide leaders and teachers with specific strategies they can use to ensure students are served in the best way possible.
By the end of year 5, the NC ACCESS Program will have created a community of 160 charter school leaders who have developed and demonstrated best practices in serving educationally disadvantaged students.
Some of the positive feedback and quotes from the training are as follows -
- “The passion and care that has been put into each component of this training has been impeccable!”
- “Great videos and real-life examples. Loved that same strategies we were taught were used in our training (writing, turn and talks, etc.)”
- “I really appreciated all the practice time as well as the way the practice was modeled.”
- “I really enjoyed how well the information was presented and that we were able to see all of these components applied in a classroom and what they would look like with different teaching styles.”
- “The energy level was amazing. Great balance of "teacher talk/student talk."
- “I plan to use at least one method from each technique in the next couple of weeks in my classroom. I have a guide to help me pace when I do it, so it is not overwhelming for me or my kids.”
To learn more about the NC ACCESS Program, please visit the website.
   
Office of Charter Schools (OCS) Updates
NCAPCS Incubator Program
The NC Association for Public Charter Schools (NCAPCS) is dedicated to providing the support necessary to establish a strong foundation for the formation of new, innovative charter schools. Phase One of the NCAPCS Incubator Program's implementation will provide small grants ($1,000 maximum) to select planning year schools to assist in recruiting and marketing efforts. The Incubator Program committee will fund the schools with the strongest applications. Deadline to apply: March 31, 2023.
OPEN NOW: 2023 NC Charter Applications
The 2023 North Carolina Charter School Application is now open, as of Friday, January 27th at 5 pm. The 2023 charter application window will close on April 28, 2023 at 5pm. Applicants who are interested in opening a charter school in 2024 under the accelerated timeline, or in 2025 under the standard timeline must submit their charter applications on or before the April 28, 2023 application close date.
Both the online application and $1,000 application fee must be submitted on or before April 28, 2023 at 5pm.
For questions about the charter application process, please reach out to Melanie.Rackley@dpi.nc.gov.
Please forward
School leaders, we encourage you to forward this newsletter on to your staff so they can subscribe to DPI bulletins directly through this link. They will enter their email and then it will bring them to another page where they can select “Charter School Comms Contacts” and any other public listserv to sign up for.
NCSECU People Helping People Scholarship
It is that time of year again! NCSECU People Helping People Scholarship! Please share as appropriate with your seniors and their families. We would love to have a representative from every senior high school that has eligible students. Remember parents or the student must be a member of the NCSECU credit union. Let’s see if we can break 45 applicants!!!!!
- Due Date back to Dr. Darian C. Jones, darian.jones@dpi.nc.gov COB, MARCH 21st, TUESDAY CLOSE OF BUSINESS, 5:00 p.m. The date of April 3 is the due date for our office to submit our names to NCSECU. Please, please share with your team, your students, and families so they do not miss out on this opportunity. We cannot take submissions directly from parents or students.
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Each school with an eligible student is to send me, 1 name, and completed application and materials as prescribed.
Please find the 2023 SECU Foundation People Helping People Scholarship materials linked below. I have also attached the PowerPoint that I used in our webinar, and you can access the recording of the webinar here (Passcode: 8.K4o9^u).
Please pay close attention to the Membership Verification Process document; this year we are asking our students to verify that they meet the SECU membership eligibility requirement prior to submitting their application materials, and that document outlines the process by which they will fulfill that requirement. The Membership Verification Process document should be distributed to students will all other application materials, and a student should not turn in their completed application packet to their guidance office unless it also contains the Membership Confirmation letter that I have pasted below. The link at the top of the Membership Verification Process document is disabled until the morning of December 16th; it will be active from December 16th through March 31st.
Darian C. Jones, Ph. D.
Education Program Consultant II
Office of Charter Schools
HR Webinar Information - Licensure requirements, resources, and more for Charter School leaders
Once a month, Dr. Tom Tomberlin and his team provide State Board of Education and legislative updates to the human resources contacts in Public School Units (PSUs) across the state.
All sessions are 10:30-11:30AM
March 3
April 7
May 5
June 2
July 10 (Monday)
August 7 (Monday)
September 8
October 6
November 3
December 8
Link to Join:
Kim Evans' Personal Room
https://ncgov.webex.com/meet/kimberly.evans
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Simple, modern video meetings for everyone on the world's most popular and trusted collaboration platform.
ncgov.webex.com
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Join by phone
+1-415-655-0003 US Toll
Access code: 619 435 814
Kim Evans Program Coordinator, PEPSC Office of Educator Preparation and Licensure Division of Educator and Student Advancement NC Department of Public Instruction P: (984) 236-2116 M: (240) 498-5111 kimberly.evans@dpi.nc.gov
Other Resources from DPI and beyond
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
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