Clarification re school counselors and testing responsibilities -
Many of you have had questions and concerns about how your school counselors can be utilized inside the school building, particularly around testing. We believe that the law still gives you the flexibility to utilize your staff as you see fit. With that said, if there are any future clarifying changes to the law, we will be sure to let you know.
School Business – December 1, 2023
The FBS website continues to be updated with information related to School Business and our ongoing operations. Please check the FBS homepage regularly for updates. Please review the upcoming deadlines for due dates.
Financial Statement Audits Due (all PSUS)
The financial statement audit was due by October 31st. Although an audit was considered late after October 31st, DPI did not require any actions from the PSU’s auditor if the audit was remitted before November 30th.
For any PSU not completing and remitting your audit report by November 30th, an explanation for the reason of the delay and the estimated completion time should be sent to the PSU’s board chair. A copy of the letter should be submitted to Irwin.Benjamin@dpi.nc.gov. Please note that untimely audit submissions may be subject to noncompliance procedures.
Upcoming Deadlines
The SS200 reports (All PSUs) are PAST DUE, submit ASAP
Details are in the September 22, 2023 and October 6, 13, 27 2023 newsletters *
Financial Statement Audits (all PSUs) are PAST DUE, submit ASAP
Details are in the September 15, 2023 and November 3, 2023 newsletters *
Real Property Status Report (all PSUs) – Complete the online survey and the template by December 1, 2023.
Details are in the November 13, 2023 newsletter *
ALOT Reports (all PSUs) are due December 1, 2023.
Details are in the November 17, 2023 newsletter *
Last Cash Requests (all PSUs) for December must be received by December 18, 2023 for Federal and December 19, 2023 for State to receive funds on December 22, 2023.
Details are in the November 3, 2023 newsletter *
Federal Grant Liquidation and Closeout (all PSUs) - grants expired on September 30, 2023 must be liquidated by December 29, 2023, excluding ESSER II funds with an approved extension.
Details are in the September 15, 2023 and October 27, 2023 newsletters *
*View prior newsletters online: Newsletters and Guidance | NC DPI.
Charter School Data Collection Training
McKinney-Vento homeless liaisons are responsible for the collection of accurate homeless education data on students identified within their Local Education Agency (LEA) [42 U.S.C. § 11432(g)(6)(A)(I)]. To ensure compliance, NCHEP will hold the annual Data Collection Training for charter and lab school homeless liaisons on Thursday, December 7 at 10:00 AM. This is a required training for new homeless liaisons and is highly recommended for all homeless liaisons to attend. The training will be held virtually. Registration is required.
REGISTER HERE
If you have questions, contact your Program Specialist, Savannah Gay.
December Digital Leaders Exchange - Registration NOW OPEN!
Registration NOW OPEN! Think Home Base Meetups meets Regional Technology Directors Meetings! The NC Digital Leaders Exchange (formerly Home Base Meetups) is coming to a location near you soon! Each event will run from the West to the East while also aligning each “exchange” with a part of the Digital Learning Plan. In December, we will be highlighting Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment along with the typical offerings of Home Base product update sessions. Stay tuned for further information!
We will meet from 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM and lunch will be catered. Register for a date & location that best fits your schedule.
The NC SECU People Helping People scholarship application is now open, due March 8th
NCSECU Foundation Scholarship for High School Seniors opened on December 1st. Please share this scholarship opportunity with your high school guidance counselors and deans to promote this scholarship opportunity. Applications will close on March 8th, 2024, with selection interviews starting March 25th, 2024. Please see the this link to share with your high school seniors. SECU Foundation takes an active role in assisting communities across North Carolina because we believe in “People Helping People®.” To support this commitment, the People Helping People scholarship was established to help North Carolina public high school students attend college. A scholarship award of up to $10,000 over four years will be awarded. For further assistance, please contact Dr. Natasha Norins, natasha.norins@dpi.nc.gov.
SAVE THE DATE!
Join the Office of Learning Recovery and Acceleration as we cover the USED's Non-Regulatory Guidance on Using Evidence to Strengthen Education Investments.
With the pending fiscal cliff, it is imperative that PSU's ensure that their investments are using evidence to combat the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic while supporting their students' continued educational as well as social emotional growth.
Contact Dr. Richard Lewis, richard.lewis@dpi.nc.gov or Jay Johnson jay.johnson@dpi.nc.gov with any questions.
Registration Link: https://dpi-nc.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/vJIsdu6rrDopHjciAmNXZ01x6Hs9vVj2AAw
Teaching the Craft of Writing PD
The NCDPI ELA Team invites teachers to participate in professional learning on Teaching the Craft of Writing. This one-day PD will be grounded in the Literacy Instruction Standards, ELA Standard Course of Study, current research, and the recommendations and guidance in the NCDPI ELA Team’s writing guidebook (to be released in January 2024). Collectively, participating teachers can use this learning to make informed and effective decisions when developing their vision for teaching writing.
Professional learning will be held face-to-face on the dates, times, and locations below. Participants are encouraged to bring a device.
East: February 1, 2024 | 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM | Lenoir County
West: February 13, 2024 | 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM | Burke County
Central: February 15, 2024 | 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM | DPI
Central: February 16, 2024 | 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM | Hoke County
Central: February 21, 2024 | 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM | DPI
Virtual: February 29, 2024 | 8:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Please note priority registration will be given to districts attending PD closest to their region.
Spots are limited for the in-person option. Once a location’s registration is full, registrants will be put on a waiting list. Registration is not finalized until registrants receive confirmation from the NCDPI ELA Team.
Register Today!
Multilingual Learners brief
Our commitment to fostering diversity and inclusivity within the classroom is steadfast. We strive to ensure that every student, regardless of their background or linguistic proficiency, is provided with opportunities to excel and reach their full potential. In this pursuit, the ML/Title III and the Advanced Learning and Gifted Education teams are working together in an effort to recognize ML Students whose exceptional abilities and talents often remain concealed within the complexities of language acquisition. We are pleased to share a Call-to-Action paper: Strategic Actions to Realize Equity and Excellence in Gifted Education for Multilingual Learners.
Plans are underway for professional development across the state. A sql report 'Academically or Intellectually Gifted/ML students' will soon be active in PowerSchool. If you have any success with identifying ML students as AIG, please email ESLTitleIII@dpi.nc.gov. We would love to highlight your story!
Thank you!
Susan Walz Multilingual Learner/Title III Consultant English Language Arts and Languages Office of Academic Standards NC Department of Public Instruction P: (984) 236-2847 susan.walz@dpi.nc.gov
Career and Technical Education (CTE) Trainings
Are you new to offering Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs or do you want to know more about CTE? Check out our Charter Schools: Getting Started with CTE guide (https://bit.ly/CTEcharter) to connect with CTE resources, including course standards, required CTE proofs of learning, credentials, and reporting requirements.
The CTE Regional Services team is implementing a charter school user group during the 2023-2024 school year to provide training and support for charter schools who offer CTE programs or have student enrollments in CTE courses through NCVPS. Our charter school user group will meet quarterly to provide CTE updates, information about CTE programs, and training for administering and reporting student results for CTE proofs of learning, credentials, and CTE concentrator status for WorkKeys participation. We invite you to mark your calendar for the following dates and plan to join us online to learn more about CTE.
*This session will include a CTE State Assessment training refresher and full training required for schools administering spring administrations of CTE State Assessments who did not attend fall training
Questions may be directed to Misty Wolfe (misty.wolfe@dpi.nc.gov) or your CTE Regional Coordinator.
Innovative Schools Funding Opportunity
Innovative Schools Funding Opportunity - NewSchools Venture Fund
We are looking for educators who are designing new, innovative public schools launching in Fall 2025. Through this annual funding opportunity, we help early-stage charter organizations launch their first and/or second school in a new network, and support district schools develop and implement innovative designs for new schools. While the ideas we support will involve varying approaches, all the schools in our portfolio are committed to a student-centered vision and these three design principles: an expanded definition of student success, equity and innovation. We are also interested in learning more about these emerging innovations: New approaches to strategic school staffing, including efforts to redesign the teaching role and reimagine school staffing structures to meet the needs of students and make the work more sustainable.
The use of generative AI to personalize student learning experiences, support teacher practice and effectiveness, and enable next generation assessments; Flexible learning models, inclusive of virtual and hybrid schools, which support students to acquire and apply skills and knowledge in real-world settings and in their broader community; Models that support post-secondary pathways to success, helping young people identify their passions and interests early (grades 6-8), provide meaningful exposure to enriching academic and career opportunities (grades 9-12), increase access to accelerated pathways to earn meaningful credentials and/or college credit (grades 11+), and provide navigation support along the way; New approaches and school models that support multilingual learners, students with learning differences and those dually identified. These models should promote belonging for students and their families.
The application will close on January 16th, 2024 at 5pm PT.
Need more information? We will host a webinar on November 30th where we will share more about what we’re looking for, walk through the application, and answer any questions you have.
After School Robotics and Plasma Games Competitive Grant Opportunities!
Greetings colleagues,
On behalf of the Dept. of Public Instruction I wanted to make you aware of 2 competitive grants that were approved by the General Assembly in the most recent budget and that we are excited to open for interest.
The grants will be run through the CCIP system. The applications and budget portions of the CCIP system are still being processed. We wanted to provide as much possible time for PSUs to review the opportunities and begin planning and pulling together necessary information. As soon as the applications are ready in CCIP we will immediately share the information with everyone.
All PSUs are encouraged to read through the grant details. A few important notes about both:
- The grants are specific to the 2023-2024 school year and must be fully spent with all related purchases/services fully delivered by September 30th, 2024.
- Both grants are tied to remaining ESSER 3 funds, so there remains the need to connect to pandemic recovery.
- The grants are similar to ones from the previous budget, but each does have some changes. Please read the new budget details, guidelines and criteria closely. Let us know any questions you have about either grant opportunity.
Please reach out with any questions. As soon as the applications are ready within CCIP we will reach out to all PSUs, in the meantime we encourage everyone to look over these wonderful opportunities and the specifics for each.
Respectfully,
Charles Aiken, Ed.D.Section ChiefMathematics, Science and STEM Office of Academic Standards NC Department of Public Instruction P: (984) 236-2837 charles.aiken@dpi.nc.gov
Important MEMOs:
Office of Charter Schools (OCS) Updates
OCS Office Hours
The purpose of the OCS Office Hours is to allow Charter School Leaders to connect with NCDPI department representatives virtually. NCDPI departments will share information and resources. Please see the upcoming sessions below.
** Update** December 14 at 10 am: NCEES and Schoolnet. RSVP HERE to receive a calendar invite with the connection link.
January 11 at 10 am: Office of Learning Recovery. RSVP HERE to receive a calendar invite with the connection link.
OCS Lunch+Learn
Mark your calendar! Our next quarterly Lunch+Learn is scheduled for February 19 at Pine Springs Preparatory from 11:30 am-1:30 pm. School tours will begin at 10:30 am. The topic of discussion is Navigating Charter School Legislation. Please RSVP HERE.
We look forward to seeing you at one of our events. For questions, contact Dr. Brandi Gill at brandi.gill@dpi.nc.gov.
OCS presented some updates at the NCAPCS Charter Conference. In case you missed it, or want the presentation, please find it linked HERE.
Other Resources from DPI and beyond
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
 
Fresh Take 2024
Community School of Davidson is excited to host the 11th Annual Fresh Take Conference on Friday, March 1st 2024. This conference is planned BY teachers and FOR teachers, and we are very excited to host Charlotte area educator Emily Francis as our keynote speaker this year!
From now until Wednesday, January 10th, CSD will be accepting presentation proposals for the 2024 conference. As CSD was founded and believes in research-based best practices, we strongly encourage the inclusion of any related research in presentation proposals. For accepted presenters, we are pleased to share that the conference fee will be waived, and both breakfast and lunch are included!
If you would like to join the conference as an attendee, please complete sign up here: Fresh Take Attendee Registration is $85 until Jan 12th. Registration increases to $100 after Jan 12th. Please feel free to share this link with your colleagues!
Please feel free to reach out with any questions!
Erika Bowen & Leslie Bragg
ebowen@csdspartans.org
lbragg@csdspartans.org
CSD Fresh Take Team
Fresh Take 2024 Mission Statement: At the heart of every thriving educational community are inspired and empowered educators. Our mission is to facilitate a transformative conference, one that reinvigorates the spirit of teaching, fosters meaningful connections among educators, and equips them with cutting-edge best practices to enhance classrooms and schools.
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.
Lab School Opportunities
Whom Should I Contact at the Office of Charter Schools?
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.
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