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June 16, 2026

SECTION I: OCS PRIORITY ITEMS

Congratulations to the newly approved 2026 North Carolina public charter school cohort!

5 Ready To Open schools were approved by the NC Charter School Review Board, Monday, June 8th. Schools stemming from Warren, Wake, Durham, and Guilford counties, along with a statewide virtual academy celebrated this milestone with committed enthusiasm. Then their school leaders returned to NC DPI to participate in a rigorous 2-day New Charter School Leaders Institute, where they accessed leaders across the state to help launch their schools successfully in August. They’re off to a great start

OCS PD and Outreach Offerings Survey

School Leaders, please shape next year’s professional development opportunities across the state! Your feedback will guide future planning and ensure PD offerings meet the needs of educators and schools. The survey takes just 5 minutes to complete.

Emergency Remote Instruction Plans (RIP)

Charter Schools that plan to use remote instruction during emergency closures must annually submit an Emergency Remote Instruction (RI) Plan to NC DPI. §S.L. 2022-74/HB 103 authorizes the use of Remote Instruction for emergency closures under §S.L. 115C-84.3(b).

By June 30, 2026, please complete one of the following actions for the 2026–2027 school year:

• Create and submit a new RI Plan for emergency closures, or

• Indicate that your PSU will not complete an RI Plan.

This year, Charter Schools must choose one of these options.  The option to “Utilize the current plan “ is not available this year.   

Please note that RI Plans cannot be accepted after the deadline. 

We encourage PSUs to complete the RI Plan Worksheet first and then submit the plan in Qualtrics.

• Remote Instruction Plan Worksheet:   2026-2027RIPlanWorksheet

• Remote Instruction Plan Submission Form:  2026-2027RIPlan

Please reach out to your Regional Consultant for Digital Teaching & School Connectivity regarding any questions. Please share with your Charter School’s leadership if you are not the person who submits this RIP.

Northeast Region - Meredith Ward Hill, meredith.hill@dpi.nc.gov

Southeast Region - Lauren Boucher, lauren.boucher@dpi.nc.gov

North Central Region - Jennifer Graham, jennifer.graham@dpi.nc.gov

Sandhills Region - Jill Darrough, jill.darrough@dpi.nc.gov

Piedmont-Triad Region - Brian Whitson, brian.whitson@dpi.nc.gov

Southwest Region - Lindsey Sipe, lindsey.sipe@dpi.nc.gov

Northwest Region - Jordan Caldwell, jordan.caldwell@dpi.nc.gov

Western Region - Stacy Lovdahl, stacy.lovdahl@dpi.nc.gov 

Please see the attached memo, 2026–27 Accountability and Testing Training Requirements, from Dr. Michael Maher, Mr. Curtis Sonneman, Dr. Kinge Mbella, and Ms. Ashley Logue to all Charter School Directors.

Updated School Attendance and Student Accounting (SASA) Manual

This is a MUST HAVE resource for all charter school administrators. 

Current SASA Manual

Parents’ Bill of Rights Reporting: Parents’ Guide to Student Achievement and Data

Due September 15, 2026

Based on legislation and SBE PRNT-002, it’s time for you to update your Parents’ Guide to Student Achievement and submit data regarding the Parents’ Bill of Rights appeals.  Please complete the reporting form by September 15, 2026; but we hope you will submit by June 30 so you can have it all wrapped up before the next school year.  Please make sure your links are clear and accessible for the PGSA.  Remember that what you submit is what will be exactly shared with the NCGA.    

Linked is the report that SBE submitted last year to the NCGA.

Linked is the list of questions that are in the reporting form, essentially the same as last year.

• LEA PBOR Reporting Form 2026
• Charters/Other PSUs PBOR Reporting Form 2026

If you have any questions regarding this report, please contact Jennifer Lloyd at jennifer.lloyd@dpi.nc.gov.

SECTION II: SCHOOL BUSINESS UPDATES

June 11, 2026

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.

SBS Year End Updates - All PSUs

SBS has posted year end letters to our What's New page, which go through the FY 25-26 closeout process in June/July. Below is a quick reference table of key dates, but please read the memo in its entirety. The slides and recordings of the webinars have also been posted to our What's New page for those that couldn't attend.

Additional MFR Upload – All PSUs

For close out, we will accept and post an additional MFR file so that all PSUs can see any issues that they need to fix in the final week of June. If you wish to participate in this load, please submit your MFR by 5pm on June 24. Files received will be posted by noon on June 25th.

Regardless of whether you send a test file on June 24th, all PSUs MUST send final files by 11:59 pm on June 30th.

Year-End DART Report

A new dashboard is now available in DART in the PSU section: "FIN101. Monthly Actions". It consolidates data from several existing reports to help PSUs more easily monitor five critical areas that may require attention as we approach year-end: invalid codes, over-expended PRCs, over-obligated PRCs, days used overages, and salary overpaid exceptions. The report shows the number of items (if any) that require attention in each category. Clicking the number of items in each category will pull up detailed reports needed to investigate further.

EDDIE Year-End

The data in EDDIE must always be current for the current school year. Enter data that will become effective for 2026-2027 beginning July 1, 2026. For more information, please see the EDDIE Year End Memo posted to the SBS EDDIE webpage.

Please work with your PSU's EDDIE administrators to make sure you have a primary and secondary datafile contact for your PSU entered into the system, as well as your PSU's contact for your datafile vendor (Linq, Sylogist, etc.). LEAs must also have a Finance Officer contact. Charters must have a Finance Director (if applicable) and a Director Charter School contact.

Make sure all the staff listed above for your PSU have both a work phone number (including their extension) and a cell phone number. Cell phone numbers will not be made public and will only be visible to DPI. Having a cell number on file is especially important if urgent contact is needed during the close‑out period.

Monitoring and Compliance Updates - All PSUs

Annual Audit Engagement Questionnaire

All PSUs are required to complete the linked Auditor Questionnaire by June 15, 2026. New Charter Schools opening for the 2026-27 school year are exempt from this requirement.

This questionnaire verifies that each PSU has engaged, or is in the process of engaging, an independent certified public accountant for the annual financial audit covering the period July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026, per state financial oversight requirements and audit timelines.

If you need additional information, please contact the Monitoring and Compliance team at Monitoring@dpi.nc.gov.

Selection of Audit Firms - All PSUs

The State Treasurer’s office has advised us that they will no longer publish a list of auditors. Each LEA and Charter School is required to have an annual audit. The auditor must be in good standing with the State Board of CPA examiners; an auditor status look up tool is available on the NC State Board of CPA Examiners website. An auditor is selected by the local board, and the contract for the audit is to be signed by the school board chair, the finance officer, and the audit firm.

Once signed, the LEA audit contracts are submitted by the audit firm, to the State Treasurer’s office for approval via the State Treasurer LGC Portal. If approved, the State Treasurer will also sign the contract. LEA Audit Invoices for approved work must be submitted to the State Treasurer’s office for review and approval prior to payment. LEA Auditors can submit interim invoices, up to 75% of the total contact amount for review and approval, prior to completion of the audit. LEA submittals to the State Treasurer’s office need to utilize the LGC File Transfer Portal. Charter Schools are exempt from the LGC submittal process.

Once complete and approved LEA audits are submitted via the State Treasurer LGC Portal. Charter School Audits are submitted via the EPICCENTER tool (information on EPICENTER can be found on the Office of Charter Schools website).

SBS Summer Conference Save the Date and Hotel Group Rate

Our annual summer conference will be Thursday, July 23, 2026. Please hold that date and be aware that it will be at the Embassy Suites in Cary, NC. The conference schedule has been posted to our What's New page. Conference registration is $200 per person from now until June 19th. Late registration begins June 20th at $250 per person. Instructions to register are below:

1. Go to our online participant registration portal. DPI Staff planning to attend should register online using our staff registration portal.
2. Once you have submitted your registration, you will receive an email confirmation from noreply@dpi.nc.gov (subject line "2026 FBS Summer Conference Registration FBS26"). Be sure to check your spam folder if it does not appear in your inbox. The invoice attached to that email will provide you with your conference code and invoice number, which you will need when submitting your payment.
3. Go to DPI's online payment portal if paying online with a credit card. You can also pay via
   invoice and check - instructions on how to do so are on the invoice attached to your registration confirmation.
4. If you need to cancel or transfer your registration to another representative at your PSU, please complete our Transfer Form.

The discounted Room Block is open and will be available until July 1st, so please jump on those rates
and secure your room. Thank you for your continued participation in our conference! We will send out more
information in the coming weeks.

Allotments Update

FY2025-26 Allotments

Several LEAs have inquired about the PRC 0015 School Technology Fund Interest Allotments. School Business has allotted FY2026 July – April interest and will continue the allotments, starting with May, after FY2027 Initial allotments have been distributed. Please contact the Allotment Section at allotments@dpi.nc.gov if you have questions regarding this allotment.

Cash Updates

Prior Year Refunds Update - All PSUs

The next processing date for prior year refunds entered into the Cash App will be the week of June 22nd.This will be the final opportunity to return funds to DPI in FY2026.

As a reminder, effective in mid-April the process for returning prior year State funds for overspent PRCs, overspent months used, overspent salaries, and penalties has moved to the Cash App. In order to facilitate a clean transition into the new process, they are no longer available on the Refunds and Repayments Droplet form and SBS will no longer accept manual checks for these refund types. PSUs should continue to use the form and manual checks to return TD-19, IDEA Maintenance of Effort, Questioned Costs, Sales Tax funds, and other state refunds. 

LEAs can view their prior year overspent State funds and penalties using the "Prior Year Refund" menu in the Cash App. Please contact CashMgt@dpi.nc.gov if you have any questions.

SECTION III: RESOURCES + EVENTS

CTE has contracted with Pam Taylor to serve as CTE Regional Coordinator for Charter Schools. Any Charter questions on CTE can be directed to her. 

Her email is Pam.Taylor@dpi.nc.gov

New to Serving Multilingual Learners? Join the NCDPI ML/Title III Team for a Day of Learning

Save the Date: 2026 ELA SCOS Implementation PD

• Gain insight into the context behind the development of the 2026 SCOS
• Deepen their understanding of the 2026 ELA SCOS
• Collaboratively explore 2026 SCOS-aligned resources 
• Identify necessary next steps to move toward implementation in 27-28 SY

2026-2027 NCED Connect Opt-In Process

K-12 Social Studies Standards Review

Updated Computer Science Course Lists for SY26-27

Pursuant to G.S. 115C-12(9d), the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction has published updated Computer Science Middle School Elective Offering and High School Graduation Requirement course lists. The updated high school course list adds ten new course options, and the updated middle school course list adds three new middle school elective options along with four additional high school courses that can be taught in middle school. Completion of any course identified on the approved High School Courses Eligible for Middle School list will satisfy both the CS middle school course elective offering and high school graduation requirement.

Pursuant to G.S. 115C-12(9d), Local Implementation Delay Waiver Requests were available only for 2024–2025 and 2025–2026; no waivers are permitted for full implementation beginning in 2026–2027.

Link: NCDPI Computer Science Graduation Requirement

Sign Up for NCDPI Newsletters

Did you know NCDPI produces a variety of newsletters on various topics across North Carolina K-12 education? Whether you’re looking for news on school counseling, digital teaching & learning resources, middle school science or K-12 education legislation updates, there is something for everyone. 

A few examples of subscription offerings are:

• K-12 Education Legislative Update
• News Releases
• Digital Accessibility Newsletter
• Exceptional Children Information for Parents

Click here and enter your email address to see all the subscription lists and newsletters available to receive

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NOTE- To sign up for the Office of Federal Programs listserv, please contact your assigned Consolidated Program Administrator.  Contacts can be found by clicking this link and selecting your region at the bottom of the page.

NCVPS In-Real-Time

North Carolina Virtual Public School (NCVPS) continues to expand access to our In-Real-Time (IRT) program, our synchronous instructional model designed to deliver live, whole-class middle school courses taught by certified North Carolina teachers.

IRT is an excellent solution for schools needing instructional support, particularly when a certified teacher isn’t available. Whether working alongside a substitute or supporting a new educator, our IRT teachers provide high-quality, real-time instruction to help ensure student success.

We will be hosting an informational webinar on July 30 at 11 a.m. To attend, please register for one of the events here:

IRT Webinar July 30

All districts and schools are invited to attend to learn more about the NCVPS IRT Program. 

SECTION IV: OCS + CHARTER HAPPENINGS

Share excellence in education! Post exceptional student work or exciting happenings at your NC Charter School. Then tag or mention OCS on Social Media for others to see! Remember when you share on social media to use #WeAreNCCharters or @NCCharterOffice

Charter School Job Postings

Job postings will include the posted date and will be removed after two months. Schools may request early removal or extension. Contact Joseph.Letterio@dpi.nc.gov with a posting link.

• Casa Esperanza Montessori Charter School - EC Teacher  (5/19)
• Charlotte Lab School - School Director | Grade 9-12, SD | Grades 5-8, SD | Grades K-4 (5/5)
• GLOW Academy- HS Spanish Teacher, EC Teacher, and HS Science Teacher (5/12)
• Lake Lure Classical Academy- Multiple opportunities (5/12)
• Magellan Charter School- 7th Grade Science Teacher (4/21)
• Metrolina Regional Scholars Academy- Elementary AIG Teacher, MS ELA AIG Teacher (5/5) 
• New Dimensions Charter School- School Director (6/16)
• Pine Lake Preparatory - Immediate openings for Director of IT and Finance  (6/2)
• The Expedition School - Elementary Teachers 2026-27 School Year  (4/14)
• Voyager Academy - Multiple opportunities  (4/28)

Ashley Logue  • Director, Office of Charter Schools
Please send general inquires to ocs@dpi.nc.gov

Contact information for area specialists can be found on the Office of Charter Schools Directory.