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Some Upcoming Dates of Note
- October 15th- 10AM OCS Office Hour with the Exceptional Children’s Division
- October 21st- Principal of the Year (POY) portfolios due
- October 31st- Enrollment Policy and Lottery Application, and Board Member Residency submissions due in Epicenter
- October 31st- 2026 Fiscal Audit due for schools up for charter renewal. Others due 12/31/26
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October Office Hours
1. 10/8-10 Million Book Challenge
2. 10/13- OEL; BOG, RtA, DiBeLs
3. 10/15- Exceptional Children’s Division
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10/15- Exceptional Children’s Division
The Office of Exceptional Children joins OCS to share best practices and outreach from their expert consultants. This is an opportunity you will want to register for in order to provide high-quality EC services at our charter school. See you there! Be sure to register early!
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Updated School Attendance and Student Accounting (SASA) Manual
This is a MUST HAVE resource for all charter school administrators.
2026-2027 SASA Manual
All CTE fall course codes and assessment schedules should be finalized by October 15, 2026
The CTE State Assessment Training Canvas course is now available! This training is required for CIMC PPOCs and must be completed by November 30, 2026, for Fall 2026 CTE state assessment administration, or earlier if testing students before that date. CIMC PPOCs may self-enroll in the course using the link posted in the Reporting & Analysis section of this Canvas course (Home > Reporting & Analysis > Proof of Learning Administration and Reporting > CTE State Assessment Training)
Pamela Taylor, Ed.S.
CTE Perkins Administration Consultant for Charter Schools
Office of Career and Technical Education
252-908-8546
pam.taylor@dpi.nc.gov
SAVE THE DATE for CSI-LP, CSI-LG, CSI-AT, & TSI-AT Convenings
Dear Charter or Lab School Leaders,
We are excited to announce that the Office of Federal Programs will host a series of in-person convenings for Public School Unit (PSU) leaders who support Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) / Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI) schools! These sessions will provide an engaging opportunity to connect, collaborate, and prepare for the important work ahead. We are also pleased to welcome our colleagues from the Office of Accountability and Testing and the Office of Charter Schools, who will join us to share valuable information. Together, we will explore key topics related to CSI and TSI-AT schools, including the PSU Resource Allocation Reviews (RAR) that will begin in January 2027. Participants will leave with greater clarity, NCStar knowledge, and practical information to support their schools and prepare for the Resource Allocation Review (RAR).
We invite all leaders who contribute to decision-making regarding curriculum and instruction, finance, federal programs, testing, and accountability in support of CSI and/or TSI-AT schools.
Charter and Lab School Convenings:
- Monday, October 26 @ NCDPI in Raleigh, NC
OR
- Monday, November 16 @ Rowan-Salisbury Schools Central Office in Salisbury, NC
Please use the registration link below to select the date and location that fits your PSU and works best for your team. If you are unable to attend, please indicate that through the registration form as well.
CLICK HERE TO RSVP / REGISTER
Charter School POY
We’re excited to begin preparations for the 2027 Burroughs Wellcome Fund North Carolina Teacher of the Year and the 2027 Wells Fargo North Carolina Principal of the Year selection processes!
To help ensure a smooth and connected nomination cycle, we ask that each charter school update their district point of contact information for both programs using the Google Form linked below.
2026 Update - NC TOY/POY Coordinators
As the TOY and/or POY Coordinator for your charter school, you are responsible for following your local selection guidelines. Please note the following eligibility requirements:
Principal of the Year (POY) nominees must:
- Have at least four years of experience as an administrator
- Hold a valid principal's license
- Be a practicing school administrator for the full duration of the recognition year
If you have any questions or need support at any point in the process, please feel free to reach out to the program coordinator directly:
Elizabeth Santamour
elizabeth.santamour@dpi.nc.gov
Thank you for your continued partnership in celebrating and elevating excellence in education!
TRANSPORTATION GRANT 2026-2027
In accordance with § 115C-218.42, the completed application and supporting expense documentation must be received in Epicenter no later than 12/31/26 11:59PM EST. This is a hard deadline and no extensions will be granted.
The 26-27 Transportation Grant instructions and application have been assigned in each school’s Epicenter account. Please review the instructions and application fully before reaching out with questions. Instructions, deadlines, and more are provided within that document. You must serve at least 50% Economically Disadvantaged students in order to receive funding. OCS will confirm your EDS headcount following the December headcount. Questions should be directed to Nicky Niewinski < Nicole.Niewinski@dpi.nc.gov>. |
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October 9, 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.
2026-27 Principal Bonus - All PSUs
The “Principal Bonus” report is available in LicSal for the LEAs to view. The Division of School Business also updated the “Principal Bonus – Report Notes”. All documents are located in LicSal under Salary Admin Reports – Principal Bonus.
The Office of Charter Schools will contact charter schools that were eligible for the Principal Bonus. Please contact Joseph Maimone if you have questions concerning a Principal Bonus.
For principals who qualified for a bonus and moved to another district as a principal, the Finance Officer of the previous district where the principal qualified must notify DPI to transfer the bonus amount to the new district. Please email that update to allotments@dpi.nc.gov. The Principal Bonus FAQ has been posted to our website under “What’s New”. Please refer to the FAQ for further assistance with questions regarding the Principal Bonus.
Questions regarding your EVAAS Index Score should be directed to your Regional Accountability Coordinator. Any other questions please send an email to salary@dpi.nc.gov.
2026 Federal Compliance Supplement Delayed - All PSUs
The U.S. Office of Management and Budget have not yet released the 2026 Federal Compliance Supplement, resulting in delays to the completion of federal single audits. Charter schools, LEAs and auditors should be aware that federal compliance testing requirements remain pending until the supplement is issued.
For schools with upcoming audit submission deadlines, federal single audit reports should remain in draft form until the 2026 Compliance Supplement becomes available. Single Audits that aren't in draft form will be rejected if submitted before issuance of the Federal Compliance Supplement. Schools are encouraged to maintain communication with their auditors regarding the status and timing of audit completion. Please submit your completed audit with a draft federal single audit, if applicable, once the audit is complete. Please do not hold submission of your audit until the Federal Compliance Supplement is published.
Cash Management Updates
Prior Year Refunds Update - All PSUs
The next processing date for refund payments will be noon on Wednesday, October 28th. Penalties (PEN) accruing as of October 1 for unresolved or unpaid unspent days used (PYD) refunds have been uploaded into the refunds module.
All FY2026 State refunds owed to NCDPI have been loaded into the PSU Cash App, with the exception of overspent salaries (PYS), which will be posted later this fall. Please note that overspent days used (PYD) refunds have replaced overspent months used (PYM) refund types from FY26 onward to reflect the transition from months to days in LicSal. PYM refunds will remain in the Cash App for FY25.
The amounts owed have been updated in the 702. Prior Year State Overages report in DART in the PSU folder. This report includes all refunds owed, including overspent salaries (PYS). Although overspent salaries are not available for payment yet in the Cash App, please review these amounts and contract the Salary Section for any amount you believe to be in error. Note that this report is static as of September 1st and will not be updated after that date. To review your updated balances, please refer to the refunds module in the Cash App.
If you are working with our Salary Section to resolve errors in LicSal that are leading to amounts owed, please be sure that you have sent all supporting documentation to Salary@dpi.nc.gov. DO NOT pay refunds in the Cash App unless you agree your PSU owes those funds. Once you make a payment for salary-related overages (PYD, PYM, or PYS), we will not be able to provide a refund.
Allotments Update
FY2026-27 Allotments - All PSUs
The following items are scheduled for allotment by end of week:
- PRC 0001 – Classroom Teachers – Special Small Schools
- PRC 0089 – CWD Special State Reserve – Approvals as of 10/6
- PRC 0110 – 21st Century Community Learning Centers – Approvals as of 10/5
- PRC 0139 – School-Based Mental Health Services Grant – Approvals as of 10/6
- PRC0214 – Speech and Debate Program – Approvals as of 10/7
The following items are scheduled to be allotted by the end of next week:
- PRC 0048 - Principal Bonuses
Allotment Reminders:
State Funds Carryforward Reversions
PRC 0022, Advanced Teaching Roles, FY26 Carryforward will revert as of 9/30/2026 once the September zero-out is completed.
PRC 0016, Summer Reading Camps, FY26 Carryforward will revert as of 10/31/2026 once the October zero-out has been completed.
Federal Immediate Reversions – All PSUs
Immediate reversions are scheduled to be processed after the September zero-out is complete.
For the latest updates regarding immediate reversion of federal funds which ended September 30, 2026, please see the 10/1/2026 or 9/24/26 newsletters.
If you have general questions, please email allotments@dpi.nc.gov.
EDDIE Title Available - IPS Only
The Title I position is now available for Charter, Regional, and Lab schools in EDDIE at the PSU level. If you have questions about how to enter the contact in EDDIE, reach out to EDDIE@dpi.nc.gov. If you do not know who your EDDIE administrators are, you can view that information in the Subscribed Users EDDIE report.
Reminder: Annual Audit Engagement Questionnaire - All PSUs
Several PSUs did not submit their response to the Auditor Questionnaire by the deadline and are now overdue. If your PSU hasn't completed the survey, please do so as soon as possible.
This mandatory 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. All PSUs are required to submit, with the exception of new Charter Schools opening in the 2026-27 school year.
If you need additional information, please contact the Monitoring and Compliance team
at Monitoring@dpi.nc.gov.
From the Office of Information Technology - All PSUs
Important: Please Hold PMR Submissions Until Further Notice
NCDPI has identified some PMR technical issues resulting from the 2635.16 update deployed to production on the evening of Thursday, October 1. Even with these technical difficulties, the underlying calculations and logic for the PMR remain fully accurate.
Some of the issues that have been identified are:
- Verification information missing: The Verified By name and verification timestamp are being overwritten when a submitted PMR is reviewed.
- PMR performance delays: Reports and validations are processing slowly due to query performance and, in some cases, repeated duplicate requests clogging the queue.
- PMR Summary buttons unavailable: Generate, Review, and Submit buttons may be missing or grayed out, sometimes leaving only Preview available.
- Previously submitted PMRs can be resubmitted: Some older PMRs can be regenerated and resubmitted without first requesting a snapshot deletion.
- (NC) PMR Submission Status Data Validation Report - Changes to the PMR snapshot table have affected validations used to determine whether a PMR was submitted.
While we work to address these issues, we are asking all PSUs to please hold off on submitting PMRs until further notice.
PSUs should continue to:
- Preview, Generate, and Review unsubmitted PMRs.
- Correct any data errors identified during the review process.
- Report any additional issues through a support ticket.
If your PSU has already submitted its PMR, that is okay. We will provide further guidance, including information regarding PMRs that have already been submitted, at a later date.
PMR submission deadlines: School Business is aware of these issues. If your PMR due date was October 1 or later, your submission will not be considered late until after these technical issues have been resolved.
NCDPI will follow up with further details and instructions as they become available. We sincerely appreciate your understanding and patience while we work through these items.
We would like to thank our PSUs for being so diligent in submitting tickets and notifying NCDPI of the issues they have encountered. Please continue to report any potential PMR issues you identify, as this information is extremely helpful to our investigation.
From the Office of Exceptional Children
2026-2027 Exceptional Children Competitive Grant: State-Level Targeted Assistance
Congratulations! We are pleased to announce the recipients of this year’s competitive grant awards for school-age (PRC118) and preschool (PRC119) funds. The recipients for each set of funds have been linked below. We will be working with NCDPI Finance and Business Services to review PRC118/119 reversions before making new funds available.
An official grant award notification will be delivered to each recipient.
This announcement will be duplicated in the Superintendent and Finance EC Administrators listservs.
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Deadline Reminders
ALL PSUs
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DUE DATE
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TOPIC
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NEWSLETTER
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10/30/2026
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Prior Year Refunds - October Processing |
10/01/2026
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10/30/2026
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SS-200 Full-Time Personnel Report |
09/17/2026
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10/31/2026
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School Nutrition Annual Financial Report (FC1-A) |
09/10/2026
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12/31/2026
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Expenditures for Ending Federal Grants |
08/20/2026
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NC College Connect Data Correction Update
We appreciate you taking the time to complete the Data Correction information to ensure your students are included in NC College Connect. As a result, we are pleased to share that additional students are now included. On Monday, October 19, 2026, there will be lists in the accountability secure shell of students that were added. Note: Some students who were on the data correction form were still ineligible.
IMPORTANT: Please note that, in order for students to see their list, the information updated in the NC-SIS/Infinite Campus through the Data Correction process must be entered correctly. If students are still experiencing difficulty accessing their personalized list, they should check their CFNC profile account to make sure the information matches exactly what is in NC-SIS/Infinite Campus system. Have them verify the following:
If any of this information does not match the information in NC-SIS/Infinite Campus exactly, the student will receive the ineligible message. Students can also create a new account. If none of these options resolve the issue, please feel free to reach out to the CFNC Resource Center below for assistance:
CFNC Resource Center
Mon-Thu 8am-6pm
Fri 8am-5pm
866.866.CFNC (2362)
Option 1.336.814.2138 (text messages only)
questions@cfncresources.org
Upcoming support
NCDPI CONNECTION EVENTS
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Gain a better understanding of NC College Connect
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Receive critical information and updates
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Ask questions and receive real-time feedback
From the Center for Safer Schools
NOTE: To ensure that you receive communication from the Center for Safer Schools, please have your public school unit’s IT department whitelist both the cfssnc.gov domain and Constant Contact.
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Building Resilience
Building Resilience from Sandy Hook Promise provides participants with strategies and resources to support the success of youth, emphasizing the importance of creating safe, trusting and collaborative environments.
The session is ideal for school staff including administrators, teachers, counselors, mental health specialists, Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) Teams and School Resource Officers.
Building Resilience will be offered Tuesday, Oct. 27 at RISE Academy Northwest at Mayland Community College in Spruce Pine.
Questions: stephanie.cinque@sandyhookpromise.org
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RISE Academy
The Center for Safer Schools continues its RISE Academy series this fall. RISE Academy brings directly to school staff, law enforcement and youth-serving agencies the training necessary to support their schools.
RISE Academy will be held at the following locations in October:
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Robeson Community College (Oct. 5)
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Vance-Granville Community College (Oct. 14)
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Haywood Community College (Oct. 22)
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Mayland Community College (Oct. 27)
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School Tours
The Center for Safer Schools has completed a full school year as a division of the State Bureau of Investigation. As the 2026-2027 school year begins, CFSS Executive Director Karen W. Fairley plans to resume her school tours. If your public school unit has already requested a tour, CFSS staff will reach out to you first. If your PSU would like to host a tour, please complete our online Tour Request Form. If you have questions, send an email to cfss@cfssnc.gov. -
Life Changing Experiences
Please see the attached flyer and letter from Center for Safer Schools Executive Director Karen W. Fairley regarding our partnership with Life Changing Experiences. If you have questions, send an email to CFSS School Safety Strategic Coordinator John Van Arnam ( jvanarnam@cfssnc.gov). Thank you for supporting our efforts to end bullying and to create safer school climates.
Leading With Character Summit
December 9, 2026 | 9 am - 4 pm
The Friday Institute: 1890 Main Campus Dr, Raleigh, NC 27606
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Gain insight into the 11 Principles of Character Education and practical ways to apply them in your school.
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Be inspired by success stories from State and National Schools of Character and learn how they revitalized their school communities.
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Connect with experts and fellow school leaders to deepen your understanding of Character Education.
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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.
Other Resources from DPI and beyond
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When your school needs a teacher, NCVPS has you CoverEd
Whether it’s long-standing vacancies or an unexpected staffing gap, our team can step in quickly to provide full instructional support with licensed North Carolina teachers.
Schools across the state already rely on NCVPS’s CoverEd to keep learning on track for entire classes. Our licensed teachers paired with our flexible, high-quality online courses are a seamless solution that minimizes disruption and maximizes student success. Connect with us whether you need whole-class or individual student enrollments. We’re ready to help, and we’ve got you CoverEd.
Open a ticket with our Virtual Support Center or contact us at ncvpsinfo@ncpublicschools.org to talk about how we can best serve your school or district.
Want to explore more ways we can support your school?
Visit our Building Your Partnership with NCVPS page to discover how we can extend your team’s capabilities, expand course offerings, and strengthen student outcomes.
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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
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Join us to learn more about the NC GROW CSP grant and how it can support your school.
 
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.
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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.
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