Department of Education

Charter School Accountability Meeting

November 13, 2007

Thomas A. Edison Charter School

Attending Committee Members:

Nancy Wilson, Dorcell Spence, Robin Taylor, Mike Owens

Dr. Wilson called the meeting to order. The purpose of the meeting was to meet with representatives from Thomas A. Edison Charter School to discuss the school’s renewal application. For the purpose of the record introductions were made:

Nancy Wilson, Deputy Secretary of Education, Chair of Accountability Committee

Dorcell Spence, Associate Secretary, Finance and Administrative Services, member of committee

Scott Kessel, Education Associate, Charter School finance

Mike Owens, Associate Secretary, Adult Education & Workforce Development, member of committee

Linda Fleetwood, Charter Schools Office

Robin Taylor, Associate Secretary, Assessment and Accountability, member of committee

Mary Cooke, Deputy Attorney General, counsel to the committee

Sue Ogden, Thomas A. Edison Charter School

Heidi Collazo, Thomas A. Edison Charter School

Darryl Simms, Interim Head of School

Dominique Taylor, Renaissance School Services

Rich O’Neill, Renaissance School Services

Sommer Wynn, Intern, Charter Schools Office

Karen Scaggs, Charter Schools Office

There was discussion about parts of the financial section missing from Mrs. Spence’s copy of the renewal application.

Dr. Wilson asked the school for any comments regarding the renewal application. Mr. Simms said the school’s board is in the process of selecting a new Head of School with a decision expected at the November 19th board meeting.

Dr. Wilson asked the school for comments on how the school is doing so far this year. Mr. Simms said he came on board at the end of September and things are running fairly smoothly. He said the school is fully staffed and has 833 students enrolled.

Mrs. Fleetwood said she had done a site visit of the school and found it to be an orderly educational environment.

Mr. Kessel said he had reviewed the application and commented that it was very thorough and the questions regarding finances were answered with good detail. He said he questioned the units earned for this school year, what the class size was and if they are funding the units out of other sources. Mr. O’Neill said a number of staff is funded by federal and local funds. Ms. Collazo said the class size is 25 students.

Mrs. Spence asked about the school’s policy given the directive to comply with state bid laws. Mr. O’Neill said the school has abided by the requirement for public bidding and procurement for the transportation contract for at least the last several years. He said the present contracts in the renewal application were issued prior to the Attorney General’s opinion. He said he anticipates the school will fully comply with the public bidding procedures. Mrs. Spence asked when the school will comply with the requirements. Mr. O’Neill said as soon as the next set of contracts comes up for any type of bidding. Mrs. Spence asked if that would be next fiscal year. Mr. O’Neill said the contracts have provisions in them for renewal if both parties are satisfied. He said he was not sure if the Attorney General’s opinion speaks to the fact that the school can not renew the contracts grandfathered in under prior approvals. Mrs. Spence said the school was out of compliance and that there has always been a bidding requirement only now there is an opinion that the schools should be complying with the bid laws. She said at a minimum the school would put the contract out to bid at the first opportunity which would be upon renewal. Mr. O’Neill said he did not feel that would be a problem and they would put that issue before the board. Mr. O’Neill said the school has consulted with its counsel before the renewal on the issue of whether or not the school needed to abide by the state’s procurement laws. He said there were a few informal opinions from legal counsel that state bidding laws, with the exception of transportation, did not apply. He said as far back as two years ago the school has sought advice on this issue and have received advice opposite of the Attorney General’s opinion. He said the school has reviewed the issue since the opinion and the board will decide on how it wants to proceed. Mrs. Spence asked what contracts are being explored for potential bids in the future. Mr. O’Neill said it would be the contract for Renaissance School Services, Brandywine, Aramark Services, any contract with a professional service value in excess of $50,000, as well as any kind of construction contract. He said there is a renovation project anticipated for next summer.

Mrs. Spence asked about the September 28th News Journal article which refers to Phase V as the lease holder of the school. Mr. O’Neill said the school has a long term lease with Phase V. He said the most current understanding was that Phase V is not current with their tax obligation. He said the school would like to buy the building directly from Phase V but the company has not been cooperative including not returning phone calls. Mr. O’Neill said the board is assembling a committee to review the issue and that the worst case scenario is if Phase V is in default of any of their obligations the school would exercise opportunities through the city or court system to acquire the building. He said the school has ample cash reserves to do that. Mrs. Spence asked whom the school is paying their lease to. Mr. O’Neill said the lease term is unusual because it states the amount of the annual lease can be up to $10,000 a year to Phase V. He said the board is prepared to give Phase V $10,000 if they can get a meeting with them but currently, including the last fiscal year, there has been no payment to Phase V because there was no agreement on what the amount would be. Mrs. Spence asked if the school has an accumulating escrow. Ms. Ogden said every year the $10,000 is put aside for the lease and that only the initial payment has been paid.

Mrs. Spence asked if a retired nurse was acting as a mentor to the current nurse. Mr. Simms said that is correct. Mrs. Spence said the recommendation she has is that the current nurse also needs to attend components of the induction cluster and eSchool plus training. Mr. Simms said he knows she has attended some of the training. Mrs. Spence asked when the expectation would be that her training is complete. The school will address this.

Mrs. Taylor discussed teacher certification. She said it appears there are 38 elementary teachers of which 34 are certified (89%) and that the 12 middle school teachers are certified. She discussed the four teachers not certified, elementary Spanish, elementary exceptional children, general elementary, and an elementary health and physical education. She said 4 of the 5 administrators are certified, the nurse is not certified, and there are 4 para-educators that need permits. Ms. Taylor said there may be paperwork not processed yet that would change the status of these individuals.

Mrs. Taylor discussed DSTP scores. She said some grade levels had a decline in student achievement. She said in grades 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 the school is below the state average in reading but above in grades 7 and 8. She said in grades 2, 3, 5, and 6 the school is below the state average in math but above in grades 4, 7 and 8. She said in some areas they meet or exceed the state average and in some areas they do not.

Dr. Wilson asked about the decline in the school rating. Ms. Ogden discussed changes in the 07 school year such as the first time the special education cell was counted and how they changed their strategy of preparing students and emphasizing de-coding. She said there was a growth in the third grade program but the fifth grade program suffered.

Dr. Wilson discussed the student achievement section of the renewal application. She said it appears the goals are copied from the performance agreement and that the educational program and student performance goals appear to remain the same. Dr. Wilson said she does not see how the school has taken the results and explained what they plan to do to improve the program. Ms. Ogden said with the transition of Mr. Hughes leaving that the renewal application is a fragmented project. Dr. Wilson said her expectation as the committee prepares the preliminary report is that this is an area lacking in terms of understanding of what the school will be doing during the next renewal period. Mr. O’Neill asked if the school can submit a supplementary piece of information to address the concern. Dr. Wilson said the school can provide additional information to be considered.

Dr. Owens asked the school to explain the process utilized for reporting school discipline. Mr. Simms said there was a problem last year with the administrators putting information on eSchool but that problem has been resolved and should not be a problem in the future. Dr. Owens said there was a problem and that information regarding all types of disciplinary matters was relayed to the department through hard copy and not being entered on the state’s computer system. He said entering the data on the computer system is required and additional training is available if needed. Dr. Owens said it is critical that this be done and that it has been an on-going problem. Dr. Wilson emphasized the importance of timely and accurate reporting in this area. She said it is very clear under NCLB that if the school does not comply with those requirements the school is deemed to be persistently dangerous.

Dr. Wilson said the school has had a change in head of school and landlord issues but the section of moving forward does not show anything is changing. She said to show continuous improvement the school should identify areas of concern and how the school is going to be working on those areas during the next renewal period.

Mrs. Cooke said the charter renewal requires the committee to look at the past period of the charter to make sure the school has done what it said it was going to do and to look forward for the renewal charter period and if steps are in place for the charter to continue.

Dr. Wilson said the department has worked with the school during the past year regarding a potential expansion. She said her understanding with the renewal application was that the expansion is not being considered at this time. Mr. Simms said the board is looking at expanding space. Mr. O’Neill said the board needs to make strategic decisions on some of the questions asked. He said the direction of the decision has not been made yet. He said the board is aware that they need to make a determination about whether or not they want to shrink the student body or to do an addition of either permanent space or portables.

Dr. Wilson said the application states enrollment for the eighth grade is 55 students up through 2013 but that more than 55 students are enrolled in seventh grade. She asked how the school will eliminate the students going from seventh to eighth grade to keep only 55 students. She said this is an example of how the school needs to state how they are going to go forward in the charter period. Mr. O’Neill said the school can manage the enrollment without telling students not to come back. He said the way to do that is by limiting the number of incoming kindergarten students. Dr. Wilson said that is not what the application states. Ms. Ogden said the school has a waiting list based on where the school has room. Mr. O’Neill said the school has managed its enrollment very well for the past several years. Dr. Wilson said she was bringing up issues as concerns and how they are addressed is the choice of the school’s board in moving forward.

No further discussion. Meeting adjourned.

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