State Charter Schools Commission of Georgia
Minutes
October Board Meeting
Date and Time
Wednesday October 19, 2022 at 10:00 AM
Location
Virtual
Meeting Link: https://meet.goto.com/SCSCGA/october-19-board-meeting
Phone Access: +1 (872) 240-3311//499-527-861
State Charter Schools Commission of Georgia
October 2022 Board Meeting
October 19, 2022, 10:00 a.m.
Virtual Access Information:
https://meet.goto.com/SCSCGA/october-19-board-meeting
Phone Access: +1 (872) 240-3311//499-527-861
Directors Present
B. Brockway (remote), F. Johnson (remote), M. Dudgeon (remote), T. Lowden (remote)
Directors Absent
J. Perez, L. Millan
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
C.
Announcements
- Commissioner Dudgeon will succeed Commissioner Lowden as the SCSC commissioner representative to the State Charter Schools Foundation (SCSF) board.
- The SCSF was awarded a 38 million dollar Charter School Programs (CSP) grant from the U.S. Department of Education
- The SCSC has two new employees:
- Naquita Smith will serve as the Charter Development Coordinator
- Tiffany Leach will serve as the Associate General Counsel
- Erin Wright, Deputy General Counsel, welcomed her third child over the past weekend.
II. Approval of SCSC Meeting Minutes
A.
September 2022 Meeting Minutes
September 28, 2022 Board Meeting
**Please note the below minutes were approved within the same action item**
B.
October 2022 Policy Retreat Minutes
October 5-6, 2022 Policy Retreat
**Please note the above minutes were approved within the same action item**
III. Organizational Development
A.
Upcoming Trainings
The SCSC has the following upcoming trainings:
- November 2nd – Petition Policy Updates
- November 9th – Petition Platform Overview
- November 15th – Petition Budget Template Deep-dive
IV. Accountability
A.
Academic Accountability
- The SCSC Research Analyst shared the 2022 state charter school graduation rate results.
- Commissioners discussed how this data shows the lack of high schools in the SCSC portfolio.
B.
Monitoring Update
- 2021-22 Monitoring
- The SCSC Legal Division is currently reviewing school-submitted documents for compliance. Monitoring results are expected to be disseminated before the end of the calendar year. Schools are required to submit a Corrective Action Plan (CAP) for any findings they receive. As a reminder, CAPs are due six weeks after monitoring results are issued. Please contact SCSC General Counsel Cerrone Lockett or Legal Programs Coordinator Kiara Thompson with any questions
- Universal Enrollment System
- The SCSC is excited to announce that we are in the early stages of implementing a universal enrollment system for state charter schools. More details will become available in coming months. The current timeline anticipates a pilot year beginning in Fall 2023 with full implementation of Fall 2024.
- Commissioners and staff discussed the benefits of implementing this new system.
C.
Financial Accountability
The Annual Audit deadline is November 1st. Contact Candice Ball, SCSC Business Manager with any questions.
V. Action Items
A.
2023 Petition Priorities
- SCSC staff recommend the establishment of petition priorities for the FY23 start-up and replication petition cycles as one of many strategies intended to meet the strategic objective of increasing charter school choice in communities with few or no educational options. See the recommendation here.
- Commissioners Brockway and Dudgeon clarified the new priorities do not prohibit the SCSC from approving schools in Atlanta.
B.
2023 Start-Up Petition Application & Timeline
SCSC staff recommends that the SCSC initiate the FY23 start-up petition cycle by approving the petition and timeline as presented. See the recommendation here.
C.
2023 Replication Petition Timeline
SCSC staff recommends that the SCSC initiate the 2023 replication petition cycle by approving the timeline as presented. See the recommendation here.
D.
2021-22 Alternate Academic Accountability Measures
SCSC staff recommends the adoption of the proposed updates to the measures included in the academic section of the SCSC Comprehensive Performance Framework for generating state charter school academic accountability scores for the 2021-2022 school year. See the recommendation here.
E.
International Charter Academy of Georgia Charter Amendment
SCSC staff recommends that the SCSC board of commissioners approve an amendment to the International Charter Academy of Georgia (ICAG) charter contract upon the request of the school. See the recommendation here.