The GaDOE Data Collections conference was held August 22-24, 2023.

The SCSC is continuing to work through the FY23 petition cycle with two more recommendations on the agenda today. Apart from those two petitions, only one petition remains. SCSC’s authority to act on that remaining petition is subject to the local district’s decision, which is anticipated to be next Spring.  Due to the local district’s timeline, SCSC staff are recommending an exception to the SCSC FY23 Start-Up Petition Timeline later in today’s meeting.

On July 28, 2023, the Georgia Department of Education released Georgia Milestones results. On average, SCSC schools are performing near or above pre-pandemic levels in the elementary and high school grade bands. Middle school students made progress towards resuming pre-pandemic performance levels. A majority of SCSC schools are outperforming the district in which they are located.

View the presentation here.

SCSC commissioners and staff discussed how this data impacts schools up for charter renewal this year and how COVID-19 impacted these results. 

The 2023-2024 school year is the last full school year for schools to use their remaining ESSER 3 dollars. Funds are available through September 30, 2024; schools should ensure their budgets are submitted to the Georgia Department of Education. GaDOE has an ESSER webpage that provides resources regarding submitting budgets, allowable uses of funds, and other helpful information. It also holds monthly ESSER Open Office Hour sessions. The next open office session is September 14 from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Schools can register from the ESSER webpage.

• Monitoring Update - The SCSC Administrative Portal opened for Operations Monitoring and Fiscal Monitoring on August 15, 2023.  The monitoring document submission will close Monday, September 18, 2023, at 11:59 p.m. Schools may consult the monitoring webinar recording, FY24 monitoring handbook, and the SCSC Administrative Portal monitoring resources page for additional support with completing their monitoring submission.  Health and safety visits will begin September 5, 2023.  All schools receiving a health and safety visit this monitoring cycle were informed of their visit date and time via email on August 15, 2023.

• Unified Enrollment System - As a reminder, the UES survey has closed, and the SCSC has completed the review of responses and feedback. The next steps in our information gathering include listening sessions that have begun in partnership with Kelly Cadman of Hive180. Families, schools, and other stakeholders have been contacted by Kelly to participate either virtually or in person. 

The SCSC Chief Operations Officer provided an update on the SCSC's strategic plan. View the presentation here.

The SCSF President provided an update on the SCSF's efforts to expand charter schools throughout Georgia through grants and other supports.

View the presentation here.

The SCSC Executive Director provided an update on the SCSC board meeting calendar for the rest of 2023.

Reverand Dr. James Bumpus, representing Cirrus Charter Academy, spoke about concerns regarding the school's governing board members. He stated he remains committed to supporting the school.

Holly Terrie stated that she wants the SCSC to provide additional choices of virtual schools since the current Georgia virtual schools have waiting lists.