The SCSC Director of Charter Development provided an update on past and upcoming SCSC trainings, including governance, petitions, and new school orientation trainings.

Commissioner Dudgeon asked and discussed the in-person attendance of governing board members at governance training.

Visit the Training Page of the SCSC website for real-time updates and additional information. 

https://scsc.georgia.gov/school-resources/training-opportunities.

• The SCSC start-up petitions portal for the FY24 cycle opened on October 30, 2023. Petitioners can find a link to the portal on our website. 
• For petitioners seeking to replicate, a Letter of Intent is due December 15, 2023. To submit a petition for charter replication, schools must submit a letter of intent and meet the SCSC replication eligibility standards. Although the Letter of Intent requests information about the proposed new school, it is not binding for the purposes of the application. 
• Petitioners were able to learn more about our start-up and replication process through a petitioner bootcamp on October 4th and petition webinars on November 2nd. Recordings of both are available on our website. Our next training opportunity will be an orientation webinar made available on our website by January 12, 2024.
• The SCSC website now features new webpages for “Start a New School” and “Replicate a School,” each with new resources and documents, including an ESP Agreement Guidance and Checklist. Updated replication guidance is forthcoming.
• SCSC Deputy General Counsel Erin Wright (erin.wright@scsc.georgia.gov) is the point person for new school petitions. SCSC General Counsel Cerrone Lockett (cerrone.lockett@scsc.georgia.gov) is the point of contact for replication and transfer petitions.

The SCSC Executive Director provided an update that Atlanta Unbound Academy has been placed on probation status due to facility and finance concerns.

The SCSC Director of Research and Accountability provided an update on the graduation rates of SCSC schools, ESSA Amendment changes, and the renewal process and timeline.

Chairman Brockway expressed he was proud of all SCSC schools for their graduation rates.

Commissioners discussed the reason behind the ESSA amendment and its impact.

• The SCSC is pleased to report that only one school is late in submitting its audit for FY23. The auditor has indicated that the audit for Atlanta Heights Charter School is 95% complete and is pending a final review. Thank you to those  schools for getting the audits in on time.
• The following state charters are selected for cross functional monitoring in FY24 by the GADOE Federal Programs office: Amana Academy West, Atlanta SMART Academy, Brookhaven Innovation Academy, Cirrus Academy, DeKalb Brilliance Academy, Destinations Career Academy, Georgia Connections Academy, Georgia Cyber Academy, Northwest Classical Academy, Resurgence Hall Middle Academy, Southwest Georgia STEM Charter, and Statesboro STEAM Academy. Schools should already have been notified by GADOE and provided with information regarding the process for monitoring. Please contact the GADOE grant program manager if you need additional information.

The compliance team is reviewing monitoring data and generating monitoring results. We expect to have initial monitoring results for schools in January. Please remember that any appeals or disputes must be submitted through the monitoring portal within seven days of the issuance of monitoring results. Corrective Action Plans (CAPs) are due six weeks after issuing monitoring results and must be submitted in the SCSC Administrative portal. Monitoring letters will specify the applicable deadlines.

The elected officers of the Commission shall be a Chairperson and Vice Chairperson, each of which shall be elected by a majority vote of the members of the Commission to a term of one (1) year each.

Chairman Brockway announced he will not be seeking reelection as Chair.

Commissioner Scafidi nominated Commissioner Dudgeon for Chairman of the SCSC.

Chairman Brockway nominated Commissioner Milan for Vice Chair of the SCSC.

Representatives from Fulton Leadership Academy spoke in favor of the school by expressing how much the school has positively impacted them.

The SCSF President provided an update on the CSP grant. The application for the CSP subgrant for charter schools wanting to expand or replicate is now open. Go to https://scsfga.org/ or https://findagacharter.org/ for more information.