Representatives from Pataula Charter Academy were commended on their great work and provided a presentation on school activities.

See the presentation here: PCA Presentation for SCSC Meeting.pdf

The Governor signed a number of charter-related bills, including:

• HB 318, which reestablishes the Georgia Department of Education’s Office of Charter School Compliance under the SCSC. The Office of Charter School Compliance will continue to support local school systems as charter authorizers. 
• HB 1122, which provides funding to each state charter school for the beginning salary of one superintendent for schools with over 1,000 students. Additionally, state charter schools serving grades K-8 could earn funding for up to two principals. Schools serving grades 9-12 will earn funding for one principal.
• HB 409, which permits education service providers (ESPs) to employ charter school staff.

Additionally, the SCSC Director of School Finance gave an update on the Amended FY24 and FY25 Budgets.

• Past Training: 
  • In-Person Governance Training Session (2 of 3), The second in-person Governance Training session for FY24 occurred on February 6th in Athens, GA. (100) state charter school board members, and school stakeholders attended the training event. 
  • In-Person Governance Training Session (3 of 3), The third and final in-person Governance Training session for FY24 occurred on April 17th in Atlanta, GA. (143) state charter school board members, and school stakeholders attended the training event. 
  • New School Orientation (2 of 2), Data Summary: The second in-person New School Orientation for FY-24 Pre-Opening Schools occurred on March 20th. (2) newly approved state charter school board members attended the training session.

• Upcoming Training
  • GaDOE Training: The Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE), Office of Federal Programs, is providing a webinar series targeting Charter Local Education Agencies (LEA) in their first three years of operation.  The training series is designed to support schools with federal program compliance. All Charter LEAs are invited to attend.  All webinars will be recorded. Registration information will be available in the SCSC April Newsletter.  GaDOE federal programs sent training information to designated Federal Programs staff at schools.

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

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

• Two schools are now projected to open this fall; since the last board meeting, one of the pre-opening schools has deferred opening to Fall 2025. 
• March enrollment milestone update: One of the two schools met the 65% target enrollment for Year 1, and one did not. 
• Facility milestone update: One school is on track to obtain the certificate of occupancy by July 1; the other pre-opening school estimates having the CO by August 1. 

• The FY24 start-up petition portal closed on March 15th. The SCSC received 11 petitions, including one virtual school, two hybrid schools, and eight brick-and-mortar schools. After reviewing the petitions for legal and technical compliance, one petition was removed from consideration due to its failure to support the selection of a statewide attendance zone.
• The hybrid and brick-and-mortar schools propose to be located in areas such as Richmond County, Henry County, Muscogee County, Savannah-Chatham, Bibb County, Douglas County, and Athens-Clarke. A spreadsheet located in Commissioner folders provides a specific breakdown of the petitions received. 
• SCSC staff are reviewing the substance of the remaining 10 petitions, with the goal of scheduling interviews in June. Thank you to the Commissioners who have shared their availability for interviews.
• In March, the SCSC received a transfer petition from 7 Pillars Academy, a local charter school in Clayton County. After reviewing the school’s academic performance, the SCSC determined that the school’s track record did not meet SCSC performance standards, and we advised the school that the SCSC would not consider its petition.
• Finally, the SCSC has received one replication petition from Atlanta Classical Academy that we are reviewing. Staff will make a recommendation later in this meeting to extend the replication petition deadlines. 

We have entered the final financial quarter of FY24. The SCSC is well-positioned to end the year with a surplus. We have awarded contracts for 4 auditors in the Approved Auditor Program for FY24. The SCSC pays for the audits when schools choose one of the auditors selected for this program.

• Monitoring Corrective Action Plan (CAP) responses were sent to schools on March 22; these serve as the final FY24 fiscal and operations monitoring results. The monitoring survey opened on April 15, 2024, and will close on May 12, 2024.

SCSC Staff presented FY23 CPF results. See the presentation here: 
2022-2023 Accountability Presentation.pdf

• Atlanta Unbound Academy: The probationary term is extended to December 2024. The school will be removed from probation once it moves into its permanent facility.
• Destinations Career Academy Charter School (DCA): The school is being placed on probation for failing to meet SCSC standards in academics and operations during the 2022-2023 school year. DCA has a three-year charter term.  Thus, its renewal will rely on data from the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years. The school’s 2022-23 data does not meet the SCSC’s standards for renewal. The initial term of probation is through December 2024.
• SLAM: As a reminder, the SCSC voted to renew SLAM Academy for a two-year probationary charter term. Thus, staff will continue to monitor this school’s performance throughout the probationary charter term. 

SCSF President Michele Neely provided an update on the State Charter Schools Foundation.

See the presentation here: SCSF Update for Commissioners April 24 2024.pdf

Students, staff, parents, and community members spoke in support of the 7 Pillars Career Academy transfer petition.

A representative from the Clayton County Board of Education spoke in opposition to the 7 Pillars Career Academy transfer petition.