Chair Higgins recognized the passing of Shelley Reid Bax and observed a moment of silence. 

"I can't think of anyone that I've worked with over the last 25 years that more exemplifies that commitment to youth. We always like to say people will be missed; she really will be missed."

The funeral will be held at 10am at the Wayne Community Church on Saturday.

Tori Kornfield - Chair, School Performance Committee - reported on the work being done by the Committee.

Leigh Weisenburger Albert - Chair, Finance Committee - reported on the work being done by the Committee. 

Norm Higgins - Chair, Executive Committee - reported on the work being done by the Committee.

Joe Mattos, representing the Maine Alliance of Public Charter Schools, talked about Section 6 of the Performance Framework. This is the section that allows schools to create their own customized targets based on their mission and vision. The Alliance plans to work with schools to make these customized targets "rigorous" and wonders what the Commission's thoughts are on the rigor across the portfolio.

Dr. Melinda Brown, Head of Maine Virtual Academy

• Constantly referring to school mission and vision, want to win students/families over to their mission/vision by providing excellent service for them with constant communication and offering of resources. 
• 96% retention rate last year, trying to improve. Communication is main tool.
• Individualized, continuous cycle of assessment, instruction, and remediation. 
• Students receive on demand tutoring in any subject. 
• Offer of mix of activities and clubs.

• Harpswell Coastal Academy - As previously noted, the school closed on 6/30/23. They are in the final stages of their FY23 audit and anticipate excess funds around $160,000. Currently the challenge is determining who the funds should be sent to. Lana is working with the MDOE for clarification and will continue to keep the Commission updated.
• Maine Connections Academy - Held an in person Open House for students and families at their location in Scarborough. The school reports a "great turnout" for the event and shared that a student traveled from Millinocket to attend.
• ACADIA Academy - Spent some time over the summer redesigning certain areas of the school to make it more functional for students and staff. They are also engaged in the Building Assets Reducing Risks (BARR) program. Commission staff are anxious to hear more about the program and will share with the Commission as updates become available.
• Maine Arts Academy - Started the school year in its new facility and reports that the opening "has been smoother than it's ever been". They are hosting a college fair later this month and their ribbon cutting ceremony is scheduled for 10/11/23 at 2:00pm. 

• We are on track to release the new charter school application in mid-November. NACSA reviewed the existing application and provided feedback. There are no major content overhauls and the application was described as "comprehensive and rigorous". Lana will take the feedback, incorporate it, and share the final version with Commission members before it's released. 
• The SY2022-23 Annual Monitoring Reports are on track to be presented to the Commission for review in November. The reports will not include academic outcomes as the MDOE has not yet released the results of the Spring Through Year Assessment.
• Staff are working behind the scenes to move all Commission and Committee-related documents to the BoardOnTrack platform. 
• Lana will be traveling to Oakland, California later this month to attend the annual NACSA Leadership Conference. While there she will be co-presenting about "Values Based Authorizing" with Naomi Deveaux from the National Charter Schools Institute (NCSI). Lana will share a copy of the PowerPoint presentation when it's available. 
• Due to the delayed release of Spring state assessment data, the School Performance Committee agreed to extend the NWEA MAP Assessment testing waiver for an additional school year. The schools that requested the waiver are ACADIA Academy, Fiddlehead School of Arts & Sciences, and Maine Connections Academy. Staff will revisit the waiver after looking at the data in the Spring of 2024. 
• Staff is working with NCSI to design a self-evaluation for Commission members. This evaluation will take 15-20 minutes to complete. NCSI will compile the results and present them to the Commission. These results will help drive further Professional Development as well as the Strategic Plan. 

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Baxter Academy for Technology and Science - Daniel Mickool

Ecology Learning Center - Randy Fox

Community Regional Charter School - Seth Noonkester

Two long-time members of the Maine Virtual Academy Governing Board resigned in September -- Amy Carlisle and Peter Mills. Chair Higgins shared the following and thanked them for their many years of service to students and families in Maine:

"Amy Carlisle's vision of MeVA endures. Over the past ten years, Amy was most concerned about all the people: students, families, teachers, and staff. Amy was instrumental in setting the priorities that helped MeVA grow and thrive."

"Peter Mills' guidance was instrumental to MeVA's academic success. The school will remember the Board Meeting in winter of 2020 in which he gave clear direction to maintain the school's commitment to the assessment calendar, specifically administering the NWEA MAP Growth three times during the school year. The school has never regretted following his advice!"

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• To Receive and Place on File the 2022-23 Annual Monitoring Reports
• To Consider the Approval of Maine Virtual Academy's Request to Increase Enrollment

• 10-11-23 at 2:00pm/Maine Arts Academy Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

• November 14th at 1:00pm/Maine Academy of Natural Sciences, 13 Easler Road, Hinckley and by Zoom