Maine Charter School Commission
Minutes
School Performance Committee Meeting
Date and Time
Thursday January 4, 2024 at 3:30 PM
Location
Zoom
Committee Members Present
Jim Handy (remote), Tom Keller (remote), Tori Kornfield (remote)
Committee Members Absent
None
Guests Present
Amy Allen (remote), Lana Ewing (remote), Rachel Spell (remote)
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
Tori Kornfield called a meeting of the School Performance Committee Committee of Maine Charter School Commission to order on Thursday Jan 4, 2024 at 3:33 PM.
II. Agenda Items
A.
National Alliance for Public Charter Schools New Data Analysis of Public School Enrollment
- Charter school enrollment increased 30% in Maine while regular schools have dropped 4% and shows that this is a trend across the country.
B.
Maine Connections Academy: Revised Remote Proposal
- Would allow staff to work from home.
- Plan to move to a smaller facility in general Scarborough area and continue to be dedicated to the school with full time staff. Professional development be one full day a month.
- Require in person presence but if you're a staff member with performance concerns there will be a requirement to come in person more often.
- Testimonials from staff about benefits of working from home.
- Discussion of the question on how someone would be considered as under-performing.
- Policies around re-imbursement based on distance.
- Flexibility for requirements based on distance.
C.
Maine Academy of Natural Sciences Charter Enrollment Amendment
- Lower growth of students. Keep at 200.
- This would help with budget of staffing.
- Plans to vote yes at commission meeting.
- MEaNS has a specialty with agriculture and is hoping for more students who are specifically there for those interests.
- Discussion on re-wording proposal.
- Planning to vote yes, noted that there are concerns about chronic absenteeism and enrollment.
III. Closing Items
A.
Adjourn Meeting
There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 4:28 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
Tori Kornfield
Documents used during the meeting
- NAC_2023-Enrollment-Report_Option-B.pdf
- 2023-24 Amendment for Decreased Enrollment .docx.pdf
- MeANS Org Chart 2023-24.pdf
- Enrollment and Attendance.pdf