James Ford arrived at 1:45

Norm attended the Maine Connections Academy Graduation to watch his grandson successfully graduate and noted that one of the MCA students was highlighted in a Portland Press Herald article as a student to watch.  

Tori reported the following items were reviewed by the committee:

• School enrollment trends and concerns.
• NWEA testing requirement vs. waiver decision.  If state cannot provide growth data from its through-year assessments, the commission may need to require NWEA testing.  If the state data does provide reliable growth data, a NWEA waiver may be granted.  The state results will be available soon to assess if the growth data is reliable.  
• Mission/Vision/Values suggestions.

Brian reported the following items were reviewed by the committee:

• Financial management accounting matters for all schools.
• School budget planning and construction updates.
• Cancellation of the July Committee meeting.
• Commission Spending Dashboard review.

Joe commented he was pleased to see an increase in the low-risk scores for schools which reduces the number of high-risk scores indicating schools are getting better financial traction.  

The Executive Committee meeting was cancelled in June due to attendance and no pressing issues to discuss this month.

Tori and Brian proposed that Norm and Leigh continue as Chair and Vice Chair of the Commission.

The formal vote will be taken during the next business meeting.

Norm outlined his vision of the Commission's role next year as follows:

• To continue work aligning the Commission's vision, mission and values.
• To ensure commission support and resources for the team.
• To foster development of new Charter School opportunities.
• To develop a marketing campaign that educates the public and political environment about charter schools value.
• To ensure the effective transfer of leadership.

Walter Wallace from the Maine Connections Academy shared that a recent graduate was featured in a recent Portland Press Herald Article about 10 students to watch from the 2024 graduating classes in the Southern Maine area.

Sherry Gilbert spoke positively about the Maine Arts Academy graduation that included performances from all programs.  

Joe Mattos provided an overview of the Maine Alliance of Public Charter Schools ("MAPCS") leadership and recent activity and discussed their new website (www.mapcs.net) with information about charter schools that parents can use as a resource.

He announced the September 1, 2024, hiring of a part time Executive Director is in the works for communication, marketing, aggregation of programming, etc. 

Maine Virtual Academy will be running a six-week summer session with expanded offerings.

Fiddlehead - Angus King visited an eighth-grade classroom to talk about government and decision making.

MeANS received a grant from GEAR UP Maine RISE. 

Maine Arts Academy graduating students received $617,000 in scholarships this year and performed 28 times in the community this past year.

Lana congratulated all of the graduates this year.

Lana reported the following:

• Thanks to ELC for hosting the Commission.
• A School Board Professional Development session was held on May 15th in Augusta. The topic was setting strong long and short-term goals and was facilitated by Naomi DeVeaux from the National Charter Schools Institute. Eight of nine Boards were represented and gave positive feedback. 
• Reviewed the Heat-Map of Maine Charter School Students hometowns.
• End of Year School Visits are scheduled for each school where visits are required.
• Panorama Survey is closing this week and results will be shared at the next meeting.
• School Renewal visits for MVA and ELC have taken place.  The Year 4 performance report will be available this summer.  Focus Group and Public Hearings will be held prior to the Commission vote for renewal in October.
• New School applications - On July 1, the Letter of Intent to open a new charter school will be released publicly on our website.  The Letter of Intent to apply filing deadline is July 15 and is required in order to submit an application in February.
• Thank you to Commission for drafting the new mission/vision/and values statements.

• Election of Officers.
• Executive Director Evaluation.

August 13, 2024 at 1pm via Zoom or in person at 111 Sewall Street, Augusta, ME. Room 103.