Norm has reserved the Hall of Flags for the Charter Schools on May 29th from 8 AM - 12 PM.

Informational handouts for legislators will be available.

Norm is working to set a meeting with the Education Committee to share the MCSC Performance Framework.  Tori and Lana will attend.

Norm provided the following update on current legislation:

• National level - must be patient and respond as appropriately as possible when more details are available.  
• State level - School choice will be a defining issue before the Education Committee.  
• Commission level 
  • Senator Joe Rafferty introduced the DFAS Administrative change bill.
  • Senator Jim Libby submitted a bill to raise the enrollment cap for virtual schools by 10 % in each of the next two years.  Not mandatory, but permissive to give the Commission the ability to amend contracts if needed.
  • Representative Sheila Lyman introduced a bill to address inequities in state funding of school facilities by extending the Insured Value Factor allocation to the Charter schools. 
  • Representative Gary Drinkwater introduced a bill to add more than 10 charter schools. The MCSC will monitor.  

Amy is monitoring the process regularly and will relay updates as soon as known so the Commission members stay in the information loop.

Tom suggested to review LD81 that gives the MDOE Commissioner latitude to encourage innovation within public schools.

Norm contacted the Governer's office to inform about the expiration of terms for four members at the end of this year.  They will reach out individually.

CRCS representative shared the following:

• Elizabeth Firnkes from CRCS shared the school held their annual Ravencon overnight event.  Over 1/3 of the students participated.  This event raises money for the John Shea memorial scholarship.    
• Susan Muzzy shared that the school placed in the top three of the Maine WinterKids contest.  The school partnered with 7 different organizations who now are working with the school.  
• Travis shared that CRCS received Healthy Meals Incentive recognition awards for improving nutritional quality in school meals.  A CRCS team will be accepting the award in Las Vegas.

Heather King, the Head of School at Maine Arts Academy, provided an overview of the grants the school has received.

• Kennebec Catalyst Grant for $30,000 over three years.  This will be used for auditorium seating and then a collaborative theater performance with the Augusta Colonial Theater.
• Extended Learning Opportunity Grant from the MDOE for $76,320.  This will enable the 11th grade students to explore careers that are part of Maine's history and culture.  Some of the possibilities are boat building, lobstering, blueberry farming, whoopie pie production and maple syrup production.  The end requirement is an art project like a photography show, a dance show.
• Extended Learning Outdoor Grant from the MDOE for $54,000 allowed the school to hold a6 week summer camp combining biking with photography.  This led to the formation of an active mountain bike team.
• Two Full Plate, Full Potential Grants for $3,500 and $5,000.  $3,500 was used for kitchen supplies and $5,000 was used to provide a second chance breakfast program.
• Margaret Burnham Charitable Trust for $3,200 used to purchase lighting equipment for the film studies and photography departments.  
• Teach with Tech Grant for $30,000 allowed the school to set up an I-Mac computer lab.  The lab will be used for graphic design, photoshop, desktop publishing, video editing, digital visual etc. which will elevate the current programming.
• Other - will apply for an Expansion grant for the middle school (CSP Federal Grant) 

Heather also highlighted that the students have a window arts display on Water Street in Augusta and an art show at the Monkey Tree Art Gallery in Gardiner among many other activities.

Jim inquired what professional development will be offered over the summer to prepare for the new middle school.  Heather explained that three middle school teachers have been hired, and they will be working with the high school staff in March to align the middle school and high school learning standards.

Tom asked if Maine Arts Academy might display their art in the State House on the second floor. He also suggested reaching out to some Maine writers who may have foundations. 

Leigh inquired what % of the operating budget comes from grants.  Heather will check.

Heather reported that Kennebec Savings Bank appreciated the thank you card sent by the Commission.

Joe Mattos of the Maine Charter School Alliance presented a framework that may be used to evaluate policies as they are developed by the state, boards and schools.  The framework categorizes the policy values of efficiency, equity, excellence, and choice.  He pointed out:

• Efficiency is related to accountability.  The Performance Framework holds the schools accountable.
• Equity - Students must have equal opportunity.  As schools raise excellence, they must be careful to continue to provide equity.
• Excellence - The Performance Framework sets high expectations.  Monitoring of school culture in addition to academics is important.  Encouraging innovation is also important.
• Choice - Charter schools provide choice and breakdown educational silos.  

These can be used to evaluate a policy and determine what the unintended consequences may be.

Joe Drago suggested the book "Equity, What It Is and Why It Matters " which discusses the value of public education. 

The Mid-Year meetings with the schools have been completed.  Amy has written the reports and sent to the schools for their review.  The results will be shared at the March meetings.  There was strong representation from administrators and board members at all the schools.  The discussion focused on areas where the schools were not meeting expectations at the end of last year.

New School applications are due on February 13.  Lana will update the Commission on what is received.  The receipt will start the timeline of application review.  Lana revised the rubric used to evaluate the applications to match the changes made to the current application.  The rubric was sent to all who sent a letter of intent for transparency purposes.  The ad hoc committee will have a training opportunity with David Hartman to complete an unbiased review of the applications.  

Budget season is coming.  Two drafts of Commission spending will be developed: one for the current structure and one for the potential body corporate and politic structure.  Norm suggested a review of the carryover balance and encumbering as much of the amount as possible.  Leigh suggested reserving funds for specific purposes, summer programming or professional development for example. 

Lana has been meeting with the Alliance members monthly and is grateful for the partnership.

Lana has been drafting testimony for the bill to restructure the Commission.  Jim suggested to include a chart within the testimony demonstrating the current status compared to the proposed structure to highlight savings and benefits. 

Amy provided an overview of the enrollment reports that reflect the October 1 certified enrollments.  

There are 2,717 students enrolled in Charter Schools coming from 142 districts and 298 cities, towns and unorganized territories across the state.  All 16 counties are represented. 

The Senate and House Representation reports are new this year and have been provided to the schools and boards so that they will be able to reach out to their local representation to inform about the good work going on within the schools. Members of the Education and Cultural Affairs Committee are highlight.  

Norm stated that he and Lana have discussed employing professional public relations to prepare templates using this data for the schools to use for outreach and relationship building.    

Lana acknowledged Chris Lewis who has been instrumental in the development of the Ecology Learning Center.