Charter, Contract, Laws, Policies, Regulations, and Statutes

 National Alliance for Public Charter Schools: “Public Charter schools are always public schools. They never charge tuition, and they accept any student who wants to attend. Charter laws require that students are admitted by a random lottery drawing in cases too many students want to enroll in a single charter school. Charter schools must also meet the state and federal academic requirements that apply to all public schools.”

 Charter schools are not exempt from federal laws that cover equal rights, access and discrimination.  Students attend charter schools by choice of their parents or guardians rather than by assignment by a school district.

 The document submitted to a charter school sponsor for approval  It describes what the charter school has promised to do and how it will do it.  An approved charter application constitutes an agreement between the charter school and its sponsor.

 Fixed term, renewable contract between a charter school and a sponsor that outlines the roles, powers, responsibilities, and performance expectations for each party to the contract

 As your school’s authorizer, the SCPCSD must monitor your school’s faithfulness to the terms of its charter and its contract.  Make sure you become very familiar with your charter and your contract!!!

 Material revisions of the terms of the charter or contract can only be made with approval of both parties.  For amendments to your charter, complete and submit a charter amendment request form. The SCPCSD will review and determine if the proposed amendment is material and requires approval of the SCPCSD Board.  For amendments to your contract, refer to the process outlined in the contract.

 Educational program  Mission  School name  Curriculum  Application and enrollment requirements  Grades to be served  Organizational Structure  Maximum student enrollment  Goals and related measures  Methods of pupil assessment  Facilities (expansion, location)  EMO relationship  Governance

The South Carolina Charter Schools Act requires authorizers to:  monitor the performance and legal/fiscal compliance of each charter school  conduct or require oversight activities including conducting appropriate inquiries and investigations only if such activities are consistent with the law and do not unduly inhibit the autonomy granted to charter schools

 notify the charter school of perceived problems if the school’s performance or legal compliance appears to be unsatisfactory  take appropriate corrective actions or exercise sanctions short of revocation including requiring a school to develop a CAP w/in a specified timeframe

 determine whether each school’s charter merits renewal, nonrenewal, or revocation

 SCPCSD created a compliance ladder to notify schools of performance/compliance issues and to help track compliance  The compliance ladder is a 3-tier approach with graduated notices/warnings: Caution, Probation, and Revocation

 SCPCSD addresses noncompliance throughout the calendar year as concerns/deficiencies are identified  Each tier triggers a specific notice to a school and requires the school to take corrective action

 Schools are notified in writing that there is a performance or compliance deficiency  Cautions are typically issued after the school has been afforded an opportunity to resolve the deficiency on its own and fails to do so  Schools are provided a reasonable opportunity to remedy the deficiency through the development of a corrective action plan (CAP)  Leading causes of cautions: special education violations, lack of special education capacity, failure to submit timely and/or accurate data/reports; test security violations; low academic achievement

 Applies to schools that fall into one or more of the following three categories: schools that have been cautioned but have failed to self-correct; schools with subpar academic performance; or schools with systemic issues of noncompliance or a pattern of noncompliance  A sanction short of revocation- provides a school an opportunity to remedy the performance and/or compliance issues that led to probation via the development and implementation of a comprehensive remedial action plan  Schools on probation must demonstrate improvement and correct any outstanding issues of noncompliance to lift probation

59 ‑ 40 ‑ 110 (C) A charter must be revoked or not renewed by the sponsor if it determines that the charter school: (1) committed a material violation of the conditions, standards, or procedures provided for in the charter application; (2) failed to meet or make reasonable progress, as defined in the charter application, toward pupil achievement standards identified in the charter application;

(3) failed to meet generally accepted standards of fiscal management; or (4) violated any provision of law from which the charter school was not specifically exempted.

 Because the SCPCSD is obligated by law to conduct ongoing performance reviews of each of its charter schools, the SCPCSD will be evaluating each school’s performance over the term of its charter in four key areas: academics, compliance, finance, and organization/governance

 Academics -the success of the school’s academic program  Compliance- the school’s faithfulness to the terms of its charter, contract, and applicable policies, laws, regulations, and statutes  Finance-the school’s fiscal stewardship, health and sustainability  Organization/Governance- the viability of the school as an organization

 Charter and charter amendments  Contract and contract amendments  Annual report of the school  Annual independent financial audit and review of financial records/data  Federal and State accountability data  Record reviews  Federal program reviews  Notifications of non- compliance and corrective action plans  Site visits  Stakeholder input

Tailor oversight to match an increasingly diverse portfolio of schools Recognize change in expectations from start-up to mature organization Respect the autonomy of and minimize the burden on high performing schools

 Performance framework  Monitoring schedule  Improved compliance ladder

Year of Charter Term Site Visit TypePurposeInspection Team Approximate Site Visit Length* Site Visit Deliverable Pre-Opening Period Visit will occur prior to school opening Ensure completion of all SPCSD required pre- opening conditions as outlined in the contract SCPCSD staffHalf-daySummary letter/memo to the school Board outlining key findings and school’s status regarding final authorization to open 1Check-in 2 3Full Program Evaluation 4As needed 5Full Program Evaluation 6 As needed 7Full Program Evaluation 8 As needed 9Renewal Evaluation 10 As needed * ** ***