April 16, 2007
Attendance
Board members in attendance: Anthony Colón, Vice-Chair; Dora Marcus;
Lawrence Patrick, III; and Jo Baker, Ex-Officio and Secretary.
The board meeting was called to order at 7:40p.m by Mr. Anthony Colón.
Comments from Public Officials
Elected Officials Present: None
Approval of Agenda
Agenda was approved.
Approval of March Meeting Minutes
March meeting minutes were approved.
Contracts Reviewed
Mr. Anthony Colón reported on contracts reviewed over $25,000.00 and the Board accepted the report as read.
Approval of Revised Charter Amendment Policy
Ms. Jackie Scott-English gave an overview of the proposed changes to the charter amendment policy. The following revisions were proposed: 1) that the charter schools request an amendment 15 months prior to the implementation date to assure adequate time for review and execution (at the discretion of the PCSB, a waiver may be granted under extraordinary circumstances, for requests submitted later than the 15 month timeframe); 2) enrollment increases shall be submitted with an amendment request for grade changes only; 3) charter schools granted conditional approval will have 3 months to provide responses to the conditions; failure to provide responses within the 3 month interval can result in denial of the amendment requests; and 4) charter schools granted conditional approval based on facility needs must submit evidence (lease agreement, letter of intent) of a secured location no later than 3 months prior to the school year; failure to provide such can result in denial of the amendment request.
A motion was made by Dr. Dora Marcus and seconded by Mr. Lawrence Patrick to approve the revised amendment policy, effective beginning in the 2007-2008 school year. It was unanimously approved by all.
Schools Committee
Hope Community PCS
School representatives present: Mr. James Kemp, Chairman of Board of Trustees and Mr. George Sanker, Principal
Mr. Jeremy Williams reported that Hope has satisfied 100% all requirements of their Notice of Concern conditions. Mr. Lawrence Patrick made a motion to lift the Notice of Concern. The motion was seconded by Dr. Dora Marcus and unanimously carried.
Approval of Accountability Plans
Arts and Technology Academy PCS
School representative present: Mr. Eric Greene, Head of School
Ms. Carolyn Trice presented Arts and Technology Academy’s revised accountability plan that will collapse the arts performance indicators into a single assessment. Discussion was held regarding the problem with recruitment and retention of personnel. The suggestion was made that the school maintain the continuity of the rubrics and also collaborate among other teachers in the fine arts.
Dr. Dora Marcus made the motion of conditional approval with full approval once targets are met satisfactory. Mr. Lawrence Patrick, III, seconded the motion. The motion passed unaminously.
ABC PCS
School representative present: Mr. Charles Jackson, Executive Director and Founder; Peter Martin, Director of Curriculum and Assessment; Marta Del Pilar Lynch, Special Education Coordinator & Arts Curriculum Director
Ms. Susan Miller presented ABC’s accountability plan for approval. Mr. Charles Jackson reported that the school has doubled in size and they are setting a higher baseline and developing strategies for refining their performance objectives and targets.
Mr. Lawrence Patrick offered a motion for the conditional approval of the accountability plan. Dr. Dora Marcus seconded the motion with full approval pending establishing satisfactory targets and assessments. The motion was unanimously agreed upon.
ALTA PCS
School representative present: None
ALTA PCS’s presentation of their accountability plan was deferred to the next meeting due to a lack of school representatives present.
DC Bilingual PCS
School Representatives present: Alison Auerbach, School Director
Ms. Carolyn Trice submitted DC Bilingual’s accountability plan for approval and stated that they have included the needed targets based on baseline data. Dr. Dora Marcus made the motion to fully approve the accountability plan and Mr. Lawrence Patrick seconded the motion. The motion was duly voted on and carried.
Paul PCS
School Representatives present: Ms. Barbara Nophlin, Principal and Ms. Charlotte Cureton, Deputy Head of School
Ms. Carolyn Trice gave details and rationale of Paul’s accountability plan and how parental involvement, character education and official policies will be incorporated into the accountability plan. Mr. Anthony Colón encouraged the school to work collaboratively with other schools in coaching and mentoring. Dr. Dora Marcus made the motion for conditional approval with full approval after needed targets are included.
Mr. Lawrence Patrick seconded the motion and the motion was carried unanimously.
KIPP DC PCS
School Representatives present: Ms. Irene Holtzman, Director of Operations, KIPP DC and Ms. Laura Bowen, Principal, KIPP LEAP
Ms. Monique Miller presented KIPP DC’s accountability plans for the three school levels: elementary, middle and high school. Discussion was held regarding existing methods of student assessments. Ms. Josephine Baker suggested the school utilize a better instrument in assessment for lower and early grade levels. Ms. Baker also advised that the school obtain teacher input and identify an effective brand of testing. Mr. Anthony Colón informed KIPP of several networking agencies, such as The Foundation for Childhood Development, and The National Task Force on Early Literacy could be helpful in choosing student assessment tools. Mr. Lawrence Patrick made the motion for conditional approval of the accountability plans. The motion was seconded by
Dr. Dora Marcus and unanimously carried.
KIPP DC: LEAP PCS
School Representatives present: Ms. Irene Holtzman, Director of Operations, KIPP DC and Ms. Laura Bowen, Principal, KIPP LEAP
Ms. Monique Miller reported that KIPP DC’s amendment was approved for expansion in the elementary and high school grades and is now proposing to operate a new elementary school at 1720 Minnesota Avenue as a temporary location until construction is completed for its permanent facility.
Dr. Dora Marcus made the motion that the temporary new location be approved. The motion was seconded by Mr. Lawrence Patrick and passed unanimously.
SAIL PCS
School Representatives present: None
Ms. Susan Miller presented SAIL’s proposal to relocate their upper and high school vocational program and advised that SAIL would need to provide to the PCSB an explanation of their upper middle schools curriculum program. Additionally, SAIL needs to address vocational and academic components and submit a strategic plan and implementation timeline.
There was further discussion that SAIL must submit a charter amendment request by April 25, 2007 if they are changing their focus of the high school vocational program. Dr. Dora Marcus made the motion to conditionally approve SAIL’s request to relocate pending response to the above concerns.
Mr. Patrick Lawrence seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously.
The meeting adjourned at 8:25pm.