Board Meeting Minutes

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March 19, 2007 - 7:30 PM

 

Attendance

Board members in attendance: Tom Nida, Chair; Anthony Colón, Vice-Chair; Dora Marcus; Will Marshall; Lawrence Patrick III; Ariana Quiñones-Miranda; and Jo Baker, Ex-Officio and Secretary

 

The board meeting was called to order at 7:30p.m by Mr. Tom Nida.

 

Comments from Public Officials

Elected Officials Present: David Holmes and Nick Alberti, ANC's Ward 6A

Mr. Nick Alberti requested a policy that would require Charter schools to give a 45 day notice to ANC's prior to new or expansion schools being located in communities. He added this would allow the ANC's to study the location and intended enrollment and to schedule a meeting with the schools to give public input.

 

Mr. David Holmes, also of the ANC Ward 6A, commented that a letter had been sent to the Attorney General regarding standards of Board hearings and FOIA. Mr. Nida commented that the Board is looking at a creating a process to reserve a period of time for public comments and the process would be available on the PCSB website.

 

Approval of Agenda

Agenda was approved.

 

Approval of February Meeting Minutes
February meeting minutes were approved with amendments.

 

Contracts Reviewed
Mr. Tom Nida reported on contracts reviewed over $25,000.00 and the Board accepted the report as read.

 

Schools Committee

 

Approval of Five-Year Maximum Enrollment Ceilings
KIPP DC PCS
School representative present: Ms. Allison Fansler, President and COO

 

KIPP proposes a slightly lower enrollment ceiling than approved in last year's charter amendment by decreasing the number of students at the middle school level. Ms. Allison Fansler commented that the proposed second high school would not be included in enrollment and KIPP is requesting approval of three elementary schools; three middle schools and one high school.

 

Upon a motion made by Mr. Lawrence Patrick and seconded by Dr. Dora Marcus, it was unanimously approved.

 

Approval of Accountability Plans

KIPP DC PCS
School representative present: Ms. Allison Fanzler, President and COO

 

Discussion was held regarding KIPP's accountability plan. Mr. Nida stated the report would be considered a status of the accountability plan and at present there would be no action taken.

 

Howard Road Academy PCS
School representative present: Ms. LaTonya Henderson, Principal and Ms. Jennifer Harris, Board Member

 

Howard Road Academy proposes an accountability plan for the next five years of its charter, beginning in the 2006-2007 school year. Ms. LaTonya Henderson stated the accountability plan would accomplish two goals: 1) internal assessments to monitor student progress and, 2) self-monitoring through reading and math exams. Dr. Dora Marcus stressed the importance of parental involvement and suggested it be included as an objective.
Mr. Nida requested a motion for the conditional approval of the accountability plan pending further data. Dr. Dora Marcus made the motion of conditional approval. The motion was seconded by Mr. Lawrence Patrick and unanimously agreed upon.

 

Friendship PCS - Southeast Campus
School Representatives present: Mr. Michael Cordell, CEO and Ms. Kimberly Campbell, Chief of Staff

 

Mr. Michael Cordell gave details and rationale of Friendship's revised accountability plan and how proposed changes of the performance indicator from mastery to partial would match internal assessment DCCAS results with predicted performance. Mr. Cordell also explained that the process would capture benchmark targets according to the accountability plan.

 

Mr. Lawrence Patrick questioned the broad proficiency range used in the yearly progress assessment. Mr. Cordell clarified the range is of future success on DCCAS. He stated that the performance indicator is used as a correlation predictor. Ms. Kimberly Campbell commented that yearly cutoff points could not be altered in the assessment tool and this amendment would clarify validity issues.

 

Mr. Colon led further discussion regarding alignment of standard based assessments as it relates to instruction and intervention. Dr. Marcus advised that delineations be made to substantiate what is being taught and what has been accessed. Mr. Nida requested a motion that the revised accountability plan be approved. The motion was made by Mr. Patrick and seconded by Dr. Marcus. All were in favor and the motion was unanimously carried.

 

Eagle Academy PCS
School Representatives present: Ms. Cassandra Pinkney, Executive Director and Mr. Ronald Hasty, Principal

 

Ms. Pinkney gave details of the proposed revised accountability plan to show proficiency in skills margins within 74% to 85%. Mr. Colon asked how assessment tools were chosen for student evaluation. Ms. Pinkney commented that currently the Brigance assessment tool is being utilized. Mr. Anthony Colon suggested that Ms. Pinkney explore the assessment means of The Foundation for Child Development in New York which promotes PK-3 for student evaluation.

 

Mr. Nida requested a motion to approve their revised accountability plan. Dr. Marcus made the motion that the revised accountability plan be approved. The motion was seconded by Mr. Patrick and unaminously agreed upon.

 

Preliminary Charter Review Status Report

Tri-Community PCS
School representatives present: Rev. Frank Tucker, Chair; Ms. Loretta Miller, Principal; Ms. Sullivan Robinson, Board Member; Ms. Kadesha Washington, Board Member; Ms. Delore President, Board Member and Mr. Lamar Pearson, Board Member

 

Corey Carter gave a brief summary of the decision to place Tri-Community on Charter Warning Status. Mr. Nida voiced his concern regarding Tri-Community's present status of charter warning and clarified to Tri-Community the likelihood of charter revocation if areas of present issues, specifically academics, financials and governance were not adequately addressed to meet performance standards and assure a viable operation of the school.

 

Mr. Nida asked the Chair, Rev. Frank Tucker to elaborate on what is being done proactively to address the above challenging issues and building enrollment. Rev. Tucker reported that Tri-Community now has a firm location for the facility. Rev. Tucker stated that he was aware of the problems and the following measures were being implemented to boost enrollment:

Dr. Marcus asked the Board to give specifics for their recruitment plan. Ms. Loretta Miller informed the PCSB members that a recruitment team has been established to heighten public awareness. Several efforts are in progress, such as open houses, advertisements in the media and website, and a school fair to be held in May. Dr. Marcus advised Tri-Community to start an outreach to area hospitals.

 

Mr. Nida requested clarification of how many students would need to be enrolled to overcome the deficit in population, and at the same time, maintain and operate a viable school program. Rev. Tucker stated it would take 140 students. Further discussion was held regarding what recruitment efforts have yielded in terms of students. Ms. Miller indicated that over 50 applications have been received. Dr. Marcus advised that Tri-Community monitor the strategies to see which ones work and then tap into the community of need. Ms. Baker recommended that callbacks be conducted on all applications. Mr. Nida advised that the Board keep track and monitor past and present recruitment outcomes, and by May the PCSB will assess the end result as how it improved and increased student enrollment to meet the needed student enrollment ceiling.

 

Ms. Ariana Quiñones-Miranda requested that Mr. Corey Carter work with Tri-Community in meeting the May benchmark specific to a firm definition of viability in numbers, recruitment efforts and re-enrollment of students as well as budget projections. Mr. Carter commented that he will evaluate whether the numbers correspond to the budget request as well as an overall analysis to determine if Tri-Community's budget is academically viable. A Memo of Understanding is being developed and Mr. Nida advised that Tri-Community will need to submit an action plan with specific details using their business plan as a model.

 

Public Discussion
Present: Herb Faling, Speaker

Mr. Nida opened the floor for comments. Mr. Herb Faling representing the ANC for the community voiced his concern regarding the primary criteria for granting enrollment to schools. Mr. Faling asked if the Board has a system in place for community input relative to facilities issues. Mr. Nida stated there is at this time no formal process in place and that it had not been previously requested or any boundaries objecting to start-up schools in new economic developments. Mr. Nida further commented that the Board reviews school location, contract lease or purchase agreement to determine their appropriateness. He also said that charter schools must comply with zoning regulations administered by the Zoning Commission.

 

A constituent made remarks regarding the PCSB allowing input and dialogue from other ANC's and support groups from the community. Mr. Nida commented that a possible course of action would be to conduct a forum open to discussion having equal representation to discuss these issues.

 

The meeting adjourned at 9:00pm.