- I’ve created a documents listing page on the web site. This page will contain a link to any and all documents that we create or have to fill out. In order for a document to show up on this page it must be uploaded and attached to the Documents page.
- The application has been reviewed and it’s ready to go. I’m going to email it to Kelly and Laurie to have them take a look and then send it off on Monday.
I asked Andrea (Lowell’s attorney) if we had to advertise our teacher and staff positions next year. She said that as long as we are nondiscriminatory and don’t have a collective bargaining agreement (which we don’t) that there is no legal reason why we can’t hire whomever we want for our open positions.
Learn MoreI received an email from Lowell’s attorney that they district has deemed our proposal complete and legally sufficient. This is great news and another step in the process to us opening up next year.
Learn More- I’ve made the changes Andrea requested and emailed her to let her know they have been posted to the web site version of the proposal.
- We’ve raised the $850 need to submit our IRS nonprofit application. I’m going to send it off on Monday.
- We’ve decided to hire an aide next year instead of relying on parent volunteers. We’ll still expect parents to volunteer, but they will provide classroom help instead of working on office and recess duties. I’ve updated the budget accordingly. The break even point is now 71 students.
- I emailed Andrea asking if we need to follow a formalized hiring process or if we can just hire the teachers that we want.
- I updated the secretary and aide items in the budget to accommodate the approximately 5 weeks of school holidays that they won’t be working on.
Last Friday we met with Lowell’s attorney Andrea Hungerford. The meeting went very well. Here is the list of changes she would like us to make to the proposal:
- The following changes to the State and Federal Mandates/Special Education Section
- Add to #6
- The charter will establish and publicize a nondiscrimination policy that will apply in all it’s admissions and hiring practices
- Add to #7
- Charter staff will cooperate in the districts child find procedures
- Add to #8
- Charter staff will cooperate in the districts eligibility procedures
- The charter will make general education staff available for IEP and placement meetings
- Add to #9
- Charter staff will be responsible for implementing the accommodations and modifications for IEP and 504 students, in conjunction with direction and assistance from the district.
- Add to #10
- The charter staff will work with the district to help inform parents of IDEA and 504 procedures and meetings
- Add to #11
- The charter will comply with all statutory notice requirements for out of district special education students.
- Add to #6
- Update the parent volunteer language to say “We recognize that the charter relies upon all parents to volunteer in order for the program to function as needed. We expect all parents to participate in our volunteer program in whatever capacity their schedule allows time for.”
- Change the term to 3 years.
- Once we have issued a revised version to her we will get notification from the district that our proposal is complete.
- She recommended that we attend the school board meeting on 11/25 and give a printed copy of the updated proposal to the board.
- In the submitted proposal the special education sections are the only ones that are incomplete.
- The district is OK with providing sped services.
- The district is on the hook for providing sped services. If what they recommend for the charter students isn’t working or we can’t implement them it’s the district’s responsibility to find other options for the student.
- Sped students receive double ADM, the charter school would get the first ADM and the district would get the second.
- We agreed that the charter is interested in renting space from the district. She is going to communicate this to Walt.
- We can apply for a waiver to include a sibling policy during year 1 and to guarantee that founder’s children are automatically enrolled.
- Enrollment can be capped per class.
- She recommended that we don’t lock into 15 students per class, but instead say “class sizes are capped at an average of 15 students per class”
- She recommended that we run our budget numbers at 80%, 85%, and 90% funding per students to see what our breakeven point is.
- The public forum will probably be in January.
- Once Lowell approves the proposal we can enroll students. The enrollment dates and deadlines can be set by us. The state doesn’t have any rules for the enrollment process.
- We should make a lease proposal to the district based on comparable commercial real estate and local charter school lease rates.
- We might want to update the proposal to say we will take out of district kids.
This morning we are meeting with Lowell’s attorney. Here is the list of discussion topics:
- Term of initial contract – the District would prefer three years
- Enrollment figures – the District is concerned that the initial enrollment numbers are high, and would prefer to set a lower number as the maximum enrollment for the first year, with a 10% increase factored in for each subsequent year
- Special education and 504 services – the provisions addressing these issues aren’t adequately covered throughout the application – the District has some ideas as to how to supplement and clarify
- Parent volunteerism requirement – we need to discuss exactly how “mandatory” this can be, and still remain compliant with public education law
- Funding – the District is proposing 80% ADM (which is the minimum set by the charter law for grades K-8) and also wants to discuss funding formulas for special education students
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