[Sagamore] A DeKalb County Charter System

[Dave Allen Barker Jr]

Thanks, Marilyn (and anyone else), for this information.

This is exactly the kind of stuff I hope any interested parent (or
community member) can know, not just those who happen to be on this
particular email thread.

Please(, all,) consider including sagamore at list.9.0ne.org
<mailto:Sagamore%20Discussion%20List%20%3Csagamore at list.9.0ne.org%3E> in
on these discussions too, a mailing list I setup for general Sagamore
discussion <www.9.0ne.org/w/Sagamore_discussion_list>.  It currently has
about 45 subscribers, and anyone can join (see the link).

Thanks again, Marilyn---those are great notes!


On 08/27/2014 09:27 PM, Marilyn Ratzel wrote:
> I went to the meeting this evening about the proposal for a
> county-wide school system, and just wanted to share with you some of
> the more  general notes from the session in case any one was
> interested.  The link below may be helpful in explaining some of the
> background:
>
> http://www.dekalb.k12.ga.us/www/documents/news-and-info/press-releases/school-system-flexibility-timeline.pdf
>
> In a nutshell, what I got from the session was this:  All school
> systems have, under state law, have until June 30, 2015 to notify the
> State Department of Education of its intention to remain status quo
> under existing state laws and requirements, or to elect for a more
> flexible school system in exchange for higher accountability.  DeKalb
> County School Board empaneled (from my understanding) an advisory
> committee, who, after holding meetings for community input and
> feedback, determined that if DeKalb is to go for a more flexible
> program under state law, then the charter system is the way to go. 
> The attached .pdf lays out the other options that were on the table
> for consideration.
>
> Having decided to move forward with exploring the option to seek a
> county-wide charter school system, the county is now holding community
> input sessions.  It was presented tonight that the petition for
> seeking a charter school system has not been drafted, but rather the
> idea is to get community input so that the petition could be drafted. 
>
> However, there seems to a short leash on this--from my understanding
> the school board may vote as early as September 8th to move forward
> with the petition, in which case the petition will be drafted and
> submitted to public review by October 6th and then submitted to the
> State Department of Education (DOE) by November 1st. 
>
> THE BASIC PETITION PROCESS:
>
> Once the petition is submitted to the DOE, it gets kicked to the
> charter advisory committee, who reviews the petition for adequacy,
> accuracy, etc.  The charter advisory committee can either kick the
> petition back to the county, ask it to fix, etc.  If everything checks
> out, the charter advisory committee then issues a recommendation to
> the DOE.  General understanding from the meeting was that DOE follows
> the recommendation of the advisory committee.
>
> BASICS OF THE CHARTER SCHOOL SYSTEM
>
> If implemented, then each school will be governed by a Local School
> Governance Team (LGST) (unclear to me how it is chosen but it is a mix
> of parents and school personnel).   The job of the LGST is to control
> the governance of the school and to create programs, etc, that guide
> the overall goals of the school.  The LGST does not control all the
> administrative details of the school (the example thrown out there is
> that the staff still controls how the prom theme is set). 
> Furthermore, the LGST will give way to some local school district
> control.  For example, the Dekalb County School Board will still set
> attendance lines, or required materials where it can take advantage of
> economies of scale.  There is also still a level of oversight from the
> School Board, in that if an LGST identifies a program or would like to
> seek waiver of certain state guidelines, it has to go to the School
> Board. The role of the School Board is to evaluate those requests
> based on certain criteria, such as does it violate any federal laws,
> or does it affect the potential safety and welfare of the students, etc.
>
> If DeKalb County becomes a charter school system, schools can elect to
> opt out and to remain status quo.
> Existing charter schools can elect to operate under their existing
> charter or opt into the Dekalb program.
> It does not affect school choice programs, magnet schools.
> Charter schools get additional funds, capped at $4 million.
> The entire system gets re-evaluated--if the system as a whole is
> meeting the requirements or living up to the purpose of its petition,
> everyone under the charter loses charter status--that does not affect
> the ability of a school to move forward to seek its own charter.
>
> GENERAL QUESTIONS/ CONCERNS FROM AUDIENCE
>
> This is just based off my observations from the meeting and not
> intended as commentary either way.  One of the concerns I heard noted
> was the issue of autonomy.   There seemed to be a feeling from some
> that if the LGST still had to seek approval from the School Board as
> to programs or waivers, that it will still run into the problem it is
> facing now, or unjustified denials.
>
> Another concern raised was that there is only one teacher on the
> advisory committee for this proposal and that the input of teachers is
> not being sought.  This same person stated that the state is releasing
> a revised charter petition process soon?
>
> Another concern was re: those areas where historically no parent
> involvement and the success of the LGST or the program in those areas.
>
>
> Anyway, those are the basic notes--
>
>
>
> Marilyn
>
>
>
>
>
> On Tue, Aug 26, 2014 at 10:04 AM, Marilyn Ratzel
> <marilyn.ratzel at gmail.com <mailto:marilyn.ratzel at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>     There is also a meeting this week about the larger proposal to
>     make all DeKalb County schools into charter schools.  I was
>     planning on trying to go to that meeting at Lakeside on Wednesday
>     at 6:00.  Info below (sorry for the cut and paste).  Maybe we can
>     email each other any info/notes after the respective meetings!
>      I'd be interested to know if they can push through the Druid
>     Hills Charter Cluster, the affect that would have on the larger
>     proposal to make all DeKalb County schools charter.   
>
>     DeKalb Charter District Community Engagement Schedule:
>
>     A Message from DeKalb School District
>
>      
>
>
>
>
>     The DeKalb County School District is seeking to become the largest
>     charter
>     system in the state of Georgia.  In order to accomplish this goal, the
>     district must submit a petition to the Georgia Department of Education
>     seeking charter system status, and your input in this petition is
>     sought. 
>     The district is seeking your thoughts on autonomy and flexibility
>     at your
>     school and how that autonomy and flexibility can lead to
>     innovations in
>     how students are taught and how the school is governed.  
>
>     Five community engagement sessions have been scheduled, and anyone
>     seeking
>     the opportunity to provide input is invited to attend, including
>     parents,
>     teachers, and other community members.  You are also encouraged to
>     review
>     information from the Georgia Department of Education concerning
>     charter
>     systems and review some of the petitions from other school systems
>     around
>     the state that are already operating as charter district.  That
>     information can be found at the following web address:
>     http://www.gadoe.org/External-Affairs-and-Policy/Charter-Schools/Pages/default.aspx.
>
>     Region IV        Lithonia High
>     School                        Tuesday, August 26 @ 6:00 PM
>     Region II        Lakeside High
>     School                        Wednesday, August 27 @ 6:00 PM
>     Region I        Dunwoody High
>     School                        Thursday, August 28 @ 6:00 PM
>     Region V        Towers High School                        Tuesday,
>     September 2 @ 6:00 PM
>     Region III        Stephenson High
>     School                        Wednesday, September 3 @ 6:00 PM
>
>     We thank you in advance for your participation and look forward to
>     seeing
>     you soon!
>
>      DeKalb County Schools
>
>
>
>     On Tue, Aug 26, 2014 at 9:52 AM, Lara Baldwin
>     <lara.baldwin at gmail.com <mailto:lara.baldwin at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>         Even though this was in the Sagamore Wildcat Newsletter, it
>         wasn't on my radar. 
>         Suzi Wilke just told me about it, and it does sound very
>         interesting. More importantly it's easy because it's at
>         Sagamore this month! I'll be there it get the scoop on the
>         possible Druid Hills Charter Cluster.
>         Lara
>
>
>         *Emory Lavista Parent Council* Meeting at Sagamore
>
>         Wednesday, August 27 @ 9:15 am
>
>           
>
>         /Get the Facts About the Druid Hills Charter Cluster:
>          Answering Your Questions
>         What Does the DHCC Mean for DeKalb County School Children?
>         What Does It Mean to You?
>
>         Even as the DeKalb County School District explores system-wide
>         charter status, the Board of Education is expected to revisit
>         the Druid Hills Charter Cluster petition for the first
>         autonomous public charter school cluster. Do you have
>         questions about the Druid Hills Charter Cluster? Join us for
>         this important discussion and get the facts. /
>
>          
>
>         The Emory LaVista Parent Council 
>         <http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=0010bHHckN3bNsTqqsZi4qfh7mhow_kSw6MlWqL2oakOw3F5dj7gdXqO6Y9Yhi1qhxyht9DE8I8lO4leRsBNPOWRRGlnF01nguKfjdxK2TEKVFfIhn0KCtfJaR8eEp4d1ZqeuTraeFx65EF4youpbT5C8dQC4lG5kjvpFjRuQLVfwZKrGF5TLf1MQ==&c=MMehDVH4xV8V-MibIQgzzdnDKg5xdYi13K3mEIkJHFpQP5t6sBFWyg==&ch=tESNvv_-8eZznqdJtL3S5D3rcSpgAP0MQaF1cOML8I_BUlbUZ6Atow==>meets
>         for the purpose of strengthening the Emory LaVista school
>         community by providing a forum for communication, and
>         promoting educational opportunities for the children of our
>         community. Please join us on the third Wednesday of the month
>         for a lively discussion of school issues and topics. All
>         interested parents are invited and encouraged to attend.
>
>          
>
>         Serving these DeKalb County Schools:
>
>           * Druid Hills High, Lakeside High
>           * Druid Hills Middle, Henderson Middle
>           * Briar Vista, Fernbank, Laurel Ridge, McLendon, Sagamore
>             Hills, Briarlake, Evansdale, Hawthorne, Henderson Mill,
>             Oak Grove, Pleasantdale, Avondale, Coralwood, The Museum
>             School of Avondale Estates, and the International
>             Community Charter School. 
>
>         Sent from my iPad
>
>
>

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