Improving the Charter Oversight Process for Better Schools CCSA Annual Conference Wednesday March 28, 2018 Welcome

Presenters Darlene Chambers, Ph.D., Senior Vice President National Charter Schools Institute Ruth Dutton, Superintendent, The Academies CMO (Sycamore and Blue Oak Academies) Corey Loomis Ed.D., Administrator, Charter Schools, Riverside County Office of Education David Patterson Ed.D., Director CARSNet (Charter Authorizers Regional Support Network)

Outcomes for the Workshop Participants Gain Greater Understanding The state of charter school oversight in CA CARSNet and others work to strengthen authorizing One school’s experience The importance of shared values, principles and expectations Your feedback

Our (60 minute!) Journey Quick Background on Authorizing in CA Values, Principles, and Expectations “The Academies” Experience Ongoing Efforts to Transform Authorizing Fiscal, Educational, Operational and Governance Accountability CARSNet and CCAP Your feedback

Authorizing and Oversight – a critical but often neglected role What does the law say……. Ed Code 47604.32 (a) Each chartering authority, in addition to any other duties imposed by this part, shall do all of the following with respect to each charter school under its authority: (1) Identify at least one staff member as a contact person for the charter school. (2) Visit each charter school at least annually. (3) Ensure that each charter school under its authority complies with all reports required of charter schools by law, including the local control and accountability plan and annual update to the local control and accountability plan required pursuant to Section 47606.5 . (4) Monitor the fiscal condition of each charter school under its authority. (5) Provide timely notification to the department if any of the following circumstances occur or will occur with regard to a charter school for which it is the chartering authority: (A) A renewal of the charter is granted or denied. (B) The charter is revoked. (C) The charter school will cease operation for any reason. (b) The cost of performing the duties required by this section shall be funded with supervisorial oversight fees collected pursuant to Section 47613 .

California’s Charter Authorizers California Department of Education (public schools database as of 6/5/17) 1,246 total active charter schools 337 total charter authorizers 296 district authorizers 40 county authorizers (plus SBE) 92% have 6 or fewer (defined as “small” in grant) 68.5% have only 1 or 2 622 (49.9%) of current charter schools overseen by “small” authorizers

Issues Identified in Studies of California Authorizing Lack of choice/commitment by authorizing agencies Lack of resources for oversight, especially among authorizers with small portfolios Highly Complex and High Stakes Work Varying interpretations of standard for petition denial (restrictive to permissive) Opportunistic authorizers and charter operators (“charters for sale”) Impact of district and county board politics on chartering decisions; unpredictability

Values, Principles and Expectations (VP&&E) An approach to charter school authorizing based on Values and Principles Foundational Guidance to ground the work Broad input and discussion Presenters will tie their remarks to the VP&E

The Academies – Reflections on Authorizing – Ruth Dutton A High Performing Charter Schools Experience Authorizing (Approval Process) Renewal Growth (Second School Petition) Reflections on VP&E (Values, Principles and Expectations)

The Application “Journey” Riverside County Office of Education Application Submission Packet Application Rubric/ Checklist Capacity Interview Reflections on VP&E

The “Journey” Application Submission Multi-disciplinary Review Public Hearing Internal Team Meeting Capacity Interview “Draft” Staff Report Review Board Charter Subcommittee Board Decision

Standardized Review Document

Fiscal Accountability – David Patterson Near-Term Measures, Sustainability and Financial Compliance These are leading indicators for YOU and your authorizer Work Ongoing to Consolidate Further

Sustainability Measures Financial Compliance Measures Metric Near-Term Measures 1.a Current ratio 1.b Unrestricted days cash on hand 1.c Enrollment variance 1.d Unduplicated pupil percentage (UPP) variance 1.e Default Sustainability Measures 2.a Total margin 2.b Debt to asset ratio 2.c Cash flow monitoring 2.d Debt service coverage ratio 2.e Minimum Proportionality Percentage (MPP) Financial Compliance Measures 3.a Financial reporting and compliance requirements 3.b Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)

OVERSIGHT & EVALUATION PERFORMANCE CONTRACTING Epicenter – Working Smarter On-Line Document Management and Oversight Tool COMMITMENT & CAPACITY RENEWAL OR REVOCATION PETITION REVIEW & DECISION MAKING OVERSIGHT & EVALUATION PERFORMANCE CONTRACTING

Epicenter – Data, Dashboards & Scheduling

Your Questions Answered Epicenter – Why You Should Consider it? On-Line Document Management and Oversight Tool Q&As with Corey Loomis Your Questions Answered Why you decided to implement Epicenter. Your thoughts about what it takes to implement. Compare using Epicenter to your former oversight methods. Your top reasons why you would recommend the tool.

What is CARSNet? What is CCAP?   What is CARSNet? What is CCAP?

CARSNet - Charter Authorizers Regional Support Network 3-Year National Leadership Activities Grant from the federal Charter School Program Serve charter school authorizers statewide Free regional and statewide supports Emphasis on authorizers with small portfolios (Up to 15 Charter Schools)

CCAP - The Mission Members of the California Charter Authorizing Professionals (CCAP) advance quality public education for all students by providing charter school authorizing professionals with the support, resources, and collective voice necessary to foster high-performing, fiscally sound, autonomous, and accountable charter schools.

Your Questions, Comments and Suggestions

CARSNet Website www.carsnet.org CCAP Website www.calauthorizers.org Additional Resources CARSNet Website www.carsnet.org CCAP Website www.calauthorizers.org

Contact Information David Patterson Ed.D., Director CARSNet (Charter Authorizers Regional Support Network) dpatterson@acoe.org 916-801-2454 Dr. Darlene Chambers, Senior Vice President National Charter Schools Institute dchambers@charterinstitute.org 989-317-3510 Ruth Dutton, Superintendent, The Academies CMO (Sycamore and Blue Oak Academies) rdutton@sycamorevalleyacademy.org 559-622-3236 Corey Loomis Ed.D., Administrator, Charter Schools, Riverside County Office of Education cloomis@rcoe.us 951-826-6685 Dave