csao update 11/10/11
DESCRIPTION
Weekly updateTRANSCRIPT
CSAO Update
www.hcsao.org
Introduction Welcome to another CSAO Update. This is not a newsletter. While it does contain some news and informational tidbits, most of the items contained within these updates are of importance to charter schools. As mentioned in last week’s update, we will be bolding and coloring in red topics within the Table of Contents that require action. As a reminder, to contact certain people within our office or at the schools, you can visit the CSAO’s website for direct contact information for each of our staff members as well as a directory of charter schools (or our printable school directory). If you need to contact someone at the Department of Education, including Sean Murakami or Lorna Leocadio (who do not work for the CSAO but the Public Charter Schools Programs Office), the DOE has a directory that they update often. If you know someone who would like to subscribe to these updates, you have a topic that you would like to be covered in an upcoming update, or you would like to unsubscribe, send an email to [email protected].
November 10, 2011
Table of Contents *LSB Policies and Procedures Consistent with Ethical Standards of Conduct * ESEA Waiver Charter School Headlines
2
Tech Tips 9
Upcoming Meetings, Events & Deadlines
7 & 8
"Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement, nothing can be done without hope and
confidence." -- Helen Keller
Charter School Governance, Accountability, and Authority Task Force The Charter School Governance, Accountability, and Authority Task Force (CSGTF) Working Group had a meeting on November 9. Most of the meeting was spent reviewing the CSGTF’s proposed organization chart and aligning it to the matrix of proposed responsibilities. The next CSGTF Working Group will address the details within HRS §302B that have not yet been discussed. The next Working Group meeting is on November 17 at 1:00 pm in the State Capitol. The final CSGTF meeting is likely to be on December 7 at 10:00 am in the State Capitol, room 225. As a reminder, for additional information on the CSGTF, visit the CSGTF website.
Audit Report/Financial Information to DOE Supplemental Agreements Good Idea Grants
3 Official Enrolment Count
4 Second Per Pupil Allocations
5 Federal/DOE Impact Aid
6
LSB Policies and Procedures Consistent with Ethical Standards of Conduct In accordance to HRS §302B-7, local school boards (LSBs) are required to develop internal policies and procedures consistent with ethical standards of conduct, pursuant to Chapter 84. The Charter School Review Panel has withheld per pupil allocations in the past when charter schools and their LSBs have not met statutory requirements. Like the annual audit reports, a charter school and its board are not considered in compliance until our office receives the policies consistent with the ethical standards of conduct. Contact Kenyon Tam at [email protected] to ensure that the CSAO has your applicable LSB policies or with any questions.
In previous CSAO Updates, we asked for charter school stakeholders with expertise to assist in applying for Hawaii's ESEA flexibility waiver. Thank you to those that have responded to Roger McKeague’s email requesting participation. The ESEA Waiver charter school team currently consists of Taffi Wise (Kanu o ka ʻĀina), Miki Tomita (Education Laboratory), Mahina Duarte (Hālau Kū Māna), Jeff Piontek (Hawaii Technology Academy), Haunani Seward (Ke Kula Niʻihau O Kekaha), Meahilahila Kelling (Ke Kula ʻo Samuel M. Kamakau), Usha Kotner (Kona Pacific and the Charter School Review Panel), Daniel Caluya (Waters of Life), Kalei Kaʻilihiwa (Hoʻolako Like), Megan McCorriston (Hoʻokākoʻo Corporation), and Lynn Finnegan (Hawaii Charter Schools Network). It is a diverse and skilled group with extensive curriculum and assessment knowledge. If you would like to join this team, contact Allan Toh at [email protected] for more information.
Charter School Headlines While not specifically related to charter schools, an Education Week article highlights Hawaii as a bright spot among Race to the Top states according to NAEP scores. Here are some headlines about charter schools from this past week: Hawaii Headlines Community Split on Board Election – Hawaii Tribune-Herald National Headlines Legislators Debate Charter School Cap – HometownLife.com (Michigan) Charter Schools: The True Purple Solution to Public Education – Huffington Post Charter School Push Grows – The Wall Street Journal (New York) Tennis Star's Las Vegas School Nets $18 Million Investment – Education Week Forty Percent of Children in D.C. Public Schools Now in Charters – Washington Post
ESEA Waiver Team
Audit Report/Financial Information to DOE On November 4, 2011, Roger McKeague and Bob Roberts met with DOE staff to discuss issues that the DOE has expressed related to the DOE audit and the State of Hawaii audit. Essentially, this issue is that the DOE auditors/State auditors have asserted that charter school financial activities must be included within the DOE’s audit report. The CSAO disagrees with this assertion and requested that the DOE obtain a formal Attorney General opinion clarifying the relationship between charter schools and the DOE regarding financial reporting. The CSAO shared with the DOE its analysis of the accounting standards regarding this issue which seem to indicate that charter schools are separate legal entities that are not component units of the DOE. However, because the Attorney General is unlikely to be able to issue an opinion prior to the DOE’s audit submission deadline, the CSAO agreed to do the following:
(1) Provide to the DOE a summary of the 2010-‐11 financial reports by charter school (CSAO will use the same report that we use to report to the legislature to meet this obligation); and (2) Provide to the DOE copies of the audit reports submitted by charter schools.
In return, the DOE will request a formal opinion from the Attorney General.
Supplemental Agreements We have met with the HSTA, and they are open to negotiating supplemental agreements. For those of you who are interested in negotiating supplemental agreements and have contact us, please confirm with Allan Toh at [email protected] that you are on our list.
Good Idea Grants The Public Schools of Hawaii Foundation’s Good Idea Grant Program in partnership with the Hawaii State Teachers’ Association (HSTA) is designed to enhance innovation in the classroom and challenge teachers to think creatively and boldly. Good Idea Grants can go up to $3,000 each for innovative programs that strive to increase student interest and academic achievement. Grants up to $7,500 each will be awarded for the development, improvement, or expansion of innovative instructional programs in STEM as well as programs that integrate and apply STEM learning across other disciplines. Go here for more information and the application for Good Idea Grants. For questions, contact Stacy Nishina, Instruction and Professional Development Specialist at HSTA, at 840-‐2236 or [email protected].
Official Enrollment Count The CSAO is still waiting on a few issues prior to being able to finalize the FY2012 official enrollment count (OEC). However, assuming that the final supporting documents are received, the OEC for this year is 9,326. This is 419 students below the May projected enrollment of 9,745. See the chart below for the school-‐by-‐school details that makeup this count.
School Name OrgID May 15, 2011 Projected OEC Difference % Diff
Waialae-PCS 149 437 459 22 4.79% Kamaile 275 980 920 -60 -6.52% Lanikai-PCS 320 353 320 -33 -10.31%
Waimea Mid-PCS 394 260 280 20 7.14%
Connections-PCS 396 370 344 -26 -7.56%
Kanu O Ka'aina-PCS 397 260 219 -41 -18.72%
Waters of Life-PCS 398 105 100 -5 -5.00%
West Hi Explor-PCS 399 205 213 8 3.76%
Kualapuu-PCS 411 409 398 -11 -2.76% KANAKA - PCS 466 55 48 -7 -14.58%
Halau Ku Mana-PCS 540 82 79 -3 -3.80%
Voyager-PCS 541 256 246 -10 -4.07% *Halau Lokahi NC-PCS 542 255 237 -18 -7.59% Educ Lab: A Hawaii NC-PCS 543 450 447 -3 -0.67% Myron Thompson Acad-PCS 544 425 474 49 10.34% Ka Waihona O Ka Naauao-PCS 545 619 618 -1 -0.16% Hakipu'u Learning Ctr-PCS 546 70 78 8 10.26% Ke Kula O Kamakau Lab-PCS 547 140 131 -9 -6.87% Innovations-PCS 548 186 188 2 1.06% Ke Ana La'ahana-PCS 549 80 72 -8 -11.11% Hawaii Technology Academy 551 1,278 1,032 -246 -23.84% Kihei-PCS 554 550 546 -4 -0.73% Ke Kula Ni'ihau Kekaha-PCS 556 47 35 -12 -34.29% Kua O Ka La-PCS 557 220 188 -32 -17.02% Volcano Sch of A&S-PCS 560 168 173 5 2.89% Hi Academy of A&S-PCS 561 489 523 34 6.50% Ka 'Umeke Ka'eo-PCS 562 322 294 -28 -9.52% Ke Kula Nawahi Iki Lab-PCS 563 241 238 -3 -1.26% Kanuikapono-PCS 564 132 126 -6 -4.76% Kawaikini 565 118 108 -10 -9.26% Kona Pacific 566 183 182 -1 -0.55%
Total 9,745 9,316 (429) -4.60%
*As of 11/09/2011, school had not provided supporting documentation to verify difference between school’s student information system and the DOE’s SSES.
Second Per Pupil Allocations The CSAO anticipates distributing the second allocations on time on November 15, 2011. This is the allocation that uses the October 15 OEC as the basis and brings the total distribution to 90% of the annual allocation for each charter school. The chart below shows the amounts per school based on the per pupil amounts and the OEC.
Federal/DOD Impact Aid Good news! The DOE has allocated these funds in the DOE budget system. The CSAO is in the process of drawing these funds down from the DOE and distributing them. We do need to wait until the OECs are finalized for all schools before these funds are distributed (because a change in enrollment will change the per pupil amounts). We anticipate distributing these funds in November.
Upcoming Meetings, Events & Deadlines
Web • Don’t reach for the mouse to go back to the previous Web page. Just tap the Backspace key. (Alt+left-arrow key also works for Back and Alt+right-arrow for Forward. In this article, if you have a Mac, substitute the Option key for Alt.) • After you type a word or phrase into a Search box, don’t click the Search button. Just press the Enter key. (The Enter key also works to click “Go” after you’ve typed an address, or the highlighted button, like “O.K.” or “Print,” in most dialog boxes. Yes, there are people who don’t realize that.) • On brand-name Web sites (eBay, Facebook, Amazon and so on), click the upper-left logo to return to the site’s home page. • At translate.google.com, you can choose languages you want to translate from and to. Then you paste in some copied text (or the address of a Web site). In a flash, the text is translated — roughly, to be sure, but at no charge. • Who needs a dictionary? In the Google search box, type “define schadenfreude” (or whatever the word is). Press Enter. Computers
• The Esc key (top left of the keyboard) means “close this” or “cancel this.” It can close a menu or a dialog box, for example. • You can duplicate a file icon (instead of moving it) if you press the Alt key as you drag it out of its window. • You can switch among open programs by pressing Alt+Tab (or Command-Tab on the Mac). On the Mac, the much less known Command-tilde (the ~ key, upper left corner) switches among windows in a single program. Screenshots • Especially if you’re a beginner (or even an expert), it’s frequently useful to capture the image of what’s on the screen — an error message or diagram, for example. • In Windows, PrintScreen key copies the whole screen image, as a graphic, onto your invisible Clipboard, so you can paste into an e-mail message or any other program (“This is what I’m seeing! What do I do now?!”). If you add the Alt key, you copy only the front window. • On the Mac, press Command-Shift-3. (Command is the key with the propeller on it, next to the Space bar.) You hear a snapshot sound, and you get a graphics file on your desktop—a picture of the entire screen image. • If you press Command-Shift-4 instead, you get a crosshair cursor; you can draw across just one portion of the screen. Or, if you now tap the Space bar, you turn the cursor into a little camera icon. You can now click on just one window or toolbar that you want to copy. • In both cases, you can hold down the Control key to copy the image to the Clipboard instead of leaving a file on the hard drive.
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