DOE Charter Committee Recommends Revocation for Pencader

"The Charter School Accountability Committee recommended that the charter for Pencader Business and Finance Charter High School be revoked pending the Committee’s review of all documentation the school is required to submit with its response to the Preliminary Report."  http://www.doe.k12.de.us/infosuites/schools/charterschools/files/PCAPR112612.pdf, p. 7
 

RED IS C&E 1st.

 

For the second time in two years, Pencader Charter School is staring down a closure recommendation from DOE's Charter School Accountability Committee. 

Here are some interesting notes from the report:

The Board also noted that Pencader had begun to address some of these issues since the Initial Meeting. Below is a summary of the board’s actions since the Initial Meeting such as

• Making reapplication for the 501(c)(3) that will be sent to the IRS no later than 1 December 2012   Was this completed by Dec. 1?
• Provided a legal analysis explaining its rationale as to why the Board is lawfully constituted at the present time. DOE, please make this analysis available to the public. 
• Board training is needed to help members in being able to turn around the school. High performing charter school boards have specific competencies and accountability measures, such as those for a school leader. During the third Formal Review for the school, the previous board president and school leader had indicated that the Board would receive training in the Baldridge model; however, there is no evidence that the Board or school leadership followed through on making the training available. The school must provide a Board training plan that considers how high performing charter school boards operate effectively and specific competencies. 
• The Committee discussed the two administrative complaints about special education issues at the school. There were two administrative complaints filed with the Department’s Exceptional Children Resources Work Group. The Committee noted that subsequent to the Initial Meeting the Pencader Board had authorized a restructuring of the Special Education Department to be completed no later than 1 December 2012 to address these issues. Was this completed by Dec. 1?
• Complaint was more than a special education issue and concluded that:

  (1) The school administration did not understand their duties and the issues involved nor did the staff respond in a timely way. (2)The issues in the complaint decision were not limited to special education or to one staff member. Several teachers and administrators were aware of the specific student’s issues. However, the parents did not receive a response in a timely manner. The lack of timely notification created additional problems for the student. (3) There is a culture at the school that needs to be reversed as well as a clear understanding of responsibilities relative to special education students and regulatory/statutory requirements.

• Ms. Field Rogers reported thatthe school consistently provides the required financialinformation in a timely manner.With the decline in May enrollments,the Financial ReformResources workgroup indicated thatifthe schoolcould make an enrollment projection ofapproximately 410 studentsandaskedthe school to provide a budget based on that enrollment.The school provided a budget and implemented it based on the actual September 30 Unit Count.  This is the only formal review criterion that was met based upon the preliminary meeting.