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The State Board of Education met on Tuesday, September 23rd for committee meetings and Wednesday, September 24th for the full Board meeting.
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Charter System Rules Initiated-Comment Period Open
At the Rules Committee meeting on September 23rd, members of the District Flexibility and Charter Schools Committee (previously known as the Charter Committee) were present to discuss proposed rules which seek to provide clarity on the charter school petition process and the role and responsibilities of charter school authorizers. The rule change also implements a new law focused on charter school governing board training and charter school independence from their local districts.
Brian Burdette, the Chairman of the District Flexibility and Charter Schools Committee, and Lou Erste, the Associate Superintendent for Policy, Charter Schools, District Flexibility, and Governmental Affairs, said the purpose of the rule change is to set the minimum requirements that charter district petitioners must meet in order to be granted a charter. These include giving the local school governance team (which governs each individual charter school) some role in selecting principal, input in creating the school's budget, input in creating or selecting the school's curriculum, input in the school improvement plan, and input in the school's operations.
Much of the focus of their discussion was on the relationship between superintendents, local school boards, and the local school governance team. The Georgia School Boards Association and Georgia Association of Education Leaders voiced concern over the actual role of the local school governance team in relation to school boards. Burdette and Erste responded to these concerns stating that the school boards are responsible for deciding how much authority and autonomy they would like the local school governance team to have when completing the charter application process as long as the minimum requirements mentioned above are met.
CLICK HERE and HERE to read more about each of the rules.
The initiation of these rules was added to the consent agenda and approved by the full State Board on Wednesday. Prior to adoption, proposed rules must be formally initiated and submitted for a public review period of at least 30 calendar days. The board will take comments from the public and vote to adopt these rules at the next State Board meeting in November. You may also provide comment prior to the board meeting by CLICKING HERE and then clicking on the "Letter of Proposed Rulemaking" link under each rule to view instructions on where to submit comments.
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State Board Rules Begin Process to Align with Georgia Milestones
In preparation for the shift to new student assessments, amendments were made to two existing SBOE rules by removing language regarding the Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) and End of Course Test (EOCT) and replacing it with language encompassing Georgia Milestones. The State Board approved the initiation of the rule, and there will be a public hearing and vote to approve the rule at November's meeting.CLICK HERE and HERE to read more about the rules.
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New Career Cluster Pathways Courses Posted for Comment
The State Board approved to post new courses for two Career Cluster Pathways, Transportation, Distribution and Logistics Pathway and Arts, Audio-Video Technology, and Communications Pathway, for public comment. The courses in the Transportation, Distribution and Logistics Pathway are focused on the granite industry and were developed with stakeholders Elbert County. The Arts, Audio-Video Technology, and Communications courses focus on graphic animation by stakeholders in Fayette County and the film industry due to a shortage of graphic animators in the booming film industry that is prevalent across the state and specifically in Fayette County. Board Member Michael Long spoke to the importance of creating these courses based on the needs of industries across the state in order to prepare students for more education or jobs after high school.
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TKES Waiver Application & Other Agenda Items
Also approved on the consent agenda was the initiation of amendments to the State Board rules pertaining to facilities, construction, and reimbursement to allow for the use of wood construction as was passed in SB 301 in the 2014 legislative session. The amendments also make changes to the Guideline for Low Wealth Applications. To read more about both items, CLICK HERE.
During the full Board meeting, the DOE announced that Georgia was awarded a five year federal grant that will give the state close to $2 million a year the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Agency to implement the "Now is the Time" Project Aware program. CLICK HERE to learn more about this program.
Dr. Barge also announced that Georgia has applied for a one-year waiver to the US Department of Education to delay the implementation of using high stakes consequences on teacher evaluations. CLICK HERE to read more information.
The University System of Georgia (USG) made a presentation to discuss early results from the Common Core Georgia Performance Standards (CCGPS) surveys that were conducted with the help of the RESA's across Georgia earlier this year. These surveys are part of the Board's examination of the CCGPS as ordered by Governor Nathan Deal. The USG plans to present the final results in November.
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