Charter School Board

InspireNOLA

Wilson board members praise Cantrell, discuss fundraising

At its January monthly meeting, the Andrew Wilson Charter School board heaped praise on its former president, LaToya Cantrell, saying her leadership was instrumental in the creation and establishment of the school in the Broadmoor community.

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Algiers charter board rejects schools’ return to OPSB

The Algiers Charter Schools Association voted 5-2 Thursday night to keep three schools under Recovery School District jurisdiction, despite months of pleas from many in those school communities to let them go. Improved student test scores at O. Perry Walker High School, Martin Berhman Elementary and Dwight D. Eisenhower Elementary made the schools eligible return to Orleans Parish School Board oversight rather than being part of the Recovery School District.

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Will board say yes or no to Orleans Parish School Board control?

The Algiers Charter Schools Association board is poised to vote tomorrow on whether or not to recommend three schools return to Orleans Parish School Board control. Dwight D. Eisenhower Academy, Martin Behrman Elementary School and O. Perry Walker Senior High School are each eligible to leave the Recovery School District due to their students’ improved performance on the state’s standardized tests.

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Behrman and Walker firmly oppose continued RSD oversight

Money and control are key concerns of Algiers Charter School Association officials facing the decision to switch three of the organization’s schools to Orleans Parish School Board governance, board members said Tuesday night. The charter operator has a Jan.

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Group unveils Walker-Landry merger plan details

A committee tasked with crafting the fall 2013 merger of two Algiers neighborhood high schools faced heated opposition from both school communities again Saturday during a public forum held to lay out a unification plan for O. Perry Walker and L.B. Landry high schools.

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Performance scores near target; health care grant would help students

A modest increase in Andrew Wilson’s 2011- 2012 school performance score was the main focus at the monthly board meeting, Oct 22.Last year’s school performance score was 77.9, a gain of 7.6 points from last year, just short of the 10 point growth target set by school administrators. Principal Logan Crowe and Assistant Principal Ronicka Briscoe told the board that while the school just narrowly missed its benchmark, internal assessments reveal an upward trend in reading and math comprehension.

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Fundraiser for after-school programs may be cancelled and replaced by concert event

At its September monthly meeting, the Andrew Wilson board discussed various revenue streams and fundraising endeavors to pay for its after-school programs.

Board member Nancy Marshall said the scheduled fundraiser on October 23 might be cancelled because some donors and participants cited time constraints due to involvement in upcoming local and national elections on November 6. Consequently, the board brainstormed several fundraising alternatives.

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ACSA interim CEO pledges improved communication

Algiers Charter Schools Association interim CEO Adrian Morgan presented a plan for improved communication, collaboration, and coordination at the association’s board meeting Thursday night at Algiers Technology Academy. Morgan, who has been on the job for only 14 days, pointed to meetings with community groups, parents, and staff as a key to overcoming the strained relationships the charter organization has faced in recent months.

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Spending cuts to counter drop in revenues; slight budget surplus projected

Despite $5.7 million less in federal funding, the Algiers Charter School Association forecasts a budget surplus for the 2012-13 school year, in contrast to its $1.3 million budget deficit in 2011-12. Most of the decline in federal revenues stems from diminished Title 1 funding and an expired Teacher Incentive Grant.

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Board seeks increased parent participation, enhanced after-school programs

At its first meeting of the school year, the board of Andrew Wilson Charter briefed the public on a June retreat in which members brainstormed ways to encourage parent involvement and enhance after-school programs.

School officials also gave an update on recent staff hires, current budget figures, and enrollment. The school is expanding its after-school programs to give students a more balanced, all-around learning experience, members said.

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Concerned about personnel issues, protesters mass at closed board meeting

As the Algiers Charter School Association board met behind closed doors Thursday night, a crowd of parents, teachers, and students gathered to protest controversial staffing changes. Some in the crowd at the school association’s central office were  protesting the fate of O. Perry Walker principal Mary Laurie, who faces  transfer to the failing Algiers Technical Academy.

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ACSA puts controversial personnel moves on hold after crowd chants: “Raza must go”

More than 300 members of the Algiers community gathered at the McDonogh 32 Literacy Charter School to speak out against recent firings and the transfer of successful principals to failing schools within the charter organization. A call and response chant of “Raza must go” and “erase the board” came following the end of an unofficial public comment section and disrupted the regularly scheduled Algiers Charter School Association board meeting Thursday, June 28.

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Orleans Parish School Board raises concerns over terminated employees in Algiers Charter Schools system

The first round of cuts has surfaced from the Algiers Charter School Association’s bid to improve student performance by terminating and moving around principals, and so far, it’s not only principals who’ve been targeted. At least one termination, at Edna Karr High School, is in violation of the Orleans Parish School Board’s contract with the charter school group, School Board officials say.

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Andrew Wilson Charter School's budget expected to increase 9.7 percent

At the June 4 annual budget hearing, Andrew Wilson Charter School Principal Logan Crowe and Director of Operations Darius Munchak projected a nearly 10 percent increase for the 2012-2013 budget over last year’s actual expenditures. The school spent about $4.7 million last year and expects to spend less than $5.2 million in this upcoming school year.

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Students to take more practice tests; school joins Eastbank Collaborative

At its May meeting, the board of Andrew Wilson Charter School discussed academic and possible policy changes for next year, and finalized the school’s affiliation with the local charter school support association, the Eastbank Collaborative of Charter Schools. School officials also discussed open teaching positions and hiring standards, as well as enrollment numbers.

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Interim CEO and academic officer named – to mixed response; enrollment rises

Algiers Charter Schools Association’s board has approved Stuart Gay, the association’s chief financial officer, to serve as interim chief executive officer of the charter management organization, succeeding Andrea Thomas-Reynolds who did not seek to renew her contract. The board’s action, at its May 23 monthly meeting, was greeted with applause from the audience.

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Optional retirement program approved for teachers and staff; Karr and Harte remain in fold

Trustees of the Algiers Charter School Association have approved the Hartman Group as provider of the optional 403(b) retirement program for school employees. The approval, at the board’s monthly meeting, April 26,  followed a state attorney general’s opinion earlier in the week that the Louisiana Constitution precludes charter schools from leaving the Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana.

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Board to meet with PTO as school year winds down; academics at par; budget balanced

Directors of the Andrew H. Wilson Charter School will meet with the school’s parent-teacher organization at an open assembly in May, and parents are encouraged to fill out an evaluation form being circulated by the school. The PTO meeting was one of several end-of-the-school-year topics discussed at the board’s monthly meeting, April 17.

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New formula keeps more dollars in schools; ACSA to manage Karr, Harte through next year

The Algiers Charter School Association board met March 22 to discuss a new formula for capping the administrative fee it retains from state funds awarded to the schools it manages. Under the previous formula, the association’s central office could retain up to 8.65 percent of a school’s Minimum Foundation Program allocation (the per-student amount allotted by the state) plus the school’s “special revenues,” such as teacher incentive funds and the like.

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Board meeting agenda released

The agenda of the board meeting at Andrew Wilson Charter School is pasted below:

 

BCSB MONTHLY BOARD MEETING

Andrew H. Wilson Charter School (cafeteria)

March 27, 2012 6:30 p.m. 6:30 -6:35 pm (start on time)—Call to Order, Roll Call and Board President Welcome (5 min.)

6:35 -6:37 pm—Approve board minutes (2 min.)

6:37-6:45 pm—Board Officers’ Reports (8 min)

?        Chair

?        Vice Chair

?        Finance Chair

6:50-6:58 pm—Committee Updates

?        Board Governance (2 min)

?        Academic Excellence (2 min)

?        Finance (2 min)

?        Fundraising (2 min)

6:58-7:38 pm—Discussion Time and Board Action Items (40 min)

?       Board Governance (10 min)

a. Discussion-

– Draft employee handbook/process for creating final handbook

b. Motion: Accept proposed board responsibility contract

Motion: Adopt proposed principal monthly report

Public Comment

Board Vote

?        Finance (10 min)

a. Discussion-

– Audit findings (to be discussed in detail during operations report)

– Budget report/Profit and Loss

b. Motion: Louisiana State Government budget policy

Motion: Louisiana State Procurement policy

Motion: Accept HR Generalist position description

Public Comment

Board Vote

?        Academic Excellence (10 min)

a. Discussion-

– Principal Evaluation

– Val-Ed (Darius Munchak)

b. Motion: Louisiana State Government budget policy

Motion: Accept proposed revised educational plan

 Public Comment

Board Vote

?        Fundraising (10 min)

7:38-8:03 pm—Edison and School Administrative Reports (40 minutes)

?        Edison Report (10 min)

?        School leader (10 min)

?        Operations (20 min)

8:03-8:10 pm—Announce next board meeting and committee meetings

8:10 pm —Meeting adjourned

8:10 pm – CLOSED EXECUTIVE SESSION

 

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Amid benefits uncertainties, board tells staff: We're not going to leave you in the lurch

Correction: This story has been corrected to reflect the fact that board president Cassandra Bookman did not say the quote previously attributed to her. It has also been amended and corrected to reflect key points about teachers retirement benefits. 

The Algiers Charter School Association met Tuesday night with a crowd of about 100 parents, teachers, and community members to discuss the transition to new management of both Alice M. Harte Elementary and Edna Karr High School.

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Increased language study and more teacher feedback urged on school's academic blueprint

Hiring an ESL teacher for bilingual students and beefing up Spanish and math curricula are among ideas in a future-oriented blueprint for the Andrew H. Wilson Charter School. “We are anticipating a growing number of students who have English as a second language,” principal Logan Crowe told members of the Broadmoor Charter School Board, Wilson’s governing body, at their monthly meeting, Feb.

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Teachers fight layoffs as board targets deficits

Just outside the gates of the navy base that was formerly a pillar of the Algiers neighborhood, teachers wonder what their future might be in a rapidly changing school system. The Algiers Charter School Association, which now runs eight schools in the community, is looking to cut 30 positions to keep a balanced budget and could end participation in the state retirement system, starting next fall.

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Edison contract extended only through June, as board weighs alternatives to for-profit provider

Andrew H. Wilson Charter School’s contract with Edison Learning Systems has been extended only to the end of the current school year, leaving open the possibility that at their next meeting board members will vote to permanently sever the five-year relationship with the for-profit service provider. The half-year extension of a modified contract with Edison was the key development at the Nov.

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Meeting agenda

The agenda for the Broadmoor Charter School Board meeting held on September 27 is reprinted below:

 

BCSB MONTHLY MEETING

Andrew H. Wilson Charter School (cafeteria)
September 27, 2011 6:30 p.m. 6:30 -6:35 pm (start on time)—Call to Order, Roll Call and Board President Welcome (5 min.), time keeper: David Winkler-Schmit

6:35 -6:37 pm—Approve board minutes (2 min.)

6:37-6:45 pm—Board Officers’ Reports (8 min)

Chair
Vice Chair
Finance Chair

6:50-6:58 pm—Committee Updates (Committee reports should be sent to the board liaison, Emily Wolff, by the Wed.

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