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 kenyon@hcsao.org.  

November 10, 2011

Table of Contents *LSB Policies and Procedures Consistent with Ethical Standards of Conduct * ESEA Waiver Charter School Headlines

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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

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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 kenyon@hcsao.org 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 arra@hcsao.org 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  arra@hcsao.org  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  snishina@hsta.org.  

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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