PCSB Opens 30-Day Public Comment Period on Three Proposed Board Policies

For Immediate Release: June 20, 2013

Media Contact: [email protected]

 

Washington, D.C. — DC Public Charter School Board (PCSB) opened a 30-day public comment period today on three proposed board policies that address the composition of charter school boards of trustees, charter school compliance with enrollment practices that are inclusive of all students, and new minimum levels of achievement on specific indicators on the 2013 Performance Management Framework (PMF).
Charter schools are autonomous public schools that are locally governed by independent boards of trustees. According to the School Reform Act, board membership must include two voting parent members.  Additionally there must be an odd number of board members that shall not exceed 15, a majority of whom must be DC residents. The proposed Board of Trustees Compliance policy would make it mandatory that every charter school’s board have two voting parent members within 60 days of the start of the new school year in August. The policy also calls for a charter school to remedy any non-compliance in board composition within 60 days. Schools that do not follow this policy would be subject to a Board Notice of Concern, according to the proposed policy.
 
The second proposed policy, Mystery Caller, would codify a PCSB initiative that began in 2012, in which PCSB staff or consultants posing as parents of students with disabilities ask questions of charter schools about their enrollment practices. Some schools gave answers that indicated that they might not be open to enrolling students with disabilities, in violation of local and federal law. Schools that were called last year and this year and gave inappropriate answers received verbal feedback from PCSB. During this feedback PCSB learned that often the issue was inadequate training of front-line staff rather than an active discriminatory school policy. Beginning in 2014, any school that fails the Mystery Caller process would be subject to a Board-issued Charter Warning, which is a serious disciplinary action.
 
The final proposed policy, 2013 Performance Management Framework Floors and Targets, would increase the minimum target, or “floor,” for some of the PMF indicators for the elementary/middle school and high school PMFs for the 2012-13 school year. According to previous PMF policy, PCSB reassesses floors and targets annually by calculating a weighted average of the bottom 10 percent of all schools in the previous three years. The policy includes an amendment to that original PMF policy, ensuring that no floor would increase by more than a third in one year.
 
The 30-day comment window runs through July 19.  Members of the public are invited to submit written comment or to testify in person at a public hearing that will be held as part of PCSB’s monthly meeting on Monday June 24 at The ARC, 1901 Mississippi Avenue SE beginning at 7 p.m.
To submit written comment on any of the policies or to sign up to testify for the public hearing please contact Isoken Igodan, [email protected] or 202-328-2660.
 
Testimony at the hearing will be limited to two minutes; please bring copies of your testimony.
About PCSB: The DC Public Charter School Board (PCSB) is setting a national model for creating quality public school options through its rigorous review of new charter applications and effective oversight of charter school performance that is leading the transformation of public education in Washington, DC. PCSB currently oversees 57 public charter schools on 102 campuses serving 34,673 students living in every ward of the city. Learn more at www.dcpcsb.org.