Resources

Public Roundtable on Youth Bullying in the District of Columbia

Committee of the Whole and the Committee on Education

Testimony of Scott Pearson - Executive Director

Hearing on the Master Facilities Plan

Committee of the Whole and the Committee on Education

Testimony of Rashida Young, Chief School Performance Officer DC Public Charter School Board

Improving School Attendance: Truancy, Chronic Absenteeism, and the Implementation of Reform Initiatives 

Committee of the Whole

The following guide/report has been designed to help school leaders and special education coordinators organize responses and provide required attachments. The guide follows PCSB’s Quality Assurance Review (QAR) tool standards and offers examples of possible evidence to submit. Please note, not every QAR standard is represented in this document.

DC School Report Card Results Show More 4 and 5 STAR Public Charter School

Testimony of Rashida Young before the DC Council - Committee on Education 

During SY19-20, DC PCSB  installed lead filters on every drinking water source in every DC public charter school. Those water sources are currently being tested for lead.  Roughly 1,700 drinking water sources in public charter schools had lead filters installed: drinking fountains (both bubbler and water cooler style), health suite sinks, staff break room sinks, icemakers, kitchen sinks used for food preparation, and classroom sinks in early childhood (PK and K) classrooms.  The lead testing work should be completed by the end of December 2019.

DC PCSB tests all drinking water sources to ensure that lead levels are lower than 5 parts per billion (ppb) which is the safe level the city recommends (see code) for drinking water in schools.  There were 5 sources that had elevated lead levels of all the sources tested. However, those sources were taken out of service and remediated, and filters were replaced and retested. Retested results were within the normal range.

This work is part of an ongoing commitment to student safety. It began in 2016 when DC PCSB tested all drinking water sources in every public charter school for lead. Those that had elevated lead levels were remediated. The Childhood Lead Exposure Prevention Amendment Act of 2017, which was introduced by Councilmembers Mary Cheh and David Grosso, [Allen, Todd, Nadeau, Evans, R. White, McDuffie & Bonds were also introducers], requires the installation of filters, testing, labeling and placement of signage on each drinking water source in District public schools. The Council and the Deputy Mayor for Education provided funding so that DC PCSB could ensure that this work was completed in all public charter schools. 

You can also find the results of lead testing at all DC public charter schools below. 

The School Reform Act (SRA) grants DC PCSB authority to hold DC public charter schools (PCSs) accountable for fulfilling their duties and obligations under the SRA. DC PCSB has created the Performance Management Framework (PMF) to hold schools serving similar grades to the same set of standards. The Performance Management Framework Policy & Technical Guide (PMF Guide) outlines DC PCSB’s process of evaluating and publicly reporting the performance of the public charter schools under its authority. It was created so that school leaders, data managers, families, and other stakeholders would understand how each PMF score was calculated, which measures are used, and how these measures are weighed to form a score.

Public charter schools are required to comply with the DC School Reform Act of 1995 (SRA) and with the provisions of their charter agreement in admitting students for enrollment. This policy provides guidance for schools to comply with those requirements.