STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING REPORT- JUNE 2010

By: Stuart Bennett | June 11, 2010, 6:46 pm

The June meeting of the Georgia State Board of Education has proven to be a sweet “swan song” for outgoing Superintendent Kathy Cox; as she presented good news on the spring administration of the CRCT. Student performance is rising and the achievement gap is closing in the majority of grades and content areas on the Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests (CRCT). “These results provide further evidence that our teachers are doing a great job implementing the Georgia Performance Standards (GPS) and they are to be commended for their hard work," Superintendent Cox said. "It also shows that when you raise expectations, Georgia students will rise up and meet that higher bar." To see all of the results read The DOE press release CRCT Results Show Progress to get the preliminary analysis of this year’s scores.

The state board met in their customary two day format again this month, with their standing Rules, Budget and Charter meetings Wednesday morning and the Committee of the Whole meeting in the afternoon. In rules there was a bit of controversy as the board moved to deny several systems applications for seat time waivers. One in particular, was the request by Peach County for an ex post facto waiver for 2009-2010 to SBOE Rule 160-4-2-.47 & 160-4-2-.48 High School Graduation Requirements, sections (2)(g) & (6)(i) to decrease 150 instructional hours necessary to earn 1 unit of course credit. By denying this request, the state board in effect denied credit to all of the system’s secondary students. It seems that Peach County, in their effort to address a budget deficit of $750,000.00 last fall, created a 147 day school year that met the 180 day equivalency standard (legislated last year); but failed to meet the 150 instructional hours requirement. Complicating this issue further, Peach Superintendent Susan Clarke reported to the committee that they experienced their largest graduation class last week of 245 students; this move could potentially invalidate their diplomas. The state board agreed that they would let Peach County file a Corrective Action Report and would not let this action negate these students hard work. However, Peach County was not alone, they denied all of these requests for waiver to Rule 160-4-2-.47 & 160-4-2-.48 High School Graduation Requirements to four other systems: Clayton County, (a waiver for 12 minutes a day); Jenkins, Screven and Whitfield. The board obviously intended to send a strong message, maintain instructional time at all costs and indeed systems probably will. Until this point, the state board sensitive to the current budget crisis has shown great flexibility granting waivers by the “bushel”, I guess we now know where they will draw the line.

In other actions board approved waivers for:

Fannin and Clarke Counties for Rule 160-5-1-.29 Minimum Direct Classroom Expenditures and O.C.G.A. § 20-2-171
Cherokee County of SBOE Rule 160-4-2-.14 Instructional Extension.
McDuffie, Mitchell, Pelham City and Pike Counties for approve for the 2009-2010 and/or 2010-2011 school years, of SBOE Rule 160-5-3-.08 School Bus Drivers.
Pike County for Rule 160-4-2-.35 Summer Opportunity Program for Grades 6-8

The state board held a public hearing this month on Rule 160-5-1-.35 Seclusion and Restraint for All Students and what a hearing it turned out to be. The state board room was packed, with over 30 people signed up to speak for and against this controversial measure.

In the Charter Committee meeting, Irene Munn policy advisor to Lt. Governor Casey Cagle reported to the board that while there are 21 career academies approved so far; it his goal to ensure access for every student to career academies by 2020. This would promote dual enrollment, an idea Cagle strongly supports. The board also announced the appointment of former state Senator and chair of the Senate Education Committee Dan Weber to the charter commission. During their Charter Commission update it was reported that there are 13 additional charters in their pipeline. The next meeting of the charter commission is June 18^th.

The state board took the following Charter actions this month to:

( Charter Commission Recommendation) Grant charter system status to Cartersville City Schools for a five-year term beginning July 1, 2010 and ending June 30, 2015.
( Charter Commission Recommendation) Grant charter system status to White County Schools for a five-year term beginning July 1, 2010 and ending June 30, 2015.
Grant a renewed charter to Atlanta Charter Middle School, a 6-8 start up charter school in Atlanta Public Schools, for a five-year term beginning July 1, 2010 and ending June 30, 2015
Grant a charter to Chestatee Academy of Inquiry and Talent Development, a 6-8 conversion charter school to be located in the Hall County School System, for a five-year term beginning July 1, 2010 and ending June 30, 2015.
Grant a charter to Liberty County College and Career Academy, a 9-12 start-up charter school to be located in the Liberty County School System, for a five-year term beginning July 1, 2010 and ending June 30, 2015.
Grant a charter for Martin Technology Academy of Math and Science, a proposed K-5 conversion charter school to be located in the Hall County School System, for a five-year term beginning July 1, 2010 and ending June 30, 2015.
Grant a charter to Maxwell High School of Technology, an 11-12 career academy charter school to be located in the Gwinnett County School System, for a five-year term beginning July 1, 2010 and ending June 30, 2015.
Grant a charter to McEver Arts Academy, a K-5 conversion charter school to be located in the Hall County School System, for a five-year term beginning July 1, 2010 and ending June 30, 2015.
Grant a charter to Wauka Mountain Multiple Intelligences Academy, a K-5 conversion charter school to be located in the Hall County School System, for a five-year term beginning July 1, 2010 and ending June 30, 2015.

The June meeting of the state board is always a busy as end of the fiscal year approaches, this month the board considered 28 budget items on their consent agenda with many being annual renewable contracts. To view all of their actions visit the eboard site at www.gadoe.org

Below are several actions worth noting

Authorize the State Superintendent of Schools to adopt the FY 2011 (School Year 2010/2011) salary schedule for which funding has been appropriated by the General Assembly.
to award a grant to a maximum of thirteen (13) Local Education Agencies at a cost not to exceed $6,219,981.00 in Federal Funds for 21st Century science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) labs.
To award a grant to a maximum of two (2) Local Education Agencies at a cost not to exceed $3,411,087.00 in Federal Funds for blended learning opportunities.
to award a grant to a maximum of twenty (20) Local Education Agencies at a cost not to exceed $1,870,765.00 in Federal Funds for increasing student reading, writing, and digital literacy.
To award a grant to a maximum of five (5) Local Education Agencies at a cost not to exceed $6,675,920.00 in Federal Funds for eTextbooks.
Authorize the State Superintendent of Schools to enter into a contract with Georgia Youth Science and Technology Centers at Kennesaw State University at a cost not to exceed $3,000,000.00 in state funds to provide full-time Georgia Virtual School and Georgia Credit Recovery Program administrators, support staff, instructors, and related administrative support services.
Authorize the State Superintendent of Schools to accept a grant from US ED in the amount of $98,039 to facilitate the reporting of EdFacts data to the US ED EDEN data warehouse.
To award a grant to amend the FY10 allocations awarded to local education agencies (LEAs) and RESAs at a cost not to exceed $2,796,906.00 in State Funds for meeting the needs of students with disabilities.
To award a grant to the attached list at a cost not to exceed $40,388,123.00 in State/Federal Funds for CTAE High School Program Grants.
To award a grant to the attached list at a cost not to exceed $8,174,096.00 in State and Federal Funds for High School Program Grants for Agricultural Education.
To enter into contracts with the local school districts of Rockdale, Forsyth, and Cherokee at a cost not to exceed $235,000.00 in State Funds for services of teachers on assignment in the Division of Academic Standards.