Happy Summer from the SCSC! The 2020-2021 school year may have come to a close, but state charters and the SCSC are still hard at work. We congratulate all the schools, administrators, teachers, students, dedication and perseverance this school year to ensure that learning continued for state charter school students.

The SCSC and SCSF have begun recruitment for the Fall 2021 internship program. The SCSC is looking for interns who are currently enrolled in junior or senior year undergraduate or graduate programs relating to education policy, education law, economics or a related field and are interested in learning more about the charter school authorization process. The SCSF is looking for current graduate or undergraduate students studying nonprofit management, public policy, education, or a related field. Click the link for the SCSC and SCSF to learn more and apply.

Finally, as the fiscal year ends, the SCSC is creating a year-end video to highlight all the important work and achievements from this year. We encourage schools to share content in the form of photos and videos around COVID-related innovation for learning and teaching with us for this exciting project. Please send all content to Erica Acha-Morfaw at erica.achamorfaw@scsc.georgia.gov

As the state recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic and the vaccine becomes more broadly available, the SCSC expects brick and mortar state charter schools to offer full-time in-person learning to all students next year. While flexibility will always be provided in exceptional situations, we believe your students achieve best when your programs are implemented with fidelity and as contemplated in your charter petitions.

We also understand that some students may require accommodations next school year due to medical conditions or other exceptional circumstances. To ensure state charters have the flexibility to accommodate student needs, the SCSC board approved a one-time opt-in charter waiver for the first semester (ending December 31, 2021) of the 2021-22 school year.

The waiver will allow:

The waiver will NOT allow schools or students to waive accountability or assessment requirements. In other words, the SCSC will continue to hold all state charter schools to the same academic performance expectations, regardless of instructional model. Before the expiration of the waiver, the SCSC will assess the need to provide an extension. Participating schools will be required to share information about the school’s remote learning program, including the number of students participating, eligibility criteria, the instructional delivery model, staffing plans, and student performance.

If your school would like to opt into the waiver, complete this form and return it to Erin Wright, SCSC Associate General Counsel, at erin.wright@scsc.georgia.gov by TODAY June 30, 2021.

The SCSC and GaDOE shared a draft set of principles designed to evaluate Georgia charter authorizing bodies on authorizing practices. The standards are informed by both the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) Principles & Standards for Quality Charter School Authorizing and Georgia laws and rules.

In this webinar, the SCSC and GaDOE staff reviewed the drafted standards, allowed time for questions and provided information for how charter schools can provide feedback. The webinar recording and presentation can be found HERE.

The SCSC is requesting feedback on the drafted authorizer standards by July 15, 2021. Review the presentation and video below and send feedback to Lauren Holcomb at lauren.holcomb@scsc.georgia.gov and Katie Manthey at katie.manthey@scsc.georgia.gov.

July 26^th from 8:45AM to 11:45AM – Held Virtually

In preparation for Milestones testing, the Assessment and Accountability Division of GaDOE will be holding an Assessment Coordinators training for SCSC schools. The training will address the issues faced by testing coordinators from SCSC schools. Topics to be covered include:

Sign up HERE for this training.

The Georgia Department of Public Health is asking that we send the Scoliosis Screening Parent Letter and Form 4400 to all families. Please share this with families and on your school website where appropriate.

If you have any questions, please contact Elin Brumbaugh at Elin.Brumbaugh@dph.ga.gov.

The SCSF is seeking an intern to help serve state charter schools and their students across Georgia! Tasks will include assisting with marketing, fundraising, and other programmatic initiatives, including leading the Donuts for Teachers fundraiser. Qualified candidates are graduate or undergraduate students who are studying nonprofit management, public policy, or a related field. Work can be completed remotely or in the SCSF's Atlanta office, and the intern must be able to commit to at least 12 hours a week, preferably more. This is a paid internship with the opportunity for significant skill development. Please see the SCSF website for more information and instructions for applying. 

State charter schools are still accepting applications for the 2021-2022 school year. Many have openings, and others are accepting students for their waiting lists. For a list of state charter schools that are enrolling, see the SCSF's website. 

The SCSF has compiled a list of considerations for budgeting and utilizing the federal COVID-19 relief funds you are receiving. This document is a compilation of articles, "playbooks," guides, and resources. There are links to all source documentation and resources for you, as well as information on the tutoring services we have identified. Please let me know if there is anything else you'd like us to include. The previous webinar we provided on Tips & Tricks for Federal Grants can be found on our website. 

Congratulations to Utopian Academy of the Arts (UAFA) Middle School Valedictorian, Kolade Wisdom Agoro! After receiving his award at the school's graduation ceremony, Kolade was interviewed on his UAFA experience and what it feels like to be a valedictorian. "At Utopian Academy, you get to experience the arts and have a lot of interesting opportunities. I studied culinary arts, media arts, and coding along with my other classes." Kolade explained, "The computer and media arts classes taught me more about technology and careers that I could pursue. Being a student here helps you decide what you want to be when you grow up." On being a valedictorian, Kolade stated, "It feels good. It shows that if you work hard and focus, you can achieve great things. You should never ever, ever give up!"

The Atlanta Journal Constitution featured the International Charter Academy of Georgia (ICAGeorgia) for their unique Japanese language immersion program. The article includes first-hand accounts from parents on the positive impact it has for their children and the community. Read the full article here.

Congratulations to Ivy Preparatory Academy and Mountain Education Charter High School for being awarded $10,000 each from the 2021 Innovative Education Fund Grant! Over fourty grant applications were submitted with innovative projects designed to engage students in an inventive way demonstrating the potential for lasting impact on the academic environment. The grant applications were peer reviewed by a board of individuals representing the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement and the Georgia Department of Education and top applications were chosen based on their final rubric of scores.

On March 26, 2021, the U.S. Department of Education approved Georgia’s waiver of several accountability, school identification, and report card requirements. (For more information about the waiver, please review the 2021 Accountability Waiver FAQ 3.29.21.) Though there will be no 2021 CCRPI summary score for the state, school districts, or schools, some CCRPI-related data, such as achievement rates, participation rates, and graduation rates, for example, will still be calculated and publicly reported by Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE).

Due to this, GaDOE is providing schools and districts with a valuable accountability resource – the Live Data Verification tool. The Live Data Verification tool, available now in the CCRPI portal with demographic and attendance data and provides summary data from Student Record that updates nightly as your district updates the data. Additional Student Record data (such as students in the 2021 4-year graduation cohort) and data from Student Class data will populate in the tool in May. This tool will assist district staff and principals in verifying the accuracy of the data submitted in Student Record and Student Class before the data collections close. The accuracy of such data is critical to accurate accountability reporting.

View the user guide at your convenience.The user guide, training webinar, and webinar PPT handout for this tool are also available for download on the MyGaDOE portal.

To access the Live Data Verification tool, log on to the MyGaDOE portal, click on the CCRPI link, and then choose Live Data Verification. For help accessing the portal and with any functionality issues, contact the GaDOE Information Systems Customer Support Center at 1-800-869-1011 or dticket@doe.k12.ga.us. Contact the GaDOE accountability specialist assigned to assist your district with questions regarding the data.

The Georgia Department of Education released its latest professional learning catalog. The catalog is available at the link here Professional Learning Catalog from the Georgia Department of Education. 

GCSA is now accepting applications for the Fall 2021 Cohort. GaTAPP is an alternative certification pathway for individuals who have a current teaching job and hold a bachelor's degree or higher in fields of study other than education. The Fall 2021 Cohort Application is now open. Click here for a GaTAPP checklist. Learn more.

This series will address ESSA and IDEA grant requirements to assist LEAs with planning and budgeting for FY22. All webinars will be recorded and posted on our website. This is a virtual series that will be hosted July 14-15, 2021.

Preliminary FY22 estimated formula-based allocations under Title I, Part A; Title II, Part A; Title III, Part A; Title IV, Part A; Title I, Part C and Title I Part D of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015 are posted under the Resources section on the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) Federal Programs webpage.

The SCSC is seeking candidates for an Associate General Counsel and Business Manager & Program Coordinator to join our team. The SCSC has also started recruiting for the Fall 2021 Internship Program. Click the links to read more and apply.

Send all application materials to erica.achamorfaw@scsc.georgia.gov.

GCSA is seeking candidates for a Director of Grassroots Advocacy and