REGISTRATION DEADLINE for the Texas Charter School Conference is Monday, April 1st. Please note on the Registration Form that fees will increase by $100 in each category if received after April 1st.

AMENDMENT REQUESTS The currently drafted commissioner's rules for charter schools will continue the SBOE rule of requiring amendment requests to expand grade levels, increase maximum enrollment, or add sites to be approved by June 1 for fall implementation. In order for the Agency staff to have sufficient time to review them, these types of amendment requests must be submitted by May 1. Although the draft rules will not be final until April 17, it is anticipated that this rule will go forward, and TEA staff wanted to alert charters to the continued requirement. Please use the attached Charter Amendment Request Pilot Form to submit amendment requests. Contact Kirsten Christophersen in the Charter Schools Division with questions at 512-463-9575.

DIRECTORY UPDATE The Resource Center is updating the charter school directory for our Charter School Conference packets. If there has been a change in your director, address, phone, fax, grades offered, or current enrollment please email those changes to oneillp@texas.net.

THE CHARTER SCHOOLS DIVISION is requesting readers to review and score the dissemination grant application that is due on May 9, 2002. The competitive grant will require that readers be available from noon, Tuesday, May 14, 2002 through noon Friday, May 17, 2002. If you are interested in participating, please complete the attached form and submit to the Charter Schools Division at the Texas Education Agency, 1701 N. Congress Ave., Room 5-107, Austin, Texas 78701-1494 or fax to (512) 936-9281. Please note that stipends are not available, but readers will be reimbursed for travel, meals, and lodging expenses.

NEW AUTOMATED STUDENT TRANSFER SYSTEM The procedure for reporting student transfers to TEA has changed. The "paper-based" procedure has been discontinued and the automated system will be in place this summer for the 2002-2003 school year. See attached.

Name: __________________________________________________
          (First, Last)

Mailing Address: __________________________________________________
          (Address)
__________________________________________________
          (City, State, Zip)

Telephone Number: (____)_____________________________________________

Fax Number: (____)_____________________________________________

E-mail Address: ___________________________________________________

Current Position: _________________________________________________

Teaching Experience (Include area(s) of specialty):

Administrative Experience:

Please fill out and return to:
Charter Schools Division
Texas Education Agency
1701 N. Congress Avenue, Room 5-107
Austin, TX 78701-1494

or

Fax to: 512-936-9281

New Automated Student Transfer System

Charter School Administrators:

The procedure for reporting student transfers to the Texas Education Agency has changed. In past years, districts and charter schools completed and mailed Student Transfer Form ACC-041BR02 and continued to mail updates of that information throughout the year. This "paper-based" procedure has been discontinued.

Beginning with the 2002-2003 school year, the system for reporting student transfers will be automated. Student transfer data will be entered into the system by charter school staff using local computer access. Charter schools that are residential or correctional facilities must access the system and report the reason for exemption from reporting transfers. All other charter schools will use the automated system to provide a convenient method for determining compliance/noncompliance on an individual student basis. Failure to report will result in noncompliance with the federal court order CA-5281.

The automated system will be available to charter schools August 19, 2002 through September 13, 2002. Charter schools must submit student transfer information during these dates in order for the system to determine compliance/ noncompliance status. Because charter schools must submit information for each and every student in attendance, it is important to plan accordingly in order to meet the September 13, 2002 deadline. The system cannot function until every charter school in the state submits this information. The system will be closed September 13, 2002 at 4:30 p.m. to ensure that all charter schools have submitted transfer data, to compare data from charter schools and districts, and to calculate compliance/noncompliance. It will reopen September 30, 2002, at which time charter schools will be informed of their status and may resume data entry.

A March 20, 2002, TO THE ADMINISTRATOR ADDRESSED letter was mailed to every charter school administrator and contains details regarding the above. If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Sylvia Gonzales or Ms. Pam Williams at (512) 463-9519 in the Equal Education Opportunity Unit.