CONGRATULATIONS
CONGRATULATIONS TO MARY PERRY who has been named Director of the Division of Charter Schools at TEA. On behalf of the entire Texas charter school movement: Welcome back, Mary!
BOARD TRAINING VIDEOS AVAILABLE The North Hills Charter School and the Charter School Resource Center are pleased to inform you that six hours of Board Training videotapes are available and may be purchased for your charter school. These videos are packaged in a set of six tapes, entitled: Charter School Law I, Charter School Law II (Special Education), Accountability I and II, Health and Safety, and Public Records. See attached order form that must accompany your check. On June 27, 2003, a letter was sent from TEA to charter school administrators, requiring that half of the mandatory board and officer training hours be completed by December 6, 2003. This interim deadline has been removed. All hours of training must be completed by June 6, 2004.
STATE LAW (TEC §39.053) requires each district's and charter school's board of trustees to publish an annual report that includes the AEIS report, campus performance objectives, a report of violent or criminal incidents, and information received from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board concerning student performance for the first year of college following graduation. The board of trustees for each district and charter school shall hold a hearing for public discussion of the report and the report should be released to the public. Please visit www.capitol.state.tx.us/statutes/ed/ed0003900.html#ed017.39.053. The annual Academic Excellence Indicator System (AEIS) report has been released on the TEA's webpage (http://www.tea.state.tx.us/press/aeis03.html). School districts have been provided with an electronic copy of their reports.
TEXTBOOKS For information on surplus textbooks that are available for use by school districts, charter schools and JJAEPs, please visit www.tea.state.tx.us/textbooks/announcements/index.html or contact Linda Janney, Textbooks Division, at 512-463-9609.
THE CHARTER SCHOOLS DIVISION OF TEA manages a Charter Schools Administrator's list serve. It is designed so that the agency can communicate important information with the charter schools. Messages are
only sent by the Charter Schools Division at a rate of about 2-4 messages a week. If you have not signed up for this valuable communication tool, please do so at www.tea.state.tx.us/list/.
GOVERNANCE REPORTING FORM DEADLINE The Charter School Annual Governance Reporting Form must be completed and turned into the Division of Charter Schools no later than Saturday, November 1, 2003. The form can be found at www.tea.state.tx.us/charter/forms/forms.htm. Please contact the Division of Charter Schools at 512-463-9575 with questions.
CHARTER SCHOOLS ORIENTATION PROGRAM The Charter Schools Division at TEA is hosting a two-day charter school orientation program on Tuesday and Wednesday, October 28 & 29, 2003, in room 1-104 of the William B. Travis Building at 1701 N. Congress Avenue in Austin. The program will consist of presentations by many agency divisions. New charter school administrators are strongly encouraged to attend this program, whether the school is just opening or has been in operation. Staff members from existing charter schools are also welcome, as are ESC staff and any other interested parties. There is no charge for the orientation. Please let us know if you plan to attend by registering online at www.tea.state.tx.us/charter/registration/orientation.htm or by calling (512) 463-9575. Parking is available on the roof in Garage R on Brazos between 17th and 18th streets. Due to increased security, you will need to provide your license plate number to staff immediately upon arrival. Cars parked on other floors of Garage R or in other state garages may be ticketed and/or towed. Parking is also available in two University of Texas parking garages just off MLK Boulevard for approximately $7.00 per day. If you have any questions please contact Kirsten Moody via e-mail or at (512) 463-9575.
ACCOUNTING FOR CAPITALIZED ASSETS Pursuant to Chapter 12 of the Texas Education Code, state and federal funds paid to the charter holder for the operation of an open-enrollment charter school constitute public funds and are limited to purposes (1) that benefit the students of the open-enrollment charter school and (2) that are defined in Section 45.105(c) of the Texas Education Code. This limitation extends to any real or personal property acquired or leased by or on behalf of the open-enrollment charter school pursuant to Section 12.128 of the Texas Education Code which stipulates that property acquired or leased with public funds constitute public property to be held in trust by the charter holder for the benefit of the students of the open-enrollment charter school and to be used only for a purpose for which a school district may use school district property. Consequently, and pursuant to local capitalization and property disposal policies, an open-enrollment charter school (and the charter holder) must account for capitalized assets under the applicable net asset code that identifies the source of funds used to acquire the asset. This accounting treatment must be carried forward until the asset is fully depreciated and is properly disposed of pursuant to local policy and applicable state and federal statutes and regulations. This accounting treatment will also result in an amount of temporarily restricted net assets that must be carried forward from one accounting period to the next and must be disclosed in the Statement of Financial Position and the Statement of Activities. For additional information, contact Steve Chiang with the School Financial Audits Division at (512) 463-9095.
MATCHING CONTRIBUTIONS TO TRS Pursuant to Section 12.1057 of the Texas Education Code, an employee of an open-enrollment charter school who qualifies for membership in the Teacher Retirement System of Texas shall be covered under the system to the same extent a qualified employee of a school district is covered. Section 12.1057 further stipulates that for each employee of the open-enrollment charter school covered under the system, the open-enrollment charter school is responsible for making any contribution that otherwise would be the legal responsibility of the school district, and the state is responsible for making contributions to the same extent it would be legally responsible if the employee were a school district employee. Consequently, if an employee of the open-enrollment charter school is paid from local or federal sources of funding, the open-enrollment charter school (and the charter holder) is responsible for ensuring that a matching contribution is paid to the Teacher Retirement System of Texas. This expense must be accounted for under the applicable net asset code for the pertinent source of funds. For additional information, contact Steve Chiang with the School Financial Audits Division at (512) 463-9095.
SPECIAL EDUCATION CHILD COUNT Charter schools opening for the first time in 2003-2004 were mailed a packet containing detailed information for submitting special education child counts. The child count will be used to determine eligibility for 2003-2004 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Part B (IDEA-B) allocations. These funds are available to newly opened charter schools that provide special education services to eligible students with disabilities based on current full and individual evaluations and individualized education programs (IEPs). The child count should be reported in the Newly Opened
Charter School Child Count screens on the automated 2003-2004 Web Standard Application System (WEB SAS) for Special Education Programs. The reporting system will be available on the web from October 1, 2003 through October 22, 2003 and any child count information must be reported through the WEB SAS system during this period of availability. Only newly opened charter schools for 2003-2004 will have access to the child count screens. For assistance in completing the child count, contact your education service center special education contact. For assistance contact Debbie Conaway at (512) 463-9362.
Resource Center for Charter Schools
40 N.E. Loop 410, Suite 408 San Antonio, Texas 78216
210-348-7890 Fax 210-348-7899
TO: Texas Charter Schools
FROM: Patsy O'Neill and Rosemary Perlmeter
DATE: October 3, 2003
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The North Hills Charter School and the Charter School Resource Center are pleased to inform you that six hours of Board Training videotapes are available and may be purchased for your charter school. These videos are packaged in a set of six tapes, entitled: Charter School Law I, Charter School Law II (Special Education), Accountability I and II, Health and Safety, and Public Records.
A certified provider must be present during all board training in order for board members to register and receive credit. The application to become a certified provider can be found at
www.tea.state.tx.us/charter/faqs/bdtraining.htm.
Each set of six tapes costs $110. The Charter School Resource Center offers this as a service to Texas educators. This reasonable fee covers the costs incurred in the development and reproduction of the tapes only. Partial orders are not available. Please make checks payable to the Charter School Resource Center. Payment must be received before tapes can be mailed. In order to receive tapes by November 1st, orders must be received by Wednesday, October 15, 2003.
Please mail _____ set(s) of tapes to:
Name _______________________________________________________
Charter School ________________________________________________
Address _____________________________________________________
City ________________________________ State ________ Zip________
Phone Number _____________________ Email _____________________
Please mail this document along with your check to:
Resource Center for Charter Schools
40 NE Loop 410, Suite 408
San Antonio, Texas 78216
For information call or email Sally Friedli at the Resource Center: 210-348-7890 or oneillp@texas.net.
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