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| | 1. | | Roll call.
Minutes note: Meeting convened: 5:02 PM
Members present: Dr. Terri Brookshire, Kevin Ingram, Bill Christianson, Zyanab Baalbaki and Catina Harwell-Young (5:30 PM)
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| | 2. | | Review and approval of the minutes of the March 26th meeting.
Minutes note: Mr. Christianson moved, seconded by Dr. Brookshire, for approval of the minutes. There were no objections. | | | |
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250610
| 0 | 3. | Communication | Communication relating to administrative matters of the Charter School Review Committee for the 2025-27 school years.
Minutes note: Mr. Rupesh Gupta with ML Tharps is requesting a one-year extension for the annual review they perform. Mr. Gupta detailed the typical work performed by his company, which includes audits and site visits. There are no proposed changes in the scope of work and the price remains the same.
Mr. Christianson moved, seconded by Dr. Brookshire, to extend the contract for one year, from Oct. 22, 2025 to Oct. 22, 2026. There were no objections.
Marlene Melzer-Lange present from Central City Cyberschool (CCC) - she did not intend to speak.
Ms. Gayle Peay read sections of the memo contained in file 250610, which goes through the history since April 2025. The Wisconsin Dept. of Public Instruction needs an official dissolution of Central City Cyberschool prior to its merging with Howard Fuller Collegiate Academy, which is no longer a city-chartered school. CCC has failed to comply with the Dept. of Public Instruction requirements and its city contractual obligations. Per the chair, the CCC has been a city charter school since 1999 and has followed all DPI mandates since that time. The Chair asked why the CCC did not follow the dissolution guidelines in the city contract as detailed in Appendix B? Currently there is no official closure of CCC so DPI is counting it as an operating school and funds may not be released for any students transferred from CCC to HFCA. Ms. Melzer-Lange would defer to others for the next steps that need to be done. Ms. Melzer-Lange is not sure if the Board is still functioning and she does not believe that the CCC plans on continuing as a school.
Ms. Peay said the vote would be to revoke the charter based on breach of contract.
Assistant City Attorney Jordan Schettle said that only the Common Council has the ability to terminate a contract; the CSRC would recommend to do so. The Chair is disappointed that the Board did not follow the dissolution steps because the CCC had followed all mandates and contracts in its 26 years of operation. The reports have shown that the school has been run successfully and he sees how this is being handled as a grave injustice to the Dept. of Public Instruction, the city and the students. Ms. Melzer-Lange understands Mr. Ingram's disappointment and she thinks it's a matter of timing. Mr. Ingram noted resources were available, through ML Tharps and Evident Change, so it is hard to him to understand why the process was not followed. Mr. Ingram said a decision was made to dissolve, but DPI never received information on what that vote was and there is no DPI paperwork reflecting students being at HFCA. The contract with the city is with CCC, not HFCA. As of June 30th, HFCA is not with the city anymore and a new board for CCC has been appointed at HFCA. Mr. Ingram said CCC sent DPI e-mails that the school has not dissolved and it is still listed as a charter school on the DPI website. There really is no choice except to recommend termination of their contract with the city.
Mr. Christian supported the recommendation to terminate based upon the chair's comments and the fact that no CCC board members are present.
Ms. Baalbaki said the board minutes were never provided, which adds to CCC's board not being compliant and she's concerned that HFCA doesn't seem to be particularly forthcoming either. She thinks if we didn't terminate the contract then WE would not be following the contract.
Mr. Christianson moved, seconded by Ms. Baalbaki, to recommend to the Common Council for contract termination because CCC failed to meet all state guidelines and contract obligations. There were no objections.
Meeting adjourned: 6:10 PM
Linda M. Elmer
Staff Assistant
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