powered help
header-left header-center header-right
Meeting Name: CHARTER SCHOOL REVIEW COMMITTEE Agenda status: Final
Meeting date/time: 8/24/2017 5:30 PM Minutes status: Final  
Meeting location: CIty Hall, Room 301-B
Published agenda: Agenda Agenda Published minutes: Minutes Minutes  
Meeting video: eComment: Not available  
Attachments:
File #Ver.Agenda #TypeTitleActionResultTallyAction DetailsVideo
   1. Roll Call.

Minutes note: Meeting convened: 5:36 P.M. Members excused: Rubon Burgos and Melinda Scott Krei
    Not available
   2. Review and approval of the minutes of the May 18th Meeting.

Minutes note: Ms. Liston moved, seconded by Ms. Pointer-Mace, for approval of the minutes. There were no objections.
    Not available
170702 03.CommunicationCommunication relating to the 2017/19 activities of Milwaukee Math and Science Academy.

Minutes note: Mr. Halper - Principal Ms. Henderson and Ms. Kelsey - will be coordinating the K-3 program, if approved. Ms. Henderson said a lot of parents have requested that this program be added because it is hard to find quality childcare and some of the siblings were also at the school. They plan to start this academic year and would be full-day and funded by either Milwaukee Shares program or private pay. The school will be given a room for the program. Ms. Mallory noted that Shares pays for daycare, not academic schooling. Ms. Kelsey said the city did give them an occupancy permit and the curriculum will be based on their current curriculum. Ms. Mallory is also concerned with their staff retention with their current student body. Ms. Mallory thinks the committee doesn't have enough information, both academically and financially, as does Ms. Pointer-Mace. Ms. Pointer-Mace would like to see older-younger child interactions and mentoring. Mr. Ingram noted that the contract would also have to be amended and be approved by the Council, as well as planning provided for special education kids. Ms. Pointer-Mace moved to hold this item in committee. There were no objections. Ms. Henderson said they were not well-informed on what requirements they needed to provide to the committee.
    Action details Video Video
170701 04.CommunicationCommunication relating to the 2017/19 activities of Milwaukee Collegiate Academy.

Minutes note: Ms. Peay said that following discussions with the Wisconsin Dept. of Public Instructions it seemed too complicated. The partnership will not be occurring.
    Action details Video Video
170703 05.CommunicationCommunication relating to administrative matters of the Charter School Review Committee for the 2017-2019 school years.

Minutes note: Susan Gramling and Janice Erleth, Children's Research Center, said the city's request for proposal was awarded to them. They are currently working on the wording of the contract as CRC submitted a proposal for one year of services and the city contract was for a 3-year term and there was also an amount set for billing an hourly rate. The billing amounts will be different each year as some years are the interview/survey years. Ms. Peay is working with the Procurement section on this issue as CRC cannot provide their services for three years when the contract they submitted was based solely on one year. Ms. Erleth said the WI Dept. of Public Instruction has embargoed all the test data, so they cannot send any information until that embargo is lifted. Ms. Pointer-Mace recommended just looking at last year's dates for this year's meeting dates. Members were supportive of that. The goal is to have the meetings mid-October and the beginning of November. Ms. Peay said that in the spring the Council passed a resolution to have food nutrition guidelines for charter schools. Ms. Peay went through the report contained in file 170703. The charter schools are following most of the guidelines as they follow the DPI guidelines so she feels this guideline is feasible. The second guideline relates to offering breakfast with 4 out of 8 schools already doing that. The breakfast-in-the-classroom would be pretty onerous for schools. Ms. Peay recommended this be offered as an alternative for students who arrive late and the school could then be reimbursed for these breakfasts. Both Ms. Mallory and Mr. Steinbrecher agree that the principal should decide how breakfasts are provided. The committee supported Ms. Peay's recommendation. For the after-care recommendation, most schools participate in the after-school snack program and that meets their eligibility programs. If they don't get the funding, you don't want them providing the services. For the fourth item, all schools already go through an audit process relating to their menus, food preparation and nutrition so that information can easily be obtained. Mr. Ingram would like these 3-year-audits added to each school's annual reports and Ms. Peay noted that can easily be done during that year's report. Ms. Peay thought that CRC wouldn't want to include it as part of their report as it's not academic and thus not under their scope. Good nutition will also inhibit the uptake of lead by these children. Ms. Mallory wanted to encourage innovation in fresh food rather than just processed food, such as provided by Sysco. She would like schools to exceed the standards, rather than just meet them. Ms. Peay recommended that the monitoring start next year as contracts have already been signed for this year. The Committee recommended collecting pilot data for the end of this year and it will be implemented in the 2018-19 school year. Ms. Mallory moved, seconded by Ms. Pointer-Mace, to forward the recommendations, as amended, to the Steering and Rules Committee. Mr. Ingram noted the cost to do that this year was $17,000 and do not feel taxpayer dollars should be used for this testing in the future. He would like to have Milwaukee Water Works come before the committee to speak on how a system and policy would be set up to monitor a private vendor. Ms. Peay said that it's unclear who will be paying for this and schools need to rectify their lead issues within 60 days. Ald. Bohl was contacted as this came out of his task force. Some schools have no elevated lead levels; out of 425 samples, 28 were elevated. Ms. Pointer-Mace did not want schools that had no elevated levels to have to pay for schools that do. Mr. Ingram would like Sharon Robinson to be involved as part of the discussions. The schools are aware of the results and the water will be re-tested within 60 days and at whose cost, if there is an additional cost beyond the $17,000 cost. This will be on the agenda next month. Mr. Steinbrecher will check to see how much money is in the trust fund. Meeting adjourned: 6:56 P.M. Linda M. Elmer Staff Assistant This meeting can be viewed in its entirety through the City's Legislative Research Center at http://milwaukee.legistar.com/calendar.
    Action details Video Video