by: Deborah White

Thursday, October 8, 2009

The regular meeting of the State Board of Education began with a brief Executive Session.  Upon reconvening the board quickly approved the Consent Agenda.  All action items were discussed on Wednesday, October 7th by the Charter, Budget, and Rules sub-committees and during the Committee of the Whole Meeting before being moved to the Consent Agenda. Following additional discussion on Rule 160-4-2-.34  Dual Enrollment and articulation among all agencies, a motion was made and approved to authorize the Superintendent and Chair to draft an articulation resolution.  Chairman Barrs announced that the Excellence Awards Program would be held in the West Tower and asked for board members and members of the audience to move to the West Tower.

A summary of the Committee of the Whole Meeting and Action items are listed at the end of this report.

The Excellence Awards Program was a distinctive and impressive event for members of GAEL and GSSA.  The GAEL 2009 Award recipients were recognized by Superintendent Kathy Cox and members of the State Board of Education for their outstanding service to public education.  Dr. Jimmy Stokes was recognized for receiving the highest award presented by GAEL, the Fulbright Distinguished Service Award; the award is presented annually to a GAEL member who has shown significant achievement in the field of educational leadership.  Jimmy retired after 40 years of service as a teacher and leader in education; he was the 2005-2006 GAEL President.  Then, Superintendent Cox recognized the recipients of the Jim Puckett Outstanding Educator Award presented by each of the six affiliates of GAEL.

• Georgia Association of Secondary School Principals (GASSP)—Wes Taylor, Principal, Lowndes County High School
• Georgia Association of Elementary Principals (GAESP)—Dr. Craig Lockhart, Assistant Superintendent, Bibb County Schools (formerly principal of Taylor Co. Upper Elementary)
• Georgia Council for Administrators of Special Education (GCASE)—Kathie Rigsby, Southwest Georgia Learning Resources Systems. Dougherty County
• Georgia School Superintendents Association (GSSA)—Dr. John DeCotis, Superintendent, Fayette County Schools
• Georgia Association of Middle School Principals (GAMSP)—Dr. Joe Hutchinson, Principal, Morgan County Middle School
• Georgia Association of Curriculum and Instructional Supervisors—Stephen Pruitt, Chief of Staff Georgia Department of Education

Next, the graduates of the Superintendent Professional Development Program were honored.  The class included: Dr. Steve Barker; Jeff Branham; David Goldberg; Robin Gay; Sylvia Hooker; Cindy Saxon; Jim Smith; Sam Sweat; Dennis Carpenter; Dr. Mack Bullard; Dr. Todd Cason; Dr. Craig Lockhart; Richard Smith; Fonda Harrison; Dr. Ann Langford; Dr. Joy Tolbert; Dr. Donald Dunnigan; Preston Howard; Duane McManus; Brian Otott; Brett Stanton; Dr. David Whitfield; Joseph Gardner; Kathy Keown; and Dr. Fred Longgear.  Earlier in the program the recipients of the 2009 Young Georgia Authors, Georgia Council of Teachers of English, 2009 USDA Awards and School Bus Technician Award were recognized.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Beginning at 8:30 the Budget, Charter, and Rules sub-committees met to discuss items on the agenda for the State Board of Education Committee of the Whole Meeting.

Budget Committee

The budget committee discussed and recommended for the Consent Agenda 13 items.

1. A grant to 21 systems to serve eligible children in residential facilities.  As part of the Governor's deficit reduction request, the department is withholding 401,125, ten percent, of the total grant award.  The total grant to systems will not exceed $3,610,122.
2. A contract with Elluminate, Inc. at a not to exceed $99,000 for the unlimited use of the software by the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) and the Education Technology Centers.
3. A contract for $190,163 with TransACT Compliance & Communication Center to provide access to a web-based library.  With over one hundred different languages represented in Georgia schools, the TransACT Compliance & Communication Center Library will provide schools access to forms to communication with ELL’s parents in a language they can comprehend.
4. A contract with Pearson not to exceed $80,000 in Federal Funds for Work Sampling System online licenses.  Work Sampling System (WSS) is being used to increase the outcomes for preschool-aged children with disabilities. The licenses are for individual students and are required to enter data into the Work Sampling System Online (WSO). The WSS will monitor student progress of children's skills, knowledge, behavior, and academic accomplishments in seven domains. It will provide school districts a systematic process for monitoring student progress.
5. A contract with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Learning Technology not to exceed $100,000 for a one-year subscription to Destination Math for Mathematics I.
6. A contract with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Learning Technology not to exceed $142,600 in Federal Funds for professional services to support the development of online learning resources in English Language Arts.
7. A contract with Communities In Schools of Georgia not to exceed $1,093,476.42 grantees will receive $17,500 for this initiative to fund and support implementing the Communities In Schools model for dropout prevention and dropout recovery.
8. A grant to the Georgia Professional Standards Commission not to exceed $878,676.00 in Federal Funds for providing technical assistance and guidance to school districts in developing and supporting an ongoing process to ensure highly-qualified teachers in every classroom.
9. To amend the previously approved continuation grant awards for 21st Century Community Learning Centers to include Cobb County Schools at a combined cost not to exceed $13,275,487 in Federal Funds.
10. To amend the FY10 grants to KidsPeace Charter School and Carroll County School System at a cost not to exceed $33,216.00 in Federal Funds to transfer FY10 Special Education allocations and ARRA stimulus funds from KidsPeace Charter School to the Carroll County School System.
11. To provide salary supplements of $15,000 per year to Evans and Richmond Counties for a principal recognized as a High Performance Principals who accepts employment as a principal in secondary schools identified as Needs Improvement schools.
12. To redistribute the ARRA Title I, Part D, Subpart 2 grant to LEAs in the amount of $18,075 in Federal funds for No Child Left Behind Programs for FY10.
13. A contract with MetaMetrics, Inc., not to exceed $206,370.00 in State funds for providing the Lexile Framework for Reading for state-mandated assessments.

Rules Committee

The Rules Committee discussed and recommended 16 items for the Consent Agenda.

1. 1. To initiate an amendment to Rule 160-4-2-.34 Dual Enrollment--The draft rule includes changes in the credit conversion between college credits and high school course units, as recommended by the Alliance of Education Agency Heads Dual Enrollment Task Force. The recommended credit conversion is: 
   • One to two semester hour credits =.5 high school unit credit
   • Three to five semester hour credits = 1 high school unit credit
   • One to three quarter hour credits = .5 high school unit credit
   • Four to eight quarter hour credits = 1 high school unit credit

            Requirements from HB149 (Move on When Ready) are aligned with this rule

                    Follow these links for a copy of the draft rule.  Send your comments to the GaDOE.

                    DRAFT Rule

                    Side by Side Alignment

                    DRAFT with Strikeouts

        2.  To initiate Rule 160-4-2-.03 State Funded K-8 Subjects and 9-12 Courses for Students Entering Ninth Grade Prior to               2008

        3.  To initiate Rule 160-4-2-.20 State-Funded K-8 Subjects and 9-12 Courses for Students Entering Ninth Grade in 2008 and               Subsequent Years - Initiation

To approve waiver requests for 39 school systems.  The waivers included:

        4.  8 System Waivers – Alternative Education Program – October Program Requests

        5.  32 System Waivers – Class Size Requirements

        6.  23 System Waivers – Direct Instruction Requirements

        7.  1 System Waiver – Early Intervention Program (EIP)

        8.  8 System Waivers – Program for English Language Learners Requirements

        9.  1 System Waiver – Georgia High School Graduation Test Remedial Program

      10. 7 System Waivers – Guidance Counselor Requirements

      11. 13 System Waivers – Instructional Extension Requirements

      12. 1 System Waiver – Middle School Program Requirements

      13. 7 System Waivers – Personnel Required

      14. 2 System Waivers – Professional Learning

      15. 1 System Waiver – Summer Opportunity Program for Grades 4-8

      16. 1System Waiver – Alternative Education Program – Class Size Requests

To view a summary of all approved waivers for October  Click Here.

Members were presented a one sheet Federal Update for their review and information.

Charter Committee

The Charter Committee did not recommend any items for action.

During the committee meeting DOE staff presented updated reports on Charters in the Pipeline, Planning Grant and Federal Funds expenditures and the Charter Commission.  DOE staff also presented the DOE Charter Division activity report.  They also presented a brief report on the New York Charter School Performance Study that found that the level of student performance in New York Charter Schools was greater than in the non-charter schools.  It was pointed out that the New York City Schools charter approval process is very rigorous, which may be a contributing factor to the success of the schools.  Staff indicated that three charter schools are included on the 2009 Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education annual bus tour itinerary.

Committee members discussed the differences between the petition review process utilized by the State Board of Education and the Department of Education and the one currently utilized by the Georgia Charter Commission.  They also talked about: whether the same level of confidence be applied to the results of the two processes, whether a school approved by the Georgia Charter Commission has been allowed to operate before a contract has been executed and signed, whether or not Virtual Schools should be Georgia Charter Commission Schools, and the level of funding for Virtual Schools.

Committee members agreed that the Odyssey Schools’ petition for approval to seek Georgia Charter Commission status would be a information item for the October agenda and upon receipt of additional student performance information become an Action Item on the November 2009 State Board of Education Meeting agenda.

Public Hearing 

At 1:00, the Committee of the Whole convened and received input on the following rules:

PEA - Rule 160-5-1-.33 Investing in Educational Excellence (IE2): Local Education Agency (LEA) Contracts for Flexibility and Accountability to Improve Student Achievement - Initiation

ESI - Rule 160-4-2-.31 Hospital/Homebound Instruction (Initiation and Repeal)

PEA - Rule 160-5-1-.18 Competitive Interscholastic Activities In Grades 9-12: No Pass/No Participate - Amendment

PEA - Rule 160-5-1-.19 Grades 6-8: Competitive Interscholastic Activities – Repeal

Following the Public Hearing, the chairs from each sub-committee recommended items listed above for the Consent Agenda.  Two other business items were also added to the Consent Agenda:

1. A waiver for the Atlanta Area School for the Deaf and the Georgia School for the Deaf to extend the 45 day requirement for providing Supplemental Educational Services (SES) and to allow these State schools to provide these services by using qualified instructional personnel presently employed by the State until the Reauthorization of No Child Left Behind.
2. For the Georgia State Financing and Investment Commission to issue $3,990,000 in five-year general obligation bonds and $115,000,000 in twenty-year general obligation bonds on behalf of the Georgia Department of Education.

Superintendent Cox presented the final AYP reporting including results from the GHSGT administered after summer instruction.  She included charts and graphs of the progress made and the number of schools coming off of the not meeting AYP list.

The meeting adjourned.