July 9, 2004

ADMINISTRATIVE

TO:

Division Superintendents

FROM:

Jo Lynne DeMary

Superintendent of Public Instruction

SUBJECT:

Charter School Report for 2003-2004

Section 22.1-212.11 of the Code of Virginia, as amended, requires local school boards to report annually to the Virginia Board of Education the status of public charter schools. Specifically, 22.1-212.11 of the Code states:

Local school boards shall report the grant or denial of public charter school applications to the Board and shall specify the maximum number of charters that may be authorized, if any; the number of charters granted or denied; and whether a public charter school is designed to increase the educational opportunities of at-risk students.

In addition to these reporting requirements, Section 22.1-212.15 of the Code requires local school boards to submit annual evaluations of public charter schools to the Virginia Board of Education. Specifically, 22.1-212.15 of the Code states:

School boards shall submit annual evaluations of any public charter schools to the Board of Education. The Board shall review the evaluations against any Board regulations and policies waived for the public charter schools to determine the efficacy of such waivers and whether the public charter schools accomplished established goals and objectives. School boards shall also submit annually to the Board a comparison of the performance of public charter school students and students enrolled in the regular schools of such relevant school division and a report of the number of students enrolled in such public charter schools at the end of the school year.

The Board shall report annually its findings and evaluations of any public charter schools established in the Commonwealth, as well as the number of charters denied, to the Governor and the General Assembly.

Please complete the attached Charter School Report for the 2003-2004 school year by July 23, 2004, and fax it to Diane Jay, specialist, in the Office of Program Administration and Accountability. The fax number is (804) 371-7347. If you have any questions, please contact Ms. Jay at (804) 225-2905, or by e-mail at djay@mail.vak12ed.edu. After the Department of Education has received the Charter School Report from each school division, the department will provide evaluation forms to those school divisions that have public charter schools. The evaluation forms will assist those divisions in meeting the statutory requirements found in 22.1-212.15.

JLD/MKV/saw

Attachment

/administrators/superintendents_memos/2004/adm033a.doc