State Board Of Education To Double-Up At Next Meeting With 7 Charter School Renewals & Many Presentations

When freaky weather occurred on the date of their last State Board of Education meeting, Executive Director Jenna Ahner canceled the meeting which was to take place in Milford.  As a result, all the agenda items from that meeting will be added to the already crowded December agenda.  If you plan on attending the thing, this is going to be a long night!  The mammoth agenda has a lot going on!

The meeting starts at 5pm at the Townsend Building in Dover. This is the agenda:

• Roll call
• Approval of Agenda
• Approval of October board minutes
• Recognition of Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching Award Finalists
• Committee Reports
• House Bill #455 Implementation Update
• Establishment of Career & Technical Education Committee (Action Item)
• Establishment of Student Screening Action Committee (Action Item)
• Selection of Member for ESSA Committee (Action Item) (yes, the Every Student Succeeds Act Advisory Committee is coming back again!)
• Executive Director’s Report
• Secretary’s Report, Review and Discussion
• Alternate Assessment Performance Levels (Action item after public comment)
• Public Comment on Alternate Assessment Performance Levels
• Department of Education Budget Request (Information only)
• Delaware School Report Cards (Information only)
• Design Thinking Academy Charter Renewal (Action Item)
• First State Military Academy Charter Renewal (Action Item)
• Freire Charter School Charter Renewal (Action Item)
• Great Oaks Charter School Charter Renewal (Action Item)
• Kuumba Academy Charter Renewal (Action Item)
• Newark Charter School Charter Renewal (Action Item)
• Positive Outcomes Charter School Charter Renewal (Action Item)
• Regulation 505- High School Graduation Requirements and Diplomas (Action Item)
• Regulation 915- James H. Groves High School (Action Item)
• Public Comment on Regulations
• Regulation 1517- Paraeducator Permit (Action Item)
• Public Comment on Professional Standards Board Regulations
• Formal Public Comment (any topic)
• Student v. Smyrna School District (Information only, Appeal in Superior Court)
• Student v. Smyrna School District (Information only, Appeal to State Board of Education)
• Adjournment

If you plan on attending, you might want to get there an hour early.  With all the charter renewals and presentations, this is going to be a packed house.  I’ve been there when it’s full and it is not a pleasant experience.  You have to figure the charter schools up for renewal will send representation plus the usual suspects who attend these meetings.

Unless they speed through the charter renewals, I’m going to lay odds they will be there after 10pm if not longer.  I always feel bad for folks who go for just one item on the agenda and sit through the whole meeting.  When I go, I tend to stick around for the whole thing if something on the agenda strikes me as interesting.  I have a feeling I will be there for the duration.

The meeting takes place in the Cabinet Room of the Townsend Building in Dover beginning at 5pm and ending at…