A LETTER FROM ASBCS

"To improve public education in Arizona by sponsoring charter schools that provide quality educational choices"

Compliance Statement of Assurance

Deadline Extended - Due October 1st

Dear Charter Representatives,

In response to feedback received by Board staff, the 2022-23 Compliance Statement of Assurance submission deadline has been extended to October 1st!

As a reminder: the Board approved the use of the Compliance Statement of Assurance (“Compliance Statement”) to assist in communicating to charter holders the compliance expectations and requirements to which each charter holder must adhere. The Compliance Statement contains a list of the contractual and legal requirements applicable to charter holders and the operation of charter schools. The list of compliance statements is not all-inclusive; the charter holder is responsible for reviewing and having knowledge of all applicable provisions, laws and requirements to which it will be held.

The following resources can be referenced when reviewing the Compliance Statement of Assurance:

Additionally, below is a list of statutes of which charters should be aware that are not included in the Compliance Statement of Assurance:

HB2026: Requires each school, regardless of letter grade designation, to annually submit an updated K-3 reading program plan to ADE. Specifies promotion and retention procedures for a 3rd grade student who does not demonstrate sufficient reading skills.
HB 2118: Replaces one public body member on the ASBCS with an alternative school teacher. Changes withdrawal and enrollment procedures for alternative schools.
HB 2161: Prohibits a governmental entity or official from interfering with or usurping a parent's right to direct the upbringing, education, health care and mental health of their children. Modifies parental consent requirements for school surveys. Expands parental rights regarding access to written and electronic records of a parent's child.
HB2178: Exempts a school psychologist who is contracted to provide services in an educational institution setting and who is certified by the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) from licensure requirements.
HB 2495: Prohibits a public school from referring students to or using any sexually explicit material in any manner unless the material meets prescribed criteria.
HB 2632: Increases civics passing score.
HB2866: (K-12 Budget) Contains provisions relating to K-12 education needed to implement the FY 2023 budget; including: increased funding amounts for the base level and charter additional assistance amounts, distribution of results based funding, and special education Group B funding weight increases.
SB1159: Expands specified exemptions from teaching certificate requirements. Allows a school district or charter school to apply for approval as a locally-based school leadership preparation program (leadership program) to approve school-level leadership position certifications and modifies eligibility and requirements for classroom-based teacher preparation program candidates and providers.
SB 1165: Directs public schools and certain private schools to designate their interscholastic athletics teams based on the biological sex of the participating students.
SB 1630: Authorizes a school district, charter school or a privately owned and operated entity to use a motor vehicle designed to carry between 11 to 15 passengers or a motor vehicle designed as a type A or B school bus (motor vehicles) to transport students to or from home or school.
SB1654: Allows, beginning in the 2022-2023 school year, the parent or guardian of a student who has a seizure disorder to submit a copy of a seizure management and treatment plan (plan) for school personnel to use if the student suffers a seizure at school or at a school-sponsored activity.

The Charter Representative is responsible for downloading the form below, initialing each line, and signing the form. Only forms filled out and signed by the charter representative on file with the Board will be accepted.

For the 2022-23 school year, each charter holder shall submit to the Board a completed and signed Compliance Statement by October 1^st. Please reach out to your Education Program Manager with any questions.

Compliance Statement of Assurance

Public Comment Now Open -

Proposed Changes to Financial Framework Rules

The Board has drafted proposed changes to the Financial Performance Framework rules. Specifically, the changes proposed under this rule package include:

Reducing requirements for reporting under the intervention process [see R7-5-101, R7-5-402, R7-5-509 and R7-5-511].
Replacing all previous non-quarterly financial report submissions with attestations to better streamline Board review and reduce burden on Charter Holders. The attestations are addressed in R7-5-402(F), R7-5-402(I)(2), R7-5-402(J)(1) and R7-5-402(K)(1).
Providing for earlier notification of their intervention status by Board staff to Charter Holders assigned an “Intervention” rating for the first-time.
Modifying the criteria used for determining which schools Board staff must visit to conduct a physical count of students such that schools operated by Charter Holders under first-time intervention would not be required to receive a physical count of students, but rather schools operated by charter holders identified as being “On Probation” would receive a physical count of students [see R7-5-402(N)].
Changing the scenarios associated with Probation Risk Level Three to address an oversight in an earlier rulemaking [see Table 2].

Arizona Revised Statutes (“A.R.S.”) § 15-183(R) requires the Board, as a sponsoring entity of a charter school, to ground its actions in evidence of the charter holder’s performance in accordance with the Board’s performance framework and requires the Board’s performance framework to include the financial expectations of the charter school. A.R.S. § 15-182(E)(1) requires the Board to exercise general supervision over the charter schools it sponsors.

You may access the proposed rule changes here.

The window for the first opportunity for public comment will be open August 9, 2022 – August 29, 2022.

Please submit your feedback in writing to the Board during the public comment window using one of the following options:

Written comments may be emailed to audits@asbcs.az.gov.
Written comments may be mailed to the Arizona State Board for Charter Schools, P.O. Box 18328, Phoenix, AZ 85005.
Written comments may be delivered to the Board office located at 1616 W. Adams St., Suite 170, Phoenix, AZ 85007.

For all responses, please provide the following information:

First and last name
Email address
Mailing address (optional)
Organization (optional)

All public comment received by August 29, 2022 will be presented to the Board and members of the public will have an additional opportunity to provide comment to the Board at the meeting during which the Board considers the proposed changes to the Board’s rules.

Public Comment Now Open -

Proposed Changes to Financial Framework’s Visit Requirements

The Financial Performance Framework (“Financial Framework”) approved by the Board in December 2018 requires Board staff to conduct financial site visits of all first-year schools and certain second-year schools. The table below identifies proposed revisions to the Financial Framework’s visit requirements. These revisions include eliminating visits to second-year schools and shifting to primarily desk reviews for first-year schools. Under the proposal, Board staff will continue to visit first-year brick-and-mortar schools to count students.

EXISTING LANGUAGE

PROPOSED LANGUAGE

First-Year and Second-Year Financial Site Visits

Since only one year of ADM data would be available, the ADM measure will not be applicable for first-year charter contracts. Board staff will visit all new schools approved through the new application, replication application or amendment processes in the fall of their first year of operation. Prior to that visit, Board staff would compare enrollment projections identified in the application package or amendment request to the school’s estimated count or, if available, actual ADM. During the visit, Board staff would meet with school officials and review documentation to ascertain the school’s current financial situation and, if applicable, discuss adjustments made or planned due to lower than projected enrollment. Schools will be selected for second-year financial visits based on the results of the first-year visit and first-year audit, as well as the school’s second-year estimated count or, if available, actual ADM. Any second-year visits would likely occur in the winter of the school’s second year after the prior year’s audit has been received and reviewed.

First-Year Financial Reviews

Since only one year of ADM data would be available, the ADM measure will not be applicable for first-year charter contracts. Board staff will conduct a desk review of all new schools approved through the new application, replication application or amendment processes in the fall of their first year of operation. The desk review will include Board staff reviewing information submitted by the charter holder regarding its operations, financial situation, payroll processes and board financial responsibilities, as well as contract information on file with the Board and ADM, payment and budget information available through the Arizona Department of Education’s website. For each new brick-and-mortar school, Board staff will conduct a visit to count students.

The window for the first opportunity for public comment will be open August 9, 2022 – August 29, 2022.

Please submit your feedback in writing to the Board during the public comment window using one of the following options:

Written comments may be emailed to audits@asbcs.az.gov.
Written comments may be mailed to the Arizona State Board for Charter Schools, P.O. Box 18328, Phoenix, AZ 85005.
Written comments may be delivered to the Board office located at 1616 W. Adams St., Suite 170, Phoenix, AZ 85007.

For all responses, please provide the following information:

First and last name
Email address
Mailing address (optional)
Organization (optional)

All public comment received by August 29, 2022 will be presented to the Board and members of the public will have an additional opportunity to provide comment to the Board at the meeting

Free Universal Screening Opportunity for Gifted Education for Arizona Public School Students in 2nd Grade

From the Arizona Department of Education

The Arizona Legislature once more appropriated $850,000 to the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) to support the opportunity for all public schools to evaluate all their 2nd Grade students for Gifted Education programs at no cost during the upcoming school year (SY22-23). Participation in this universal screening opportunity is available and optional for all Arizona public schools.

ADE will continue to offer the Cognitive Abilities Test™ (CogAT®) from Riverside Insights as the 2nd-grade screening tool for this program. This tool was procured in SY21-22 following a competitive procurement process.

Schools can choose to test their students using traditional paper/pencil versions of the assessment or an online testing option. All testing activities must be completed within this fiscal year or by June 2023.

“We are excited to continue to provide this opportunity that will help our schools more equitably identify our state’s Gifted learners,” said Superintendent Hoffman. “Universal screening removes barriers to access and is a proven strategy to help identify students traditionally underrepresented in Gifted Education programs – especially students who may be culturally, linguistically and socioeconomically diverse.”

Students that score at or above the 97th percentile, based on national norms (age or grade norms), on a test adopted by the State Board of Education (which includes the CogAT® test for this program) will generate a Group B add-on per-pupil funding weight – a “G” weight. Qualifying pupils will generate the new 0.007 Group B add-on funding in FY 2023, and the corresponding funding will appear in payments and on payment reports later in the year. More details about the new “G” weight may be found on our School Finance website, and information regarding the FY2022 payment process may be found here.

The program website hosted by Riverside Insights for LEAs to order testing materials and access comprehensive training, technical assistance, and support resources may be found at: https://riversideinsights.com/az-gifted. If your school has questions regarding how to order testing materials, please visit this site to submit your questions.

Please contact Peter Laing at Peter.Laing@azed.gov for more information, and visit ADE’s Gifted Education website at www.azed.gov/gifted-education.

Instructional Calendars and August Data Capture Date

From the Arizona Department of Education

The data capture date for the September payment is Monday, August 15th, at 5:00 p.m. September payment will be based off current-year ADM for school districts and charters. The calculation of current-year ADM is dependent on a certified calendar for all non-AOI/DRP-only schools.

It is imperative to ensure your calendars have been submitted, certified, and passing integrity by 5pm on August 14, 2022.

Instructions for certifying a calendar can be found here.

To view all data capture dates for FY23, please click here.

To view our posted guidance "Defining the Instructional Calendar", please click here.

To view the Calendar Integrity Reference Guide, please click here.

To view the slides from the calendar webinar on 7/27/21, please click here.

Reminders regarding calendars:

Calendars must be submitted, certified, and passing Integrity by 8/14/2022 to avoid Integrity failures which will affect the September payment.
Calendars can be freely submitted and edited until 8/31, however, each time they are edited they will need to be re-certified.
After 8/31, a HelpDesk ticket will need to be submitted to request access to edit a submitted calendar (which will require the calendar to be re-certified).