Charter Schools Office

November Newsletter

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RESOURCES FOR SCHOOLS


Below are standing resourceful items for our schools to stay up-to-date. Click below!


Building Community, Teaching Tolerance & Talking Race Resources


Calendar of Collections


Charter School Manual


Charter School Payment Calendar


Charter Sector Updates


CSO School FAQs


Enrollment Codes

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Click here to view the CSO October 2022 Newsletter. We encourage you to share this sign-up link with colleagues who wish to become newsletter subscribers!


Please email the CSO at [email protected] if you have feedback, questions, submissions, and/or if you would like to have your school or one of your scholars featured in an upcoming CSO newsletter.

November 7, 2022


Greetings Sector Leaders,


Although the World Series didn’t go the Phillies’ way this time, I hope you and your school communities are still enjoying the unseasonably warm fall and looking forward to a much-deserved Thanksgiving holiday break. Earlier this month, I shared an update with the sector that I have assigned a member of the CSO’s Leadership Team to support you as a point-of-contact for any questions or feedback you have for the CSO. We look forward to strengthening our connections with schools through our increased collaboration.


We are also looking forward to connecting informally through our first Climate and Culture PLC session, which will be held at 3:30 PM on Wednesday, November 16 at 440. It isn’t too late to sign up to attend, which you can do by completing the form linked here. As always, if there is an opportunity for the CSO to be helpful, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Thank you for all that you do in service of students.


Sincerely,


Peng Chao

Acting Chief, Charter Schools

Calendar of Collections


The Calendar of collections for SY 2022-23 can be accessed here. Please refer to the following reminders and deadlines for the months of November and December:


Submissions for All Schools

  • Current Year Approved Board Minutes- Quarter 1: Tuesday, November 1, 2022
  • Board Bylaws: Tuesday, November 1, 2022
  • Enrollment Projections: Friday, December 30, 2022
  • FY22 Audited Financial Statements: Saturday, December 31, 2022


Website Review Reminders for All Schools

  • Board Contact Information: Monday, November 7, 2022


Draft Organizational Compliance and Viability Report


The Draft Organizational Compliance and Viability Report will be shared with schools on November 28, 2022. This report will share preliminary findings related to the Organizational Compliance and Viability Domain of the Charter School Performance Framework. The CSO shares this report to achieve two goals:

1) To provide schools with the opportunity to validate findings; and

2) To allow schools to provide revisions to specific noncompliant findings.


Schools will have the opportunity to dispute ratings found in error and provide resubmissions or reevaluations for specific items. Feedback will be due by January 20, 2023, and the CSO will provide opportunities to meet with the CSO team to answer any questions or provide clarification on ratings throughout December and early January. We hope that the extended period of time will allow all schools to have ample time to review the report.

Office of Special Finance Updates


The updated charter payment calendar for SY 2022-23 can be found here and in the Resources for Schools sidebar of this month’s Newsletter. It will remain linked in the Resources for Schools section throughout the school year. As a reminder: monthly payments beginning in October are based on enrollment information in Infinite Campus (total enrollment as well as enrollment of special education students based on current IEPs). It is critical that Infinite Campus is updated timely in order for payments to be accurate. The Office of Special Finance has prepared the slides linked here, which provide more information about charter payment calculations.

SY 2022-23 User Verification


There are still a number of schools that have not provided user verification updates for this year. The CSO wants to ensure school-based staff have no delays or disruptions to system access related to student data or District operations services. As such, charter school leaders and operations contacts should continue to verify SY 2022-23 school-specific users for SDP systems including Infinite Campus, Compass, and Payments. 


Questions about the user verification process, including requests for links to school-specific and network-specific user information, can be directed to [email protected].


Upcoming Student Opportunity-Tech Girlz


TechGirlz is a nonprofit program of Creating IT Futures, a 501(c)3 nonprofit of CompTIA, that inspires middle school girls to explore the possibilities of technology to empower their future careers. TechGirlz is accomplishing its mission through the creation of free, fun, interactive “TechShopz” led by industry professionals, community leaders, and students. A link with a schedule of free workshops for middle school students can be accessed here.


Confirming 22-23 School Information Sheets


If your school has not yet done so, please update your School Information Sheet (including leadership contact information, and academic highlights) by Friday, November 18. The CSO will be making ongoing updates to the CSO website in the late fall and winter and will follow-up with Network and/or Operations contacts once updates have been made. If you need access to your School Information Sheet, please email [email protected]

Updates to End-Date Request Process


The Office of Student Enrollment and Placement has updated their process for processing end-dating requests. A full overview of this process can be accessed via the letter linked here


If a charter school seeks end-dating from a cyber charter school or a non-Philadelphia school, please email [email protected]. In addition to student information and effective dates, schools should also provide evidence of the student’s attendance at your school. Schools can use their discretion regarding the level of detail and time periods reflected when providing attendance records, but it should be apparent that any student requiring end-dating elsewhere has been attending your school.


If a charter school seeks end-dating from a District or brick-and-mortar Philadelphia charter school, please first contact the sending school. If the sending school is non-responsive after 2 email attempts and 72 hours, please email [email protected]. In addition to student information and effective dates, schools should also provide evidence of the student’s attendance at your school as well as evidence of previous contact to the sending school. 


While the CSO does not have the ability to end-date any students from Infinite Campus, we do want to ensure the sector has the most up-to-date information regarding receiving support. As much as possible, issues with end-dating should be resolved at the school-to-school level to ensure timely transportation arrangements for students as well as accurate payments to schools.