At the Dec. 4th BOE meeting, the Superintendet gave a slideshow on the RCAA, The Board Of Education President asked the superintendent if the Scool Disctrict Beloit had been reimbursed for the Eclipse Charter School. The Superintendent looked right at him and said yes. I was watching a replay of the Dec. 18th BOE meeting on the TV and a Board member was talking to the SDB business manager and asked if the Eclipse school had recieved the reimbursment from the state. The business manager of the SDB said no, not yet. Does anybody at the SDB or BOE really know what's going on? Shouldn't the person in charge of a school district be on top of $ 150,000.00 and know if it has been recieved or not? We are talking about $1,200,000.00 in federal grants that could be lost by the SDB. $ 300,000.00 plus has been spent already, the BOE is expecting it's return. By DPI reg's both school's can spend $300,000.00 apiece this year. Where will the BOE get the money if the DPI doesn't reimburse? As a taxpayer, I think my fellow taxpayers deserve to know what is going on.
Concerned taxpayer,
Beloit, WI
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Monday, December 31, 2007
Monday December 31, 2007
Beloit's charter schools work through problems
Posted: Monday, Dec 31, 2007 - 11:44:48 am CST
By Ashley RhodebeckDaily News staff writer
Though branded with School District of Beloit insignia, the charter schools housed at the Eclipse Center receive direction from governing boards composed mainly of parents and community members who are still working to understand their role as the second semester approaches.
Implemented this fall, the Roy Chapman Andrews Academy focuses on project-based learning. The Eclipse Charter School houses special education and the district's alternative programs that help struggling high school students earn course credits.About seven parents, five community members and one Board of Education member have a vote on the Roy Chapman Andrews Academy Governance Board, which is led by parent Jim Wise.
Two parents, two community members and three district employees - Kevin Miller, career and technical education director; Barbara Lake, executive director of student programs; and Dave Luebke, Eclipse administrator - compose the Eclipse Charter School board. It is led by former school board member Regina Dunkin, who said district officials contacted her about the position because they needed someone who had school board experience.
The academy's board meets monthly at the Eclipse Center, and Dunkin said the Eclipse board “meets monthly now.” Agenda items have included writing bylaws, board organization and establishing board responsibilities.District officials maintain some control over the schools - “Charter schools don't hire, they don't fire, they don't pay the salaries of the people doing the teaching and administration,” said Ron Nortier, executive director of operations - but, like the Board of Education, the governing boards have a say in how the charter schools are run.
According to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, the majority of the governance board's voting members - 51 percent - must be parents or community representatives, and the remaining percent can be staff or school board members, thus making the school more autonomous from the district.In a document dated October 2007, DPI defined the governance boards' autonomy as the “power to make decisions over budgets, personnel and policy.”
Establishing the proper amount of independence has been a struggle for the Roy Chapman Andrews Academy board, whose members have said they felt like the Eclipse Charter has received preferential treatment.Since the academy's inception, its governance board has claimed the district has meddled with the academy's staffing without the board's consent, has charged the board for items it never approved and spent its money on 50 computers mainly used by Eclipse students.The charter schools each received a $150,000 grant, of which the district cannot co-mingle.
Within recent weeks, DPI froze the academy's grant until a revised contract is signed and the finance issues have been resolved.“The reason DPI has put a hold on the (RCAA and Eclipse Charter) grants has everything to do with the appearance of co-mingling funds,” Kimberly Thompson, school board liaison to the Roy Chapman Andrews Academy board, wrote in an e-mail Thursday to Nortier. “This is no secret - Mr. (Barry) Golden, (charter schools consultant) DPI, alluded to this at the joint open meeting between the two boards.”Superintendent Lowell Holtz said the academy's initial board president agreed the school would pay a portion of the technology lab costs and other items both schools would share, such as a secretary.“That's called fair share, not co-mingling,” Holtz said.
Cathy Mark, the district business manager, provided the Daily News with expenditure lists for both schools in separate files. About $137,294 has been spent with the Eclipse Charter grant and, as of Nov. 21, $30,633 is left of the academy's grant.
Problems with the Roy Chapman Andrews Academy have been addressed at Board of Education meetings this fall, yet no ruckus regarding the Eclipse Charter School has arisen. Holtz pointed to the academy's leadership changes as possible reasons why.“Whenever you have a leadership change it really disrupts the apple cart, whether it's in the administration or board,” he said. “In this case it was both.”Miller, the career and technical education director for the district, said the Eclipse Charter may be running more smoothly because the school was implemented more at the direction of the district rather than parents.
“It really was done more with a lot of educational folks who said we know what the students need and know how to implement it,” Miller said, noting a strong relationship between the charter and district must be built so everyone understands what is to happen. “It's much harder to do that when the driving force is outside the institute itself.”
Beloit's charter schools work through problems
Posted: Monday, Dec 31, 2007 - 11:44:48 am CST
By Ashley RhodebeckDaily News staff writer
Though branded with School District of Beloit insignia, the charter schools housed at the Eclipse Center receive direction from governing boards composed mainly of parents and community members who are still working to understand their role as the second semester approaches.
Implemented this fall, the Roy Chapman Andrews Academy focuses on project-based learning. The Eclipse Charter School houses special education and the district's alternative programs that help struggling high school students earn course credits.About seven parents, five community members and one Board of Education member have a vote on the Roy Chapman Andrews Academy Governance Board, which is led by parent Jim Wise.
Two parents, two community members and three district employees - Kevin Miller, career and technical education director; Barbara Lake, executive director of student programs; and Dave Luebke, Eclipse administrator - compose the Eclipse Charter School board. It is led by former school board member Regina Dunkin, who said district officials contacted her about the position because they needed someone who had school board experience.
The academy's board meets monthly at the Eclipse Center, and Dunkin said the Eclipse board “meets monthly now.” Agenda items have included writing bylaws, board organization and establishing board responsibilities.District officials maintain some control over the schools - “Charter schools don't hire, they don't fire, they don't pay the salaries of the people doing the teaching and administration,” said Ron Nortier, executive director of operations - but, like the Board of Education, the governing boards have a say in how the charter schools are run.
According to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, the majority of the governance board's voting members - 51 percent - must be parents or community representatives, and the remaining percent can be staff or school board members, thus making the school more autonomous from the district.In a document dated October 2007, DPI defined the governance boards' autonomy as the “power to make decisions over budgets, personnel and policy.”
Establishing the proper amount of independence has been a struggle for the Roy Chapman Andrews Academy board, whose members have said they felt like the Eclipse Charter has received preferential treatment.Since the academy's inception, its governance board has claimed the district has meddled with the academy's staffing without the board's consent, has charged the board for items it never approved and spent its money on 50 computers mainly used by Eclipse students.The charter schools each received a $150,000 grant, of which the district cannot co-mingle.
Within recent weeks, DPI froze the academy's grant until a revised contract is signed and the finance issues have been resolved.“The reason DPI has put a hold on the (RCAA and Eclipse Charter) grants has everything to do with the appearance of co-mingling funds,” Kimberly Thompson, school board liaison to the Roy Chapman Andrews Academy board, wrote in an e-mail Thursday to Nortier. “This is no secret - Mr. (Barry) Golden, (charter schools consultant) DPI, alluded to this at the joint open meeting between the two boards.”Superintendent Lowell Holtz said the academy's initial board president agreed the school would pay a portion of the technology lab costs and other items both schools would share, such as a secretary.“That's called fair share, not co-mingling,” Holtz said.
Cathy Mark, the district business manager, provided the Daily News with expenditure lists for both schools in separate files. About $137,294 has been spent with the Eclipse Charter grant and, as of Nov. 21, $30,633 is left of the academy's grant.
Problems with the Roy Chapman Andrews Academy have been addressed at Board of Education meetings this fall, yet no ruckus regarding the Eclipse Charter School has arisen. Holtz pointed to the academy's leadership changes as possible reasons why.“Whenever you have a leadership change it really disrupts the apple cart, whether it's in the administration or board,” he said. “In this case it was both.”Miller, the career and technical education director for the district, said the Eclipse Charter may be running more smoothly because the school was implemented more at the direction of the district rather than parents.
“It really was done more with a lot of educational folks who said we know what the students need and know how to implement it,” Miller said, noting a strong relationship between the charter and district must be built so everyone understands what is to happen. “It's much harder to do that when the driving force is outside the institute itself.”
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Has the other charter school recieved it's grant or not?
Hello,
There is a story brewing in Beloit, WI. The Beloit Board of Education authorized two charter schools last year. Apparently, the School District of Beloit (SDB) only wanted one. Both are located in the Eclipse Center, which is in the old Beloit Mall Building (to the left of the Cardinal Stritch Univ.) way back in the corner. The WI Department of Education has frozen the grants $ 600,000.00 worth in two (2) years of the Roy Chapman Andrews Academy(RCCA). Why? The SDB has spent the Federal Charter School Grant and moved personnel without the approval of the Charter School's Governance Board (In WI, charter schools must have autonomy). The SDB has charged the RCAA for computers they were not allowed to use. The Superintendent of the SDB has cancelled and changed approved P.O."s. The students and staff, today 12-19-07 still don't have desks. The bulk of the Beloit Schools Board of Education does not seem to care. Have your Rock County Reporter go in and take a look.The school that was set-up by the district and employed a CESA2 employee has 100 computers, 7 teachers, one principal, 1 administrator, a counsiler, 1.5 secreteries, and 10,000 sq. ft. of space. Oh, there are 120(?) students enrolled that only attend class 2 hrs. per day. If you walk in the door take the hall to your left, way down at the end on your left is the RCAA. 1.8 teachers, 750 sq. ft. and some textbooks. Please come, take a look. What is wrong here?
The Synectis charter school, now in it's fifth (5) year (6-8 at the two middle schools) has been torn apart by the same district policies that have hampered the RCAA. Under charter school law in WI. if the school fails, in two years the district gets everything they own ($600,000.00 worth). A Friend of education
There is a story brewing in Beloit, WI. The Beloit Board of Education authorized two charter schools last year. Apparently, the School District of Beloit (SDB) only wanted one. Both are located in the Eclipse Center, which is in the old Beloit Mall Building (to the left of the Cardinal Stritch Univ.) way back in the corner. The WI Department of Education has frozen the grants $ 600,000.00 worth in two (2) years of the Roy Chapman Andrews Academy(RCCA). Why? The SDB has spent the Federal Charter School Grant and moved personnel without the approval of the Charter School's Governance Board (In WI, charter schools must have autonomy). The SDB has charged the RCAA for computers they were not allowed to use. The Superintendent of the SDB has cancelled and changed approved P.O."s. The students and staff, today 12-19-07 still don't have desks. The bulk of the Beloit Schools Board of Education does not seem to care. Have your Rock County Reporter go in and take a look.The school that was set-up by the district and employed a CESA2 employee has 100 computers, 7 teachers, one principal, 1 administrator, a counsiler, 1.5 secreteries, and 10,000 sq. ft. of space. Oh, there are 120(?) students enrolled that only attend class 2 hrs. per day. If you walk in the door take the hall to your left, way down at the end on your left is the RCAA. 1.8 teachers, 750 sq. ft. and some textbooks. Please come, take a look. What is wrong here?
The Synectis charter school, now in it's fifth (5) year (6-8 at the two middle schools) has been torn apart by the same district policies that have hampered the RCAA. Under charter school law in WI. if the school fails, in two years the district gets everything they own ($600,000.00 worth). A Friend of education
Friday, December 14, 2007
Today I have learned that the Superintendent of the Beloit School system has put a hold on all PO's for two of the three charter schools in the district! How and why does this happen? If we only took the politics out of education and spent 1/2 the energy in actually doing right by the kids, there wouldn't be an education crisis in america.
Beloit Wisconsin Charter School scandal
Why are they doing this to our kids?
The School Distrist of Beloit has spent most of the initial $ 150,000.00 charter school grant and reasigned and assigned Staff all without the permission of the Roy Chapman Andrews Academy(RCAA) Governance Board. The Beloit Wisconsin Board of Education is not honoring the contract they have with the RCAA. It is almost Christmas and the staff and students still don't have desks. The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction has frozen the grant funds.
This could potentially cost the tax payers of the City of Beloit $ 600,000.00 in un-reimbursed expenses in the next two years. The local paper apparently doesn't care about this. Although several letters to the editor have been sent, only one was published.
I will not pay the extra taxes for money thrown away by the School District of Beloit and the Beloit Board of Education.
The School Distrist of Beloit has spent most of the initial $ 150,000.00 charter school grant and reasigned and assigned Staff all without the permission of the Roy Chapman Andrews Academy(RCAA) Governance Board. The Beloit Wisconsin Board of Education is not honoring the contract they have with the RCAA. It is almost Christmas and the staff and students still don't have desks. The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction has frozen the grant funds.
This could potentially cost the tax payers of the City of Beloit $ 600,000.00 in un-reimbursed expenses in the next two years. The local paper apparently doesn't care about this. Although several letters to the editor have been sent, only one was published.
I will not pay the extra taxes for money thrown away by the School District of Beloit and the Beloit Board of Education.
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