The Ed-Watch series is designed to increase access to information on what decisions
are being made regarding public education in Clark County and Nevada.
State Public Charter School Authority (SPCSA)
What is the SPCSA & what are they responsible for? Considered one of Nevada’s school districts, the SPCSA sponsors and oversees public charter schools. The Authority consists of seven appointed members responsible for overseeing educational and operational standards and holding sponsored schools accountable to the academic achievement of students.
How often does the SPCSA Board meet? The SPCSA typically meets once a month, generally on Fridays.
Click here for SPCSA meeting schedule and materials.
Can community members engage at SPCSA Board Meetings? While all meetings of the SPCSA are typically held publicly at the Nevada Department of Education building in Carson City and the Nevada Department of Education building in Las Vegas (1st floor boardroom), all meetings are now held virtually due to the COVID-19 crisis. Members of the public may view the meeting online via the link on the SPCSA’s Public Notice web page and the agenda and any supporting materials can be found here. Public comment may be given on any agenda item at the beginning of the meeting, or public comment regarding any matter that is SPCSA-related may be given at the conclusion of each Board meeting. Members of the community giving public comment can utilize the following conference call line: 1-312-584-2401; extension 3952176# with a time limit of three minutes per speaker. Alternatively, public comment may be submitted in writing to publiccomment@spcsa.nv.gov, and any such public comment received prior to the meeting will be provided to the Authority and included in the written minutes of the meeting.
Click here for a list of all SPCSA Members.
Click here for a list of all SPCSA sponsored schools.
Friday, July 26, 2024
State Public Charter School Authority Board Meeting
Access the meeting agenda and playback.
What happened at this meeting?
Board Approved the Consent Agenda
Consent agenda highlights included:
- Transportation plan approvals for Thrive Point Academy of Nevada and Equipo Academy
- Amendment to the Young Women’s Leadership Academy charter contract to eliminate 10th and 11th grade for the 2024-25 school year
Board Received a Presentation on Performance Framework Revisions
WestEd presented the final versions of the SPCSA Academic, Organizational, and Financial Performance Frameworks. These are required frameworks for performance for every charter school authorized by the SPCSA.
The Academic Performance Framework varies based on school level: elementary, middle, and high. Indicators that feed into the score include Nevada School Performance Framework index score, student group comparison (MGP for elementary and middle schools, and graduation rate for high schools), and a reduction score to address chronic absenteeism. For more details on each level framework, click here.
Changes to the Organizational Performance Framework including moving financial indicators from the framework, creating a compliance checklist with a separate indicator, underscoring the importance of accurate and timely materials submission, and adding quality indicators.
Changes to the Financial Performance Framework include additional context to better explain metrics, moving annual financial audit metrics from the Organizational Performance Framework to the Financial Performance Framework, a new financial oversight metric, and modifications to align with best practices on enrollment variance and total margin and aggregated three-year total margin.
Explore the presentation.
SPCSA Executive Director’s Report
Highlights from the report include:
- School Highlight: Beacon Academy submits grant reporting in a timely and comprehensive fashion. They will have the opportunity to share more about their school and model during the meeting.
- New board members: Courtney Stern and Dr. Yvet Aldaba were welcomed at their first board meeting. Stern is an appointee from the Nevada Department of Education, and Aldaba is an appointee from the Speaker of the Assembly.
- Delinquent Schools’ PERS Contributions: Several schools have updates on their PERS contribution repayments. Explore the report here.
- Exceptional Enrollment and Growth Audit: Several new school updates will be discussed below.
- Update on Student Representative on the SPCSA Board: Information has been sent to high school principals in the SPCSA network; no applications have been received yet, but the team anticipates receiving them once school begins again.
Explore the report.
Board Heard an Update Regarding Beacon Academy of Nevada
Beacon Academy of Nevada offers at-risk high school students a flexible support to graduate from high school and remediate credit deficiencies, while building their future plans. Graduates continue to increase each year. It reported on metrics within the NSPF, as well as a BANV-specific Alternate Performance Report Card, on which it received an overall score of Adequate (categories of measurement include growth, status, career and college readiness, and student engagement).
Under NDE’s Alternative Performance Framework, the school receives a Maintaining rating on its continuum of performance in credit-earning rate, 4 and 5-year cohort grad rate, attendance rate, and chronic absenteeism.
Next steps identified by the school are improving attendance, increasing students earning a C or higher in core subjects, increasing the number of graduates each year, and purchasing a West Campus facility.
Explore the presentation.
Board Approved Amendment Applications
The Board approved Pinecrest Academy of Nevada’s enrollment cap increases at its Sloan Campus and Cadence Campus, for a cumulative increase of 137 students. Explore the recommendation memo.
The Board approved Oasis Academy’s request to enter an Education Management Organization contract with Academica. Explore the recommendation memo.
Board Heard Updates from New Schools
Thrive Point Academy has secured a new location on Meadows Lane, and SPCSA required the site visit conducted on July 12. At the time of the EEGA audit, the school had 149 students enrolled, and submitted an amended final budget following the audit.
Do & Be Arts Academy has opted to defer a year, due to facility and enrollment challenges. Explore the recommendation memo.
Rooted School Las Vegas has opted to defer a year, due to enrollment challenges. Explore the letter.
Vegas Vista Academy had its site visit conducted on July 18. At the time of the EEGA audit, the school had 102 students enrolled, and submitted an amended final budget following the audit.
Explore the update.
Board Heard a Training on the Charter School Application Process
The Board had a training on the charter school application process, as required. A core responsibility of the Board is evaluating, approving, and declining applications to form a charter school. The application criteria includes sections on meeting the need, academic plan, operations plan, and financial plan. An evaluation rubric is used by evaluators and is completed individually by each evaluator. An applicant must “Meet the Standard” in applicable sections of the application by the end of the application and evaluation process to be recommended for authorization.
The needs assessment includes demographic need and academic need (geographies with 1- and 2-star schools or students at risk of dropping out of school). The governance requirements of the application include proposed bylaws for the governing body, opportunities and expectations for family/parent involvement, and composition of the committee to form. The SPCSA must establish standards and provide training regarding those standards before the school opens and every three years after that, as well as develop a list of approved organizations that may provide similar training.
Explore the presentation.
Board Heard an Update on the SPCSA’s Project AWARE Grant and MTSS Supports Offered to Schools
Multi-Tiered Systems of Supports (MTSS) is a continuous-improvement framework in which data-based problem-solving and decision-making is practiced across all levels of the education system for supporting students’ academic, behavioral, and social/emotional needs, leading to increased student growth and equity while lowering disproportionate outcomes. There are three tiers of support: Tier One, universal prevention; Tier Two, targeted prevention; and Tier Three, intensive, individualized prevention.
Benefits of MTSS include improved academic performance, increased student engagement, improved family involvement, and reduction in problem behavior. Consistent supports provided by SPCSA includes one-to-one data review and collection meetings, attendance at school-team meetings, 24-hour or less response time for schools’ requests for assistance, technical assistance, coaching/consultation/collaboration, Project AWARE/MTSS community of practice Google Drive folder, and access to evidence-based, tiered resources, tools, research, templates, etc.
The MTSS cohort has seen 23 schools demonstrate implementation with fidelity.
Explore the presentation.
Board Heard an Overview on the Charter School Application Window and Potential Alternatives, and Voted to Approve a New Timeline
Staff detailed a potential alternative option for the charter application and review timeline. See below for details on the current and alternative timeline:
The proposed timeline would provide an additional three months for the incubation year, but may require additional funding for the incubation year. It also may impact grant windows and when schools apply for certain grants. It would require a regulatory change and would likely not go into effect until the 2026 application cycle.
Members voted to approve the alternative option; staff will now move forward with next steps on changing the necessary regulatory language.
Explore the presentation.
Board Heard an Update on Site Evaluations During the 2023-24 School Year
Site evaluations focus on academic performance and delivery of instruction, organizational effectiveness of the school, adherence to the approved charter contract, contract with the Authority, and applicable laws and regulations. Comprehensive site visits are conducted at Year 1, Year 3, and Year 5, and targeted site evaluations are completed at Years 2, 4, and 6, with a previous deficiency or strong recommendation, 1- or 2-star rating, and operating under an academic or organizational notice.
All schools with a charter contract in years 1, 3, or 5 were evaluated as scheduled, and follow-up evaluations were conducted for schools with strong recommendations and/or deficiency. A total of 34 evaluations were conducted during the 2023-24 school year, and a total of 804 classrooms were observed. They can be publicly accessed at https://charterschools.nv.gov.
Trends include wait lists growing at established schools, desire for a high school at established K-8 schools, diverse representation among faculty and staff, appreciation for transportation opportunities, and families with English Learner students having a positive experience and feeling connected. Opportunities for improvement include student engagement, teacher turnover and retention, newer school challenges upon opening, and under-enrollment in less established schools.
Explore the presentation.
Long-Range Calendar (next 3 months):
Agenda items over the next three SPCSA board meetings are anticipated to include:
- New charter school applications
- Proposed changes to site evaluation process and site evaluation schedule
- GEMS final closure report
The next Meeting of the SPCSA Board is scheduled for Friday, August 23, @ 9:00 a.m.
